HP Officejet Pro 8610 Wireless All-in-One Color Inkjet Printer (A7F64A#B1H)
CUSTOMER REVIEW
UPDATED (01/06/15)
I needed a printer to finally replace my 10+ years old HP Deskjet 932c. Although ancient by today's standards, this printer was considered an excellent printer for its time, and printed nice documents and VERY nice photos and graphics, even on plain paper. Needless to say, purchasing HP's latest and greatest, I expected at least as much.
PACKAGING: 5 Stars.
The printer came packed very well, surrounded by foam on 4 corners with clear plastic covering a lot of the surface of the printer, including the touch screen (of course). High quality, no-residue tape kept everything tight and secure. The entire printer was encased in a plastic bag which I used to pull the printer out of the box (would have been difficult to get out otherwise!).
LOOK and FEEL: 5 Stars.
This printer is BIG and quite hefty. I chose this printer after I had checked out all the others I was considering because it seemed so well built and sturdy. All of the components are tight, well-finished, and feel high-quality. The scanner, auto-document feeder lid is light-years beyond nearly every other inkjet printer I checked out at a big box store (the only ones that compared were some other HPs!). The lid is thick and solid and lifts with an assist mechanism that holds it at a high-angle (nearly 90 degrees) upright position. All the other printers had thin, flimsy lids that you had to hold up to use. The paper tray is solid and well-built with good quality adjusters (for paper size).
SETUP: 4 Stars.
Setup was easy and flawless. The printer came with a 1-page (pictures only) quick setup guide. Initial setup includes attaching the duplexing tray, adding ink cartridges (that come with the printer), paper, and finding the wireless network (if you have one). The printer found my network without issue, and I simply had to add my router's access code for the printer to finish connecting.
The next step of setup required installation of the software from the included CD. Setup walks you through the process quite easily, including helping you to choose how your printer is connected (Wi-Fi, Ethernet cable, or USB). Setup also asks if you want to register the product, asks for your zip code (not sure why), and other pertinent information. Also, setup auto-checks that you want Google toolbar (no, I don't, thank you very much). Be sure to look for and uncheck these "options" if you don't want this bloat-ware. Unfortunately, I did NOT get the option to choose where to install my software (I have several hard drives). I assume it defaults to your Windows directory (or, where you have Windows installed).
Everything went without a hitch on my Windows 8 system, with the printer showing up automatically on the printers page of the control panel (Windows auto-selected this as my default printer). Total install time was around 30 minutes, though I did not specifically time it. As an aside, HP's software did let me know my printer was eligible for their instant ink replacement program (internet search will explain what this is). I installed the printer quickly and easily on the second computer in my home simply by loading the software from the CD.
During setup, the printer used 3 or 4 sheets of paper to align the heads and auto-correct print quality and print some instructions. Quality looked normal (what one would expect) for standard text documents. One of the print-outs had a couple of very basic, blue pictures that looked normal (as one would expect).
PRINT QUALITY (EVERYDAY DOCS): 5 Stars.
(UPDATE 06/24/14): I have had the opportunity to print some "everyday" text documents (e-mails, Word, etc.). The 8610 on "Normal" quality print setting prints VERY fast on plain white paper. In fact, the machine wakes up and prints the document before I can hardly get out of my chair in the living room and walk over and grab the (1 page) printout on the printer in the dining room. The print quality is normal for an ink-jet printer and certainly sufficient for this application.
(UPDATE 01/06/15): Even though the machine prints lightening fast in draft and normal mode, it does NOT shake the entire machine in the process as many printers are wont to do. The machine seems to be balanced and weighted very nicely!
PRINT QUALITY (OFFICE DOCS): 4 Stars.
(UPDATE 06/30/14): I printed my resume' on Southworth 32 lb. 100% cotton resume' paper. I used settings 'Other Thick Paper', 'Black & White Only', and 'Best' quality. The document printed quite fast but definitely slower than the "everyday docs" described above (which is expected, and I would be surprised if it didn't!). The print was crisp and clear. I did not see any text bleed. I would give this 5 stars, but I still have a problem with the black ink. For some reason, it simply is not as dark and eye-popping as the black ink from my HP 932c. I am wondering if this is a difference between pigment ink versus dye ink. The results were certainly adequate, and I would not be embarrassed to submit this professional resume' to a job prospect.
PRINT QUALITY (GRAPHICS): 4 Stars.
(UPDATE 01/06/15): As stated in the comments section, I have had the opportunity to print some graphics intensive documents on HP "All In One" printing paper. I wanted to see if it truly made a difference. It is rated at 96 "Brightness" and is 22 lb. paper. I selected "HP Premium Presentation Paper, Matte" as my paper type. I had used this option before but had not gotten much better results. For some reason, now I am getting much better results. I am still using the print cartridges that came with the printer (still have not run out of ink!).
Even though the color and quality of the prints are much better than I had initially with this printer, my comment about black ink still applies: it simply is not as dark and eye-popping as my old 932c. I would say the blacks are adequate.
OLD: The following comments in brackets are from my initial impressions.
[My first serious test was a graphics intensive Paint Shop document my son had made. Quality output, even on plain paper was always vivid and clear on my 932c. The first print-out on "Normal" setting with my new printer revealed less than stellar results. The colors were faded and the black was not a dark, rich black. We compared the results to the document printed on my very old 932c. It did not even compare. The print from my new 8610 looked second rate compared to the print from my 932c. The colors from the 932c were rich and vivid, and the blacks were deep and dark -not so on the 8610 (please bare in mind both prints were on simple plain paper).
Knowing HP can be very picky about what paper you select that you are printing on, I decided to "trick" the printer and say I had a better quality ink-jet paper and told the printer to print in "High" quality. The print-out looked barely perceptibly better than the first print. I then decided (for test purposes), that I would print on very high quality Kodak glossy photo paper. THAT was a total boondoggle.
The 8610 could not even grab and pull the paper out of the paper tray. I tried stacking more paper under the photo paper so it was higher up in the tray. No go. I tried turning the paper around (to give it a new, clean edge to grab). No go. I tried using the instructions on the touch screen (that was helpful . . . NOT). This was a very disappointing experience. HP specs for the 8610e show it can easily handle the 64-lb. photo paper I attempted to use. I am not sure why this will not work.]
(UPDATE 01/06/15)
PRINT QUALITY (PICTURES): UNKNOWN. I have not printed photographs on photo paper.
DUPLEX PRINTING (2-SIDED): 5 Stars
The duplexer on the back of the machine works quickly and efficiently to process 2-sided documents. Selecting 2-sided printing is easily achieved through the print setup (normal printer dialgue box). You can choose whether to flip the page along the long side or short side of the document. The task requires very little effort and the results are excellent.
COPYING: 5 Stars
Copying from the document auto-loader is simple and quick. Reproduction quality is very good. I have not tested this feature extensively.
SCAN (TO COMPUTER): 4 Stars
I scanned an old photo. The touch screen asked to where I would like to scan. It listed both of my computers on the network, and I could select through the file structure until I found the specific folder where I wanted to save the document. Nice! The printer quickly scanned the photo. The color reproduction was good. I am not sure of the scan resolution, but the results were very decent. I did not print the scanned image onto photo paper, so I cannot say how good the reproduction truly is. However, for posting on the internet, you would be more than pleased!
FAX: UNKNOWN. I have not faxed any documents.
