HP Photosmart C4280: Long Term Review (HP Photosmart C4280 All-in-One)

Member Name: philb2076

Product:	HP Photosmart C4280 All-in-One
Date:	08/06/09 (33 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Robust, easy to use, manageable software, consistent printing

Disadvantages: A few little software glitches, not suitable for very high quality work

I Purchased the C4280 approximately 12 Months ago for £55. My reason for purchase was as a business user, and as a result this has seen a very high volume of scanning and printing over the last year. I have always been a fan of HP and thankfully this only added to my good perception of the company.

Although the unit has quick buttons for scanning/copying on top of the unit, I have always used the PC software package as it gives you a lot more control over the final result of your scans/copies.

Print quality and speed are certainly up to my standards and can be easily managed for photo printing or fast draft documents. I have never had problems with ink marking the paper, paper jams, or cartridge malfunctions (Although I have always used genuine HP cartridges). I have to say I have only used it for a handful of high quality photo prints, and for me the results were good but not fantastic.

Scanner is fairly quick with good quality results. HP scanning software allows easy management when scanning multi-page documents, giving you a 'scan-next' or 'done' option and can put your file in multiple common formats.

Copy facility is not something I generally use, but when I have it does a good job.

Overall the C4280 is very well made, easy to use, and has caused me very little trouble considering the high volume of use it has endured! Printing/scanning quality is perfect for my use, but may not be suitable for those expecting very high quality results.

Now... problems...

The ink management software seems to promote changing your cartridge well before it actually runs out, for example I can run my black ink for the same length of time on 5-0% as it took to decrease from 100-5%. Fortunately it does not force you to actually change the cartridge, so I just wait for the prints to fade before I opt to change.

Sometimes whilst scanning multi-page documents the scanner has been known to crash, with only a switch off at the plug available as a solution. This, although annoying, is rare, and fortunately you are generally able to recover the point at which you left off.

The HP software has caused a slight bug within my computer where it tries to recover office documents when I close then. This apparently is a rare but as yet unsolvable problem triggered only when this printer is set as my default printer.

Summary: A great all round printer that would satsfy the needs of most people