How do they make it for the price??? (HP Officejet D145)

Member Name: rammbler

Product:	HP Officejet D145
Date:	26/04/03 (395 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great quality output, Good print/copy speeds, Masses of functionality for the price

Disadvantages: Bulky

I've only just bought an OfficeJet D145 so perhaps its a little early to be writing this review. However, I'm already really impressed.
The D145 All-in-One.... as its name suggests.... is an all-in-one machine that does printing, copying, scanning and faxing. The capabilities however are quite stunning. It prints at up to 2400 x 1200 dpi in both black-and-white or colour with print speeds up to 19 pages per minute. The print speeds I've achieved so far are actually very close to those specified by HP, unlike some other machines. It will do all the usual desktop printy things, like print on photo-quality paper, OHP transparencies, envelopes etc.
It also works as a photocopier, which actually doesn't require a connection to your pc. In addition to doing standard black-and-white copying and colour copying at 1200 x 600 dpi, it will educe images down to 25% or enlarge to 400%, as well as performing "fit to page", 2-pages on 1, poster prints and margin shift. You can either use the auto-document feed (ADF) or place originals face-down on the glass.... good for books etc.
Then it does scanning at up to 1200 x 4800 dpi and comes bundled with an image editor and OCR software for image manipulation. This has a useful "album" function which allows you to select specific images and arrange them in a variety of ways very easily before prining them out.
It also allows you to print photos directly from photo card media (Compact Flash, Smart Media and Sony Memory Stick). And it prints double-sided automatically.
Finally, it is a fax machine (works independently of your pc), sending and receiving black-and-white or colour faxes, with speed dials, 125 page memory and various other features.
I had a couple of problems setting the machine up and installing the software but these were easily overcome and I was printing, copying in less than 30 minutes. The quality really is quite exellent. This machine replaces an HP 660C Inkj
et.... not too old but the difference in quality is very noticeable. The copies don't look that different from our professional photocopier in the office!
The machine is qute bulky so you need to have the desk space for it. On the other hand, you don't need both a scanner and a printer, so it saves space overall.
Lastly, I made a good saving by buying online at www.insight.com, getting even better value for money. Any downsides? None that I've found out so far.

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