Heavy duty paper eater (HP 2500 CM)

Member Name: Plymyphil

Product:	HP 2500 CM
Date:	15/12/03 (330 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Not many

Disadvantages: Reliability, Quality, Speed

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Thanks in advance for reading this review. I have used a 2500CM at work for over five years. I was also directly responsibl
e for keeping the thing up and running so am able to comment with some authority on both the machine and it's reliability.

PRICE
The purchase price was reasonable at the time for a workgroup printer. £599.99 bought this beast and with the capability to print A3 and A4 and a huge paper tray, expectations were high when the machine was first installed.

THE FEATURES
Paper trays - Two paper trays at the front of this machine both holding large capacities of paper were one of the selling points as we wanted this machine to be our network printer.
Quality - At the time this produced mid-quality prints for the price. The lack of enhancement technology comparable to today's inkjet printers means that the £69.99 inkjet printers we bought last year are significantly better quality prints.
Workgroup capability - This printer is designed to sit on a network and cope with up to ten users sending data. We exceeded this capacity quickly as our network grew to over thirty machines and this may be part of our problems. However, I believe if you are paying that much for a printer then you should be able to run it fairly constantly and have good results.
CMYK - Separate ink cartridges at the time were a selling point and so this was a plus. Now of course, we take this for granted so maybe now this shouldn't even be considered a feature.

THE EXPERIENCE
This printer has been a nightmare. I have used consistently dozens of printers and I have never had such an unreliable machine to maintain. Is it just bad luck, or design. Well, I would say both. Hewlett Packard has a good reputation in this market and this printer also received good reviews when released but our reality has not matched our expectations.
Firstly, the paper jams. This machine begs consumers to stick implements inside to remove paper because every other print jams. This is becuase the rollers are covered in little plastic and metal grips which only have to
be slightly misaligned to catch the paper on its journey through and jam it solid. The printer doesn't stop there though. Often when it has a jam it continues pumping more paper in to the jam making it even tighter before eventually admitting it is jammed to the point of no return. The end result of course on a network printer is frustrated users opening the top cover and yanking out bits of paer. They tear, little bits remain jammed and you've guessed, the process begins again.
The ink coverage is fine ... no ... was fine. Now, this printer seems expensive by today's standards. All I can do is compare to last year's purchase of two budget printers for £69.99. They cost less per page to run - case I would say closed.

PRINT QUALITY
This machine whirs paper out so slowly you could be forgiven for thinking it is actually making the paper. The quality of the print is acceptable for black text, poor for colour presentations and dreadful for photographs. Buy a budget inkjet - the quality is loads better. If you must spend this much on a printer, get a colour laser or experience that 'I wish I had' feeling.

OVERALL
If anybody would like to buy a significantly weighty and large machine as either a doorstop or a breeze block to include in a building project please contact me. No, I would not recommend this printer. No, I would not buy it again.

I hope this is useful in informing purchasing decisions - Please do leave comments as I do respond - Phil.

Summary: