Quality, reliability and Value (HP Deskjet 840c)

Member Name: SkyscraperFanClu

Product:	HP Deskjet 840c
Date:	08/04/09 (152 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Cheap to run, extremely quick, very good quality, better than the competition .

Disadvantages: Slightly large footprint .

Prior to purchasing my own Hewlett Packard DeskJet 840C I ran a DeskJet 693C with an older computer and was thoroughly impressed with it. When it came to choosing a new printer to take to University with me I once again opted for a Hewlett Packard product and am not sorry I did. When making the choice I weighed the HP840C against two other options at similar prices: The Epson Stylus 670 and Canon's BJC-1000.
The HP840C boasts an impressive maximum resolution of 600x1200 dots per inch and produces very crisp images. High-colour graphics are vibrantly colourful with good definition between different shades of very similar colours. Crucially yellow on a white background is picked out far better on this printer than on most others. Standard text prints extremely well in whatever colour you pick.

In image quality and resolution the DeskJet 840C stands up well against the competition. The Stylus 670 may boast a superior resolution of 1440x720 but in truth the image quality is little better, if anything slightly inferior. I say this without bias - I have seen demonstration work and test pages from the Stylus 670 and can honestly say the HP840C usually matched and occasionally bettered its' rival. Canon do not quote a maximum resolution for their BJC-1000, suggesting its' performance is not as good as either of the others.
Print speeds are extremely impressive. Plain black text rattles out at a cracking eight pages per minute with no real loss of quality. This is excellent for those of us frequently printing essays, coursework or similar work in a hurry. Images and image-and text combinations also print fairly quickly depending on their complexity. Expect a time of around 5 pages per minute. Even at the higher speeds, noise from the printer is kept low.

In terms of maximum print speed the HP840C's 8ppm keeps it well clear of the Stylus 670 and BJC-1000, neither of which exceed 5ppm. Neither can boast colour printing speeds in excess of 4ppm either.
All three printers are similar in size. In fact, they are all slithly too big, with the possible exception of the BJC-1000. The HP840C and 670 both have footprints that are a little too large. All accept any paper size up to and including A4. The Deskjet 840C does allow double-sided printing, although you have to flip the paper over yourself. That said, the ink on the page is never so wet that you have to wait before doing so - even on the high qualities, and any mechanism to allow automatic two-sided printing would probably take up further space anyway.

The Hewlett-Packard drivers are excellent; this was one of the major strengths of the 693C that lead to me choosing a second HP printer. The control panel allows easy maintenance of the printer including cartridge head cleaning, testing and re-alignment as well as a utility for checking the printer connection or printing a sample page. The re-alignment facility is excellent for ensuring high print quality without wasting ink. Three print qualities can be used: Draft, standard and high. Draft quality is extremely economical on ink and extremely quick too. Standard is fine for all text but if you're looking to produce particularly high quality images high is best. It is a little heavier on ink and takes longer, but the improvement is noticeable. Changing the varius modes is performed through the software and takes nothing more than the click of a button.
Compared to the Stylus 670 the HP640C has an apparent disadvantage in terms of software. The Stylus 670 is bundled with a restricted version of Corel Print House where the DeskJet boasts no similar software. If you are willing to buy a printer on the basis that it has extra software bundled with it then consider the Stylus 670, but personally I prefer the higher quality and speed of the HP840C.

Installing the HP840C was very straightforward. For either the USB or Parallel versions it is little more complicated than installing the software, plugging in the printer and starting to use it. Installing the cartridges is very easy when following the step-by-step guide provided. In terms of reliability I have not had a spot of trouble from it.
There are a number of hidden costs worth evaluating when purchasing any printer, the first of which is buying a lead for it. The HP840C supports both USB and Parallel port connections, and the leads have to be bought separately at a cost of £8.99 or £7.99 respectively, depending on which you choose. The same is true of both its' competitors.

Cost of ink is tricky to evaluate, as different printers use ink at different rates and cartridges of different sizes and costs. They are also generally very cagey about how long a single cartridge will last, and estimates tend very much to the optimistic side. I have run my HP840C quite heavily since September 2000 and have used nearly an entire pack of 500 sheets of paper without having to change the original pair of cartridges. At £22.99 for a black cartridge (C6615A) and £37.99 for a colour cartridge (C6616A), however, you would expect them to last. A black cartridge for the BJC-1000 (BC02 BK) costs £19.99 and colour ones are £22.99, but lifespan is 100 pages at best according to the manufacturers. Epson, on their frankly useless web page, appear to provide no data on their cartridge capacities, which are priced at a suspiciously competitive £18.99 (Black, S020187) and £19.99 (Colour, S020191). Although the individual cartridges of the HP840C appear dearer they last far longer, saving you money in the long-term.
I wouldn't hesitate in recommending the HP840C printer. In the sub-£100 price range it is easily the best printer in its' class. It is highly dependable, cheap to run, very quick and print quality is excellent for the cost.

Summary: Quality, reliability and Value

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