Marks and Spencer quality with a Netto price tag (HP Deskjet D1560)

Member Name: blissman70

Product:	HP Deskjet D1560
Date:	01/09/09 (256 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: user friendly, quality results and a nice low price

Disadvantages: the price of the ink cartridges are a little steep

I tend to need to use a printer quite a lot during my average day at work, both from home and from the office, so I do go through quite a bit of ink, and some printers in fact.

I have used several printers during my time, some of them being 'All in one' units (printer/scanner and copier), with branded names such as Dell, Lexmark, Brother and others, but as I wanted to buy just a printer at a reasonable price I went on the hunt for just that.
So when I came across this HP desktop printer in a well known shop I was amazed by it's size and it's subtle looks. But as the price in the well known shop was a little bit on the high side I was soon using the old 'Inter-web' to get myself yet another bargain, and I soon did just that.
I found the same HP printer for almost half the price of the one in the well known shop and was soon ordering it, waiting only a few days for it to be delivered straight to my door.

Anyway, when it arrived I ripped into the packaging and began the connection to my Desktop, using the leads supplied, installing the drivers when required. With-in a matter of minutes the printer was up and running, ready for me to start printing, although the ink which came with the printer was not a full amount (for some reason), so I did have to get two new cartridges at the local PC shop, but they have lasted in the machine for an age up to now.

** Let us take a look at the technical bits of this machine...

It is a wired 'thermal' ink jet printer, being 422 by 260 by 14 mm in size and weighing in at a mere 2kg.
It uses 2 ink cartridge - 1 black (HP21) and 1 colour (HP22), (magenta, yellow and cyan)
The prints speed depends on the size and quality of the print wanted...
For example... (based on A4 paper size, page per minute {ppm})

Best black-1200dpi is 0.8 ppm or best colour is 0.9 ppm (1200 dpi)
Draft black is 18 ppm or colour draft is 12 ppm
Normal black is 7 ppm or normal colour is 3 ppm

And for photographs...
1 minute to print a draft photo and 2 minutes to print a 'best' photograph (10 by 15 cm)

I has a maximum resolution of... (dpi)
Black and white are 1200 dpi by 1200
Colour 4800 by 1200

With a paper tray which can hold up to 80 sheets.

It can print in various methods, such as for Envelopes, labels, iron on transfers, cards and even the good old plain paper, as well as photo paper.
It can take A4 (210 by 297), A5 (148 by 210), A6 (105 by 148), and others sizes, with the capability of customising the paper size being the minimum size of 80mm by 125mm to a maximum of 215mm by 356mm.

It has 1 Hi-Speed USB - 4 PIN USB Types B connection and can be used with most windows Operating systems, such as XP home, XP professional, 2000 professional and Windows Vista. It can also be used with Apple Mac systems later than OS X10.5

'For all you friends of the Earth people' its power consumption when being used is approximately 16 watts per hours, whilst on standby it is a mere 3 watts per hour.
Although I do tend to turn it off at the plug when I have finished using it.

This printer package comes with the required drivers, plus HP photosmart Essential and Smart Web Printing.

That's the technical bits over with then...


**IN CONCLUSION...

For an everyday home printer it is so simple to set up with the software being so easy to install onto your PC. Once up and running it is then as easy to use, giving you some brilliant results for a low low price.
It look quite good as it sits on your desk, being a good size so as not to look imposing at all.
The plastic body being mainly grey with a white top, the paper feeding tray looking a little fragile but being tougher than you think.
The on/off button lies on the lower left of the unit, a little red light glowing when the printer is on.

When the original ink cartridges ran out, (lasting quite some time in fact) I was amazed as to how easy it was to replace them into the unit, (although I was not happy about the price of the new cartridges).

** For those interested in a quick briefing to installing the cartridges...

It was a simple matter of turning off the printer, opening the cover, waiting for the cartridges to settle into position and gently pushing down on it, then slide it out the old cartridge. Then it is a matter of sliding the new cartridge into position at a bit of an angle until it 'clicks' into place with a snapping sound, (this noise is normal apparently).
Then it is a matter of aligning the cartridge using a test piece of paper and opening the 'toolbox' within the software, then follow the simple instruction.
Sounds a little complicated but it is really as easy as sending a text message to your mates.

Once the new cartridges were in place I was pleased with the results once more, and the way I could manipulate the printing results from this cheap and cheerful printer.

I was also well pleased with the way it was able to print some brilliantly clear photographs within a matter of minutes, the finished results being something like that you get from your local Kodak one hour printing shop, although the paper quality is a big help in quality pictures.

As for 'smudgabilty', well, on 'normal' paper there is none at all, although on actual photograph print quality paper I would advise to leave the print for a few minutes for it to dry a little, especially with the darker colours like black. But once it is dry the results are well worth the wait.

In all, it is a quality printer with-in it price range and will give some nice result, possibly better than some of the more expensive models.
The price for this nice sized little printer seems to hover between the £25.00 and £35.00 mark.

The only downfall is actually the cost of replacing the Ink Cartridges when they are empty as HP cartridges do tend to be a little on the pricey side, so it is a good job they do last quite some time for average printing work.

Summary: Who needs one hour printing shops when you've got this little baby

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