HP Color LaserJet 2820 All-in-One Printer, Copier, Scanner (Q3948A#ABA)

• Produces color prints, copies, and scans
• Up to 20 ppm print speed; first page out in 18 seconds
• 125-sheet multipurpose tray and 50-sheet ADF
• 600 dpi resolution, 1,200 x 1,200 dpi scan resolution, 24-bit color
• Built-in Ethernet and USB interfaces; PC and Mac compatible

Installation: (Easy) The first thing you should do is insert the installation CD. It will provide very good (explicit) installation instructions. Use the active guide. You can slide the bar back and forth to help you follow the instructions. What I did was to follow the active instruction to the end then I would slide the bar where I felt I needed more precise help. This system works very well because unless you move forward arrow, you control what you need to review.Print Quality: Excellent!

Scanning: You can tell the difference between the original and the copy. I would guess that there is about a 10 percent (or less) loss in clarity. My other HP scanner/ printers have been very close to original quality. That may not be important to you.

Possible Problem: This machine is a well constructed, professional quality machine. It is bulky and heavy for the average person. Unless you are physically active, more than six feet tall with long arms, don''t try to handle this 60 plus pound item by your self. Get a friend to help. Put the printer on a very stabile table (preferably a heavy duty printer stand). A card table is not strong enough.Possible Installation Problem: When installing the Imaging Drum, be careful that you line the drum up with the slots provided in the machine. The drum will slide down the slots easily to the bottom. Once at the bottom, press firmly down. It will click once it is in place. The instructions will not tell you to do this. Try to bring down the front cover. If the front cover will not come down and fit flush with the printer body, you have not seated the Imagine Drum correctly.

Paper Placement: The CD describes the HP 2840 which has two paper supply areas. Not even the written instructions tell you about the main tray. It is not a tray at all. On the face of the printer below the "HP" logo, is a finger slot, pull outward. That is your paper tray. At the front edge, pull out the tray extension. Then there is another extension by rotating a panel on top of the tray outward to provide full length paper support. In fact, the support extends about 3/4" beyond the paper.

Would I purchase this machine? I''m pleased with the machine. It is a typical HP quality machine. I haven''t tried it''s other features. For my purposes, it is fine. I don''t see any need for the HP2840. If you are working with two different qualities of paper, then perhaps the HP2840 is the machine you need.

PROBLEM:

Don''t look for a manual. HP has included the manual in it''s program, according to them. Ask Tech support to direct you to the manual. I haven''t found it yet. If they have taken the trouble to provide it on a CD, the could have printed it. This is one area which makes me unhappy.

This is an outstanding color printer. I have used it for more than six months. I''m very happy with it. 3-18-07 PC

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Ok, for the price, this can''t be beat for a small office. However, some caveats. First, it is pretty noisy, not "I can''t hear myself think" kind of noisy, but if it sits next to someone all day and gets heavily used, they will find it annoying. Second, our printers power supply shut down a week ago (about 4-5 weeks after we purchased it) and we are hoping to see a technician with a replacement part today. So we have been without the use of this printer for a week. Luckily we had a couple little inkjets scattered throughout the office that allowed us to get by.

Finally, be careful when you order, because this item did not include the 250 sheet paper tray. I caught this just as I was about to order and added the paper tray for another $100 or so. Pretty stupid to sell it without it (considering that it is intended for an office environment), but that is how it is marketed.

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We have five people in our office, all run Windows XP, one runs a Vista machine too. On average, once every two weeks we have to reload the software on our PCs to make the Scan To function work. Occasionally we lose the ability to print, and have to reload the software for that too. It might work okay in a small office with peer-to-peer networking, but in our corporate branch office it does not work well. I''m about ready to buy my own scanner out-of-pocket so I won''t have to waste my time on this machine.

It is noisy. The color and black cartridges are installed in a carousel. When you print a document with color, the carousel rotates for each cartridges, making a clunking noise. I''m glad it''s down the hall a bit. Ours also does not duplex (scan/print both sides), a huge waste of paper and space for printed material, and wasted time for scanning two-sided documents.

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I bought this to replace a Xerox. This is much slower, much louder and doesn''t print as well.

It has lasted longer than the Xerox did so there is a plus, print costs are a little higher.

This machine is ideal for a back room that is not occupied because it is loud. Not unhappy with the purchase, just would have gone a different direction if I knew how loud it was.

I bought this unit over two years ago (2006) and was very disappointed when HP took until March 2008 to come up with their first (and so far only) driver for Leopard (OS X 10.5). Even now some parts are missing like software for the envelope-printing widget. I tried calling HP Support, but they could not do anything for me. For $1000 (the price I paid two years ago) I expect better.

Also, the is constantly calibrating itself, adding to the noise already mentioned in the other reviews.

PS on March 16, 2011: Still no driver for Snow Leopard! This is now a $1000 brick, good only for printing (but not envelopes) and one-page-at-a-time copying.

I plan to sell it and never buy HP anything again.