- Get a better value for frequent printing with high-capacity, individual ink cartridges.^
- Connect to your network wirelessly or with built-in Ethernet, or to your PC with Hi-Speed USB 2.0.
- Use business apps and the easy-to-use 2.36-inch touchscreen to print from the Web without a PC.
- Consume up to 50% less paper with automatic two-sided printing and robust digital faxing options
- Easily view and print from a USB drive and memory cards.
- Get a better value for frequent printing with high-capacity, individual ink cartridges.
Received as part of the Amazon Vine reviewer program, the HP Officejet Pro 8500A is a wireless, all-in-one (printer, fax, scanner, copier, web) office tool. It uses the current touchscreen technology to offer the user a way to fax, scan, copy and print without the use of a computer directly attached to it.
SET-UP:
Once I unboxed this beast (it''s quite a bit heavier and larger than my previous printer: HP Officejet 6310 All-in-One Printer), it took a few minutes to check the box contents and untape parts that were immobilized as part of packaging.
A very basic (10) step sheet with pictures and minimal directions directs you how to install the two print heads, four ink cartridges, the HP automatic two-sided printing accessory (duplexer) and load the paper. It also shows you for PC or Mac computers how to hook up the printer via a usb cord, ethernet (internet cord) or via a wireless home network (found in the Getting Started Guide).
Once you power up the printer it takes approximately 20 minutes to go through a series of checks prior to asking you if you want to ''update''. As I''d already established a wireless connection with the printer by following the prompts on the touchscreen and entering my home network''s security code, I had it do an update which took about 5 minutes. All in all, the 25-30 minutes the all-in-one spent getting ready for use was no big deal. It took me about 45 minutes to get it set-up prior to that time, and I''m fairly savy about such things. The directions that come with it rely heavily on drawings and had to be referred to frequently at least for me.
So a little over an hour into set-up I installed the software on my primary computer. This took about 10 minutes. Later I also went to the HP site and got the very basic drivers (a 64MB download) for the printer to install on 2 laptops (Vista 64-bit and Windows 7), 1 netbook (Windows XP) and 2 desktops (Vista 64-bit and Windows XP). All the computers installed the drivers quickly and easily, and once installed printed wirelessly off the 8500A. I was amazed with that one... no hic-ups with drivers?!
I also went to iTunes and got a free app: HP iPrint Photo. Once loaded on your iTouch or iPhone you can use it to send photos or documents to print to this printer, or any HP printer (I''m assuming other non-HP printers won''t work with this app) connected to your network. It worked with both the 8500A and the 6300 (hardwired to my router).
Between the unboxing, untaping, installing of ink and printer heads, the all-in-one''s auto set-up and software installation, getting this one up and running took about 1.5 hours. That''s much longer than most printers I''ve wrestled with in the past, but I did take my time and gently worked each step.
The only device I did not get linked to the 8500A was my phone: Nokia E71 Unlocked Phone with 3.2 MP Camera, 3G, Media Player, GPS with Free Voice Navigation, Wi-Fi, and MicroSD Slot--U.S. Version with Warranty (White). I tried multiple times to get it to recognize the printer, but thus far, nothing. I''ll continue to work on it.
FEATURES per the box:
+Printing speeds equivalent to laser printers (35ppm black and 34ppm color max).
+Water resistant-inks.
+Wireless networking.
+35 page automatic document feeder (ADF)
+Automatic two-sided printing; saving time and paper
+4800 x 4800 dpi, 48-bit color scanning
+App printing via touchscreen print directly from the web without a computer
+Printing from anywhere via mobile devices using HP ePrint (the printer has its own email addresss)
+Front panel usb port and memory card slots for digital cameras
+Fax to network folder, to PC and PC Fax Send.
++ Eco-friendly solution, offering 50% lower cost per page than other similar all-in-one printers.
"What does all this mean?" Ideally, if you buy this one you''ll get a wireless printer, scanner, copier, fax machine, that may cost you a bit less to print the same number of pages with another printer and gives you laser printer quality and speed. At least in theory, but time will tell if that pans out.
What I liked about it...
+The machine is good-looking. Sleek, glossy black with a color touch screen.
+The touch screen itself is small, but responsive and quick.
+It can be placed anywhere in your home or office as long as your wireless network connection is adequate.
+The flatbed scanner allows for legal sized documents.
+You can scan your ID getting both sides at the same time on one page very cool!
+The print quality is excellent.
+The print speed is fast.
+Connectivity with my iTouch via HP''s app.
+Scanning is very quick and the quality is excellent.
+Printer drivers installed quickly and easily via HP.com download on all my computers running Vista 64-bit, XP Home and Windows 7 without a hitch!
+You can copy or print without a PC attached and ''on'', via the touch screen.
+Touchscreen animation will show you how to clear a paper jam, step-by-step. Had one...watched the little show and fixed it.
What I disliked about it...
The machine took a long time to set-up for initial use, and it goes through a lot of checks (for about 30-60 seconds) before it can be used if powered off and turned back on.
Makes a lot of noise while it''s printing! Thankfully...it prints quickly, and it isn''t as noisy while scanning, copying or faxing.
-The size is a bit bigger than I''d hoped for and it weighs about 25 pounds, but it does a lot and ''compact'' was not one of its selling points.
The printing of photos is nice, but leaves regular paper soggy. You need to use HP Premium Presentation Paper or HP Premium Photo Paper, glossy (100 sheets, 4 x 6-inch borderless) to get the right look and feel.
Time will tell if ink costs are less or not, but to replace all the cartridges at one time will be a bit expensive. HP 940xl Black, Regular Capacity Cyan, Magenta, Yellow Not overly expensive when compared with other HP ink cartridges, so I wonder where the claim ''50% lower cost per page'' comes from?
-HP included software has some unnecessary stuff on it that loads on your computer if you''re not aware enough of what to ''uncheck'' to stop it before you install the software. HP is notorious for this type of thing and can be very irksome.
-The HP Apps installed on the machine are minimal at this time. You can print off daily news stories from Yahoo, weather reports, puzzles, recipes, etc..., but for me, at least right now, the apps are more fluff than substance. You have to go online to do your settings and establish an ''email address'' for your printer, instead of using the touchscreen to do all of it. Sort of defeating the purpose of the screen and wireless capabilities at least for setup.
-HP Apps failed to work every time. When I tried to get a daily summary for Yahoo, it couldn''t retrieve the info. I went to the HP ePrintCenter online, and it said my printer was offline. I refreshed it and it still didn''t work. I then turned off my printer and turned it back on. It was then recognized online and printed via the app within 5 seconds. This was after I had setup my account and HP said all was well. **A few bugs need to be worked out, but this is probably a network/software glitch and may be just with the Yahoo app.
My CONCLUSION:
It''s a good e-All-in-One with cool web and file transfer possibilities, but a noisy printer. The cost is a bit high for a wireless all-in-one, but the web features and eco-friendly printing may be worth the price boost.
I''m excited to have a wireless printer that installed so easily on my home network and can be placed anywhere in my home. I love the scanner, and look forward to scanning old photos more quickly than my old scanner.
I also like the ability to send photos from my iTouch or iPhone to the printer wirelessly. The touchscreen was a great addition and it works well. It''s a stand-alone device in many ways, and doesn''t need to be tethered to a computer to copy or fax, which I like too.
Overall, the Officejet Pro 8500A Wireless e-All-in-One seems to be a solidly built office tool that will appeal to home office users and families who want its many functions and a lower cost per page.
NOTE RE: Nokia E71 phones, printing wirelessly...
After much research and little assistance I lucked out and figured out the right configuration for printing from the Nokia phone. In your ''printers'' on your phone, set up a new printer using these settings.
Printer: any name...
Driver: HP Mobile Printing
Bearer: LPR
Access point: make sure this is whatever network name your wireless printer is currently using.
Host: this is to be set to your printer''s IP address.
User: also known as ''hostname''.
Queue: I put in the name of my network (SSID).
Printer model: ''officejet'' printers
I can''t print using the Ovi store''s HP iPrint Photo app, but the above stated worked for me on about a 3 second delay to the printer. This fix may also work for other Nokia smartphones and HP printers.
UPDATE: July 25, 2011
This is still my ''go to'' printer and the one networked to all the other computers and wireless devices on my home network (10 in all). Ink costs have been very low as it does seem to sip versus suck down ink. Print quality has not suffered because of it and I''ve been very happy with print quality on regular paper as well as photo paper.
After updating one computer from Vista to Windows 7 I did run into an occasional problem. The printer would forget that it was on the network and I would have to do the ''search for new printer'' thing to get it recognized. Recent Win 7 updates seem to have fixed this problem.
Another issue has been with the ''scan to computer'' feature. It won''t do it via the network, instead I have to put in a media device and transfer the file to that before taking it over to the computer. A pain, and probably something to do with security settings on the network that I''ve just not figured out yet. I did upgrade my wireless router and that may be an issue with those two not getting along.
Overall I''m still very pleased with this printer. I see it as a great choice for busy families, a home office or a college dorm room.
UPDATE: August 28, 2011
Printer problems continued regarding the driver, until a recent update. The printer asked if I wanted to install the update, and when I OK''d it, it installed it and things have been smooth sailing ever since regarding commands from the PC and the touchpad.
A reoccurring issue is that occasionally the mechanism that grabs the paper to print doesn''t engage and when I attempt to assist it, a jam occurs. This is frustrating, but not a deal breaker. I find that less paper in the holder helps to make this an infrequent event.
Another reoccurring issue is that when I go to scan from the touchpad and send the scan to a USB drive I''ve placed into the port on the memory card reader, I get ''memory card error''. Doesn''t seem to matter if it''s a freshly formatted drive or not, and the only thing that seems to clear the error is to restart the machine with the USB drive plugged in versus plugging it in after it''s already ''on''.
Ink longevity with this one is tremendous! Perhaps one of its greatest strengths. The ink costs are high by comparison to some printers, but they seem to last forever so I think it all works out in the end.
UPDATE: 12/2712
Printer is still kicking along nicely, however issues with dropped wifi connectivity have plagued me with this one. I tried assigning it a static IP address, and it would still lose the connection. Oh it says ''connected'' and ''ready'', but won''t print. A reinstallation of the drivers for this series works temporarily, but not for long.
Today I noted that drivers for this model were not showing up in my Windows 7 driver updates. I chose the closest to it I could find for the HP Officeject Pro K850, and so far, it''s working. I don''t know what''s up, but I''m holding my breath and crossing my fingers.
Buy HP Officejet Pro 8500A Wireless e-All-in-One (CM755A#B1H) Now
I have been using the basic HP desk-jet printer for a long time and never thought of upgrading until i got the 8500A.
The printer is big in size but it justifies that in robustness. It solid and fast.
The wireless works perfectly and now i can print from any laptop without cables (2 PCs and 1 Mac)
the Ethernet is a plus and used rarely when i have a lot of pages to print but so far i needed it only once.
I haven''t tried using the USB since wireless is to good.
The printer is fast photocopy machine and works in both color and BW.
It prints on two sides which is excellent if you mind saving papers, not to mention its low usage of the toners.
The web interface was a bit tricky to setup but after that, I tried printing from the office and it scared the maid in the house as the printer started printing and she got scared and turned it off.
I don''t use the fax option but its a plus option.
The printer has a touch control panel and can do most its configurations and functions without even using a pc or mac to control.
Positives:
* The Speed is the biggest plus in this printer and the double sided printing is an very welcome.
* Wireless printing rocks and helps you put the printer in a remote room in the house or a under the stairs without looking obtrusive on the office desk.
* It has six toners and I haven''t really measured the rate of printing per toner but will do that when i empty the first batch.
* touch control panel that saves you from using a pc
* works as an excellent photocopy and printer
* has a good storage compartment for like 100 pages.
* 6 toners so you don''t over use the same color to create new colors (2 are reserved for photos)
Negatives:
* The printer needs a sturdy desk as it shakes and rumbles when it prints and can knock down items that aren''t very stable unless you put it on a good platform.
* Its black and shows dust easily but all black objects do.
* its not the best photo printer but it does a decent job with the right paper
Read Best Reviews of HP Officejet Pro 8500A Wireless e-All-in-One (CM755A#B1H) Here
This wireless all-in-printer is probably the best printer I''ve owned, despite the fact that it arrived with a broken control panel. It prints very fast, the print quality is good, it has a lot of interesting and useful features, and it is not only wireless but you can install it wirelessly (not true for all wireless printers).
Setup involved eight steps which were pretty straightforward except for the fact that the printer heads were a little cumbersome to get in. However, the ink cartridges slid right in (simplest I''ve seen) so it will be a breeze to change ink cartridges. Installation went fairly smoothly. It took a little bit of time (about twenty minutes) but it is a wireless all-in-printer after all. In the past I''ve always had various problems when installing wireless all-in-printers (Canon Pixma MX860 all-in-one, HP Photosmart C6180 all-in-one, HP Officejet 7410). I''ve had to deal with faulty software, firewalls causing problems, or advertised features that were actually not present. That was not the case for this printer, except for the fact that the numerical keypad on the control panel did not work. This meant that I could not type in my encryption key. However, this printer features a WPS option, and my router had a WPS button (broadcasting the key), so I was able to complete the installation. I should add the LCD touch screen worked. It was just keypad.
I used HP 24/7 chat to contact technical support about the control panel. I was connected in 20 seconds and the tech support was efficient, free, courteous, and friendly. We just needed to verify that the panel was indeed broken. I have had good experience with HP customer and tech support before. Canon''s tech support is better than that of Adobe, AT & T, and of course, much better than Microsoft and Comcast. However, Canon''s tech support still lags behind that of HP (in my opinion). Anyway, HP is sent me another printer at no charge, and I am returning this one at no charge. In the mean time I have gotten good use of it. I should say it is the kids who are using the most.
I should add that you can, naturally, connect the printer via Ethernet cable, or USB cable. However, I just like to have everything on my wireless networks and install everything without using cables.
As mentioned by others, this all-in-one printer features a lot of functionality, first the all-in-one functionality, print, copy, fax, and scan. It features double sided printing, photo printing from USB flash drive, mobile device connectivity, limited printing from the web via the LCD touch screen, and a feature I found really interesting. You can copy both sides of an ID card (or a smaller document) onto one side of a paper.
As I mentioned I am impressed by the speed of the printer. It is rated 35 pages per minute for black and 34 pages per minute for color. I found that to be close to the truth even for a very high resolution picture. To test the speed of the printer I printed four very high resolution photographs on two printers at the same time on 8.5 X 11 inch paper (I have three printers on my home network, and let them race). The conclusion was that this printer is four times faster than the HP Photosmart C6180 all-in-one printer and twelve times faster than the Canon Pixma MX860 all-in-one printer.
The print color resolution is 4,800 X 1,200 which is good but not over the top (scan is 4,800 X 4,800). I don''t think you need more. However, I compared the prints with the other printers that I own. As far as I can tell the resolution is equally good between the printers (extremely high detail) but the colors and the contrast came out the best on the Hewlett Packard Officejet 8500A all-in-one wireless printer. Other than it being a little heavy and a little noisy I have no particular complaints about this printer.
Despite the fact that I really like this printer I feel I should give it four rather than five stars because, after all, the control panel was non-functional upon arrival.
Want HP Officejet Pro 8500A Wireless e-All-in-One (CM755A#B1H) Discount?
Pros: 1. Good print speed 2. Many features.
Cons: 1. EXPENSIVE INK 2. It "wigs out" & cleans itself 4 times in row, taking up TIME. It is constantly cleaning the print heads, which is probably why they go out so often 3. Canceling prints uses up 15 minutes between resets 4. Takes in paper crooked, so borderless prints are crooked 5. Prints lines in GOOD print quality images 6. Eats 2 sided prints and also extra blank paper, jamming the printer 7. Print heads go out OFTEN 8. Ink Hog.
Summary: Other people may have good experiences, but I told my husband that if I have to deal with this printer any more, I will empty a bottle of super glue into its machinery. After taking 3 hours to print 10 cards, I''m pretty irritated.
With the lines in the best quality prints, eating my 2 sided prints, print heads going out, expensive ink, then using the time it takes to figure out why its not printing and then the time it takes to cancel what is in "que", it is NOT worth it.
I used to love HP printers. My old LJ4 was workhorse that lasted decades. Unfortunately, the quality of their printers and the software installation problems has destroyed their previously good reputation.
I unpacked printer, removed packaging, put in printheads and toners and turned on. Kept getting Cartridge jam "remove packaging." But I verified there was NO MORE packaging inside. I finally called their "support" and wasted 30 minutes talking to someone who was absolutely no help and couldn''t even answer my basic questions whether some of the insides I saw were correct. He first told me it was probably power supply, which sounded ridiculous. Then I heard bad clunking on one of my numerous retries to print. He just said "probably defective." I had already performed the time-consuming software installation also with problems.
So now I have to package it all up and return TOTAL TIME WASTED= 3 hours
I give up on HP have had constant problems with every HP printer I''ve purchased after my old reliable LJ4.
