- Color laser printer offers affordable color printing
- Up to 600 x 600 dpi for both black and color prints with 8 ppm speed for both black and color
- 250-sheet paper tray, with option to add second tray
- 16-character front panel LCD display offers easy-to-access information
- Device measures 16.0 x 14.6 x 17.8 inches (WxHxD)
Page 94 of the User Guide has the following instructions for those who would like to use the toner beyond their replacement time:
Configuration
Cartridge Out Override can only be enabled from the printer''s control panel menu.
1. From the main menu, press (RIGHT ARROW) to System setup and press (SELECT).
2. Press (RIGHT ARROW) to Print quality and press (SELECT).
3. Press (RIGHT ARROW) to Replace supplies and press (SELECT).
4. Press (RIGHT ARROW) to Override out and press (SELECT).
5. Press (SELECT).
If Stop at out is selected, the printer will stop printing when a cartridge reaches the recommended replacement point. If Override out is selected, the printer will continue
printing when a cartridge reaches the recommended replacement point. The factory default setting is Stop at out.
The full story of the trials and tribulations of a hapless 2600N owner can be viewed at: http://www.epinions.com/content_196413001348
Buy HP Color LaserJet 2600n Printer (Q6455A#ABA) Now
You know, on paper, the HP 2600n probably makes no sense not much memory, one-pass engine (speeds for black and color are the same), expensive replacement cartridges, slow black-only speed, average looks, small & unimpressive LCD display.But.... In the real world, this printer will surprise and even amaze you! If you print ANY color in your documents, this printer will leave it''s competition in the dust in terms of performance. Color print-outs are fast and come out instantly no warm-up, etc. The unusual design allows it to take up minimal space on your desk and provides easy paper retrieval and cartridge replacement. The simple display is incredibly intuitive and features are easily & quickly located.
Instead of lots of memory, the printer makes use of your computer''s memory and cpu (read: not post-script) this may have a very slight performance effect on your computer. But, you never have to worry about purchasing extra printer memory ($$), since your computer probably has plenty of it available and probably more CPU power than you need.
Operating noise is acceptable and the printer never over-heats (common on some other color laser models). The HP support software isn''t the flashy kind that populates your tool bars just a very simple and effective set of utilities, which helps you configure and maintain the printer.
Color text print quality is the best I''ve seen on any kind of printer, and business graphics are unrivaled. The photo printouts are pretty decent for a laser, but not in the class of inkjets but they sure come out fast!
While the cartridges are expensive at least the printer comes with FULL capacity cartridges, which ironically cost more than the printer. (You are literally getting the printer for free!). I have printed several large documents (including many hi-res pictures) and the cartridges are still showing 98% capacity!
So, when should you NOT get this printer? If you mainly print-out reams of black/white documents, then this printer is NOT a good choice; go for a monochrome or 4-pass color laser instead. But, most home users do print some color (ie, web pages) which makes this a much better real-world printer.
They have the more powerful one-pass engine type HP color lasers where I work, and they are impressive; which makes me believe the 2600n should be reliable as well.
Read Best Reviews of HP Color LaserJet 2600n Printer (Q6455A#ABA) Here
I bought this printer in October, 2005, primarily to print documents with occasional color use. To my surprise, about 3/4 of the way through my second black toner cartridge, the three color cartridges were exhausted. The supply counter reported that I had printed 4800 pages in color! I print VERY LITTLE color, and I just could not understand it. I called HP tech support, and was told that in fact even when you think you are printing black text only, the printer uses "a little" color toner too. I was not happy to hear this, since nowhere in HP''s literature that I could find is this mentioned, but OK. . .they told me I could prevent this by printing in "draft" instead of in "normal," and by printing in greyscale. So, I loaded the new color cartridges (THREE of them, at approx. $80 each!!!), and guess what? The page counter CONTINUED to count pages for each of the color cartridges AND for the black cartridges! So, I called tech support back and was THEN informed that there is no way to avoid "using" color (I don''t know if the printer actually uses color, or if the counter just "says" it does. The end result is the same. You can''t print in black if your color cartridges are "out.") Tech support called this a "cheap" printer and said that the grayscale option isn ''t available, no matter what you try to set up. Needless to say, I feel pretty disgusted and cheated. I will use up the remaining toner and then throw this machine away. I think HP should be ashamed. The tech guy seemed to think I should have somehow "known" about this. Phoo! Don''t buy it. M. ZashinAddendum: To be fair, I called HP tech support a third time and was then told that tech support #2 was wrong. You CAN print in grayscale and by doing so will avoid "using" color toner. It is also important to download and install the latest firmware from the HP site. I am following these suggestions, and will suspend judgment until I find out if this is now accurate information. M. Zashin
Want HP Color LaserJet 2600n Printer (Q6455A#ABA) Discount?
Don''t be fooled by the 600 x 600 resolution listed. The printer outputs fantastic quality photo prints and (obviously) great text. If you are considering this instead of an inkjet for photos, be warned that a laser printer will only output as good as the source material. Pics from my 5MP Kodak EasyShare camera look beter than on my (also HQ) HP inkjet. But older lower res (3mp) photos exhibit color inaccuracies. In short, if your photo has a flaw, the 2600n will show it (Laser Printers don''t hide flaws by "bleeding" like inkjets do). Laser printers also aren''t for novices, you *will* have to play around with the driver menus to get optimal quality and speedbut when you do, you should be quite satisfied.
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I have had my HP color Laserjet 2600n for about one year. I also have a regular HP monochrome laserjet for the bulk of my printing needs (faster & auto-duplex & lower toner cost), and an Epson color inkjet for printing better quality photos. I use the 2600n for two reasons: color webpage printing and printing the tray inserts for CDs that I produce in my recording studio (I use a special robotic inkjet printer for printing on the CDs themselves, no adhesive labels here!)
I went into this purchase with some trepidation, because the cost of replacing all 4 tomer cartridges exceeds the cost of the whole printer. I initially figured that I might just buy a new one every time the toner ran out, and donate the toner-less printer carcass to schools, etc. Well, nobody wants these as donations, because they would still need to shell out more money for toner than it would cost to buy a new machine WITH toner. I should add, however, that HP claims and independent labs have shown that the toner cartridges that come with this printer are as full as the ones you would buy later they are NOT half full. It seems to be true that HP is giving the printer away in order to sell toner later on.
I have had nothing but good luck with the 2600n so far. I have not experienced paper feed issues, and the only print quality problem I have seen is when I try to print large areas of a single color; this printer, like most (if not all) laser printers, does a poor job of producing large areas of single color coverage. You get an unevenly printed area when you try. But one rarely has to print such things.
All 4 toner cartridges have been depleting at about the same rate, and are almost ready for replacement. I decided that, since the printer is inexpensive, I would experiment with toner replacement kits. I bought a well-reviewed kit on eBay for $135, including the four bottles of toner, refilling tools and supplies, and a set of new fuseable ''chips'' that tell the printer that the cartridges are new after being refilled. If this does not work well for me, I have already purchased a set of new cartridges. The online information I have seen says that the cartridges have internal components that wear out, and one cannot expect them to hold up for more than their original lifespan plus one subsequent refill. So, whether the toner refills work well or not, I have the NEXT toner change already waiting in the closet.
Some reviewers have mentioned that the 2600n does not handle or print well on card stock or heavier papers. The printer does things differently depending on settings you can make in the driver configuration. If I am printing to heavy paper or card stock, I do get poor results if I forget to tell the driver about it ahead of time. With the ''heavy'' paper setting, the printer is much slower; I assume that it is keeping the paper in the fuser stage for a longer time to heat the paper more thoroughly, the better to fuse the toner to the paper. This may also inprove print quality and paper handling as well, but I noticed that with heavy paper, unless I use the correct setting, the toner is not well attached to the paper and can rub or fall off.
(Epson told me, regarding my color inkjet printer, that when I change the paper thickness setting there, that it not only changes how much ink is sprayed, but the paper handling pick-up roller accelerations are adjusted to compensate for the different paper handling characteristics. I imagine that this may also be the case with paper handling on the 2600n....this is why I suggest you read the manual and/or study the driver''s settings you might be using the wrong ones and getting poor results).
Overall, I think what HP has provided a good quality, easy to use machine that allows entry level color laser printing. As with any office equipment, you can pay more initially to get lower operating costs. If you don''t do a ton of color printing, the 2600n is a pretty good balance between initial afforability and subsequent operating costs. Even if you just bought a new one once a year, you would be getting a pretty good deal. think of it as an installment plan or an annual rent, where you expect to pay $350 each year to have color laser printing available.
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Update, November 2007
The toner refill kit that I mentioned earlier finally came into use recently. The printer had been chugging along for months after the point when its toner cartridge meters read ''empty'', but finally the black became truly depleted and I got an error message, "You must replace black toner before proceeding to print". So, I opened that $135 box from Ink Owl, and followed the directions to refill the black cartridge. This included making holes in the cartridge''s ''waste toner'' bin and removing that excess toner, then plugging the holes, making another hole to fill the ''fresh toner'' bin, and finally replacing the ''chip''. By the way, I learned two things doing this:
you never want to change black toner in a room with white walls, even with lots of extra care to prevent mess...the toner makes a cloud that settles on everything, and is very noticeable on while walls.
the ''chip'' really is a circuit with tiny integrated circuit and surface mount components...it is not just a fuse as some other printers use.
Anyway, the refill worked, but I was not happy with the results. Immediately, the printer started laying down a light gray shadow over the entire page, very visible on white (unprinted) areas, and anything that was supposed to be pure black was now dark gray instead. Also, the new black toner seemed to disagree with the other color toners, as the particles seemed to repel each other. Being concerned that the refilled cartridge might be hosing the printer or the other cartridges, I replaced the refilled one with a factory fresh black one, and print quality returned to normal. Based on this experience, I do NOT recommend refilling the cartridges for this printer.
