Up front I must confess that I'm very
partial to Hewlett Packard printers, scanners and all-in-ones. I have
several of these products in my office, as well as in the offices of my
employees, and have found HP products to be very good to excellent in
scanning and printing quality, and solid-as-a-rock reliable if you need
a high duty cycle, which is a requirement of any SOHO (Small Office Home
Office) business.
I really like my HP G85 All-in-One, which
sits in my office and has performed brilliantly for the past 2 years,
so I was very excited to have the opportunity to review the latest and
greatest all-in-one from HP, the d155xi.
The d155xi is the top of the line all-in-one
in the d135, 145 family. It promised:
2400-dpi
scanning, capable of handling legal and letter size documents at 25-400%
reduce/enlarge
1200x600
dpi printer (19 ppm b&w, 16 ppm color).
High
quality color and b&w faxing at 33.6 Kbps.
Adjustable
saturation color and b&w copier, with a reliable 99 page automatic
document feeder
Two
paper trays (one with 250 page capacity)
Two sided printing
Three smart
media ports for the most popular digital camera memory cards (including
Sony memory stick), for instantly printing photos from thumbnail size
to 8"x10". This is a feature that has limited appeal if you
use aftermarket photo manipulation software.
10/100 Base
Ethernet network adapter.
USB connectivity
(for single computer use)
PC and Mac compatible
Wow! I'm in heaven I thought. What a girl! and then reality
hit...
The d155xi promised better image scanning and print quality
than my G85, which it did deliver beautifully, BUT at a price:
The new style ink cartridges
are smaller and use at least 25% more ink for a high quality print job
than the G85 cartridges, and they cost more. The black ink cartridge
only printed about half the number of pages as a G85 black cartridge.
Paper handling was terrible.
Paper jams and creased sheets from both paper trays marred what would
be a beautiful print job. Yes, the paper was top quality 24lb HP branded
ink jet paper. Poor paper handling is unheard of in HP printers, but
even with telephone technical support we could not improve the gorilla-like
handling characteristics of the d155xi.
The d155xi is the noisiest
ink jet printer I've ever heard. Part of the problem comes from the
pressurized ink jet technology, which makes the printer sound more like
an auto-loading canon than an office device.
The most frustrating characteristic
of the d155 came from the twin paper tray setup. The software controlling
which paper tray you wish to print from would stop functioning on a
regular basis, requiring a reboot of the computer and unplugging and
replugging in the power cord for the printer. You heard me straight,
this is the remedy I received from HP telephone support!
The Twain driver would cease
to function occasionally when using Photoshop, again requiring a reboot.
Another problem with d155
software is common to all the HP scanners and all-in-ones. When scanning,
you cannot select and save a new default setting, which means every
time you wish to scan an image, other then the setting HP thinks you
should use, you must manually override their setting every...single...time...you...make...a...scan.
Try doing this with a batch of photos or letters and you'll be looking
for someone at HP to slap up the side of the head with your fatigued
mouse hand.
Another software brain fart,
you must manually turn off the auto-cropping feature (which is as blind
as a bat) every single time you scan an image that has a background
color that is close to white or sky blue, other wise the feature will
terminate what it thinks you don't need.
In defense of the d155xi:
Scanning capabilities for
letter and legal size images were fantastic.
Print quality was accurate
and top-drawer-even for photos (as good as any Epson I've seen). If
ONLY the paper handling were better!
The software installation
and hardware setup guide for the unit was simple and idiot proof when
following the step-by-step illustrated directions. Note: Uninstall
any previous HP all-in-one software prior to loading the new d155xi
software, or your new unit will not work.
CONCLUSION:
HP
must work out the quirks of this promising machine. I've never seen an
HP product with more bugaboos. It feels as if the unit is still in development,
and we, the consumer have been given the opportunity to experience an
HP product in development on our nickel.
At the end of my month-long date I boxed up the expensive
($799) and sexy looking d155xi, and gladly shipped her back to HP. She
may be a 36x24x36 in theory, but in reality she is a high maintenance
woman that promises more than she can deliver. I went back to my loyal,
well-worn and slightly portly HP G85, kissed her, hugged her, begged her
for forgiveness and she took me back without complaint. The G85 may be
yesterday's technology compared to the d155, but she is a real tough lady,
I know her quirks, and she delivers great text and photo results 100%
of the time.
If you wish to purchase or research the d155 further, look
in the "Business" section of www.hp.com.
The d135 and d145 can be found in the "Home and Home Office"
section. Best prices for the d155 and her sisters can be found at www.mysimon.com,
but for $299 or less, you can own the G85, which still is a great buy,
especially at this price!
By day, Todd
Hewey is the Creator and Executive Producer for Honor Squadrons International
("HSI"), a 10-part, 10-hour High-Definition aviation series
premiering on PBS in 2006. For more information about Todd visit Reel Adventures Production at www.reeladventures.net
HP
must work out the quirks of this promising machine. I've never seen an
HP product with more bugaboos. It feels as if the unit is still in development,
and we, the consumer have been given the opportunity to experience an
HP product in development on our nickel. 