May 23, 2007
Great Deal on HP OfficeJet Pro L7680
The weekend of Mother’s Day I made the trip to OfficeMax in search of a new multifunction printer with networking capacity. While I did find plenty to choose from, there was one I wanted in particular but it was above my budget. When discussing the issue with my DH, he offered to cover the difference on the two machines I decided I would like to have at home to use. The machine I chose was the Hewlett Packard OfficeJet Pro L7680. The machine offers so much more than my previous HP Officejet T45 but then again the previous machine was some 10 to 15 years old too., built long before the days of home networking and the need to use a single printer from one location.
The OJP L7680 offers fax capabilities, printing, scanning, copying, and all of these items are available in both color, black and white, and grayscale, which is another word for economy printing to save ink. The machine offers an option to set it up without the use of a computer. One can actually use it without a computer although one would miss some nifty tricks it can do without one.
It was essential to replace the former machine for the simple fact that the scanner had a line in it from what I gather is use through the years despite numerous cleaning. The fax board refused to work, and the unit began to jam more frequently than usual. Again, I cannot complain because the T45 gave me many years of loyal service. Now, I am on to the next generation of printers that can do almost everything but write the work for you although this machine does keep an internal log of all fax calls in and out, printing jobs, and ink usage so one always knows when it is time to begin purchasing new ink.
The OfficeJet Pro was a bit more difficult to setup than any predecessor I owned but I am sure it is due to the optional features. in order to use the printer on the network, one can purchase a USB cable to plug into the printer and the primary computer or simply use the Ethernet cat 5 cable to plug into the router making this machine its own print server. I chose the latter as my choice of installation.
The greatest surprise so far came when I needed to print a dual-sided paper. The paper had bends in it from shipping and while I straightened it out as best I could, it still jammed but not before printing both sides making the copy appear better than the original packing slip - paper jam and all!
Color on this machine is amazing, which is no surprise given the fact it can accept approximately four various memory cards from digital cameras and camcorders. It prints photographs as well as many photo labs although one has to consider the cost of photo paper these days. It was my hope that photo paper would go down in price but instead, the prices seem to rise to disproportional heights.
The only downside, if can say this is truly a downside is that the machine requires six cartridges. The top takes two cartridges containing two colors in each, which I presume is for the scanner section. The bottom section requires four cartridges, each in different colors using black, magenta, cyan, and yellow. The price of replacement cartridges are not as expensive as other models but with the additional cost of two more cartridges in along with the four in the printer section, I have a feeling this might become a bit more costly than I hoped. The ink prices I found so far lean toward $17.99 to $14.99 through 123inkjets.com.
This particular machine cost approximately $451 with taxes but without the warranty replacement fees or additional warranties. All it all, it was a decent price for everything the machine can do. After working with it the last week or so, I find myself thoroughly pleased with the product’s performance.
It masters over other printers, even multifunctions, when it comes to style as well. The machine is black with white sides. The button areas have chrome-like colors and an LCD screen that allows one to set the machine parameters without the use of a computer.
The unit has a bottom tray that dispenses printer paper for regular print jobs. The top has a flat-bed and an auto-feed chute for paper copying, scanning, and faxing. The auto duplexer comes in extremely handy, as mentioned above. The days of going back to the printer to flip a page and hope it prints evenly on the second side are gone as this baby can do that all by itself. The fax machine section offers options for those with signal ring, formerly known as ringmaster. Signal ring allows the homeowner or phone-owner to setup mutiple phone numbers on one voice line. We have a family number, children’s number, and a fax number. Granted, one cannot speak on the phone except one party at a time but the machine does allow us to set the specific rings for the fax machine to pick up the call. The voice line for the parents has a single ring, ring, ring, ring pattern whereas the children’s line has a double ring-ring, ring-ring sound. The fax line has a triple ring that sounds like ring-ring-ring, ring-ring-ring. The fax section allows the user to set the number of rings before picking up the call. The fax does not load as a normal fax machine either. It loads with the paper with writing on it facing upwards instead of downward, which is most likely due to the fact it uses the flat-bed scanner to copy the document before phoning the fax party and sending the fax. If the party on the other line has color receiving capability then one can send and receive in color!
The OfficeJet Pro has an accessory paper tray that holds even more inkjet paper. If memory serves me correctly, the tray for this machine holds an additional 500 sheets in addition to what goes into the lower tray now. Unfortunately, the additional tray is not a part of the initial purchase but is available at Hewlett Packard for around $99. I am seriously debating on buying this extra paper tray to prevent running out of paper during large print jobs such as those that occur when I am printing my manuscripts.
The additional tray sits beneath the original machine much in the manner of a riser of sorts. The great thing about the paper catch tray, which I hopes continues to work when adding the new paper tray. It has a section that slides out from the upper section above the original purchase tray that collects printed projects. The slide-out piece lifts a lip-type plastic device to prevent the paper from shooting straight out of the machine.
One more thing about the pros to this machine, it has indented handles on each side for carrying it safely as possible from one area to another but with the weight of the machine, I cannot expect anyone would move it about often. Additionally, the printer will self-align, calibrate the inkheads, and clean the inkheads s well.
I cannot claim that this machine is all roses, champagne and chocolate covered strawberries. It does have a few faults but they are ones I can easily live with when considering the other aspects. While printing, scanning, and copying, the unit is louder than most units I had demo time playing around with while in the store; however, none of the other machines offered the extras that are available on this machine.
The loud printing sound and the fact the printer uses not two but six printer cartridges is another downside. Again, this is something easy to live with considering all the bells and whistles.
Please view a few pictures of the machine below:
OfficeJet Pro L7680 Front at angle and another of front with view of trays and console menu.
The top section above the button console lifts to reveal a flatbed scanner with the uppermost curved tray allows for self-feeding documents to copy, scan, and fax in addition to dual-sided auto-duplexer printing. The four cartridges fit into the little doorway to the left-hand side beneath the button console when viewing in this angle. The second set are in the top area behind the buttons.
Hewlett Packard OfficeJet Pro L7680 view from side showing handle and from back paper-jam removal area.
Notice the tray that holds the paper. The tray top covering the paper tray has a sliding case that opens to prevent paper from shooting out of the printer possibly ruining it. The button console panel offers various setup buttons to set the machine, align cartridges, clean heads, and print test pages among other things.
The back plug holes on the left-side facing the back contain slots for the USB cable to printer slot, input RJ6 telephone jack and output RJ6 jack to allow fax machine to function through telephone with caller-id and/or answering machine with telephone.
TheHewlett Packard OfficeJet Pro L7680 is a nice model with plenty of features. The multiple extra features makes the somewhat loud printing features completely worth it in the end . I hope this machine is as durable as my previous Hewlett Packard Multifunction Printer (OfficeJet T45). If so, it will last a good long while before becoming necessary to replace this machine.
Until Next Time….
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