CNET editors' review
CNET Editors' ChoiceMar 02-
CNET editors' rating:
stars
Excellent
Detailed editors' rating
- Reviewed on: 03/20/2002
Driving a tank
Getting started with the OfficeJet d145 is easy. The unit comes with two illustrated setup posters, one for Windows users and another for Mac aficionados. HP also includes a handy supplemental guide for Windows XP users. The OfficeJet d145 supports Microsoft Windows 98 and above and Macintosh OS 9.1 or later. It connects solely via USB (cable not included), but it has an open connectivity slot for an HP Jetdirect 200m print-server or parallel-cable adapter. The bottom-mounted paper tray holds up to 150 sheets of plain paper and supports various HP specialty papers, including photo paper, transparency film, iron-on transfers, and greeting cards; the output tray sits atop the input tray.
On the downside, the OfficeJet d145 is a bulky, 35-pound tank that needs to have its double-sided printer attachment snapped into place before it's ready to roll. And the unit we tested was very noisy, whirring, snapping, and grinding more loudly than the Canon MultiPass F50 while starting up and photocopying. The photocopier's lid caused us some trouble, too. It tended to slam down under its own weight. Also, its handgrip is small; it's easier for larger hands to lift the lid by gripping the sheet feeder, which often results in the paper guide falling off.
For an extra c-note...
At $599, the OfficeJet d145 costs about $100 more than the MultiPass F50 and other d-series OfficeJets, but its unusual features--three card readers for digital-camera memory and the aforementioned duplexer--justify the price. The printer's overall high quality of photo printing makes the SmartMedia, CompactFlash, and Memory Stick slots a natural choice. When you insert a card, the unit's LCD gives you your options: printing contact sheets with thumbnails of all the pictures, printing all the images, or downloading them speedily to your computer. After viewing the thumbnail sheet, you can select some pictures for full-page printing by filling in circles with a dark pencil or pen (SAT-style) and pressing a few buttons on the OfficeJet d145's front panel. As for producing double-sided printouts, you can do this with a few selections in the computer's print-dialog box or by selecting options in the photocopier's LED menu.
Quick, not dirty, color
In CNET Labs' tests, the OfficeJet d145 discharged itself honorably. While plain-paper text appeared gray with slight hairs, quality improved when we used HP's coated paper. The OfficeJet d145 had little difficulty with our graphics and photo test documents. Both plain- and coated-paper graphics looked excellent, with good color matching and attention to detail, especially in the tricky shading, line-drawing, and photographic elements of our document. The test photo also looked excellent, with smooth skin tones and vibrant color. And while the HP's grayscale scans lagged behind those of the MultiPass F50 in terms of both speed and quality, the OfficeJet d145 did reproduce slightly better color scans.
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