HP Officejet J6480 user reviews

4.5 stars

"Good printer, however..." on July 20, 2008 by gwzap

Pros: Good print quality, Wireless works great, decent features for the money

Cons: Install manual needs to be re-written, Installation software needs to be tweaked

Summary: Look, I've used HP printers for practically 10 years, and I've used Lexmark, Epson, and Canon, but the install sofrware needs work. I can't believe how poorly the install instructions are written. With all the resources available to HP, they can do better. That being said, the print quality is crisp, color quality is very good, and duplex and wireless features work as advertised. Aside from the install, the printer does its job well.

4.5 stars

"Works Great!" on May 29, 2008 by jrbrug

Pros: Easy set up

Cons: slow scanning

Summary: Don't know what the complaints are on this model, my set up went without a hitch! It does take a while to set it up through the software install (10-15min.)I chose to do a customized install where I chose what software I wanted. You don't need all the junk software that is offered. I already have Adobe Photoshop for viewing photos. The software found my network through an ethernet cable from the printer to the router. I also loaded the drivers on a laptop and was able to access the printer through my wireless G network. It works great...prints two sided copies, scanning, and faxing. You do need to use the included phone cable for the fax machine. It did not like mine...and the software set up tells you so! ...so far so good.

1.5 stars

"A disappointment even though I REALLY wanted it to work." on May 27, 2008 by rparker59

Pros: Copier, scanner, wireless and duplex printing

Cons: Poor setup and auto document feeder does NOT work.

Summary: I have to say I was really enthusiastic at the prospect of a device that would meet almost all of my needs.

Enthusiasim turned to disappointment when trying to used the automatic document feeder (ADF). I had a number of family photos to scan for a project. I used the feeder to scan 4x6 prints. Each scan had the exact same issue - about 4 7/8" down the scan there appeared a horizontal line and the photo lost 1/4" of the image. There were also vertical lines (artifacts) that appeared randomly. It made the image look as if it were scratched.

I then tried scanning via the flatbed. The scan came out perfect. No horizontal line or random artifacts.

I packed up the original unit and returned it to the retailer. I exchanged the J6480 for a brand new unit, took it home and set it up. The setup of the second was a bit frustrating as I had to delete the first printer and re-install. Also had to setup the wireless connection once again.

Once I finally got the computer (HP Pavillion DV6345) to recognize the printer, I embarked on my scanning mission again. I was ready to put the photos in the ADF and let the machine do the work it was designed to do.

Before I committed to an investment of time and disk space I wanted to make sure the spectre of my earlier issues would not reappear. I placed the 4x6 photo in the ADF and pressed "scan".

Well, I was not impressed. I was now experiencing the very same issues as on the first unit I purchased. This time I opted to call the experts at HP Tech Support.

One Hundred and Seven minutes later I was no further along than when I discovered the ADF issues. It didn't matter if I was copying or scanning a photo (or paper document) with the ADF - results were consistently the same. The image always contains a horizontal line where it gets compressed by 1/4".

I tried different size photos - same results.

Conclusion - I received either two units from a bad manufacturing lot or there is a design issue with the ADF. Without the ADF this unit is severely crippled in the capacity in which it is sold and marketed. Don't take my word for it. Scan or copy your own photos or documents using both the ADF and flatbed options. Physically compare the results to the originals. I'd be interested to see if many other folks experience or notice the same issues (feedback at ray_parker59@hotmail.com).

If HP can get the ADF portion of this device working properly and ease the installation pain a bit, it will have an awesome product with little competition in this price/performance range. I really hope they can remedy this quickly.

3.5 stars

"Installation needs work" on June 6, 2008 by paratwa48

Pros: Very easy to print, fast, good colors

Cons: installing printer is a nightmare

Summary: I tried for 3 hours to get this configured by myself with no luck. I then called HP tech support and 2 hours later it worked.

There is a manual setting on the printer to configure network settings. We had to manually set the IP on the printer, once that happened things started to fall into place. Just hit the setup button on the printer and scroll till you see network settings, there is an option to set it manually.

We also had to delete a file and reinstall it, since it wanted to default back to the wrong IP address.

Here is what we had to do. Install the installation cd then (this is his spelling, I just pasted it here)

If ther would be no network found just do this ff steps:

Right click on the hp disc and click explore

Look for the Setup folder>Open it>look for Netdevicemanager folder>right click on the windows installer netdevice and click Uninstall and then right click again and click install.

After doing this go back to the Connection type window click through the netwrok and it will found now your netwrok printer.

It now works perfectly! And I am very happy with it, more importantly, my wife is happy with it.

This is much better than my old printer having to use a print server on a Non networked printer.

If it had been easier to install, I would have given it a 9 instead of a 7.

Updated on Oct 18, 2009

I have been using this printer for over a year now, and I have to say it still works great. But the included software is horrible. After installing it, it now takes 4 minutes longer to boot windows. Find yourself some after market fax software and uninstall all of the HP software. Other than that, it works flawlessly! HP is just very sloppy with their software code.