HP Photosmart C6280 All-in-One

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Average user rating: 2.0 stars out of 35 reviews Back to product review
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4 out of 4 people found this review helpful

1.5 stars

"Low print quality"

by jctwu on October 1, 2007

Pros: More ink efficient than PSC 1510

Cons: Low print quality, large, slow network interface
Summary: The reviewer is correct about the print quality. I thought I was going nuts. We upgraded from a 3-year-old HP PSC 1510 (the one with the paper feed problems).

There are lots of extra dots ("fuzz") on every single letter when you print a Word document on Normal setting. Surprisingly, the print quality gets much better (becomes normal ...) if you print on Fast Draft (the fastest setting) and duplex modes ... but the ink is not as dark. Fast Draft also has a tendency to print your pages off center (even after you've made sure the paper guides are flush against the paper). If you don't believe me, print one on Normal, then print one on Fast Draft or in duplex mode, and compare the difference. The Normal one is WORSE (but darker).

If you print in duplex mode, the printer also defaults to waiting about 5-10 seconds per page for the ink to dry, so keep this in mind. This compared to a laser printer which will print the other side right away. There is an option to reduce drying time.

The Ethernet network interface also appears to be slow. A 64KB page transfers in after, you guessed it, 15+ seconds (you can double-click the printer icon in the System Tray and watch the progress). The PSC 1510 (over USB) was twice as fast.

The software takes a long time to install (more than the average) on a 2-year-old computer, and you distrust it a bit as your computer slows down in strange places where it didn't before.

The printer is also larger and twice as heavy compared to the compact HP PSC 1510.
Updated
I've since discovered that if you set the Paper Type to "HP Premium Paper" or "Other inkjet papers" (while you're still using normal multipurpose paper) the poor print quality will go away. I've found the best results using a Print quality of "Fast Normal".

Apparently the previous generation printer (C5180) and the related new printer (C7280) both have this problem, so this workaround may work for those owners too.
Updated
testThis is a test

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1 reply to this review

reply by: Mr. Dynamite on October 9, 2007

Overall would you recommend this allin0ne now that you use your trick?
What about other features... I am very much interested in color graphics and color photos scan and print...
thanks

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