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User Reviews: HP PhotoSmart 8250
Forget HP Printers
Pros: none
Cons: Ink
The option to print using only the black cartridge does not function unless all the color cartridges are full. When they ARE full and you select to print in black only, it still uses all the colors to create black. I think a class action lawsuit is in order. I will never buy or recommend another HP product.
Was this review helpful? Yes - NoBig mistake
Pros: If it has all ink colors it will print.
Cons: Ink! Ink! And more Ink!
This is the first negative review I have ever given anything. I have had this printer for years and finally decided to put my thoughts about this product into writing and hopefully save someone out there some aggravation. The main problem I have with this printer is the ink issue. It runs out of ink very, very, very fast. I mainly use my printer for black and white paper documents and even select for colored documents to be printed in only black and white. Even with these precautions this printer runs out of ink colors like crazy. I have almost convinced myself it automatically says you are out of colors, because after I buy brand new ink they are already less than full before I print anything colored! To top it off the printer will NOT let you print a black and white document unless you have all of the five the colored inks installed and not empty. This printer is a huge waste of money.
Was this review helpful? Yes - NoOk the first month - after that, pile of crap
Pros: Decent quality on prints
Cons: Uses a lot of ink and you *cannot* print black if any of the color inc cartridges are empty
I usually don't write reviews, but I'm som angry at this printer that I simply cannot resist. Maybe I'll spare some of you potential buyers a lot of irritation.
The printer uses a lot of time doing so-called maintenance at each startup and it takes a lot of time.
The cartridges are really tiny and contains a very limited amount of ink - prepare to visit Frys at leat once a week ...
The best part is that you cannot print black when one of the color cartridges are empty and the black is full.
After this product I don't trust HP the way I used to. I get the impression this printer is just a "tool" to get consumers to buy piles of ink.Was this review helpful? Yes - NoDo not waste your money
Pros: none
Cons: so much...
I'm not really one to write reviews but I just need to inform readers about this horrible product. First, it takes forever to warm up and even longer to print. So slow. Second, if you are out of one color ink and need to print only black it will not bypass and let you print in black and white. I had to get a pink and yellow printer cartridge for the printer to work when I only needed to print something with black ink. Third, it starting freezing and malfunctioning about 6 months in. It will start printing then freeze with a blue screen, needing to be retarted and then die again on the reprint. Finally, HP support is HORRIBLE. I tried to resolve the issue and they had no idea. They told me to unplug it then print a test page. I tried again and they had not clue. This is a slow clunky product that does not work and support is pathetic. Do not buy!
Was this review helpful? Yes - NoWorst printer I ever owned
Pros: Fast
Cons: Brain-dead design, bad paper transport, poor images
What happened to our Mechanical Engineering geniuses? They all left or retired?
This thing is horribly desigend.
1. The paper path is awful.
1a. The load tray has a very limited capacity, and is located under the outpath. You can not add sheets while the printer is printing, you need to wait for it to stop.
1b. The reverse path causes jams, and then you need to remove the panel in the back to reach for the jam,. If you are like me, the back of the printer is against the wall, which means you need to remove the printer from its stand to reach for the panel and see what's what. Then you need small fingers to extract the shreds of paper.
1c. There is a small plate to reach from the front, but my fingers are too large to be useful there.
2. The ergonomics are absurd.
2a. If you run out of any color, the printer won't print even black text. THAT IS MEAN!!! It is designed to force you to buy these expensive small cartridges.
2b. Using the contrl panel you can not manually control much. You can not set defaults. Most of the settings are through the print driver, and that is a story for itself.
2c. The print driver "forgets" the settings from one page to another. If you set the printing once, and then decide to print another copy, you need to re-enter all the same settings you did before.
2d. I have not found a way to save different printer defaults.
2e. You can not invoke the "device maintenance", "head cleaning" or alignment through the software driver, only through the control panel.
2f. Despite trying all of the possible configurations I have not been able to print a decent looking photograph with this printer. Best paper, any of the setting, still a grainy off-color, smudged, out of focus trash.
In short, the $25 600DPI lexmark that this printer replaced was 10 times better.Was this review helpful? Yes - NoBest printer I've ever had
Pros: 6 ink system, fast, great photos
Cons: Big and heavy, but it's not meant to be a mobile printer.
I have had the 8250 for almost 2 years now and it has been the best printer I've ever had. It has never jammed on me, never prints slow, and the 6 inks save me money by only having to replace one color at a time. The picture quality is amazing.
There are some things that need clarified that I saw in other reviews:
People complain that it didn't come with a USB cable. No printers today do. Not the printer's fault.
Also, people say that it is slow. If you print on HP's premium/plus photo paper, it will print slower than on the advanced photo paper. And if you do not have USB 2.0 ports on your PC/notebook, of course the printer will be slower. Again, faults of the consumer, not the printer.
Lastly, people complain about the software that comes on the CD when you install it. You know what? Uninstall whatever you don't want after it's done. Not that hard.
I honestly do not know how people have issues with this printer, or other HPs. It doesn't take that much technological knowledge to use a printer.
I print a few hundred pictures a month for the family, and plenty of documents for work and school. It is the most reliable printer I've ever had, and I'll never have anything but HP's in the future.Was this review helpful? Yes - NoBe Forewarned!!!
Pros: quite, fast, nice color
Cons: PAPER PICK UP PROBELMS!!!!
The 8250 has a design flaw that outweighs all the good points about it. It will develop a A4 paper pick up problem. Do a search for HP 8250 paper problems and read for yourself. It's too bad too because other than that issue it's a nice printer. But that one issue is enough to kill the deal.
Was this review helpful? Yes - NoInk will not set on ordianry inkjet paper
Pros: ease of use
Cons: Terrible ink (Vivera)
I purchased the HP Photosmart 8250 printer last Christmas (one year ago). I immediately had problem with the ink not setting on normal inkjet paper. I was told by HP to buy their special paper. That was expensive and the ink still didn't set on the paper. The printer also uses way too much ink - expensive!!
No help from the HP customer service.
I won't buy another HP printer.Was this review helpful? Yes - NoGreat photo printer!
Pros: Amazing photo quality, ease-of-use, hardly uses ink, self-cleaning
Cons: Cleans every time I turn it on (there might be an option to turn that off, lol)
Overall, it's an amazing printer. I've had it over 6 months and have yet to replace the black ink - and I print a lot for work (I'm a free-lance writer and student). I've only had to replace the yellow ink, but that's due to heavy photo printing - and let's face it, yellow is used a lot to create greens and skin tone hues.
The ink is easily found on ebay or discount stores, and I love the fact that each color is a seperate cartidge - didn't it suck when you only had one cartridge for all the colors and you just knew that you still had most of the color, but had to replace it because ONE color ran out? This is much more pleasant, and it's impossible to see the difference between the photos it prints and the ones I used to get from the store.
One thing to note, a lot of reviewers complain of a slow, cranky printer. I have experienced none of these problems but did with other printers in the passed. I've found that covering and dusting the printer prevents a lot of these problems - I have two pets and my cat loves to sleep on it. So, I keep it clean and it does its job.
If you want a great photo printer that does a good job at printing regular papers, too, this is the printer for you.Was this review helpful? Yes - NoPoor Quality Control
Pros: Nice features
Cons: Slow, doesn't work well, uses too much ink
The HP Photosmart 8250 is like a facade. It looks nice, but that's about it.
I've had one for five months. In that time, HP has replaced it once and the new model has the same problems as the old one!
Problems:
It uses too much ink. I use about 1 black ink cartridge per week, even though I print less than half of the 480 pages that HP claims a cartridge will last. Also, it uses almost none of the light blue and light brown inks.
It constantly goes into maintenance mode. The printer has an annoying habit of moving into maintenance mode on a frequent basis.
Paper handling is terrible! The printer continually thinks it's out of paper even when it's not.
It's slow. Not nearly as fast as advertised.
The Photosmart 8250 has some nice features and is attractive looking, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.Was this review helpful? Yes - NoA decent purchase
Pros: Speed, 6 ink cart, nice LCD screen,connectivity "options"
Cons: grainy prints, no USB cable included, tedious installation
Oki just picked up this printer about a week back and so far i must say im not impressed too much..
heres the take:
INSTALLATION: for starters... noUSB cable.. ok ok i have a extra cable for my speedstream lying around but ull have to shell about 5$ on a usb cable.. right out of the box... not exactly a good thing.. and the manual was sparse and low quality
software installation is good but boring.. 600MB to be precise.. so it can take a while...
CONNECTIVITY: bluetooth supported, no pc required, pictbridge, mem slot drives...
BUILT/STYLE.. heavy n large.. not too good a thing.. looks are alright, the lcd screen is of good quality
SETUP: set calibration ( approx 5 mins) at startup..whole process is automatic
PRINTS:
this is the main thing so here goes..
TEXT: black.. i was NOT IMPRESSED i had an ancient 870 cxi deskjet lying around and it gave far sharper and more laser like results. Too much bleeding and feathering.. and the black did not seem saturated enWas this review helpful? Yes - No
Rate & Write a Review: HP PhotoSmart 8250
Rate & Write a Review: HP PhotoSmart 8250
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