HP Deskjet F380 Review
CNET has reviewed the relatively new HP Deskjet F380 and they are definitely not impressed. They gave it a 5.7 rating, which is basically the lowest we’ve ever seen them give. Getting a 5.7 rating from CNET is basically the equivalent of an F–. So far there are only two customer reviews on CNET, but both of them are bad as well.
Even though this model is called a Deskjet, it is actually a multifunction machine that can print, scan and copy. HP rates it at 20 pages per minute for black prints and 14 for color, although in their tests CNET was only able to get 3.94 ppm for text. It also took them a full three minutes to print out a 4 x 6 picture. Even though this isn’t marketed as a photo printer, that still stinks. This printer retails at $80, and according to CNET, that is the only thing it has going for it. They find fault with the print and scan quality and the speed of the printer. HP touts the fact that this printer is “light and has a “ultra-compact design”, while CNET notes that the design can make some print jobs “awkward.”
The bottom line of their review is “you get what you pay for.” Based on HP’s product description for this machine, they really weren’t trying to pass it off as anything but a good bargain machine, but it sounds like they may not have even achieved that much. This printer sounds like another example of a low-priced HP printer that should be avoided. HP does make some quality machines, but in recent years they have had an increasing number of poor quality inkjets that they sell for under $100. That is not to say that you can’t get a good cheap printer, because they do exist - you just have to be careful.
If there is anybody out there who wants to prove this review wrong, you can leave a comment and share your experience.
Buy this printer 
Buy HP Deskjet F380 ink cartridges
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August 16th, 2006 at 12:04 pm
I read the Cnet review before heading out to find a printer. I guess they were right. I went to the store, checked out a few models, got confused on my printer model numbers, and ended up with the HP DeskJet F380. I would say an F- is right on. It is slow, coloring is horrible, and very unreliable. I am thinking of returning it, but am not sure if the store will take it back.
Bottom line —– DON’T BUY ONE!!!!!!
September 13th, 2006 at 2:55 pm
Im not much of a computer geek but Im sad after reading all of these poor reviews on the HP Deskjet F380. I picked one up last night and I guess I’m an idiot because I love this freaking thing! I had an Epson Stylus Color 400 that was as loud as all get out, gears grinding and sounding like it was gonna blow up! Not to mention slow print speed and crappy printing! Compared to that Im in heaven! This is for my home PC to print coupons, maps and maybe an occasional picture or copy though I must admit.
December 27th, 2006 at 9:50 pm
I busted my HP 5100 series deskjet, and picked this up as a replacement. I haven’t printed photos yet, however, I have printed text docs and copied, and am quite pleased with the quality I received for the price. It prints text pretty quickly, and the copies come out crisp and clear. Not bad for the money…
May 17th, 2007 at 9:36 pm
I bought an F380 without reading any reviews, but on the basis of unit cost and cartridge cost, which was easily the best of sub $100 printers. I’m pleased with the text print quality and the color is easily good enough for graphs and suchlike. I didn’t buy it for photo printing and haven’t tried any. From the reviews I’ve read since buying it, I get the impression it is ink hungry, so that may prove to be a letdown. At this stage I’m happy with it, and the scan and copy options are an added bonus at the price.
July 16th, 2007 at 4:07 pm
I bought this machine in March of 2007. At fist, things worked ok. Until one day I decided to scan something after not using the scanner portion for a month. It would not work, error messages galore. Phoned HP support 1 hour later the solution was to un-install/re-install. Once working, the scanner portion again stopped working about two weeks later for no particular reason, I had not installed anything new and all programs in my computer were the same as before. I phoned HP support and 1 hour later had to again un-install/re-install.
Then I upgraded to Vista (bad mistake). The scanner was not working once again and I had to phone HP support. After spending another hour on the phone the solution again was to un-install/re-install. Of course this was because I needed to upgrade to Vista drivers.
Recently, I ran out of black ink. I replaced the cartridge with HP ink. It printed a test page, which I then scanned like it said, and the machine would not print. No error messages, just would not print. Tried to re do the process three times, unplugged the machine and USB, tried and tried, nothing. Phoned HP support again, after 1 hour on the phone they fugured there were USB errors found in the Registry Edit, how they got there I do not know. Anyways, HP could not help me cause these “errors” could not be deleted. I was referred back to my computer builder, and we still could not get these “errors” out of the USB. So once again I tried the un-install/re-install. Guess what, these so called error still show up, but not the machine works.
I am running a very limited home system here, we do not scan alot, we do not print alot, we do not copy alot. The machine has to put out minimal effort. I have spent 1 hour a month at least fixing problems, just to keep this running.
In my opinion, I would spend your money elsewhere. This machine is not worth the headache or the time.
September 2nd, 2007 at 8:09 am
I have an F380 that is plaqued with print error messages that can’t be deleted from the queue. I must restart the computer to get the queue clear. Sometimes the printer works, but, most of the time it will hang up in the middle of a print job. If anyone has a fix let me know.
September 11th, 2007 at 9:32 am
I have never tried to use the F380 for photos, its only used for office work, scanning and printing DOCS. The scanning has always worked as expected. Printing appears to be good for office documents. My only gripe is the print errors mentioned above. Sometimes it will print when i want. Other times it wont print at all. No errors showing, the print que displays the jobs with the “printing…” status but nothing happens. I have to reboot my pc and upon rebooting it will print whatever is in que without problem. I just hating having to reboot to print something.
September 24th, 2007 at 10:44 am
i bought this machine about 2 months ago. i have a problem. all the lights are on and it hangs. i cant do nothing! cant service, cant print, cant even turn off it! anyone could help me?
October 7th, 2007 at 7:35 pm
OMG WHAT A DISASTROUS DISASTER.
Im shocked… SHOCKED - HP would spout such uselessness… not only do things NOT go from the printer queue… it just wont print full stop… it doesnt do anything… ive printed a few things from it… an spent much longer trying to get it to print anything else.
It eats ink like nothing ive seen
Getting the scanner to scan is like trying to break glass with a feather - its not going to happen! It wont… is the scanner just there to look pretty?
What on earth are all those buttons there for? the only one that seems to work is the power button which can be iffy.
On the other hand… the way it prints isnt too bad - text comes out as good as any, an photo’s dont come out too bad either - but dont expect to print many with the amount of ink it swallows.
October 15th, 2007 at 11:28 am
Scanner does not work, it did work when I first got it, but it quit, after printing six times. I can’t get it to work any more. I think this printer is a bunch of junk!
November 28th, 2007 at 10:03 pm
RE:
“I have an F380 that is plaqued with print error messages that can’t be deleted from the queue. I must restart the computer to get the queue clear. Sometimes the printer works, but, most of the time it will hang up in the middle of a print job.
My F380 is doing the same thing. I just started using it yesterday and I thought it was me.
February 6th, 2008 at 8:59 pm
HP deskjet F4140 is also having the issue. My daughter gave 2 pages print and it hangs there! We tried to reboot the system and see..nothing works! I can’t stop or delete or restart on that 2 page printing and it won’t print either…