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

Amazon has the HP Officejet 6310 on sale for $229. There are no rebates as this is just a regular sale. Since this is Amazon, there is no shipping but the sale could end at any time.

The Officejet 6310 is an all-in-one printer that includes a fax machine. It is a relatively new model that is also capable of printing photos. It is rated at 30 pages per minute for black and 24 ppm color and it has a resolution of up to 4800 x 1200. It has a 35-page automatic document feeder and it has all the features that allow you to print directly from your digital camera like memory card slots and PictBridge.

If you already own the Officejet 6310 you can leave us some feedback about it. If you need Officejet 6310 cartridges, you can go to our site.

Recently PC World looked over their ratings and came out with an updated list of what they considered to be the best inkjets on the market. Here they are:

1. HP Deskjet 5940
2. HP Deskjet 5440
3. Canon PIXMA iP4200
4. Epson Stylus C88
5. HP Deskjet 5740
6. Canon PIXMA iP1600
7. HP Deskjet 6840
8. HP Business Inkjet 1200d
9. Lexmark Z735
10. HP Business Inkjet 2300

Before you wonder why this list looks a little strange, we will point out that these are strictly inkjet printers; there are no photo printers or multifunctions machines on this list. Therefore, you get strange models like the HP Business Inkjet 1200d, which probably makes up about 1% of all printers sold. These days, very few models are officially only inkjets. Almost every inkjet model, no matter how crappy, is marketed as a photo printer. Add to that the amount of multifunction printers that manufacturers are making these days and you are left with a small percentage of standard inkjets.

They rate the number one printer, the Deskjet 5940, as “very good”, even though we have heard some feedback that says otherwise. The 5940 and the Deskjet 5440 are definitely popular models, but the 5440 seems to get more positive feedback. Having the PIXMA iP4200 on there makes sense, because that is a very popular and very well-reviewed printer. Other than that, the whole bottom half of the list is pretty suspect.

In response to this story about toner cartridge prices on Personal Computer World, a site based in the UK, HP issued a response that creatively explained the practice of putting partially-filled cartridges into new printers. According to the story, HP said that the low capacity toner cartridges had just the right amount of ink for people who don’t print that often. If these people who don’t print that often had regular cartridges, the ink could go to waste because it wouldn’t be used often enough.

The original reason the author wrote the article was because of the sticker shock he experienced when it came time to buy his first toner cartridge. He also had a problem with the store that sold a cartridge to him (appropriately, the store was called PC World) because they had different prices for their business customers. Both sides blamed each other, as PC World said HP sets the prices and HP said they weren’t responsible for “street prices” and then offered their explanation for low capacity cartridges.

HP did admit part of the reason why they don’t include regular cartridges with new printers; purchase price. They acquire customers by charging a low price for their machines, and then once they have them they can charge whatever they want for new cartridges. But if the high price they charge for one of their new cartridges was added to the cost of a new printer, well then not as many people would buy new printers. They are banking on the fact that people will not want to buy a whole new printer just because the a new toner cartridge is more than they thought it would be.

Printing money at PC World [Personal Computer World]
Start-up cartridges in printers designed for light users, claims HP [Personal Computer World]

Circuit City has the HP Photosmart 7450 on sale for $45. This is just a regular sale, so there’s no mail-in rebate or anything. The normal price for this printer is $80, so this is a pretty big savings. The one downside to this printer is that at 12 ppm it is not the fastest in the world, but you aren’t going to find a lot of photo printers for $45, so the speed issue isn’t crucial.

If you order online from Circuit City, make sure you do not get the gold-plated USB cable that they recommend. Gold does not make things go faster, so a $30 USB cable will work exactly the same as a $7 one.

If you do buy this printer, or if you already own it, you can find Photosmart 7450 cartridges on our site.

HP claims that the ink being used in the new printer refilling stations in OfficeMax and Walgreen’s is too close to the formula for HP ink. They say that the ink infringes on their patents and therefore the stores need to stop using it. According to HP, the formulas represent “decades of research and development” which is true since we all fondly remember those HP inkjet printers from the 60’s.

Walgreens says that they aren’t violating any patents and OfficeMax didn’t really have anything to say. Obviously HP had to do something like this since they make so much money from ink. Even if it is fruitless, it sends the message out that they aren’t very keen on competition and they are willing to go after even the biggest companies out there.

HP warns Walgreens, OfficeMax on ink sales [Chicago Tribune]

Office Depot has the HP Officejet 5610 on sale for $55 after coupon and mail-in rebate. The regular price is $150, so with the coupon and rebate, this is a pretty big savings. The coupon code to use at checkout is 21060584 and that is good for $20 off a $100 purchase. The mail-in rebate is for $75 and that expires on 6/17.

The Officejet 5610 is an all-in-one printer rated at 20 pages per minute for black and 13 for color. It includes a fax machine and you can print photos with it by swapping out the black and replacing it with the HP 59 photo cartridge.

You can read CNET’s review of the Officejet 5160 here.

You can find Officejet 5610 cartridges on our site.

A couple of deals for the weekend….

Amazon has the Canon Selphy CP510 on sale for $50. The CP510 is a compact photo printer that can produce 4 x 6 printers in about a minute.

CompUSA has the HP Photosmart 3210 on sale for $220 after a mail-in rebate. This is one of HP’s newer printers that features their individual ink tanks. It is also pretty fast, as HP rates it at 31 pages per minute for color prints.

NewEgg has the Samsung ML-2010 on sale for $50 after mail-in rebate. This is a popular printer and even without this mail-in rebate it is one of the better bargains available.

One type of inkjet printer that we haven’t heard too much about is standalone compact photo printers. They started appearing on the market around the same time that at-home photo printing took off, but today they still only make up a relatively small portion of the photo printing market. Even though a lot of people like printing their own photos, so far they haven’t seemed to be totally on board with owning a printer that probably just prints 4 x 6s and nothing else. Companies like Kodak, HP and Canon make an effort to have their customers use their cameras and then hook up those cameras to their compact printers and print with their ink on their paper. Since we haven’t provided too many reviews on any of these kinds of printers so far, we thought we would point out an article in the NY Times that takes a look at five of these printers.

They take a look at the HP Photosmart 475, the Lexmark P450, the Canon Selphy CP170, the Kodak EasyShare 500 and the Epson PictureMate Deluxe. They don’t do any real in depth testing on the machines, but they compare the basic and important stuff like print quality, print speed and general usability. They don’t declare a clear winner, but their top choices are the Kodak and the Epson. Like with most other printers, Lexmark disappoints. They note that the HP has “gadget appeal” but that it is slow and its first print jobs all jammed. The Canon had potential but it had some technical issues.

The Epson and Kodak machines both run about $200, so they right around the same price as some regular photo printers.

Anyone out there own a compact photo printer?

The Joys and Pitfalls of One-and-a-Half-Minute Photo Processing [NY Times]

Lately HP has been coming out with more and more personal laser printers that cost under $200. When laser printers first hit that price, it was mostly just Samsung and Brother who offered those cheap machines, and HP basically stuck with the higher end stuff. Eventually HP realized they were missing out and they started to offer their own bargain laser printers. These days they have a couple of these models, including the LaserJet 1020 and 1022, and now the LaserJet 1018, which will retail for around $120. PC Mag recently reviewed the 1018, and they didn’t come away too impressed with it.

HP says that this is the smallest laser printer currently available, so if that is what you are looking for then they’ve solved your problem. Other than that, it doesn’t appear that this machine has too much going for it. For starters, it is rated at only 12 ppm. Even compared with inkjet printers from a few years ago that is still pretty slow. Most laser printers, even the ones under $200, are around 20 ppm. Even inkjet printers these days bottom out at about 14 ppm. To be fair, you cannot directly compare speeds on inkjet and laser printers, primarily because you will get better text quality from a laser printer, but you also can’t ignore the fact that the printer is only advertised at 12 ppm. Because this printer doesn’t really have any other features to it, the only other thing to judge it on besides print quality is page speed, therefore some people might be disappointed.

The two other printers that PC Mag compares the LaserJet 1018 to are the Samsung ML-2010 and the Lexmark E120n. The ML-2010 is a popular printer and one of the original sub-$200 models to stand out. The E120n is a network printer that is well-rated by PC Mag, but it isn’t as common as the other two machines. You can check out the comparison here.

Since this is a newer printer, there isn’t a whole lot of user feedback out there, so we just have to go on a few reviews along with the product specifications to make a judgement. If anyone owns the LaserJet 1018, let everyone know what you think of it.

Buy this printer Buy HP LaserJet 1018 toner cartridges