HP's New Multifunction Inkjets Take on Laser-Based Models
Oriented toward small businesses, the L7000 models print, scan, copy, and fax with the promise of laser-printer quality and operating costs.
Danny Allen, PC World
Recent trends suggest that your next printer may well be a multifunction unit. Though PC World's Top 10 single-function inkjet and color laser printer charts continue to prove popular, our recent multifunction Inkjet Best Buys list has experienced enormous traffic.
According to research from market research firm (and PC World sister company) IDC, multifunction printers (MFPs)--sometimes called all-in-ones--accounted for around 67 percent of the overall inkjet market in 2006, and the figure is forecast to rise to about 85 percent by 2011. Though inkjets have made the transition, multifunction models are still a minority in the color laser space: 25 percent as of 2006 and predicted to hit about 40 percent by 2011.
If you're not sure whether to opt for an inkjet or laser MFP, our multifunction printer buying guide explains the pros and cons of each type.
"For small-to-medium businesses (SMBs), inkjet devices dominate. Inkjet shipments currently outnumber monochrome lasers by about a 3-to-1 margin and color lasers by more than 8 to 1 in the SMB market," says Keith Kmetz, vice president and director of IDC's Hardcopy Peripherals Solutions and Services program. "Small offices and small businesses are still adopting inkjet" printers, he adds.
With that in mind, let's take a quick look at Hewlett-Packard's new business inkjet MFPs that are set to go on sale this week.
Inkjet MFPs That Rival Lasers
Each model in HP's new L7000 series touts built-in ethernet networking and PictBridge support (for direct-from-camera printing) to complement their shared printing, scanning, and copying at up to 2400 by 4800 dots per inch, plus 33.6-kbps fax (with 125-page memory) capabilities.
The $299 L7589 AiO replaces the Officejet 7210, the $399 L7680 AiO (pictured left) supersedes the Officejet 7310 and the top-of-the-line, $499 L7780 AiO takes over from the Officejet 7410.
While the entry-level Officejet L7589 uses a 2-line LCD display, the Officejet L7680 and Officejet L7780 introduce extra features including a 2.4-inch color display, duplexer for automatic two-sided printing, legal-sized scanner glass and the ability to scan directly to multiple folders on multiple PCs over a network (a new feature HP calls Direct Digital Filing). The $499 L7780 (pictured right) also ships with an extra underside 350-sheet paper tray, built-in 802.11b/g wireless networking and ReadIris Pro optical character recognition (OCR) software.
Each model incorporates HP's Scalable Printing Technology, which the company says delivers faster print speeds at improved quality over previous models. For instance, HP says that in draft mode, the L7000 series can print up to 35 pages per minute (ppm) in black-and-white, and up to 34 ppm in color. Those quoted numbers are quite competitive, but we are, of course, working to get some units to test performance for ourselves. The company says that the L7000 series is capable of sharp, laserlike quality, albeit at reduced print speeds of 12 ppm for black-and-white and 10 ppm for color.
The L7000 models use HP's Vivera ink system (4 ink tanks by default, with six colors an option) for deep black text, and photos that are vibrant, quick-drying, and water-spill resistant. Based on its #88 Vivera Ink supplies, HP claims the L7000 series models can print color and monochrome pages as low as 7.7- and 1.5-cents per page, respectively. That's certainly competitive against many color lasers.
HP also is now shipping its new $149 Officejet J5780 AiO (shown left), which includes a tri-color/single black tank print system, 2-line LCD display and 33.6-kbps fax with junk-fax blocking.
Paper handling comes in the form of a 100-sheet input tray and 35-page automatic document feeder. HP rates the J5780's output at 30 ppm black and 24 ppm color.
Bottom Line
At first glance, this new batch of Inkjet MFPs from HP look quite promising. I can't make any final recommendations until I receive some units to test, but I'm looking forward to seeing how the performance, in terms of speed and the touted "laserlike text quality" stacks up.
But it should be safe to say that, with their generous paper trays, faxing capabilities, and built-in networking, each of the L7000 series models deserves a closer look if you're running a home office or making printing decisions for a small-to-medium business.
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