HP Officejet 7130

Inkjets Print Photos Well, And Decent Looking Text, Too

Inkjet printers like this one are commonly used in a home or student setting as well as in a small office. Printing photos is their strongest suit, although they can also print decent to good-looking plain text. For the best results, you usually need to use specially coated papers.

Inkjet printers spray ink through microscopic nozzles arrayed on a print head. Because the printhead has to move back and forth across the page, inkjets can be slow--especially when printing those nice photos.

Ink type affects print quality. Dye-based inks (color dissolved in liquid) tend to create better-looking colors, but they’re less light- and water-resistant. Pigment-based inks (solid color particles suspended in liquid) create images that are more durable but not quite as colorful. Some inkjet printers use both: a pigment-based black for crisp text quality, for instance, but dye-based colors for better-looking graphics.

Ink cartridges come in two basic designs. The colors (cyan, magenta, and yellow) can come in a unified “tricolor” cartridge or in separate cartridges. There’s always a separate black. The tricolor cartridges are more compact, but they’re also wasteful because you have to replace the entire cartridge whenever you run out of any one color. Some printers offer additional colors, such as light cyan or light magenta, to widen the color palette.

Thermal Printers Suited For Receipts, Work Orders and Simple Jobs

A thermal printer like this one is typically used for situations where simplicity is the highest priority: a portable printer, for example, or a printer for receipts, work orders, or other forms. It uses specially coated paper that changes color when heated. Most thermal printers change only to black, but bicolor models can create two colors depending upon the temperature applied. A thermal printer cannot mix colors or create shades of colors, so it's best used for text documents or extremely simple graphics.

Fax Capability Saves Space in Small Offices

This printer can also be used as a fax machine, a feature you'll find on some multifunction models. If you frequently send faxes, having a device that does both can save space in a small office. This printer may have just one phone jack for faxing, or two so it can also be used to place calls via a handset. 

If faxing features are important to you, pay attention to fax-page and speed-dial memory -- 100 is the common capacity in both cases. Also look for fax transmission speed, resolution, and perhaps the ability to fax to networked computer.

Compatible with Microsoft Windows Operating System

Printers such as this model are compatible with computers that use the Microsoft Windows operating system, meaning it has at least one appropriate connection type and also has drivers written for Windows.

Be Skeptical of Color Print Speed Claims

A printer's stated color print speed (expressed in pages per minute, or "ppm") should be taken with a grain of salt. Vendors often use contrived methods to arrive at such numbers. For instance, they might print in draft mode, which is faster than the default mode most people use. Or they'll exclude the first page out from a document's total print time, because its slower exit reflects the processing time needed to create the document image for the printer. Or they might send raw data straight to the printer, bypassing any application or PC processing time. The PC World Test Center uses dedicated testbed PCs and real-world applications to reflect actual use as closely as possible. We also time the document "from click to clunk" -- from the time we click the "Print" button to the time when the last page falls into the output tray.

Take black-and-white print speed times with a grain of salt

A printer's stated monochrome or "black-and-white" print speed (expressed in pages per minute, or "ppm") should be taken with a grain of salt. Vendors often use contrived methods to arrive at such numbers. For instance, they might print in draft mode, which is faster than the default mode most people use. Or they'll exclude the first page out from a document's total print time, because its slower exit reflects the processing time needed to create the document image for the printer. Or they might send raw data straight to the printer, bypassing any application or PC processing time. The PC World Test Center uses dedicated testbed PCs and real-world applications to reflect actual use as closely as possible. We also time the document "from click to clunk" -- from the time we click the "Print" button to the time when the last page falls into the output tray.

Medium-Resolution Scanners Keep Enlargements Clear

This scanner's optical scan resolution is midrange. In addition to scanning typical documents or photos at actual size (300x300 dpi or 600x600 dpi suffice for such tasks), it can also use these higher resolutions to enlarge such items digitally with good results. The image-file size also gets bigger, of course, so make sure you have enough storage space.

Installed Memory is Ideal for Five or Fewer Users

This printer's installed memory is sufficient for small offices or workgroups that print typical business documents, such as memos, spreadsheets, or simple Web pages. If you have more than six people using the printer or the printer handles heavy traffic, you will want more memory than this printer provides.

Paper Capacity is Sufficient for Home Use, Small Documents

This inkjet printer's maximum sheet capacity is low. It's probably sufficient for single users or a family, printing simple documents or school reports, nothing over 10 pages in length. If you regularly print longer documents, however, you should seek a model with a higher-capacity input tray--unless you enjoy refilling it constantly. Rule of thumb: If you're refilling the input tray more than once a day, you need a higher-capacity one.

Ethernet Connection Ideal for Networking

This printer offers an Ethernet connection, the standard for networking in an office environment. Ethernet comes in many flavors, but all offer plenty of bandwidth, making it ideal for handling the traffic for anything from a handful to hundreds of users.