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Photograph: Rick Rizner
HP HP DeskJet 5150 Color Inkjet Printer (HP (Hewlett-Packard)-C8962AA2L)
| Print quality: text/color graphics | Good/Good |
| Print quality for photos: Optional photo inks used when available. | Outstanding |
| Speed | Good |
| Rated speeds | 6.8 ppm, monochrome; 4.6 ppm color (normal mode) |
| Tested speeds | 4.6 ppm text; 1.5 ppm graphics |
| Ease of use | Very Good |
| Features | Good |
| Maximum true resolution | 4800-by-1200-dpi color; 1200-by-1200-dpi monochrome |
| Maximum resolution | 4800-by-1200-dpi color; 1200-by-1200-dpi monochrome |
| Maximum paper size | Legal |
| Standard input capacity | 150 pages input, one tray |
| Paper feed options | No straight paper path, no manual-feed slot |
| Interfaces | USB 1.1, no parallel port, optional ethernet |
| Size (width/depth/height) and weight | 18.0 by 15.0 by 6.0 inches; 11.4 pounds |
| Support | Very Good |
| Warranty | One-year warranty |
| Support policies | 24-hour daily toll-free support |
HP Deskjet 5150
HP DeskJet 5150 Color Inkjet Printer (HP (Hewlett-Packard)-C8962AA2L) Review, by Dan Littman April 22, 2004
HP's Deskjet 5150 costs only $100, and prints very attractive photos. Printing on glossy paper and using the optional photo-ink cartridge--which costs an extra $25--the Deskjet 5150 produced superb color photos with smooth texture and very sharp detail. A window in the print driver called HP Digital Photography simplified the process, thanks in part to an easy-to-use red-eye removal tool, a slider for increasing contrast, and a digital flash effect for brightening shadows. We also liked the fine detail and sharp focus of the Deskjet 5150's gray-scale printouts, despite their slightly yellowish cast.
Because the 5150 can hold only two cartridges at a time, you must swap the black cartridge for the photo-ink cartridge in order to make top-quality photo prints. When you swap cartridges, the printer automatically realigns its print heads. Unfortunately, that process lasted 8 minutes in our test; however, the printer needs to realign the print heads only once--the first time you insert the photo-ink cartridge--because it stores the calibration settings in memory for later use. If you forget which cartridges you last installed, however, you can't figure it out by checking under the hood; the latches that hold the cartridges in place also cover their labels. Instead, you have to check the driver, which means that both the printer and your PC have to be powered up. You can reinsert partly used cartridges, but when not using them, you should keep them in the storage container that HP includes with the optional photo-ink cartridge.
The 5150 printed at average speeds: 4.6 pages per minute for text and 1.5 ppm on graphics. On plain paper it produced sufficiently black text that was marred by some spattering. Narrow parallel lines in printouts impressed us by being distinct and almost free of random spray. Essentially, for $100, the Deskjet 5150 duplicates the quality and performance of the $250 Deskjet 5850, but without the built-in Wi-Fi and ethernet connections. Estimated per-page ink costs are high; about 4.4 cents per page of plain text, and roughly 13.4 cents per page of light graphics.
The Deskjet 5150's output tray rests on top of the main paper tray, but you have to remove it to access the main tray. There is no envelope bypass slot, and the Deskjet 5150 doesn't support an add-on paper tray, but you can snap HP's $95 optional duplexer into the back. The 5150's power-converting brick plugs directly into a wall socket, where it may block other sockets.
HP's documentation could be stronger: A cursory poster covers installation, and a 14-page brochure mostly refers you to the on-screen manual. Though the on-screen manual provides thorough coverage on how to use and maintain the printer, it displays information in tiny chunks in a small, unstretchable window; and because you can't simultaneously look at the index or table of contents, navigation quickly becomes annoying.
If you're considering the Deskjet 5150 for office use, you may appreciate its driver setting for printing documents with a coarse texture so they will reproduce better when faxed or photocopied.
Upshot: The Deskjet 5150 is a solid, low-cost choice for printing top-notch photos--as long as you don't mind swapping ink cartridges.
Dan Littman
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User Reviews
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User Reviews From Around the Web
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Reviewed by: ripshopper
Strengths: Very fast and the best print quality on any printer I have ever had. Ink is very simple to load which is the best part about the printer for me, since I had many problems with Epson prior.
Weaknesses: No USB wire
Overall: Very fast and the best print quality of any printer I have ever had. Ink is very simple to load which is the best part about the printer for me, since I had many problems with Epson printers in the past where you had to press a button and nothing the printers never moved to the right spot to load. All you have to do it open the cover and the ink moves to the right spot to change the ink. I will now only buy HP printers because of the product.
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Reviewed by: goldyman
Strengths: Very Cheap Good Machine
Weaknesses: Its a bit on the heavy side
Overall: The HP DeskJet 5150 Is a fine Inkjet Printer, Ive been using it for college and its blazing fast, alsmost like a laser printer, It's pretty quiet too, The only negative; Its pretty heavey, and it's quite large, but if you don;t move your printer around too much and you have some extra space in your dorm room its a perfect printer especially for this price, Make sure it comes with print cartidges.
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Reviewed by: djkcomp
Strengths: Easy to set up, good print output.
Weaknesses: Didn't come with a USB cable, slow printing.
Overall: I am forever sold on HP printers. They have served me well - I have two other printers as well. This one appears to be real solid and has good output, although it is a little slow. I had some problems with the drivers and had to uninstall them and reinstall from the web. That is the only reason that this gets 4 stars - otherwise, I would give it 5 stars. It is a great value (although print cartridges are always over priced, and a USB cable included would have been nice). HP has the best inkjets.
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Reviewed by: rickster9
Strengths: ez install, #1 rating, flawless prints
Weaknesses: large size
Overall: The product has awesome prints. Was rated number one by a leading PC periodical (you will see this on the box), easy trouble free hookup on my XP configuration. The only flaw I found was that with the tray extended it is a bit large
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Reviewed by: 26375
Strengths: Print quality at draft setting is fine, while normal setting and above produces quite good results. Picture qulity is also high.
Weaknesses: Noisy
Overall: I needed a printer to replace my just broken-down HP882C. I have a separate printer for photos, a Canon S820, which produces photo-print quality. I needed one for letters, along with graphics that don't require photo quality. This printer, the HP5150, meets those requirements. The print quality is excellent, and the picture quality on regular paper is quite good. Having the printer for only one day, I have not had the chance to try it in it's photo-quality mode, and having the other printer, I might not ever. For the money, though, this printer more than does the job. The only negative, as stated above, is the noise this printer makes. It doen't sound too solid, but I doubt that it isn't. This printer is definetly worth the money.
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