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Photograph: Rick Rizner
HP DESKJET 5850 (HP (Hewlett-Packard)-C8975AA2L)
| Print quality: text/color graphics | Good/Good |
| Print quality for photos: Optional photo inks used when available. | Outstanding |
| Speed | Good |
| Rated speeds | 7.7 ppm, monochrome; 5.0 ppm color (normal mode) |
| Tested speeds | 4.5 ppm text; 1.5 ppm graphics |
| Ease of use | Very Good |
| Features | Very 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 2.0, no parallel port |
| Size (width/depth/height) and weight | 17.8 by 9.8 by 6.5 inches; 12.7 pounds |
| Other features | Wi-Fi and ethernet |
| Support | Very Good |
| Warranty | One-year warranty |
| Support policies | 24-hour daily toll-free support |
HP Deskjet 5850
DESKJET 5850 (HP (Hewlett-Packard)-C8975AA2L) Review, by Dan Littman April 22, 2004
The Deskjet 5850 has some office-friendly features that are unusual in an inkjet printer and help justify its $250 price tag. The 5850's standard equipment includes an ethernet port and built-in 802.11b/.11g Wi-Fi wireless networking; a blue light flashes when the printer receives a wireless print job. The ethernet port sits next to the USB port on the back. Office users may spend $95 more for a duplexer and another $80 for a 250-sheet paper tray that boosts capacity to 400 sheets.
To print top-quality photos, you'll have to spend $25 for the optional photo ink cartridge, but the results are worth the investment. When we used the cartridge to print photos on glossy paper, the 5850 impressed us with lifelike colors, very sharp focus, and subtle details in both shadows and highlights. A window in the print driver called HP Digital Photography made it easy to get good results, 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.
Because the printer holds only two ink cartridges at a time, you'll have to switch between the photo-ink cartridge and the black ink cartridge. The first time you do this, the printer automatically realigns its print heads, which took 8 minutes in our test. But the printer doesn't have to recalibrate on subsequent occasions when you insert the photo-ink cartridge, since the printer stores the calibration settings in memory. If you forget which cartridges you've installed, you must check the driver on your PC; checking under the hood won't help because the latches holding the cartridges in place also cover their labels. HP provides a storage container to prevent the ink in partially used cartridges from drying out after they've been removed.
Estimated ink costs per page are high, and print speeds were about average. Plain text costs about 4.4 cents per page, and color graphics (not photos) about 13.3 cents. PC World timed the Deskjet 5850 on text at 4.5 pages per minute, and on graphics at 1.5 ppm. Other than on glossy photos, the unit delivered mixed output quality. Text had a noticeable grayness, and some shadowing or spatter around letters, but looked fairly sharp overall; narrow parallel lines printed with a rough, gritty texture. On better-grade inkjet paper, however, the quality of both of these printing tasks greatly improved. Another handy driver feature is a setting that optimizes prints for faxing and copying by converting them to a coarse texture that reproduces well at low resolution.
The 5850's paper handling was generally convenient. The sturdy main tray folds up when empty to save desk space, and the output tray (which rests on the main tray) lifts up on hinges so you needn't remove it to add paper. A slot in the output tray lets you feed a single envelope into the paper path without emptying the main tray. Inconveniently, the external power converter plugs directly into the wall, where it can block access to other sockets. The wide-and-narrow button on the control panel, which feels loose and unresponsive, performs different functions depending on which end you press, but it's no more convenient than having two separate buttons. If watermarks are important to you, note that the Deskjet 5850's driver can print them in only eight basic colors.
Upshot: The 5850 makes sense for networked homes and workgroups that want to print high-quality photos, but the slightly coarse text it produces won't match the output of a monochrome laser for business correspondence.
Dan Littman
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User Reviews
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User Reviews From Around the Web
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Reviewed by: HHRaypo
Strengths: None - it didn't even work well when it was right out of the box.
Weaknesses: Not easy to set up with Mac OSX - it works OK - when it reads the router - which isn't very often.
Overall: I use both Windos XP and Mac OSX - half the time neither OS can read the printer. I always get errors saying the printer is not available or the power to the printer will shut off. I will unplug the printer from the outlet for 3-5 minutes and plug back in - it still will not come back on. I will never buh another HP Printer - stick to Lexmark!
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Reviewed by: glenva2003
Strengths: Easy to set up; wireless freedom
Weaknesses: Too expensive to keep
Overall: I bought this printer when it?s on sale. It?s very easy to set up. And the printing quality is excellent. The wireless function makes it even more convenient. However, only use it occasionally due to the high cost of inks.
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Reviewed by: zshen
Strengths: convenient; good quality; easy to use
Weaknesses: ink expensive
Overall: I?ve had this wireless inkjet printer for about eight months. The printing quality is very good. The speed is fine. The wireless capability made it very convenient. However, as with all inkjet printers, the ink costs too much. So I only use it on special occasions.
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Reviewed by: phill_jones5
Strengths: Nice looks. Printout is very good
Weaknesses: Network capabilities are extreemly flaky. It won't work with WPA encryption.
Overall: It won't lease an IP address from a router or other DHCP server and defaults to an IP address on a different subnet to the conventional 192.168.0.X that your router will most liekly be on. This means that you have to set a computer to a static IP address on the same subnet to access the printers CWS page and set it to the correct static IP to work with the router. Then you have to re configure your computer to work with the router again. This is tedious and is because HP haven't bothered to properly engineer the networking capabilities.This info isn't in the instructions and HP tech support wouldn't know a subnet from a piano so if your not Au fei with networking, you won't be able to make it work.Secure wireless networking over WPA doesn't work at all. WEP isn't really adequat security so if you want a printer that works on a secure wireless network don't buy this one.
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Reviewed by: eshadow
Strengths: very good print qualify, wireless setting, no cable needed
Weaknesses: setting is a hassle; no lcd display
Overall: I upgraded to this printer from 5650. It's a jump of quality. I also enjoyed the wireless feature quite much. It's really a very good printer and you can put it anywhere in the house.
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