HP CPQ Presario IJ650

WHAT'S HOT: The Compaq IJ650's bright, sharp text output in our tests means it's an excellent ink jet for printing documents. The detail and contrast it showed in our test images mean it's also a fine printer for color graphics, too.

WHAT'S NOT: Lines in some of our test images were a bit crooked, while gray scales appeared misaligned and grainy with a brownish cast. Its reasonably clean text is marred by wavering in some spots, as if passes of the printhead weren't lining up correctly. Even though we tested this printer using its USB interface, it printed a full page of color graphics at a leisurely 0.3 pages per minute and text at 3.8 ppm. Most of the other printers we've tested using USB, with the exception of photo-specific models, hit at least 0.5 ppm for graphics. Inks aren't cheap at 7 cents per monochrome print and 18.6 cents for color.

Compaq doesn't include a USB cable; the company charges $25 extra for one. The unit we tested also lacked a printed manual, and the online documentation is poorly organized. The output tray seemed flimsy.

WHAT ELSE: Compaq added a useful feature to the driver: canned templates based on the various settings, such as N-up, booklet layouts, headers and watermarks, with tools to create and save your own template designs. Like most network-capable printers on the market today, you can print from any PC on your network and monitor cartridge status from the host machine.

UPSHOT: If you don't mind slow printing speeds, this model's text and graphics quality are agreeable, but other printers perform even better.

SUMMARY

Compaq IJ650 Rated 9 ppm monochrome/5 ppm color; 2400-by-1200-dpi maximum resolution, 100 sheets input, 50 output. $100 800/345-1518 compaq.com/athome/printers