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- Excellent text-printing speed
- Good scans and photos
- Low running costs
- Not as good for text as a laser printer
- Wireless networking extra
- Rudimentary LCD screen
The HP Officejet Pro 8500 is aimed at small offices, boasting faster print speeds than most all-in-one printers. In low-quality mode, reviewers confirm that the Officejet Pro 8500 approaches the speeds of a laser printer, though output is not as crisp. HP claims that the Officejet Pro 8500 costs less to run than a laser printer, and reviews find that this can be true under some conditions. It prints, copies, faxes and scans, and includes office-friendly features such as an automatic document feeder (35-page capacity), auto-duplexer and a 15,000 page-per-month duty cycle. The printer is networkable, but wireless networking is only available on the costlier HP Officejet Pro 8500 Wireless (*Est. $350). The Officejet 8500 is a bit bulkier than similar multifunction printers, such as the HP Photosmart Premium Fax (*Est. $250); it measures about 20 by 19 by 12 inches, and weighs about 27 pounds.
PCMag.com, one of the most prolific and well-documented testers of printers, gives the HP Officejet Pro 8500 top marks. Other reviewers, such as PC World Australia and Britain's IT Reviews and PC Advisor, are generally pleased with this model. However, initial reviews at Amazon.com have a proportionally high amount of consumer complaints, some of which are also made about other HP printer models.
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M. David Stone reports that text speed and quality is good on the HP Officejet Pro 8500, comparable to a slow laser printer. He says that photos and graphics are even better, and print faster too. While he names this multifunction printer his Editors' Choice, Stone points out that he's testing the Officejet Pro 8500 Wireless model, which also has a larger scanning bed than the base model, and adds touch-screen controls.
Review: HP Officejet Pro 8500 Wireless All-In-One, M. David Stone, May 8, 2009
James Hutchinson also takes a look at the wireless variant of the HP Officejet Pro 8500, which he rates highly. He finds the consumables a better value than the printer itself, and Hutchinson complains about a time-wasting self-cleaning process that precedes printing. Draft speeds are described as on par with mid-range laser printers such as the Brother MFC-9840CDW, but text quality on lasers is still superior.
Review: HP Officejet Pro 8500 Wireless, James Hutchinson, May 12, 2009
Testers at British site IT Reviews find that the HP Officejet Pro 8500 mostly lives up to its manufacturer's claim that low-cost consumables make it cheaper to run than a laser printer. This, and the various print, scan and fax features, compensate for the somewhat higher price. However, IT Reviews points out that the Officejet Pro 8500 is still significantly slower than a laser, which could be a deal-breaker in some office environments.
Review: HP Officejet Pro 8500, Editors of IT Reviews, April 15, 2009
4. PC Advisor
Reviewer Robin Morris finds the Officejet Pro 8500 inexpensive to run, and a fast printer. While text at laser-printer speed cannot compete with lasers in quality, Morris finds output better than many cheap inkjets. Ultimately, the Officejet Pro 8500 is praised as a good all-around printer for general office jobs, though workplaces requiring a lot of text printing should still stick with a laser.
Review: HP Officejet Pro 8500 All-in-one Review, Robin Morris, April 8, 2009
5. Amazon.com
Only a handful of users report on their experiences with the HP Officejet Pro 8500, although all but one are favorable. About 40 users contribute reviews of the similar (but more expensive) Wireless model; a quarter of them are negative, criticizing networking, print quality and HP's customer support.
Review: HP Officejet Pro 8500, Contributors to Amazon.com
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