HP All-in-one Printer c4400 is far more superior than the printers I have had before. Let's face it, when it comes to printer, hands down to HP. I don't consider myself bias because I have tried Dell, Lexmark, Canon and HP, so I know what I am talking about. Bare in mind, I am not referring to printers in general but only Inkjets and the basic All-in-one kind of printers.
I bought this printer about 6 months ago. Prior to that, I had DELL A920 All-in-one printer which lasted about 3 plus years. Since printer is a vital part in my day to day activity, I don't take any chances in buying refurbished or second hand. I want it to last at least 3 years tops. With one year warranty, I can live with that and the other 2 years, I'll take care of it myself. It's not really hard work taking care of printers. All you need to do is clean it from time to time and make sure you only buy a genuine cartridge for that specific printer.
Cartridges are expensive, that's given. They sell printers so cheap and kills your budget when it it's time to change ink. But if you find a good economical printer, even if it's high priced, rest assured, you get the most out of it. Again, like any other gadgets you wish to buy, always take time to research about it. Read reviews and compare prices. You want to make it right the first time, don't you?
I bought my HP Photosmart C4400 at Bestbuy online and picked it up at the store the following day. The box came with the Printer, User guide/manual, cables, Installation disc and 1 Colored Ink and 1 Black Ink. I assume this was just a Trial Version because the life of the cartridge is short-lived. A simple guide shows you how to connect the printer properly, how to install cartridges and software. Installation of software is fast. Simply put the CD in and it will guide you all the way until it's successfully installed. Always recommended to restart your PC / Laptop for program to function well. Once your done, it's all set. Remember, one of the main step is not to connect the USB until you are prompted to do so, if you follow the instructions provided in the CD, you should be fine.
The first thing I did was aligned the cartridge. This is important so you'll get quality prints. You only need to do this once or every time you change cartridge of course. Primarily, I use this printer for text documents and printing CD labels & rarely photos, I have Snapfish and Winkflash to do my photos for me.
The first test pages came out great! And I'm fairly impressed with it's quality. Then next test, Scanner & Copier. It works perfectly and the outcome was beautiful. The best part about this model is the memory card slot where you can easily insert your SD memory card and print photos directly without having to go through your pc, it even has a small screen that will guide you through the process.
HP Photosmart C4400 is very reasonably priced at $89 at BESTBUY. It get's the job done. Sleek design where the front flap folds & open as it's serving tray, and push close when not use to prevent from dust going in. Economical and perfect everyday printer. Perfect mainly for home use. It's Windows vista compatible as well. So far, I have not experienced any paper jam and I don't load as much paper in it anyway, so maybe that's the trick. Regular Cartridge 74 black Ink $14.99 and 75 Tricolor is $19.99. I use the 74XL & 75XL which last longer and high capacity and would go roughly around $35 each or you can also get a Combo pack at Office depot. However, you can get these Genuine Ink Cartridges on eBay for a fraction of that cost.
So on to the Cons. I find this printer being Loud when you set it to print "Fast Economical" way. I wouldn't recommend using the printer around sleeping baby simultaneously as it will rock the house! (lol) Really, it's doesn't bother me at all but that's something I just noticed. Another flaw is the paper tray. I think they could have done better with the design. If you need it, you simply pull the arm out and then push it back in if not. If there's nothing to catch your paper, it will fly out after printing.
I would give this printer a 4 Star Rating. It's nothing out of the ordinary but it's well built. I would recommend this to students, and home use only. Steer clear if you are thinking of using it for business, you may be better off with Laserjet printers.
For detailed specification, please go to HP Photosmart C4400 All-in-one Printer Overview & Features.
