HP OfficeJet Pro 8500 Printer Review
Make/Model: HP Officejet Pro 8500 Wireless
Type: Office Multifunction Inkjet
Web site: www.hp.com/uk
Typical online price: £320 (£278)
HP have developed a range of office inkjet printers and multifunctions intended as direct alternatives to colour laser printers in the same price bracket. The Officejet Pro 8500 Wireless is just such a machine, sporting big performance claims to match its hefty appearance. With a duplexer sticking out at the back and the main paper tray at the front, it takes up a sizable chunk of space on the desk. The lid of the scanner includes a 50-sheet Automatic Document Feeder (ADF) and a glossy black front panel includes an 88mm touchscreen panel, alongside a fax number pad and assorted copy buttons.
The main paper tray can take 250 sheets of paper, but if this isn’t enough, an optional tray can be fitted underneath the machine. There’s no separate photo paper feed, so if and when you want to load photo blanks, you’ll have to remove the plain paper and adjust the guides for the smaller paper size. The Officejet Pro 8500 Wireless uses HP’s pigmented Vivera inks, which provide rich, lively colours, while at the same time offering pretty good water resistance. These inks are contained in four individual ink tanks, concealed behind a pull-down cover, to the left of the paper tray.
Wired connection can be made via a USB socket at the back, although many customers will make use of WiFi, which is simple to set up. There are four memory card slots and a PictBridge socket, so you can connect a camera or its cards directly.
As is often the case, this machine’s speeds don’t match up to those quoted in HP’s specifications. In our 20-page text test, we saw a speed of 13ppm, while a five-page text and colour graphics job gave 5.8ppm and a 20-side duplex document produced 3.3ppm. Our 15 x 10cm photo print took a fairly long 1minute 40seconds. The duplex and photo prints aside, these speeds are good for an inkjet, but still not up to the level of a comparable colour laser printer.
HP’s new inks give good print quality overall and colour graphics are particularly striking. Colour photocopies reproduce well, with only a hint of fading and photo prints come out clean and natural, an area where the Officejet Pro 8500 Wireless really outperforms a colour laser. Running costs are also, surprisingly, a lot lower than many rival lasers and using prices for the XL Value (high-yield) cartridges gives costs per page of 1.2p for black and 4.8p for colour.
Verdict
If you’re looking for an office multifunction printer with WiFi connectivity, the Officejet Pro 8500 Wireless is cheaper to run, though a little slower than an equivalent laser and with a larger footprint than many. If you need an occasional photo print too, then it really comes into its own.
Speed: 13ppm black ISO, 5.8ppm colour, 3.3ppm duplex measured 6/10
Print quality
Text print: 7/10
Text/Graphics: 8/10
Photo 8/10
Features: 9/10
Overall: 8/10
