» HP Color LaserJet 2605dn Printer (Q7822A#ABA)

HP Color LaserJet 2605dn Printer (Q7822A#ABA) Reviews

Customer Rating:
Summary: Quicker, but blows thru toner
Comment: I like the quality of the prints and the convenience of both the networking and the duplex. The speed is pretty decent and the thing hardly ever jams.

What I do not like, however is the toner usage. Several people at HP are putting kids through college on what this thing uses. Be ready to buy a ton of replacements.

The other bother is it just stops when it thinks it is out of toner, even though you can still get 25-50 more prints out of it before needing to replace them. It goes through more expensive toner faster than my previous Minolta Magicolor.

It seems like a deal, but the consumables are quick to go out. I find I get 1000 prints with moderate pages (I publish my clubs newsletter) before they run out.

If cost is no object on that front, everything else is flawless. I have yet to have a jam and I print lables and 800 sheets a month, and duplexing is great.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Perfect
Comment: Works very well and give great color proofs. As a graphic artist I appreciate having a color printer that gives good quality output and works well when giving clients proofs. Very good product for the price.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Not Good for Designers
Comment: CON: This printer is terribly slow. Especially if you are sending color documents from any Adobe Creative Suite program. Often, the printer will fail to print the document at all. I even expanded the memory to 128 MB, but this did nothing to speed the printer up.

Do not purchase this printer if you are planning on printing from any program other than, say, Word or PowerPoint, but heck - that's slow as molasses as well. My Epson inkjet is twice as fast even on a black and white documents printed from Word.

PRO: Nice color right out of the box.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Toner does not flake off
Comment: Printer works great. User who says toner flakes off did not set paper type for cardstock/labels or likely didn't use the correct LASER labels. Works fine when you do the above.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: HP 2605dn vs HP 2600n - Features vs Toner Consumption
Comment: When it comes to purchasing a printer, I look for three things: reliability, features and toner consumption. I have had both 2605dn and 2600n for a year now and I can say that when it comes down to features and memory, the 2605dn comes out shining, but in toner consumption, the 2600n is the king. Both printers have Toner Limit Override, which allows you to keep printing after the cartridge reaches its "limit" giving you hundreds of extra prints. But only the 2600n has the option of printing color in 600dpi and true black without using some color in the prints. The 2605dn prints color only in 2400dpi and always uses a bit of color on its black prints even for you set it for 600dpi (600dpi applies only for black prints in the 2605n). I can honestly tell you that the difference in toner consumption is INSANE. I can print FOUR TIMES more color prints with the 2600n than with the 2605dn, and you cannot tell the deference in quality between the two. Yes the 2605dn is faster, has more memory, can print both sides of the paper automatically and handle heavy paper better, but for me toner consumption is too much of a deference to not notice it. Oh, and my 2605dn burned down on its first birthday. Here are some more details if you are interested:

2605dn -
Pros: Fast, excellent quality. The automatic two-side printing feature is awesome and saves you a lot of time. Can print on transparencies, and cardboard paper. Easy to load toners. Can upgrade memory. It is HP Solution Center compatible, which gives you a run down on how many prints are left, etc. without the need of accessing the internet.

Cons - Costs $200 more that its 2600n sister. No low quality color printing option available. Black prints will always use color. When printing pictures this printer will burn even the HP Photo Color Laser quality papers, believe me, it's a mess.

2600n -
Pros - Cheaper than the 2605dn. Excellent quality. Fast and reliable. Over the top toner consumption when using the low quality color option, which in fact prints as good as the higher quality option. This option has given me over two thousand more prints per cartridge which is incredible. Can also print on transparencies and cardboard. Just be sure to set the printer correctly or it will smudge. It can print both sides of the paper manually.

Cons - A bit slower than its sister and less memory. After using the automatic two-side printing feature this printer seems outdated. It's not HP Solution Center compatible, so you get no nice software with it. Will also burn photo quality paper even if it is made from HP.

Bottom line - The features on 2605dn may be cool but when it comes to saving 75% more toner on the 2600n, I go with the underdog. Too bad the 2605dn does not have the option to print low res in color, thus the 3 stars. Both are bad for photo printing. Well there it is; the table is set and you as the customer must make your move.

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