Learn Something

I love HP inkjet printers. They last forever.

Anyway, when we decided we wanted a copier and a fax machine, we started looking at HP devices. Then a special back-to-school offer came up for the OfficeJet 5610 and we decided to try it. I just finished installing it on our Mac.

It has an automatic document feeder, for scans/faxes/copies. There’s a flatbed scanner. It has a nice control panel which lets you make faxes and copies without the computer.

The scanning system is especially impressive. Load your original into the ADF or put it on the glass and hit the Scan button. The display asks you what format you want the scan to be in (TIFF, Jpeg, PDF, OCR (!!!) ) and where you want to send it (a long list of things including email clients and iPhoto). Use the arrow keys to select what you want and hit OK.

Now the printer signals the computer that a scan is about to show up, so the computer launches the scan software, which runs the scan and then routes the output appropriately.

It fits beautifully on top of our filing cabinet — actually better than the wider-but-lower DeskJet 5550 it’s replacing.

And all this for less than $100. With free shipping. That’s progress for you.

I have no idea how long it will last (it feels a bit flimsy), and it’s no speed demon. We’ll see how we get along with it over time.