HP Photosmart 2710 All-in-One Printer

Rating:
Summary: Beware! Will not even do its primary function!
Review: An ordeal of many months finally comes to an end with me paying for the machine's return to HP and still looking for a printer. That is after 3 replacements and even a second model which ultimately failed as well.

The machine worked fine with only minor glitches which finally developed into total failure. HP's support simply had me resetting the machine over and over taking several hours before replacing it with a machine which didn't work either. HP's support then agreed to pay me back for the purchase of a replacement model (it was discontinued) but then decided not to pay me (after I purchased).

Result: I returned all machines involved, one at my expense, and am looking at an Epson.

Summary: Out of the box, it is not reliable and HP has no reliable support to help set up its primary function: wireless printing.

Never HP ever again. 2 Printers, 2 iPAQs, 2 Laptops: all needing to be shipped back over the past 4 years. Total failure.

Rating:
Summary: Terrible Software Makes Using A Nightmare
Review: I bought the 2710 to eliminate other devices in my home office. While the print quality is quite good and functions fairly flawlessly, scanning is a nightmare. The machine, when used as a scanner, is horribly slow. The bloated software install involves something like 8,000 files that get dumped into your system folder. Are 8,000 files really necessary?

Once installed, sometimes the software launches the scanner, and sometimes it doesn't. When it doesn't, you need to first turn off the 2710, then restart your computer (I use a Mac), then turn on the printer, then try again. Not my idea of efficient or practical.

My other main problem using this machine is that the HP software does not allow you to save any system settings... it lways automatically resorts to its defaults. So, for example, if I want to quickly scan something in low resolution that I can easily send thru email, I must first scan at the default setting of 300 dpi. After this machine performs this function, I must manually override the results and re-scan at 75 dpi. But the fun doesn't stop there. I must manually re-check the type of file I want saved and manually indicate WHERE the file should be saved. If I don't do this, the scan will be saved as a TIFF file inside the HP scanned images folder.

All in all... it can take several minutes to complete what should be a quick scan. I could practically draw a duplicate copy faster with some crayons and tracing paper. As a point of reference, my old Canon flatbed scanner launched effortlessly, make a scan at my chosen resolution with a single click, and saved a jpeg to my desktop...all in a matter of seconds.

If I had it to do over again, I would not only not buy this machine, I would specifically avoid Hewlett-Packard because of the buggy, cumbersome software.

FYI... the manual does not provide adequate trouble-shooting help. HP's online tech support does not respond to inquiries. And phone support, when I finally reached them, was unable to solve any of my problems.

In short, using a piece of equipment and its corresponding software shouldn't be this difficult and aggravting. But with the PhotoSmart 2710... it is.

Rating:
Summary: Great All-in-One
Review: I ordered the 2710 despite the nightmare installation stories in these reviews. I'm happy to report I installed it using the wireless option on 3 PCs and 1 Mac on my network without a single issue. It only took 15 minutes to do the minimal install which is all I believe you need. I'm very impressed with how well this device works and the wireless functionality is great.

I recommend doing the minimal software install. You can still scan, fax, print and everything else you just loose HP's photo editing software but I'm betting everyone has their own they like anyway.

Rating:
Summary: Great All-In-One Device
Review: I wanted to post this as a counter to all the posts from people on here that apparently are weak in following basic instructions and using basic logic.

Out of box to having the software installed on two macs and a PC, 60 minutes.

Print quality is really good. I bought the #99 Photo cartridge and haven't used it yet as I am satisfied with the quality as is (for now).

Copy function is excellent, color and black and white, very crisp.

Scanner function works very well also, but I am having a slight issue here as a result of some buggy software by HP. When I try to export the scanned file to a computer on my network , it only sees one of the machines. I have only tried this wirelessly as of now....but one tip I highly recommend for wireless users is to SETUP the printer INITIALLY with a STATIC I.P. address.

I haven't used the Fax function and don't really plan on it but there appears to be detailed documentation.

Overall I am very impressed with this device and the only reason it didn't get 5 stars is due to the software being rather redundant (twenty different ways in different places to do the same thing). I highly recommend it.

Rating:
Summary: Worst Install experience of my life...
Review: Please read and believe the emphatic negative (and positive) reviews about this product. YES!!!! This is a wonderful piece of hardware!! If you ever witness a working demo - you'd be convinced best solution performance you could expect - worth the relatively high price tag. REALITY: depending on computer OS you are using (not even HP can tell you exactly which kind either) - May very well be THE WORST INSTALL/SOFTWARE-FAILURE - DISAPOINTING PURCHASE OF YOUR LIFE!!! It certainly was for me. Believe the reviews when they said they spent hours and hours - reinstall after reinstall - horribly uninformed HP customer service reps. (Spoke with "highest level there is"(his words) HP tech support guy - who actually told me has never heard of ANY problems! with this printer. When I suggested he read the amazingly severe problems documented on their own(HP'S)web site - he actually told me- The problem is with Windows XP software - not the printer and suggested I change operating systems. I am not making this up!!!!
HP released a patch in Dec 04 that DOES NOT WORK!! (XP service pack2 has most amount of problems) Be warned!!!!! This is a Russian roulette situation - If it installs cleanly - you win. If not......

Rating:
Summary: Great hardware, ok software, horrible support
Review: This is truly a great piece of hardware for a home office or home network. It's compact. It lets you directly print (and minimally retouch) photos from any digital camera memory card without a computer. The built-in wireless/ethernet network interfaces allow several people to use the printer, scanner & fax machine from anywhere in the house. The quality from both printer & scanner is more than suitable for most SOHO needs. All of that is great, and it's a big step up from the OfficeJet All-in-One that I've used for years.

As you can tell from many people's reviews, the problems start with the software. It's certainly bloated (the full install is 700+MB. When those HP engineers write a printer driver, they don't mess around!), and it takes a long time to install, but it works ok if you're able to get it installed. I'd recommend the "minimal" install - all you're missing out on are HP's image editing tools and you don't need them if you've already got, e.g., Photoshop on your machine.

The real problem is the abysmal state of HP's documentation and support. Many people seem to have problems getting the software installed and configured. HP's website suggestions basically boil down to "reinstall" or "uninstall all your USB devices and reinstall" or "remove 80 zillion registry keys and reinstall".

There were two problems with my installation:
(1) The scanning software requires the "Windows Image Acquisition" service to be running, but it was disabled on my machine.

(2) Only one computer can use the scanner over a network at a time. If you have multiple computers, you'll have to quit HP Director on one before using it on the other.

Both problems resulted in cryptic errors in the software. Neither problem was discussed in the user's guide, the network setup guide, or the HP website. Nor could HP tech support pinpoint either problem in two support sessions. Eventually I figured out both things by a combination of fiddling around + Google.

I'd easily give the hardware 5 stars, but the rest of the product doesn't rise to the same level of excellence. If you're comfortable with computers and willing to spent some time getting it set up, I think you'll be pleased with the product. But if you're more of a computer novice, I'd suggest you look elsewhere.

Rating:
Summary: Great all-in-one wireless printer
Review: This printer installed as documented and has worked flawlessly ever since. I have multiple laptops, even PDA's printing to the 2710 and the response time is as immediate as a direct-connect printer. Faxing, scanning, and copying also work nicely, but the beauty of having a fast wireless printer that was a breeze to hook-up makes this printer my pick.

Rating:
Summary: Save your money - buy a different printer!!!!
Review: This printer is very disappointing, mostly due to the very flawed software. Installation was horrific, crashed my computer a few times. Had to totally disable Norton Anti-Virus and Internet Security during the installation. Scarry...Doesn't seem to matter if printer is connected wirelessly or to a hub/router, doesn't function properly either way. Printing is ok, but forget about scanning. I can't even scan from the scanner itself even though the printer finds the network. After uninstalling and reinstalling the drivers and many calls to tech support, still doesn't work.

I don't see why anyone should purchase this printer. It prints decently but is severely flawed as an all-in-one solution.

Rating:
Summary: This printer is simply garbage! Stay away from it.
Review: This will be the last time I buy a HP or any HP products.
Thier customer service lacks on top of it.
This printer is the worst!
First of all it has problems with any PC...and its primary function does not even work right.

How HP gets away with selling stuff like this is beyond me but they will never get me again.
It was fun running over it wih my truck!!!!
HP you suck!!!!



Rating:
Summary: BUYER BEWARE
Review: [...] If you are a pure MAC user and will be happy with reasonable photo quality, buy this product. If answer to any of these two questions is NO, stay away or you will regret. I am a Mac + PC user, and hell is what the printer is for me.

I have been so badly duped by the HP 2510, and then my friend got duped so badly by the 2710 - that for both me and my friend I'll sum up what you will get by throwing 300+ bucks in one word - CRAP.

All that you read here is true - the software is pure junk, HP technicians are so dumb they can't even fix a lawnmower, forget the electronics, and to top it all, photo quality is average at best. Just like the world of digital cams vs camcorders, just like the world of sedan vs sports cars, and just like the world of audio seprates vs receivers - nothing can be a pleasing all-in-one. I learnt it the hard way, sold the crappy machine, brought back my four year old Deskjet-T45 from the basement, and bought a canon I960 for under a 100 bucks. The new solution is far superior, works with any software, and photo quality is at least 25-40% better. So I dont have the wireless ease anymore - I can live with it. But i cannot live with a software that automatically launches itself and eats my RAM, eats 1GB (!!!) of hard drive space, refuses to work most of the time, and then bites my OS till it bleeds.

So how can HP screw up like this? Well - ever owned a BMW X5? You will know what I mean then :)

Hope this helps.