HP LaserJet 3030 All-in-One

Rating:
Summary: Photos? Gimme a break
Review: Complaining that a device like this doesn't scan as well as your old single-function scanner is a little like complaining how a Lexus RX330 SUV doesn't corner as well as your '92 sports car. The LJ 3030 is designed to do many things pretty well as opposed to one thing very well.

If that is what you are looking for, I think it does a pretty good job. I use it for school and work two make presentations, scan documents, write papers, FAX statements, etc. In that respect, I think it does the job very well especially given its price. The print quality is quite good and compared to my old LJ 3150 it prints quite fast at 15-20ppm. The scanner is not top quality, but it is not bad and is good enough for what I need it for. Honestly, if you want professional quality color scanning for photos, you shouldn't be looking at an all-in-one in the first place. Printing photos on a B/W laser printer seems pointless to me. I've printed Powerpoint slides with graphics on them and they look quite reasonable.

I got printer setup to be shared on my home network pretty quickly and the Java-based configuration software is pretty easy to use.

The USB connection is nice and I have it running through the hub in my monitor instead of having to run it all the way back to my PC.

The print recognition software which converts scanned documents to editable MS Word files works pretty well for typed docs, but obviously not well for handwritten ones.

Overall, I am quite happy with it although I wish the extra USB 2.0 cable which is not included wasn't so expensive.

Rating:
Summary: Major disappoitment
Review: How come no one has reviewed this printer so far ? Mmm.
In any case, the HP LaserJet 3030 All-in-One turned out to be a disappoitment. I hope I will be able to return it, it's been 31 days.

Faxing I did not have the time to try.

Scanning is very slow, even at 200 dpi. There is dithering at 300 dpi and up, when looking at pictures at their actual size, which is abnormal when scanning high quality photos. Listen, it's just abnormal that an old cheapo scanner of mine, bought 9 years ago for 100 $CA, performs 50 times better than this one.

It is also abnormal that the printer should perform the way it does with graphics (forget photos!). There is dithering which I did not get with my OLD HP printer. So if you are printing even a little graphic here and there, trust me : it will get on your nerves to see that dithering. MAJOR posterization when printing photos. Again, my old 1100 LaserJet printer performed a lot better in printing photos, and graphics. What's up with that.

The HP LaserJet 3030 All-in-One is good with printing text, as well as decent in photocopying text. If you photocopy graphics -- like when you're doing your first test with the printer, which is to photocopy a printed page -- you'll have spots of gray within the darker areas of the graphic.

The paper handling is o.k. if you are delicate with it. Speed of printing is o.k. It is not impressive.

Don't buy it. What else should you buy ? I don't know. There doesn't seem to be an obvious choice for all-in-one laser printers below 1000 $CA, even now.