HP DeskJet 6540 Color Inkjet Printer

Rating:
Summary: Review from Pc Pro.com
Review: HP Deskjet 6540 [PC Pro]
COMPANY: Hewlett - Packard
DATE: Nov 04

Verdict: Excellent text quality, high speed, expandability and smart styling aren't quiteenough to make this basic printer competitive.

The 6540 is the first unit we've seen from HP's all new Deskjet line-up, a range that's been home to several Recommended and A-List award-winners.

Compared to Canon's Pixma iP3000, the 6540 is a fairly basic unit - there's just a single printer tray, no duplex or CD printing, and no direct-print-from-camera functions, yet it still manages to be almost £30 more expensive. In terms of build quality though, it's streets ahead of the Canon. The dapper metal shell of the HP is much slicker than the iP3000's silver plastic, and the whole unit suffers from much less rattle. The lid is even geared so that it closes softly rather than slamming shut.

This attention to detail is carried over to the button panel on the left; the keys have a positive clicking action and are smartly lit. The bottom button switches between printing modes (draft, normal and best), though the printer software can override this if you'd prefer. Paper follows the traditional HP U-feed path - not a problem unless you want to print on non-standard or thicker media - and there's the usual slot for feeding envelopes. You'll also notice the inclusion of an upstream USB port on the front - not for connecting a camera, but as an easy way to connect a laptop. We're not convinced it's a must-have feature, but it's there if you want it.

In testing, text documents were near laser-quality, with crisp, black and well-formed characters on default settings, while draft mode only added slight feathering. Print speeds aren't staggering, but with our 25-page text document taking four minutes, six seconds to run through on draft mode, and only a minute more for default, the Deskjet 6540 should be fast enough for all but the most demanding users. For extra speed, we found fast draft mode to yield an impressive 21.4 ppm, with still reasonable results.

Photo printing is slightly more disappointing. Though prints are delivered in a timely fashion - one minute, 54 seconds for a best-quality borderless 6 x 4in photo - colours are a little washed out, and detail is softer than we'd like. Some prints also exhibit a slight embossed effect, with ink appearing to sit on top of the printed surface.

The black cartridge can be swapped for a photo cartridge to turn the printer from a four- to a six-colour device. Results were certainly smoother, and though colours still lacked punch and the detail was a little fudged, photo prints of this quality are uncommon in a sub-£100 printer. An additional grey cartridge is also available for smooth monochrome prints. On the plus side, it means you can choose how much to invest in the machine as a photo device; we just wish there was somewhere to put whichever cartridge you're not using.

It isn't just the ink that's modular. HP offers a range of accessories, including an automatic duplexer, complete with separate small paper sheet feeder. There's also an additional 250-sheet paper input tray. Compared to what the Canon iP3000 is offering, however, these aren't cheap, costing another £40 each.

If you're looking for a cheap workhorse inkjet, the basic model is a good choice. Its photo printing is respectable for a printer at this price, and when you add to this smart styling, low running costs, and superb build quality, the Deskjet 6540 deserves a PC Pro Recommended accolade. For sheer flexibility and value for money, though, the Canon is a better choice.

By Christopher Phin


Hope this helps you out.

Rating:
Summary: Great Printer but Auto Power On feature missing - all 6500's
Review: Purchased the Australian version of this printer,

Ours arrives with the base duplexer wich works well but pauses a little between flipping paper.

Super fast printing on Fast draft which is great.

Picture quality is very good with standard color cartridge compared to the old HP930 must be really great with the Photo cartridge.

Has Auto Power off feature to save power - but is Now missing the Auto ON Power feature the old HP930 had, so it lost two points because of this as the printer is not near the computer.
If you go to HP Web site on this matter be sure to scroll all the way down to see the true note regarding the Auto On Feature.

Rating:
Summary: Uneven performance, considering price.
Review: This printer has some strengths, but some serious weaknesses as well, particularly given the price of the unit (some 130 US, give or take).

It is great for printing text; the quality of the text output is certainly very good, and the printer is remarkably fast. In addition, economny is acceptable--it's not bad, but not outstanding either. Further, the printer is both attractive (a minor consideration) and sturdy (major consideration). You can realistically expect speedy printing of almost anything; photos, graphics, text, what have. It'll be a fast printer, and with the text and graphics, output ranges from acceptable to great.
Also, you can do duplex (that is, two sided) printing, which can be nice to have in some limited circumstances.

However, the photos are simply atrocious, particularly for the price of the printer. My three+ year old Epson C84 (which was a hundred dollar printer three years ago--that's 30 bucks cheaper folks) prints far better photos.

The issue isn't so much the color; there are actually some good color management features in the software. It's just that it doesn't seem to produce sharp photos; details are fuzzy, the picture pixilated, etc. It's truly dissapointing, particularly because I'd wanted to like this printer, given it's capabilities at printing documents. But honestly, it looks like someone used to much digital zoom when they took a photo if you print it off on this printer. The ONLY exeptions are really simply photos; ones without detail.

Photos aside, the software is ghastly, in true HP fashion. Changing all the settings anytime you want to print something else (labels, photos, different paper sizes, etc.) is a real pain in the butt.

(...).