HP Deskjet 6840 Color Inkjet Printer

Rating:
Summary: Good printer - difficult install
Review: After many hours trying to get the printer connected wirelessly, it now works just fine. The HP install CD would not complete with WEP or WPA encryption enabled on my Linksys WRT54G wireless router. The secret was to disable all encryption and finish the installation, then later change the router and printer to either WEP or WPA encryption security. Now it works just great and also provides bi-directional communication so you can see the ink level gage and other info. I'd give it 5 stars if the install had been easier.

Rating:
Summary: Wireless and Quiet
Review: Easy to setup with HP instructions. Makes it portable anywhere in the house vs. a printer hooked up to the router on a print server.

Took me a bit longer to set up since I have two wireless networks. Small footprint and REALLY fast printing! Great value for the money vs. a lower end slow laser printer.



Rating:
Summary: 5 star printer, ridiculous thimble-sized toners
Review: Hope you've got the money for lots of little cartridges. They are extremely small and of course, a cash COW for HP. The wireless function through your ethernet cable is flawless and convenient, but if I had to actually pay for these, I would've given it away by now.

Basically, if you don't plan on doing alot of color printing, you'll probably be fine, just be warned.

Rating:
Summary: Smooth, hassle-free setup
Review: I had an HP932C printer for many years that I'd been happy with, but it gave up the ghost recently and needed to be replaced. Since the 932C was a parallel port printer, that meant I had a parallel port wireless print server, too. So I could either (a) buy a new parallel port printer, of which the choices these days are very limited, (b) buy a USB printer and a new wireless print server, or (c) buy a printer like the HP 6840 with built-in Wi-Fi.

I chose to get the HP 6840 and I'm glad I did. Setup is quick and hassle-free. The only thing confusing (to me, anyway) was that the setup wizard leads you to believe that you can do the initial setup via USB, and I thought I would be able to do that and specify my wireless specifications as part of that (SSID, WEP key, etc.). WRONG!

However, if you've got WinXP SP2 (which you OUGHT to have, anyway, if you're on WinXP), and a USB jump drive (borrow one if you need to!) the wireless setup couldn't be more painfree. Just run the WinXP Wireless Network Setup wizard and tell it to save the network settings to the USB drive. Then plug the drive into the PictBridge port on the front of the printer. In about 10 seconds, the lights flash, and you're done. How hard was that?

The printer is a lot faster than my old 932C and the print quality is great. It's nice to have borderless printing for photos now, which I didn't have before.

I've always been happy with HP printers, and I have every reason to expect that this one will be no exception.

Rating:
Summary: Good choice from Windows/OS X printing via USB and Wi-Fi
Review: I just purchased this printer for my wife. There were two main factors in deciding on this model: A) it is compatible with both Windows and Macintosh PCs, and B) it has USB, an ethernet port, and wireless G all built in.

The printer works fine shared between both Windows XP PCs and a Mac running OS X. I was unable to configure the Wi-Fi settings from a Windows PC using a USB flash drive, and had to use the ethernet port on the printer in order to configure the wireless settings.

Rating:
Summary: Very nice printer for a nice price
Review: I needed a new printer and had considered the previous generation wireless printer from HP, but the reviews I read failed to convince me that I would be satisfied with it's speed and print quality.

When the HP 6840 came out I was very interested, and after reading various reviews about it's performance and print quality I decided it was what I was looking for.

I have the Linksys wireless G router, and an HP notebook with wireless G. I found the setup instructions to be easy to read and follow. I have read several complaints about needing to plug the printer into the router with an ethernet cable (which is supplied) during initial setup, but this is a minor issue, and once it's completed you don't have to do it again.

The wireless connectivity is very good, and print speed and quality are very good. I am very happy with this printer and highly recommend it! I bought it from CompUsa for $169.00.

Rating:
Summary: Satisfied buyer
Review: I Needed a new printer for general photo AND document use to replace older HP deskjet 900 series printer. Used several sources (magazines, personal,internet, store, etc.) as research and considered other brands, even considered getting a photo-only printer. Downside with most photoprinters is that you are limited to 4x6 inch prints only, nothing else. HP ink cartridges also cost more, but they have in recent productions narrowed this cost gap with such printers as their photosmart 7000 series as read in a consumer magazine. Generally, the top three printer makers (Canon, HP, and Epson) make some excellent printers. Various factors influence choice, for example, ink costs, speed, text and photo quality, features, size, style, etc. I considered the new canon pixma printers, but they were HUGE. In summary I chose this printer because it uses HP's new Vivera inks (which are supposed to be an improvement from the last generation of inks), it's dimensions were medium size (shorter in height than most in its class), it is Wi-fi ready, and styling was new--its actually a very new model. Conlusion: It was a bit challenging as an average level computer user to set up the wi-fi conncection (as expected with wi-fi issues), but once set up, it works great as a wi-fi network printer. Texts prints were sharp. Photo prints were satisfactory, almost like lab quality (very impressive for a deskjet series printer) and it is quieter than my older printer in operation. The only downside I have for now is that there are only two slots for ink cartridges. HP has come out with a new photo gray ink (#100)for grayscale and enhanced black and white photos, but I would have to switch it with the regular black (#94 or #96) ink cartridge IF I decided to use it (although using the regular black ink will do for most users). To add some confusion, another new ink (#99) can be used for better photo prints (enables 6 ink printing) as an option over HP's regular black ink. There are no card slots but it is picture bridge enabled. I almost forgot to mention how great the included HP photo software is to use. Again, it is for an average user, and features red-eye reduction and other quick fix-it tools for those who don't want to spend more than a minute to edit photo prints.

Rating:
Summary: Easy setup, quick printing
Review: Just got one of these printers from my wife. I don't have a wireless network at home, but i've been trying to print to a remote printer while I move around the house with my Wi-Fi enabled PC laptop.

I've tried setting up wireless print servers with no luck. I even tried Apple's Airport Express and could not get it to communicate.
I was pleased with how easy this printer set itself up with the HP startup CD. I have a strong signal through several walls, and can even go outside the house. My laptop is using the slower b (not g) communication speed, so I think that gives me longer range. Found this printer on sale for $170. Great deal.