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HP DeskJet 5150 Color Printer

HP DeskJet 5150 Color Printer

List Price: $122.00
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Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 3 stars
Summary: The Deskjet 5150 prints superb photos at a bargain price
Review: *Note: This review is from pcworld.com*
HP's Deskjet 5150 costs only around $100 and prints very attractive photos. Printing on glossy paper and using the optional photo-ink cartridge--which costs an extra $25--the Deskjet 5150 produces superb color photos with smooth texture and very sharp detail. A window in the print driver called HP Digital Photography simplifies the process, thanks in part to an easy-to-use red-eye removal tool, a slider for increasing contrast, and a digital flash effect for brightening shadows. I also like the fine detail and sharp focus of the Deskjet 5150's gray-scale printouts, despite their slightly yellowish cast.

Because the 5150 can hold only two cartridges at a time, you must swap the black cartridge for the photo-ink cartridge in order to make top-quality photo prints. When you swap cartridges, the printer automatically realigns its print heads. Unfortunately, that process lasted 8 minutes in my test; however, the printer needs to realign the print heads only once--the first time you insert the photo-ink cartridge--because it stores the calibration settings in memory for later use. If you forget which cartridges you last installed, however, you can't figure it out by checking under the hood; The latches that hold the cartridges in place also cover their labels. Instead, you have to check the driver, which means that both the printer and your PC have to be powered up. You can reinsert partly used cartridges, but when not using them, you should keep them in the storage container that HP includes with the optional photo-ink cartridge.

The 5150 prints at average speeds: 5.4 pages per minute for text and 1.4 ppm on graphics. On plain paper it produces sufficiently black text that is marred by some spattering. Narrow parallel lines in printouts impressed me by being distinct and almost free of random spray. Essentially, for $100, the Deskjet 5150 duplicates the quality and performance of the $250 Deskjet 5850, but without the built-in Wi-Fi and ethernet connections. Estimated per-page ink costs are high; about 4.4 cents per page of plain text, and roughly 13.4 cents per page of light graphics.

The Deskjet 5150's output tray rests on top of the main paper tray, but you have to remove it to access the main tray. There is no envelope bypass slot, and the Deskjet 5150 doesn't support an add-on paper tray, but you can snap HP's $80 optional duplexer into the back. The 5150's power-converting brick plugs directly into a wall socket, where it may block other sockets.

HP's documentation could be stronger: A cursory poster covers installation, and a 14-page brochure mostly refers you to the on-screen manual. Though the on-screen manual provides thorough coverage on how to use and maintain the printer, it displays information in tiny chunks in a small, unstretchable window; and because you can't simultaneously look at the index or table of contents, navigation quickly becomes annoying.

If you're considering the Deskjet 5150 for office use, you may appreciate its driver setting for printing documents with a coarse texture so they will reproduce better when faxed or photocopied.

Verdict: The Deskjet 5150 is a solid, low-cost choice for printing top-notch photos--as long as you don't mind swapping ink cartridges.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Great Printer for a Great Price!
Review: As a poor college student needing a printer I was looking for quality for the best price possible. I knew that HP was a reputable brand as far as quality goes, so that's what swayed me in that area. For photo printing I was immensely impressed with the quality and detail. With the right resolution they look as though done by a professional photographer. The only downside is the consumption and price of the ink and the fact that you need to buy the connecting cable separate, but considering the price of the printer I'm not too miffed. It also doesn't require a lot of space. Score is 4 out of 5 stars.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: You can't go wrong with HP
Review: Don't be mistaken... this is a "low end" printer. But if you're on a budget this is a great deal for less than $100. I am very satisfied with all printing applications. The only real negative aspect for me is it's kind of noisy when feeding the paper through, but is worth it for the speed and quality (and price). Be aware that this printer connects to your computer strictly through USB connection (no parallel). Expect to pay an additional $25-30 for the USB cable if you don't already have one.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Yes they do have the cable
Review: For the guy that can't find the cable, I ordered one from Amazon "Belkin F3U133-06 USB Device Cable" It was like 6 bucks.
Great printer for the price.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: HP Support Service Rocks
Review: HP telephone support service provided my 12 year old daughter with a calm, step by step process in downloading a printer driver more compatible with her computer. We very much appreciate the time and the patience given to us.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Great basic printer for the money
Review: I bought the HP 5150 as a replacement for a 7+-year old, broken HP ink jet, and I'm very happy with it. I use it to print a lot of envelopes and haven't had any problems with the alignment getting messed up like I did with my old printer. The guides adjust smoothly (unlike my old printer) and it prints quickly enough for my own personal use - faster than my old printer since the 5150 uses a USB cable (I saved $15 on that and bought it at Target). It was really simple to set up, too, and I only have a basic knowledge of computers.

I don't plan on using it to print photos, but I understand the cartridges switch out and you can print quality color photos. The cartridges were a bit tricky to snap in.

I am comfortable with HP quality, so I didn't consider any other brands. The price seemed reasonable.

Overall, I'm very happy with this printer.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Great basic printer for the money
Review: I bought the HP 5150 as a replacement for a 7+-year old, broken HP ink jet, and I'm very happy with it. I use it to print a lot of envelopes and haven't had any problems with the alignment getting messed up like I did with my old printer. The guides adjust smoothly (unlike my old printer) and it prints quickly enough for my own personal use - faster than my old printer since the 5150 uses a USB cable (I saved $15 on that and bought it at Target). It was really simple to set up, too, and I only have a basic knowledge of computers.

I don't plan on using it to print photos, but I understand the cartridges switch out and you can print quality color photos. The cartridges were a bit tricky to snap in.

I am comfortable with HP quality, so I didn't consider any other brands. The price seemed reasonable.

Overall, I'm very happy with this printer.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Great little printer
Review: I bought this with a client at Office Depot yesterday, and helped him set it up in his office. I'm very impressed, and am thinking about replacing my wheezing Epson 740 (which I've put probably 20,000 pages through.)

Things that impressed me about it:
--The box it comes in. It's not too big, and all the specs and technical info you need are printed on the outside. (And although others complain about it not having a USB cable and I don't have the box in front of me, I'm sure that it specifies that on the box itself. Besides, no USB cable has been an industry standard since USB printers first rolled off production lines.)
--The size. For an inkjet printer, it's quite small. It can also be used in low overhead areas, since the paper tray is underneath the output tray. My Epson Stylus 740 is, for all practical purposes, 13" high and 5" deeper than it would otherwise be, because of the paper tray.
--Software. Software for Mac OS X was simple to install.
--Print quality is excellent. We threw in some sheets of white paper that had been lying around outside the wrapper and the test picture came out great. Black and white text bled a bit in normal mode, but I think that has more do to with the paper having been inadequately stored.
--Print speed. Quite nice, particularly for text in normal mode.
--I got this printer out of the box and working for my client in fifteen minutes.

Cons:
--None I can think of.

For a $100 printer, not bad at all.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great printer!!
Review: I just bought the HP Deskjet 5150 Color Printer and I have to say that it is the best printer I have used. The only negative thing I can say is that it doesn't come with a USB cable and you have to buy it separetly. However, you can just buy it anywhere. The quality of the color is great, and it's also great for printing reports for school. The printer itself is very easy to install. Recommended for everyone!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: great value
Review: I just purchased this printer, and I think it's a great value. It is a little noisy, but the printouts are professional quality, it's fast, it was easy to set-up and it's cute!

I didn't know I needed to buy a USB connector, but I got one for $9 at W___mart.


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