Hands-on Test Report

Transcript

What You Should Know Hands-On Test Report Hewlett-Packard Officejet Pro 8600 Plus e-All-in-One Executive Summary What It Is During our hands-on testing of the Officejet Pro 8600 Plus, we evaluated all aspects of performance from image quality to productivity, set-up and ease of use: Tested Print Speed Tested print speed was up to 20 ppm (Normal mode), matching Hewlett-Packard’s rated ISO print speed of 20 ppm, and was fastest printing when printing from Microsoft Word. Tested duplex print productivity was 8.97 ppm, versus 4.29 ppm with the previous Officejet 8500A series. We also observed that ink drying time was markedly faster than the previous Officejet Pro 8500A series—drying time for one side of black text output was approximately 2.50 to 2.75 seconds in testing, versus approximately 5.75 seconds for the Officejet Pro 8500A Plus. Image Quality The Officejet Pro 8600 Plus produced very good text quality that was readable down to even 4 pt. font size, good resolution, and very good line and dot control. The system also produced very good color photographic quality: ISO raw TIFF test photographs printed displayed very good detail and color saturation—colors were vibrant, and flesh tones were realistic, the latter of which is very important when considering any system with photoprinting capability. Ultimately, while not on the same level as with much more expensive specialty photo printers with five or more ink colors, we found that color photographic quality will be more than acceptable for 95 percent of all color-photo printing applications. In our Water- and Highlighter Resistance Test, the Officejet Pro 8600 Plus’s color graphic and text output displayed absolutely no smearing when subjected to water and a highlighter pen. Significantly faster ink drying time means ink is less likely to smear if handled prematurely. Installation Software and network installation was efficient and streamlined, and took just 15 minutes. Hardware set up was also fast at 26 minutes and notably, the print head is conveniently pre-installed, and we observed a minimal amount of packaging materials that had to be removed. Ease of Use The color touch screen is exceptionally easy to navigate—menus flow well, and we found ample, easy-to-access help was provided if we had a question about a setting. The touch screen has also been enhanced with smartphone-like swiping—just swipe the touch screen to browse options, instead of having to locate and press up-and-down arrows (swiping is with Plus and Premium configurations only, not base configuration). The touch screen also displays previews of scanned Hewlett-Packard Officejet Pro 8600 Plus e-All-in-One “The Officejet Pro 8600 Plus performed faultlessly in testing, and builds on the previous generation’s stateof-the-art color touch screen, mobile printing and Webconnected Print Apps with a new ink-imaging system for markedly superior performance in testing. It also adds new manageability capabilities that make it the first Officejet Pro All-in-One that is truly suitable for use in enterprises and small and mid-size businesses.” Terry Wirth, President, Wirth Consulting. Imaging Technology: Thermal Color Ink-Jet Functions: Print/Copy/Scan/Fax Maximum Monthly Volume: 25,000 pages Recommended Monthly Page Volume: 250 to 1,250 pages ISO Print Speed: 20 (black)/16 (color) ppm List Price: $299.00 Availability: Retail, www.HP.com, and channel partners; also available as part of a pay-per-use program via HP Managed Print Services contracts. Introduction Date: October 2011 Hewlett-Packard’s Officejet Pro 8600 Plus is a fullcolor ink-jet All-in-One that follows up on HP’s previous Officejet Pro 8500A series. Designed for small and mid-size businesses, as well as for deployment in enterprises, this All-in-One provides standard wireless and wired network connectivity, touch panel with color touch screen, and wireless and wired network connectivity, mobile printing, and HP Print Apps. Three configurations are available: base configuration, the tested Plus configuration, and Premium configuration. Table of Contents Executive Summary ............................... 1 What It Is ................................................ 1 Image Quality ......................................... 3 Print ........................................................ 6 ePrint ...................................................... 8 Print Apps .............................................. 8 Copy ....................................................... 9 Scan ...................................................... 10 Fax ........................................................ 11 Touch Panel/Touch Screen .................. 12 Print &Fax Drivers ............................... 16 Client/Management Software .............. 18 Hardware Installation ........................... 25 Software/Network Installation ............. 26 User Maintenance ................................ 28 Media Handling ................................... 31 Cost Per Page ....................................... 32 Space/Power/Warranty ........................ 32 Eco-Friendly Features .......................... 33 Recommendation ................................. 33 August 2011   Wirth Consulting, LLC  Denville, New Jersey USA  www.wirthconsulting.org Page 1 What You Should Know Hands-On Test Report Hewlett-Packard Pro Officejet 8600 Plus e-All-in-One documents, and provides a QWERTY-style keypad for entering text such as e-mail addresses and names for scanned files, which is always preferable to using an alphanumeric keypad. The Officejet Pro 8600 series has also been redesigned to prevent wasted partially-printed pages. With a new Ink Reserve mode, when an ink cartridge runs out, users have the option of continuing to keep printing: 1) if black ink runs out, the Officejet Pro can use the remaining colors to create a composite black (a combination of cyan, yellow, and magenta inks) and finish printing the job; 2) if a color ink runs out, users can finish the job utilizing black ink. The print system is also designed to have sufficient ink in the print-head assembly in order to complete printing any given page before ink runs out. This minimizes wasted, half-printed or poor print quality pages when an ink cartridge is depleted (and also protects the print head from drying out). Software Ease of Use During our tests, we noted that the Officejet Pro 8600 Plus’s software suite is streamlined and less demanding on PC resources. Software, including print, scan, and fax drivers, is intuitive, non-intrusive and easy to use, and there is plenty of guidance, which is straightforward and easy to follow. Mobile Printing with ePrint, Support for Apple AirPrint, Fax to e-Mail The Officejet Pro 8600 series supports both HP’s ePrint and Apple’s AirPrint. With ePrint, print from any e-mail-capable device. Just launch an e-mail, attach the file, address the e-mail to your Officejet Pro’s unique e-mail address, and then send the e-mail. We found it takes about 10 minutes to enable ePrint at HP’s www.hpeprint.com, and it’s easy to manage. With Apple AirPrint, printers on local networks are automatically located, and users can print wirelessly to them from Apple iPad and iOS 4.2-capable iPhone and iPod Touch devices. We have evaluated both mobile-printing solutions with previous Webenabled Officejet systems, and both work correctly. Another feature for mobile users is the ability to route received faxes to a designated e-mail inbox, so that users can receive inbound faxes anywhere that there’s e-mail available, whether at home or on the road. Enterprise Support The new Officejet Pro 8600 series also adds support for enterprises with streamlined installation and preconfigured driver deployment, and broader network operating system support, including Citrix environments. The system is also supported by HP’s Web-based network-management solution, Web Jetadmin. Administrators can disable functions such as color printing, fax, simplex printing, etc. The system may also be included as part of an HP Managed Print Services plan with automated supply delivery, and, with its small footprint and easy user and IT management, is appropriate for deployment for enterprises with satellite offices and who employ telecommuters. The Officejet Pro 8600 series also supports HP’s ePrint Enterprise for mobile printing from devices such as smartphones (including BlackBerry smartphones), tablets, and laptops within the enterprise firewall using e-mail accounts. Print Apps We have had no difficulty using and managing Print Apps, including adding or removing them at the ePrint Web site. A key eStorage Print App enables users to print documents stored in Google Docs and Box.net accounts. With this print-ondemand, users can print documents stored in Google Docs and Box.net accounts—such as patient directions and forms, company directions, menus, etc.—directly from the Officejet Pro’s touch screen without having to use a PC. (This might be a key advantage for business owners who would like to keep some employees away from using PCs and their potential distractions.) Plus, users only print the number of copies they need, eliminating waste, and they don’t have to store hardcopy documents that quickly become outdated. Using the Officejet Pro 8600’s scan capability, users can also scan hardcopy documents to their Google Docs and Box.net accounts for storage and sharing. Build Quality We observed that build quality feels both smoother and sturdier. We are also in favor of the matte finish, as dust and fingerprints are much less apparent than with a glossy piano-black finish. Maintenance Replacing the four separate ink cartridges is very easy, and a new LED light illuminates the media path and the area where the August 2011   Wirth Consulting, LLC  Denville, New Jersey USA  www.wirthconsulting.org Page 2 What You Should Know Hands-On Test Report Hewlett-Packard Pro Officejet 8600 Plus e-All-in-One ink cartridges are housed. The newly designed ink cartridges are easier to install than ink cartridges used by other Officejet Pros we’ve tested. Ink-cartridge slots are also clearly labeled, minimizing users installing the wrong ink cartridge in a slot, and cartridges slide easily into place. Loading media in the paper drawers is very easy, and the paper drawer can be completely removed, which we’ve found makes it easier to add paper. Value and Cost per Page The Officejet Pro 8600 Plus provides all of the previous Officejet 8500A Plus’s features, but adds a number of critical improvements (faster ink drying time, faster duplex productivity, improved ink-imaging system, improved build quality), but is priced $100.00 less (as are the other two members of the Officejet Pro 8600 series). At the same time, cost per page remains very economical (1.6¢ [black]/7.2¢ [color] cents). Together, this results in a very economical Total Cost of Ownership (acquisition price, plus cost per page.) Not to be overlooked is the Officejet Pro 8600 Plus’s very economical power consumption—just 34 watts compared to 300 to 400 watts for color laser All-in-Ones in this segment, which will also result in lower operating costs. Reliability During our evaluation, we did not observe any reliability, installation, or usage problems—no misfeeds or paper-feeding problems occurred, no paper-curling or ink smudging was observed, installing ink cartridges was clean and easy, printed output was neatly stacked, functions worked correctly, etc. A plus is that help and instructions for performing the maintenance that is occasionally required (such as the automated print-head cleaning) is easy to perform, and the touch screen provides easy-to-follow instructions as well as animated clips demonstrating how to perform these tasks. IMAGE QUALITY TESTED IMAGE QUALITY In order to evaluate image quality, Wirth Consulting uses: 1. The highest image-quality settings. 2. ImageXpert™ Printer 600 dpi Target Version 5.1. 3. ImageXpert Test Target EP-PSv1. 4. Northlight Images UK Grayscale Linearization Test Chart. 5. Synthetic (photographic) test images derived from ISO Internal Standard 12640 Graphic Technology (Prepress Digital-Data Exchange – CYMK Standard Color Image Data [CYMK/SCID]). 6. Hammermill 100/112+ Euro Bright, 28 lb. Color Copy Paper. NOTE: Image-quality samples contained in this report are raw TIFF, non-compressed photos that have been recorded using a high-end digital camera. They are intended to provide readers with our best approximation of image quality. However, all Wirth Consulting comments on image-quality are based on a visual examination of the actual printed image-quality samples themselves, not on the photographs. Imaging Technology: Ink Base (Black/Color): Max. Print Resolution Black: Max. Print Resolution Color: Thermal ink-jet, full-color Pigment-based 1,200x600 dpi 4800x1200 dpi optimized STRENGTHS  The Officejet Pro 8600 Plus produced crisp black text, very good resolution and fine-line reproduction, excellent dot (pixel) control, as well as text readability down to 4 pt. font.  ISO raw TIFF test photographs displayed good detail, excellent color saturation, no banding, and realistic flesh tones, with photographs displaying an overall very-pleasing appearance.  In a test that evaluates printer dot (pixel) control, the system was able to reproduce the test target very well, while it was able to produce the black, cyan, magenta, and yellow halftone ranges very well.  Very good overall copy quality, with good text quality down to even 4 pt. font size.  In our Water- and Highlighter Resistance Test, the Officejet Pro 8600 Plus’s color graphic and text output displayed absolutely no smearing when subjected to water and a highlighter pen.  Significantly faster ink drying time means ink is less likely to smear if handled prematurely.  No ink bleed-through or smearing was observed. LIMITATIONS  None. August 2011   Wirth Consulting, LLC  Denville, New Jersey USA  www.wirthconsulting.org Page 3 What You Should Know Hands-On Test Report Hewlett-Packard Pro Officejet 8600 Plus e-All-in-One PRINT-MODE IMAGE QUALITY SAMPLES (RAW TIFF DIGITAL PHOTOS) Image-quality originals used by Wirth Consulting when evaluating a device’s image quality. Raw TIFF photo of the test target printed on HP Bright White Paper (plain paper). Overall the photo has an attractive appearance, and colors are true—for instance, the musician’s dress is a burgundy shade, as it should be, and flesh tones are smooth and natural. Raw TIFF photo of the test target printed on HP Advanced Photo Paper. While our plain-paper sample is good, colors are much more vibrant and vivid printed on HP glossy photo paper. Colors are very accurate, flesh tones are very smooth and natural, and fine detail is very good. Note that this is not the actual printed image sample, but a photograph of the image sample. When printing the area of the test target that evaluates resolution, the Officejet Pro 8600 Plus was able to produce black horizontal and vertical lines (circled in red) as thin as 3 pt. size, which is typical of office-imaging printers and MFPs in this segment. It also produced cyan and magenta down to 3 pt. size, and yellow down to 4 pt. size. In the test sample above, the Officejet Pro 8600 Plus was able to produce positive horizontal and vertical lines down to 1 pt., which is very good, and negative horizontal and vertical lines down to 2pt., which is good. In the Dot (Pixel) Quality measurement, the system performed very well: it produced approximately 90% of pixels correctly in the 2x2 positive and negative black pixel box; 90% and 80% of pixels in the 1x1 black positive and negative pixel boxes respectively. It produced 80% of the pixels in the cyan and magenta pixel boxes, and 70% of pixels in the yellow pixel box. August 2011   Wirth Consulting, LLC  Denville, New Jersey USA  www.wirthconsulting.org Page 4 What You Should Know Hands-On Test Report Hewlett-Packard Pro Officejet 8600 Plus e-All-in-One The first row of the halftone chart represents the Officejet Pro 8600 Plus’s ability to produce grayscale images. It was able to perfectly produce all 10 shades correctly in distinct 10% steps, indicating that it will be able to produce grayscale images very well. Based on an examination of the actual printed output, it was also able to correctly produce the next three colors (yellow, magenta, and cyan) accurately in 10% steps, although there was some indistinct stepping in the 80% to 100% cyan range. It also produced the lower orange, green and blue halftone scales very well, although there was some indistinct stepping in the 80% to 100% green range. The Officejet Pro 8600 Plus also produced clear, readable negative and positive text down to 4 pt. font size—the smallest font size most office users will ever require. Overall, text was crisp and clear and compared very well with text produced by other office-imaging printers and All-in-Ones tested by Wirth Consulting. WATER- AND HIGHLIGHTER-RESISTANCE TEST Wirth Consulting conducted an ink water-resistance test by placing drops of distilled water on printed output via an eyedropper, and then waited 24 hours to view the results. Drops of distilled water were placed on the inner area where all four color blocks meet, and on black text in the center of the print reading “Duis.” We also performed a highlighter-resistance test, marking each of the printouts with a yellow Sanford highlighter pen as seen in the photographs of the printed output below. Competitive Contemporary Ink-Jet Device Officejet Pro 8600 Plus Legacy Ink-Jet Device Ink bled in the areas where water was applied, both in the color area and in the black text. Note that the text highlighted with yellow has slightly smeared. As may be seen, there is no evidence that water was applied to the print. Also note that the text highlighted with yellow has not smeared. Ink bled in the areas where water was applied, both in the color area and in the black text. Note that the text highlighted with yellow has also smeared. August 2011   Wirth Consulting, LLC  Denville, New Jersey USA  www.wirthconsulting.org Page 5 What You Should Know Hands-On Test Report Hewlett-Packard Pro Officejet 8600 Plus e-All-in-One COPY-MODE IMAGE QUALITY In the copy image-quality sample to the left taken in color Best mode, the system was able to produce the halftone scale to the far left in increments of 10% to 100% well. Reproduction of text was very good, with distinct, readable text down to even 4 pt. font size. The handwriting samples reproduced in different colors were also distinct and readable, and the Copier Test Pattern was also correctly reproduced. Although not quite as apparent in the sample to the left, but apparent in the actual printed copy itself, the system was able to produce readable black text in the dark red box in the upper left. In the line pairs per millimeter chart in the lower right, the system was able to clearly reproduce lines as fine as 5.0 to 5.6 lp/mm, which is very good. PRINT Hewlett-Packard rates the Officejet Pro 8600 Plus at up to ISO 20 (black)/16 (color) ppm, and the system is equipped with a wired Ethernet network interface, wireless 802.11n network interface and USB 2.0 port for direct connection. On the lower left front of the unit there is also a USB port for printing from USB memory drives, as well as two memory-card slots. STRENGTHS  Tested print speeds of up to 20 ppm (Normal mode), matching HewlettPackard’s rated ISO print speed of 20 ppm. Print speed was fastest printing from Microsoft Word.  Tested duplex print productivity was 8.97 ppm, versus 4.29 ppm with the previous Officejet 8500A series. We observed that this is directly correlated to the considerably faster ink drying time for side one of the print (black text drying time was approximately 2.50 to 2.75 seconds in testing, versus approximately 5.75 seconds for the previous Officejet Pro 8500A series).  To prevent wasted partially-printed pages when an ink cartridge runs out, a new Reserve Mode gives users the option to keep printing if one ink cartridge runs out. If black ink runs out, the Officejet Pro 8600 can use the remaining colors to create a composite black and finish printing the job. If a color ink runs out, users have the option of printing using black ink.  With new page-completion, the print system is designed to have sufficient ink in the print-head assembly to complete printing the current page at full print quality. This minimizes wasted, half-printed or poor print quality pages when an ink cartridge is depleted and also prevents damaging printhead dry-out.  Mobile printing with HP’s ePrint and support for Apple’s AirPrint. With ePrint, print from any device capable of sending an e-mail message without having to download print drivers, connect to the device, etc. (see section below).With AirPrint, printers on local networks are automatically located, and users can print wirelessly to them from iOS 4.2 Apple iPod, iPhone and iPad touch devices.  Print Apps enable users to print Web content directly from the touch screen without having to use their PC and launch a print driver (see Print Apps below). ISO Print Speed: 20/16 ppm Draft Print Speed: 35/35 ppm Best Mode Print Speed: 5/3 ppm CPU: 360 MHz Wireless: Yes* Ethernet Networking: Yes** Max. Print Res.: 4800x1200 dpi Std./Max. Mem. 128/128 MB *802.11 b/g/n **10/100BaseTX PictBridge Port: Bluetooth: Media Card Slots: USB Host Port: USB Memory Port: Mobile Printing: No No Two 2.0 Yes Yes TEST PLATFORM: Microsoft Office 2010; 32-bit Microsoft Windows 7 SP1; Adobe Acrobat 9.4.5. TESTED PRINT PERFORMANCE (Normal Mode – 8.5”x11” Media) Test Document 1-Page Photo 1-Page Adobe Acrobat Color 1-Page Adobe Acrobat Text 1-Page Power Point Color 1-Page B/W Word Text 1-Page B/W Word Duplex TESTED PRINT PERFORMANCE (Normal Mode – 8.5”x11” Media) FPOT Job Time (sec.) (sec.) Test Document 1-Page Photo 36.36 36.36 10-Page Adobe Acrobat Color 22.70 63.54 10-Page Adobe Acrobat Text 17.06 50.53 10-Page Power Point Color 23.86 122.26 10-Page B/W Word Text 18.70 46.83 10-Page B/W Word Duplex* 32.26 85.79 FPOT (sec.) 36.36 19.30 16.48 19.31 16.36 26.99 PPM 1.65 13.22 16.13 5.49 19.20 8.97 *Drying time for the first side of the page in duplex mode was 2.90 to 3.65 seconds for black text output and 2.79 to 5.88 seconds for color output, resulting in significantly faster duplex times. Ink-drying time will vary depending on page coverage; the less page coverage, the faster the drying time. August 2011   Wirth Consulting, LLC  Denville, New Jersey USA  www.wirthconsulting.org Page 6 What You Should Know Hands-On Test Report Hewlett-Packard Pro Officejet 8600 Plus e-All-in-One    Standard wireless and wired Ethernet network connectivity, as well as two ports for printing from memory cards, and one port for printing from USB flash memory drives. Broad network operating support, including Citrix/Cluster support plus optional HP Jetdirect and Apple Macintosh servers (see charts below). Among security capabilities are firewall protection for IPv4 and IPv6 networks, and support for SSL, Syslog, password-protected embedded Web page, HTTPS/SSL, and Firmware Code Signing. PRINT-FILE SIZES (MB) Native File Size Test Document 1-Page Photo 2.011 10-Page Adobe Acrobat Color 0.568 10-Page Adobe Acrobat Text 0.146 10-Page Power Point Color 3.641 10-Page B/W Word Text 0.069 10-Page B/W Word Duplex 0.069 Print File Size 15.00 1.53 0.51 17.30 0.37 0.37 LIMITATIONS  None. Operating Systems Supported Microsoft Windows: XP Service Pack 3, Vista, 7 Apple Macintosh: OS X v 10.5, v 10.6; for Mac OS X v10.7 Lion, download software using Mac OS X software update or www.hp.com/support (software cannot be installed from the CD if using Mac OS X v10.7 Lion). Linux: Yes; see http://hplipopensource.com/hplip-web/index.html Network Operating Systems Supported Microsoft® Windows 7 (32-bit and 64-bit), Windows Vista (32-bit and 64bit) (Ultimate Edition, Enterprise Edition and Business Edition), Windows XP (32-bit) (Professional and Home Editions), Windows Small Business Server 2003 (32-bit and 64-bit), Windows 2003 Server (32-bit and 64-bit), Windows 2003 Server R2 (32-bit and 64-bit) (Standard Edition, Enterprise Edition), Windows Small Business Server 2008 (64-bit), Windows 2008 Server (32-bit and 64-bit), Windows 2008 Server R2 (64-bit) (Standard Edition, Enterprise Edition); Mac OS X v 10.5 or v 10.6; Linux (For more information, see http://hplipopensource.com/hplipweb/index.html). Operating System Support (Enterprise: Print driver only), Windows 2003 Small Business Server Terminal Services, Windows 2003 Server Terminal Services, Windows 2003 Server Terminal Services with Citrix Metaframe XP with Feature Release 3, Windows 2003 Server Terminal Services with Citrix Presentation Server 4.0, Windows 2003 Server Terminal Services with Citrix Presentation Server 4.5, Windows Server 2008 Terminal Services, Windows Server 2008 Terminal Services with Citrix ZenApp; Novell Netware 6, 6.5, Open Enterprise Server 6.5 (Novell iPrint support only). Network Protocols Supported TCP/IP, IPv6 (IPv6 print, Embedded Web Server [EWS] and Web scan feature within EWS and Direct Digital Filing—Scan to Network Folder and Scan to e-mail) Flash Memory Devices Supported Memory Stick Duo, MagicGate Memory Stick Duo, Memory Stick Micro (requires adapter), Secure Digital (SD), Secure Digital High Capacity; miniSD, microSD, microSDHC (requires adapter), MultimediaCard (MMC), Secure MultimediaCard, Reduced-Size MultimediaCard (RS-MMC), MMC Mobile, MMCmicro (requires adapter). A USB 2.0 port (left) and two memory-card readers (right) are located on the lower front left of the unit and are used to print from and/or scan to these memorystorage devices. Ports on back of the unit (from top): fax ports, Ethernet port, USB port, and power port. Note that the power supply is now internal, so that there’s no external powersupply brick. Optional Network Interfaces And Connectivity HP Jetdirect: en1700 IPv/IPv6 Print Server, en3700 Fast Ethernet Print Server, ew2400 802.11g Wireless Print Server, ew2500 80.211b/g Wireless Print Server. Other: Apple AirPort Express, Apple AirPort Extreme, Apple Airport TimeCapsule. August 2011   Wirth Consulting, LLC  Denville, New Jersey USA  www.wirthconsulting.org Page 7 What You Should Know Hands-On Test Report Hewlett-Packard Pro Officejet 8600 Plus e-All-in-One ePrint ePrint enables the Officejet Pro 8600 e-All-in-One series (and other HP STRENGTHS ePrint-enabled printers and All-in-Ones) to print from any device  Mobile printing with ePrint—as long as you’ve got an Internet connection and a device capable of capable of sending an e-mail. The Officejet Pro 8600 Plus must be sending an e-mail, you can send a print job from connected to a network with Internet access, and these file types can be virtually anywhere. There’s no need to download printed: Microsoft Office Word and PowerPoint files, standard Adobe print drivers or software in order to print. PDFs, TXT files, and JPEG, Bitmap, PNG, TIFF and GIF images.    Files sent and printed with ePrint are accurately rendered. Setting up ePrint is quick and easy, taking less than 10 minutes. Good permissions capability, as users can allow only specified e-mail addresses to print to their system, and can also easily re-set their printer’s e-mail address, as well as disable/enable ePrint. LIMITATIONS  None. HP’s ePrint e-mail server sends you a confirmation e-mail when your email with file attachment has been received and will be printed. To send a job, just send an e-mail from any e-mail-capable device to your Officejet Pro 8600 Plus’s unique e-mail address, attaching the print file. HP recently enabled users to change their system’s randomly generated 12character e-mail address to an e-mail address they create themselves to make it easier to remember. PRINT APPS Print Apps enable users to access and print Web content directly from STRENGTHS the Officejet Pro 8600 Plus’s touch screen when the system is  Print Apps are very easy to manage, add and remove. We have found it easy to just log into our account at connected to a network with Internet access. Users select and download hpeprintcenter.com, and then remove or install Apps as Print Apps at hpeprint.com. needed.  Select Apps on the right on the main touch screen to access Print Apps. A broad range of Print Apps are provided, from business to personal use. Many business users will appreciate the Quick Forms app for printing business and personal-use forms, while the Google Docs and Box.net apps provide print-on-demand capability from the touch screen without having to launch a Web browser and print driver at the PC.  Note that Print Apps are not pre-installed— administrators can activate them, and choose among them, only as needed, and the hpeprintcenter.com for downloading apps is password-protected. Administrators can also disable Web Services using the password-protected Embedded Web Services so that Prints Apps and Web connectivity is not available. LIMITATIONS  None—Wirth Consulting had no difficulty managing and using Print Apps—they’re simple to manage and use. August 2011   Wirth Consulting, LLC  Denville, New Jersey USA  www.wirthconsulting.org Page 8 What You Should Know Hands-On Test Report Hewlett-Packard Pro Officejet 8600 Plus e-All-in-One Print Delta Airlines boarding passes with your Officejet Pro 8600 Plus directly from the touch screen to avoid a wait in line at the airport. With the Biztree app, print a host of business forms—from job evaluations to contracts, legal agreements, forms, etc.—directly from the Officejet Pro 8600 Plus’s touch screen. With the eStorage Print App left, you can print your documents stored in your Google docs or Box.net account directly from the Officejet Pro 8600 Plus’s touch screen, as well as scan hardcopy directly to your account for storing and sharing. Free basic subscriptions are available for both Google docs (www.docs.google.com) and Box.net. The advantage of these two services is that, since they’re Web-based, you can access your stored documents from any Web-enabled device, including mobile devices, so that when you’re out of the office, you can still access important documents. Documents can also be easily shared by simply providing other users with their URL address. With the eStorage Print App, print your documents stored in online Google Docs and Box.net accounts directly from the touch screen. You can also scan documents for storage in your account. In the office, you can also use the eStorage apps for print-ondemand—for instance, for printing company directions, patient form, menus, etc.—so that you don’t have to launch a print driver at your PC, etc. Plus, you only print the number of copies you need, eliminating waste, and don’t have to store hardcopy documents. Administrators can disable and remove Print Apps, the printer’s Web address, and Web connectivity using the Embedded Web Server. COPY Hewlett-Packard rates the Officejet Pro 8600 Plus at up to 13 (black)/12 (color) ppm in Normal copy mode, and copying is via a 50-sheet duplexing automatic document feeder and flatbed platen, both of which can be used to scan up to legal-size (8.5”x14”) originals. Copy Speed (Normal): 13/12 ppm Flatbed Scanner: Yes Copy Speed (Draft): 35/35 ppm Max. # of Copies: 99 Copy Speed (Best): 3.0/1.5 ppm Collation: Yes Auto Doc. Feeder: 50 sheets Reduce/Enlarge: Yes** Duplexing Doc. Feeder: Yes N-Up Copying: 2-on-1 Min./Max. Copy Size: 8.5”x14”* Image Modes: Draft, normal, best *Via both automatic document feeder and flatbed platen. **Reduce or enlarge from 25-400%. August 2011   Wirth Consulting, LLC  Denville, New Jersey USA  www.wirthconsulting.org Page 9 What You Should Know Hands-On Test Report Hewlett-Packard Pro Officejet 8600 Plus e-All-in-One TESTED COPIER PERFORMANCE* (Normal Mode from Document Feeder) FPOT Job Time Print Speed Test (sec.) (sec.) PPM Document Simplex Black 13.76 56.15 12.74 Simplex Color 16.28 81.90 8.23 Duplex Black 37.00 101.68 7.42 Duplex Color 42.56 142.47 4.80 *Copy productivity was tested using a 10-page test original composed of black and color text with 5% area coverage. Loading the 50-sheet duplexing automatic document feeder, which can be used to scan one-or two-sided originals up to legal size. The flatbed platen can also handle thick-, bound- or 3D originals as large as 8-1/2”x14”. TESTED COPIER PERFORMANCE* (Normal Mode from Platen) FPOT Job Time Print Speed Test (sec.) (sec.) PPM Document Simplex Black 14.30 41.46 19.88 Simplex Color 17.55 51.84 15.75 *Copy productivity was tested using a 10-page test original composed of black and color text with 5% area coverage. STRENGTHS  Tested copy-mode print speeds of up to 12.74 ppm using the automatic document feeder, matching HewlettPackard’s rated print speed of 13 ppm in normal mode. Copying was fastest (up to 19.88 ppm) when scanning from the flatbed platen  Copy legal-size originals via the flatbed platen, a key capability if you need to copy or scan thick, bound, damaged or fragile legal-size originals that cannot be fed through the automatic document feeder.  With CopyFix, misaligned originals are automatically straightened and unwanted frames and borders are automatically removed from copies.  Duplexing automatic document feeder (scans both sides of two-sided originals).  ID copy—copy both sides of a two-sided card on one side of a page.  Provides most frequently used copy features, including collate, image modes, reduction and enlargement (25400%), reduction/enlargement ratios, fit to page, make up to 99 copies in a single operation, etc.  Preview scanned originals on the color touch screen before producing copies, thus making sure you’ve used the correct settings and that the document’s been scanned correctly—ultimately reducing mistakes and wasted paper and ink. LIMITATIONS  None. SCAN The Officejet Pro 8600 Plus is equipped with monochrome and fullcolor scanning. From the device, users can push scan to network folders, e-mail addresses, memory cards, USB memory drives, and PCs, and there’s a TWAIN driver for pull scanning from the PC. With the Embedded Web Server’s Webscan utility, users can scan from their PCs without having to install software. Software supports scanning documents into these formats: Bitmap, JPEG, Adobe PDF, PNG, Rich Text, Searchable PDF, Text, and TIFF. Scanner Type: CIS Max. Scan Resolution: 4800 dpi Bit Depth/Grayscale: 24-bit/256 Scan to Network Folders: Yes Scan to PC: Yes Scan to e-Mail: Yes Scan to USB, cards: Yes Max. Scan Resolution: 4800 dpi Auto Doc. Feeder: 50 sheets Duplex Auto Doc Feeder: Yes Max. Scan Size: 8.5”x14” Color Scan: Yes Flatbed Scanner: Yes Scan to FTP: No Scan to URL: No LDAP Lookup: No TWAIN Driver: Yes Net. Authentication: No Scan to Net. Folder: Yes August 2011   Wirth Consulting, LLC  Denville, New Jersey USA  www.wirthconsulting.org Page 10 What You Should Know Hands-On Test Report Hewlett-Packard Pro Officejet 8600 Plus e-All-in-One Scan Speed ADF: 11 (black)/7 (color) originals per minute Scan Speed 4”x6” color photo: 11 seconds TESTED SCAN PERFORMANCE (ADOBE PDF SCAN MODE) Scan Speed (sec.) OPM Test Document 10-page original* simplex in 53.65 11.18 black copy mode 5-page duplex original* 106.96 5.61 *Original consisting of 5% CYMK text coverage with equal amounts of CYMK. Scan in full color to PCs, memory cards and drives, network folders, and email addresses directly from the device. There’s also pull scanning for scanning from the PC. STRENGTHS  Test scanned speeds of up to 11.18 originals per minute (opm) matched HP rated scan speed.  Scan in full color, a capability not always provided in this segment, or even by some much higher-priced All-in-Ones and MFPs.  Scan from the device directly to network folders for easier sharing among users, as well as scan from touch screen to e-mail addresses (no need to receive scanned files at your PC and then route/send them to network folders or e-mail addresses). Also scan to PCs, memory cards, and USB flash drives.  Pull scanning from the PC using TWAIN scan driver or Webscan utility. With the Webscan utility, you can pull scan without having to load a TWAIN driver or software on your PC. This means that you have pull scanning access from any PC on the network.  Security for scanning to network folders and to e-mail addresses. Scan-destination network folders can be PINprotected, so that unauthorized users can’t scan and send files to these folders. “From” e-mail addresses can also be PIN protected, so that users can’t scan and send to an email address with another user’s name in the “From” field of the e-mail.  Touch screen provides QWERTY-style keypad for entering e-mail addresses—this is much easier than using an alphanumeric keyboard as with some other systems.  Both the Officejet Pro 8600 Plus and Plus configurations provide PDF compression in order to overcome any filesize restrictions in an e-mail system, and to minimize file storage space in general.  ReadIris Pro OCR software for converting scanned files into text-editable documents.  Convert scanned documents into text-searchable Adobe PDFs. LIMITATIONS  None—we observed no difficulties with either scanning from the touch screen, and no difficulty using the TWAIN driver, Webscan utility, or related software. FAX The Officejet Pro 8600 Plus is equipped with monochrome and full- Fax Speed: 33.6 Kbps (4 sec.) Fax Memory: 100 pages color 33.6 Kbps Super Group 3 walkup fax and PC fax. PC Fax: Distinctive Ring.: Auto Redialing: Auto Fax Reduction: Broadcasting: Resolution: 300 dpi *Requires Caller ID. Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Color Fax: Error Correction: Speed Dial Keys: Junk-Fax Block: Delayed Send: Fax Forward: Internet Fax: August 2011   Wirth Consulting, LLC  Denville, New Jersey USA  www.wirthconsulting.org Page 11 Yes Yes Yes Yes* Yes Yes No What You Should Know Hands-On Test Report Hewlett-Packard Pro Officejet 8600 Plus e-All-in-One STRENGTHS  Full-color fax capability—send and print faxes in color.  Send electronic files as faxes from Microsoft Windows PCs and Apple Macs with PC fax.  Automatically have received faxes sent to e-mail inboxes or network folders, saving paper, as well as eliminating having to scan paper faxes and convert them into digital format. Sending received faxes to an e-mail inbox also means you can now receive faxes at your mobile device when you’re out of the office. This can also serve as a security feature, as received faxes are not printed out for others to see.  Extensive range of fax features, including PC fax, broadcasting, speed dials, junk-fax block, distinctive ring, delayed send, poll receive, fax activity reports, fax phonebook, etc.  Easy set up of walkup fax using software at the PC. The OfficeJet Pro 8600 Plus as tested by Wirth Consulting. LIMITATIONS  None. TOUCH PANEL AND TOUCH SCREEN The Officejet Pro 8600 Plus’s touch panel includes a 4.3” touch color touch screen with swiping. Swiping makes it easier to navigate the touch screen. Just as with some smartphones, you simply swipe a finger across the touch screen to browse the main screen icons, and swipe your finger up and down to scroll through submenu selections (you don’t have to locate and then press up-and-down arrows to scroll through menus). (Note the swiping is only available with Plus and Premium configurations, not with base configuration.) STRENGTHS  Angle-adjustable color touch screen makes the system exceptionally easy to use, and is among the easiest to use touch screens we’ve used. It took us less than 10 minutes to become familiarized with all menu systems. Smartphone-like swiping makes navigation exceptionally easy.  Large, on-screen QWERTY-style keyboard for entering text such as file names, e-mail addresses, etc.  Whenever you’re unsure what a feature is, or how to perform a task, just press the ? key in the upper right, and a description or instructions are provided—no need to search through hardcopy or software user guides. Animated clips show users how to perform job types and maintenance.  Preview scanned images and documents on the touch screen (photos downloaded from memory cards/drives are also displayed). This makes it easy for users to make sure their documents have been scanned with correct settings applied before printing copies or sending to scan destinations. LIMITATIONS  None. The touch screen can be tilted up and down and locks into place at the most comfortable angle for viewing and operation. August 2011   Wirth Consulting, LLC  Denville, New Jersey USA  www.wirthconsulting.org Page 12 What You Should Know Hands-On Test Report Hewlett-Packard Pro Officejet 8600 Plus e-All-in-One FEATURE SELECTION The main touch screen displays keys for copy, fax, scan and Print Apps. The row of icons across the top activate when pressed (from left to right): Web Services, Wireless Status and Settings, Eco Settings (see details below), Fax Status, and Estimated Ink Levels. The second screen includes Photo (print photos from memory cards and memory devices, arrange photos for use in photo albums, etc.), Setup (set up wireless connectivity, fax, device defaults, etc), and Discover (tips and facts about the Officejet Pro 8600 Plus). FAX MENU To fax, enter the destination fax number using the keypad, or press the icon on the right (circled in yellow) to access a speed-dial number that you’ve assigned to either a single fax number, or to multiple fax numbers. You can just press Black or Copy to then send the fax, or press Settings, or Fax Methods (circled in red) for more options. Fax Methods enables you to Broadcast a fax to multiple destinations, schedule a fax to be sent at a later time, etc. To see fax history, press the telephone icon on the right (circled in blue). COPY MENU A broad range of features are available for more advanced copy applications, from previewing the scanned image, cropping the image, adjusting image quality, resizing the image, and printing two sides of a small card on a single side of paper (ID copy). There’s also Copy Fix, a handy capability that we used to automatically straighten misaligned originals, and remove unwanted borders from a copy of a page in a book. The copy menu is easy to use and illustrated with graphics so you know exactly what kind of settings you’re making. To enter the number of copies, press either the forward or back arrow keys, or press the graphic in the upper (circled in red) to launch the numeric keypad and enter the number of copies. August 2011   Wirth Consulting, LLC  Denville, New Jersey USA  www.wirthconsulting.org Page 13 What You Should Know Hands-On Test Report Hewlett-Packard Pro Officejet 8600 Plus e-All-in-One SCAN MENU Scan to PCs, memory cards and drives, network folders, and e-mail addresses. The touch screen provides a QWERTY-style keypad for entering e-mail addresses and file names. You can simply accept the displayed default settings, and press Start Scan. Other options enable you to specify the file format (PDF, JPEG, TIFF), lighter/darker image, resolution, etc. A new document-type option enables use to create compressed PDFs in order to overcome any file-size restrictions in an e-mail system. A key feature is the ability to preview scanned images before sending them in order to make sure that you’ve made the correct settings. PHOTO MENU The Photo menu provides:  View and Print (print photos stored on a a memory card or USB drive);  Create (print photos from a memory card or drive that are formatted for a photo album, or for use as a passport or wallet photo);  Reprint: make copies of photos from the flatbed platen. The touch screen then displays all of the photos displayed on the memory card or drive. When selecting View and Print, you’re prompted to insert a memory card or drive in one of the ports on the lower left of the unit… Before printing a photo or photos, you can specify paper size and layout, paper type, and even print a date on the photo. Also provided is red-eye removal, brightness adjustment, image enhancement, and cropping the image using the touch screen… August 2011   Wirth Consulting, LLC  Denville, New Jersey USA  www.wirthconsulting.org Page 14 What You Should Know Hands-On Test Report Hewlett-Packard Pro Officejet 8600 Plus e-All-in-One The crop feature is really easy to use—just press the arrows to float the frame. Only this area of the photo inside the red frame—the deer—will be printed. ECO MENU A new Eco button on the main touch screen lets you quickly configure ecofriendly settings, such as making two-sided printing for copies and received faxes the default. A key capability is scheduling when the Officejet Pro reverts into energysaving sleep mode—you can schedule the unit to go into sleep mode after 15, 10, or 5 minutes of non-use. With Schedule On and Off, you can specify when the system turns off, for instance, schedule the system to automatically turn off at the end of work hours, and turn on in the morning. SETUP AND HELP MENUS The touch screen’s setup menu is for configuring system defaults, setting up fax, networking (including wireless connectivity), etc. We found it easier to set up fax and network connectivity at our PC using HP’s Installation Utility (see below). The Help menu provides information on features and functions, as well as animated clips for performing tasks. Once you select a task, such as loading envelopes, the touch screen launches an animated clip that shows how to perform the task. Typically, such clips and instructions are only available in an online user’s guide located on the user’s computer workstation. In contrast, clips at the touch screen eliminate having to go back to your PC and find help. August 2011   Wirth Consulting, LLC  Denville, New Jersey USA  www.wirthconsulting.org Page 15 What You Should Know Hands-On Test Report Hewlett-Packard Pro Officejet 8600 Plus e-All-in-One PRINT AND FAX DRIVERS The Officejet Pro 8600 Plus is equipped with PCL 3 GUI and PCL 3 STRENGTHS  Print driver consists of two tabs for exceptionally Enhanced print drivers, as well as a PC fax driver.  easy navigation. Straightforward, easy-to-use PC fax driver. LIMITATIONS  None. The print driver’s first tab displays most frequently used print settings— portrait/landscape, automatic duplexing, collating, and N-Up printing (print multiple pages on a single sheet). Select Advanced for more settings. Note that you can specify that grayscale be printed using black ink only. With some other ink-jet systems, you can’t prevent the system from using a mixture of cyan, yellow, and magenta to print black. Specify the paper source (drawer), paper size, and print-quality mode, on the second tab. Note that a very broad range of media types are supported—from plain paper, to various photo papers, brochure papers, etc. A broad range of paper sizes is supported too. The Officejet Pro 8600 Plus also adds the ability to print borderless pages on both sides of brochure paper. August 2011   Wirth Consulting, LLC  Denville, New Jersey USA  www.wirthconsulting.org Page 16 What You Should Know Hands-On Test Report Hewlett-Packard Pro Officejet 8600 Plus e-All-in-One PC FAX DRIVER To fax a file from your PC, select the Officejet Pro 8600 fax driver, and then Print, or select Fax from Solution Center (see below). With Add Scan, you can include hardcopy documents scanned by the Officejet Pro along with an electronic file. Click on “To…” to specify the fax recipient. Enter the destination fax number, recipient’s name, etc., or select from the fax address book displayed above. Note that you can use recently used fax numbers and fax numbers saved as speed-dial keys. Below: you can also import a fax recipient from your resident e-mail program. Add a cover letter; various cover-letter templates are available, such as the Professional style above. Specify fax image settings, select Done, and then Send Fax. August 2011   Wirth Consulting, LLC  Denville, New Jersey USA  www.wirthconsulting.org Page 17 What You Should Know Hands-On Test Report Hewlett-Packard Pro Officejet 8600 Plus e-All-in-One CLIENT AND NETWORK-MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE The Officejet Pro 8600 Plus’s ships with print, fax, and scan drivers, HP Solution Center, Basic Device Software and Help, HP Update, HP Bing Bar, and HP Product Improvement Study. An Embedded Web Server (printer Web page) provides usage information, automatic e-mail alerts, and a Webscan utility for pull scanning from any PC on the network. STRENGTHS  Streamlined Solution Center neatly consolidates a number of software utilities. The interface is user friendly and intuitive to use, and there’s a limited amount of software to install and maintain on the PC.  Easy streamlined setup of scanning to network folders, PCs, and e-mail addresses.  With Embedded Web Services or EWS (printer Web page), configure automatic e-mail alerts so that specified users are automatically alerted to status conditions requiring attention—for instance, a mismatched paper size, low ink, etc. EWS can be password-protected.  With EWS, advanced usage information is available including the number of scans made, media sizes and types used, duplex prints produced, etc.  Can be managed via Web Jetadmin 10.2, which provides fleet-management of groups of devices, tools for implementing security policies, tracking page usage, forecasting supply needs, and generating usage and trend reports. Administrators can assign roles to users and departments so that, for instance, users who don’t require color printing are disabled, while graphic-arts departments have color-printing capability, but accounting departments do not. Web Jetadmin is available as a free download at www.hp.com/go/wja.  Administrators can disable Web Services, so that ePrint and Print Apps are not available. LIMITATIONS  None August 2011   Wirth Consulting, LLC  Denville, New Jersey USA  www.wirthconsulting.org Page 18 What You Should Know Hands-On Test Report Hewlett-Packard Pro Officejet 8600 Plus e-All-in-One HP’s Solution Center above can be launched in several ways: 1) from the Microsoft Windows’ Start menu (All Programs→HP→Officejet Pro 8600); or 2) Double click on the HP Officejet Pro 8600 device icon in the Windows’ Devices and Printers folder. Solution Center conveniently centralizes control of all device software and functions. It also provides quick links to: hpeprint.com, help and support, and shopping for supplies. WEB CONNECTED SOLUTIONS Select the Web Connected Solutions menu to set up ePrint mobile printing and download Print Apps when your Officejet Pro is Web connected. August 2011   Wirth Consulting, LLC  Denville, New Jersey USA  www.wirthconsulting.org Page 19 What You Should Know Hands-On Test Report Hewlett-Packard Pro Officejet 8600 Plus e-All-in-One Enter your printer code here (the code is printed out upon initial setup). Once you’re registered, you can download Print Apps. Above is a sampling of business-related Apps, including a Docstoc App that lets you print templates from the touch screen such as business contracts, legal agreements, letters, forms, etc. SCANNER ACTIONS In the Scanner Actions menu, you can launch the HP Scan utility for pull scanning (initiate scanning at your PC—see HP Scan utility below for more), and can also set up scan to e-mail, network folders, etc., from the touch screen. Select Scan a document or photo to use the HP Scan Utility for scanning from your PC. With the Scan Wizards, quickly set up scanning to network folders and e-mail addresses from the touch screen. August 2011   Wirth Consulting, LLC  Denville, New Jersey USA  www.wirthconsulting.org Page 20 What You Should Know Hands-On Test Report Hewlett-Packard Pro Officejet 8600 Plus e-All-in-One Scan to Network Folder Wizard Scan to Network Folder Wizard Set up multiple network folders so that, from the touch screen, you can scan a document and then route it to a selected network folder displayed on the touch screen. Scan to E-mail Wizard You can protect each network folder with a PIN that a user must enter at the touch screen in order to scan to a specified network folder. The Scan to E-Mail Wizard lets you quickly set up scanning and sending to e-mail addresses from the device’s touch screen. You can create up to 10 different “From” e-mail addresses, and e-mail addresses can also be PINprotected. Manage Scan to Computer Once you activate Scan to Computer, your PC will be listed as a scan destination at the touch screen. When multiple users are using the system, it’s recommended that you PINprotect each “From” e-mail address. That way, no one can send documents using another user’s e-mail address. August 2011   Wirth Consulting, LLC  Denville, New Jersey USA  www.wirthconsulting.org Page 21 What You Should Know Hands-On Test Report Hewlett-Packard Pro Officejet 8600 Plus e-All-in-One PRINTER PREFERENCES Select the printer, and then pause, cancel or delete jobs in queue. Also perform periodic system maintenance, such as aligning and cleaning the print heads in order to obtain best image quality. Check on current ink levels, as well as order supplies online at HP’s Web site. Use other tabs in HP Toolbox to view Device Services and Reports, Printhead Health, etc. August 2011   Wirth Consulting, LLC  Denville, New Jersey USA  www.wirthconsulting.org Page 22 What You Should Know Hands-On Test Report Hewlett-Packard Pro Officejet 8600 Plus e-All-in-One FAX ACTIONS In the Fax Actions menu, send faxes from your PC, as well as set up fax and adjust fax settings. With Digital Fax, you can receive incoming faxes electronically—the advantage is you save paper and ink, plus you can store incoming faxes in a network folder for easier retrieval versus storing them in hardcopy format in a filing cabinet. You can also route faxes to a specified e-mail address, so that, for instance, you don’t have to be at your Officejet Pro in order to receive faxes—instead, you can be out of the office and incoming faxes will automatically be e-mailed to you. HP SCAN UTILITY Pull scan from a PC using the HP Scan Utility is accessed from Solution Center or the Microsoft Windows’ Start menu. You can also use the scandriver utility from any TWAIN- or WIA-compliant application. Convert and save scanned documents as Adobe PDFs, JPEGs, or as editable text documents. With the duplexing automatic document feeder, you have the advantage of being able to automatically scan both sides of two-sided documents. August 2011   Wirth Consulting, LLC  Denville, New Jersey USA  www.wirthconsulting.org Page 23 What You Should Know Hands-On Test Report Hewlett-Packard Pro Officejet 8600 Plus e-All-in-One The scanned image appears in the right portion of the window above. There’s a good range of adjustments you can make—rotate the image, crop it, add or remove pages, etc. The next step is to save it, either to your PC or to a network folder. If you want to quickly e-mail someone a photo or document, select the EMail as PDF or JPEG options. With the scan to e-mail option, your default e-mail application launches a new e-mail message at your PC, and the photo(s) or document(s) are automatically attached in either JPEG or Adobe PDF format. Actual OCR output (rich text format) viewed in Microsoft Word. The twocolumn format has been preserved. With the Save as Editable Text option, the file is scanned and the Readiris PRO OCR software converts it into either an editable text or rich text file format. August 2011   Wirth Consulting, LLC  Denville, New Jersey USA  www.wirthconsulting.org Page 24 What You Should Know Hands-On Test Report Hewlett-Packard Pro Officejet 8600 Plus e-All-in-One EMBEDDED WEB SERVER (EWS) The Officejet Pro 8600 Plus incorporates an Embedded Web Server (EWS), which is accessed from the main software, or by entering the printer’s Internet Protocol (IP) address in the address field of your Web browser. It indicates current device status and ink-cartridge levels and provides an alternate means of setting up and configuring walkup fax, electronic fax, scanning, network connectivity, and other functions. Because it’s Webbased, you can remotely check on your Officejet Pro. Note that EWS can be password-protected and is only available to users within the business’s firewall. Administrators can use EWS to customize the Officejet Pro 8600 according to their needs—for instance enable or disable color printing for fax or copy, enable or disable fax, wireless connectivity, etc. Security is configured via the Firewall Rules link for enabling individual or groups of computer workstations that can print to the device. In enterprises where significantly more devices are deployed, administrators can use HP Web Jetadmin management. The Embedded Web Server’s other features of note include: To minimize any downtime due to status conditions, you can configure automatic e-mail alerts so that specified users are automatically alerted to conditions requiring attention, for instance, a paper jam or low ink. You can also back-up settings for all functions. In the event settings are lost, you can then quickly restore them (so you won’t have to re-enter fax destination numbers, scan-destination network folders, defaults, etc.). Also useful are Usage Reports, which show how many pages have been printed, copied, printed in color, etc. HARDWARE INSTALLATION The Officejet Pro 8600 Plus’s open shipping carton. Included documentation is included on top of the unit for easy access. The Officejet Pro 8600 Plus ships with automatic duplex unit, 250-sheet paper drawer, input tray, power cord, phone cord, setup poster, Getting Started Guide, and CD-ROM (containing software and Windows and Mac print drivers). It also ships with HP 950 Black ink cartridge, and HP 951 cyan, yellow, and magenta ink cartridges. Hardware Installation Time: 26 minutes STRENGTHS  Hardware setup of the Officejet Pro 8600 Plus was easy and was faster than with the previous Officejet Pro 8500A series. One person will easily be able to remove the system from its shipping carton, remove minimal packaging materials, and place it on a desk or table.  Print head is pre-installed, so only four consumables (four ink cartridges) need to be installed.  Very little packaging material must be removed. This made setup very fast and easy, and minimal August 2011   Wirth Consulting, LLC  Denville, New Jersey USA  www.wirthconsulting.org Page 25 What You Should Know Hands-On Test Report Hewlett-Packard Pro Officejet 8600 Plus e-All-in-One packaging is also eco-friendly, as less waste is generated. LIMITATIONS  None. Included documentation (clockwise): setup poster, Getting Started Guide, notice for downloading software for Apple Mac OSX Lion, CD ROM, and Terms and Conditions document. SOFTWARE AND NETWORK INSTALLATION The Officejet Pro 8600 Plus ships with a CD-ROM containing an Software & Wireless Network Installation Time: Total Software/Network/Hardware Installation: automated installation utility. Select which software to install. We recommend installing HP Update, Help, and I.R.I.S. OCR software, and click on next… 15 minutes 43 minutes STRENGTHS  Default software selection and wireless network installation was easy, and we only had to “click through” four screens. As we’ve found with other HP installation procedures, the provided guidance is straightforward and easy to follow, so that even novice users should have no difficulty installing software and connecting to a wired or wireless network, or directly via USB port.  Fewer and less resource-intensive utilities were installed. The fewer utilities you need to install on a PC, the faster the installation and the less drain on PC resources.  Very easy wired/wireless network installation can be performed during the installation process or via the touch screen.  Also available is a modular enterprise installer with script and silent installation capabilities with driver pre-configuration that’s designed for enterprises that support a large number of devices and/or users. LIMITATIONS:  None. August 2011   Wirth Consulting, LLC  Denville, New Jersey USA  www.wirthconsulting.org Page 26 What You Should Know Hands-On Test Report Hewlett-Packard Pro Officejet 8600 Plus e-All-in-One Agree to the end-user licensing agreement… Specify USB or Ethernet/wireless network connection. The Officejet Pro 8600 is located. Click on Next to continue. Network and software installation is successful. FAX SETUP UTILITY HP has also introduced a new help resource, an Online Wireless Printing Center, which serves as a reference guide for questions and help on wireless connectivity. After completing installation, you’ll be prompted to set up fax. We recommend setting up fax using the fax-setup utility above rather than setting up fax at the touch screen. (You can also easily set up fax at another time using Solution Center or Embedded Web Services.) First enter your location, name or company name, and then your own fax number. Then specify whether your fax will be with a shared voice line. If your fax number will also be used for voice calls, you can enable distinctive ring, so that incoming fax calls will sound different than incoming voice calls. August 2011   Wirth Consulting, LLC  Denville, New Jersey USA  www.wirthconsulting.org Page 27 What You Should Know Hands-On Test Report Hewlett-Packard Pro Officejet 8600 Plus e-All-in-One Indicate whether your line is being shared with an answering machine. Indicate whether your fax line has DSL Internet service and if a computer modem will be sharing the line. Just review your selections to make sure they’re correct. Fax installation is complete. Altogether we just had to navigate through five screens. You can check if your fax is working correctly by calling HP’s free Faxback Service at (1) 888-473-2963 at the touch screen (this number is also available as fax speed-dial #1 at the touch screen). USER MAINTENANCE Press the Ink icon on the main touch screen to see current ink levels (below). STRENGTHS  Replacing Imaging Supplies – Replacing the four separate ink cartridges couldn’t be easier: simply lower the front door, press the ink cartridge to release it, remove it, and slide in the new cartridge, which clicks into place. The ink cartridges and slots where they are housed are clearly labeled, minimizing users installing the wrong ink cartridge in a slot. A new LED “opera” light illuminates the area where the ink cartridges are housed, making ink-cartridge replacement easy.  Replenishing Media – Loading media is straightforward. The paper drawer can be completely removed, which we’ve found makes it easier to add paper and adjust the paper-size guides if needed.  Removing Misfeeds – No misfeeds occurred in August 2011   Wirth Consulting, LLC  Denville, New Jersey USA  www.wirthconsulting.org Page 28 What You Should Know Hands-On Test Report Hewlett-Packard Pro Officejet 8600 Plus e-All-in-One testing. We found that accessing misfeed-removal areas was straightforward and easy. Just lower the front door below the touch panel to access the illuminated internal paper path. On the back of the unit, the duplex unit can very easily be removed to access misfeeds that may occur in the turnaround area of the paper path. Lift up the document feeder’s top cover in order to access any document-feeder misfeeds. We had no difficulty accessing misfeeds and no misfeeds occurred in testing. LIMITATIONS  One minor inconvenience is that, in order to print on photo paper, users must make sure to first remove any plain paper in the paper drawer. In contrast, we’d prefer that users be able to just a slip photo paper on top of any installed plain paper. REPLENISHING MEDIA Just slide out the top 250-sheet paper drawer—it can be completely removed. Slide the geared side paper width and length guides all the way out if necessary, and slide in the paper. Adjust the paper length and width guides by sliding them. The drawer is clearly marketed for A4 and letter paper sizes. Press this button to extend the drawer to fit legal-size (8.5”x14”) paper August 2011   Wirth Consulting, LLC  Denville, New Jersey USA  www.wirthconsulting.org Page 29 What You Should Know Hands-On Test Report Hewlett-Packard Pro Officejet 8600 Plus e-All-in-One REPLACING INK CARTRIDGES Make sure the system is turned on, and then lower the front door. The ink cartridges will be located on the left. Push on the ink cartridge to release it. Slide out the cartridge, slide in the new cartridge, press it inwards until it clicks into place, and then shut the front door. On the inside of the front door are graphic instructions for replacing ink cartridges. MISFEED ACCESS Lift up the automatic document feeder’s cover to access any misfeeds that may occur there. To access the internal paper path (and ink cartridges), just lower the front door beneath the touch panel. A nice touch is that the area is lit up with an LED to make it easier to see within the unit. The duplex unit’s located on the back of the unit. Press these two buttons to remove it. Then just pull out the duplex unit to check for misfeeds in the paper turnaround area. No misfeeds occurred in testing. August 2011   Wirth Consulting, LLC  Denville, New Jersey USA  www.wirthconsulting.org Page 30 What You Should Know Hands-On Test Report Hewlett-Packard Pro Officejet 8600 Plus e-All-in-One MEDIA HANDLING The Officejet Pro 8600 Plus is an A4 All-in-One that prints and scans on up to letter- and legal-size media, and is equipped with automatic duplex printing, 50-sheet automatic duplexing document feeder, 150sheet output tray, and flatbed platen that accommodates up to 8.5”x14” (legal-size) originals. Loading the 50-sheet duplexing automatic document feeder. Paper Sizes Supported (Tray 1) Legal, letter, A4, A4, A6, B5 (JIS), Index card A4, 10 by 25 cm, 13 by 18 cm, 10 by 15 cm, Ofuku Hagaki, Hagaki Card 100 by 148 mm, Envelope A2, Envelope C5, Envelope C6, JIS Chou #3, JIS Chou #4, Statement, 6”x8”, Executive, Index card 3”x5”, Index card 4”x6”, Index card 5”x8”, 3”x5”, 4”x6, 5”x7”, 8”x10”, L, Photo 2L, 8.5”x13”, Envelope #10, Envelope DL, Envelope Monarch, Card envelope 4.4”x6” Paper Sizes Supported (Optional Tray 2) Letter, legal, executive Paper Weights Supported (Tray 1) 60-105 g/m (plain media), 75-280 g/m2 (special media), up to 200 g/m2 (card stock) 2 Min./Max. Print Size: 3”x5”/8.5”x14” Min./ Max. Media Weight: 16-28 lb. bond (plain); 110 lb. card Std./Max Media Capacity: 250/500 sheets (letter-size) Std./Max. Media Sources: 2/2 Automatic Document Feeder: 50 sheets Automatic Duplexing Doc. Feeder: Yes Max. Media Size Via Doc Feeder: 8.5”x14” (Legal) Max. Media Size Via Platen: 8.5”x14” (Legal) Output Paper Tray: 150 sheets Automatic Duplex Printing: Yes Borderless Printing: Up to 8.5”x11” (216 x 279 mm) Media Options: Second 250-sheet paper drawer STRENGTHS  Supports a broad range of paper sizes and paper types (see charts), the latter of which includes various photo stock, brochure paper, ink-jet papers, card stock, etc.  Produce borderless output on up to 8.5”x11”, including two-sided borderless images on brochure paper.  Officejet Pro 8600 Plus has a standard 250-sheet paper capacity, which can be expanded to a substantial 500 sheets.  Standard 50-sheet duplexing automatic document feeder (automatically scans both sides of two-sided originals in copy, fax and scan modes).  Copy legal-size originals via either automatic document feeder or flatbed platen.  Paper drawers are fully enclosed, so that loaded paper is protected from dust and humidity, and users will obtain best results when printing. LIMITATIONS  None. Paper Weights Supported (Optional Tray 2) 60-105 g/m2 (plain media only) Paper Types Supported Plain paper; thick plain paper; HP Bright White Paper; HP Premium Presentation Paper, Matte; HP Premium Plus Photo Papers; other inkjet papers; HP Advanced Photo Papers; HP Everyday Photo Paper, Matte; HP Everyday Photo Paper, Glossy; other photo papers; other special papers; other greeting cards; HP Brochure Paper 180g, Glossy; HP Brochure and Flyer Paper, Matte; HP Tri-fold Brochure Paper, Glossy; other brochure papers; Plain Hagaki; Inkjet Hagaki; Photo Hagaki; Card Stock Extending the 150-sheet paper-output tray. August 2011   Wirth Consulting, LLC  Denville, New Jersey USA  www.wirthconsulting.org Page 31 What You Should Know Hands-On Test Report Hewlett-Packard Pro Officejet 8600 Plus e-All-in-One COST PER PAGE The Officejet Pro 8600 Plus ships with 950 black ink cartridge (yields STRENGTHS 1,000 pages), three 951 color ink cartridges (each yielding 700 pages),  Very competitive black and color cost per page of 1.6¢ and 7.2¢ respectively. This is very economic as well as a second set of color ink (cyan, yellow, and magenta) compared to not only color ink-jet All-in-Ones in cartridges. High-Yield Ink Cartridges Ink Color Price Page Yield* Cost Per Page $36.99 2,300 950 XL Black 1.608¢ 951 XL Cyan $27.99 1,500 1.866¢ 951 XL Magenta $27.99 1,500 1.866¢ 951 XL Yellow $27.99 1,500 1.866¢ CYMK Color Cost Per Page 7.206¢ *Average based on ISO/IEC 24711 or HP testing methodology and continuous printing. Actual yield varies considerably based on content of printed pages and other factors.    this class, but also compared to even more expensive color laser-based All-in-Ones, some of which have color cost per page as high as from 14¢ to 18¢. Among a sampling of color laser and ink-jet All-inOnes in this segment, black cost per page is as high as approximately 3¢ to 6¢, while color cost per page ranges from 10¢ to 22¢. The entire Officejet Pro 8600 series features a newly redesigned ink-imaging system and new ink sensors that better gauge when ink is depleted, so that the maximum amount of ink is used before the cartridge must be replaced. Four individual ink cartridges means that users need only replace the ink cartridge that is depleted, avoiding waste. Free next business-day shipping of ink cartridges purchased at HP.com; you can also compare prices from other online retailers at HP’s Web store. LIMITATIONS  None. SPACE/POWER CONSUMPTION/WARRANTY STRENGTHS  Power consumption at 34 watts is significantly lower than color laser Allin-Ones in this class—for laser All-in-Ones, power consumption typically average between 300 and 500 watts.  Standard one-year warranty and one-year technical phone support. Customers may upgrade to the optional Total One Package, which provides two additional years of protection, and HP’s pick-up and return product program. LIMITATIONS  None. SPACE REQUIREMENTS Footprint (inches): Footprint: (mm): Required Cubic Feet: Required Cubic Centimeters: Width Depth 19.4 25.4 12.4 492.76 645.16 314.96 3.54 100.13 WEIGHT Weight (lbs.): Weight (Kg): POWER REQUIREMENTS Electrical Supply: Power Consumption: Sleep Mode: Standby Mode: Manual Off: MAINTENANCE ACCESS Access Requirements: Height 27.83 12.62 100-240 VAC, 50/60 Hz 34 watts 2.21 watts 6.63 watts 0.22 watts Front, top, back WARRANTY The Officejet Pro 8600 has a one-year warranty. Extended twoand three-year warranties are available. ECO-FRIENDLY FEATURES August 2011   Wirth Consulting, LLC  Denville, New Jersey USA  www.wirthconsulting.org Page 32 What You Should Know Hands-On Test Report Hewlett-Packard Pro Officejet 8600 Plus e-All-in-One Hewlett-Packard Environmental Statement Hewlett-Packard 2011 Environmental Goals    Recycled plastic: Use a total of 100 million pounds, cumulatively from 2007, of recycled plastic in HP printing products. HP will improve the overall energy efficiency of HP ink and laser printing products by 40%, relative to 2005. For Imaging and Printing Group products, reduce the average weight of printer packaging per product by 35% (relative to 2005), use at least 35% recycled paper in cardboard packaging for printers and reduce the amount of plastic used in printer packaging by 50%, relative to 2005. STRENGTHS  Energy Star-qualification means the system meets U.S. EPA power-conservation standards for low power consumption in power-save standby mode.  Schedule when the system should turn on and off— for instance, at 9 a.m. when work hours begin, and off at 6 p.m. when work hours end (press the Eco icon on the main touch screen).  Save energy by scheduling when the system should revert into energy-saving sleep mode—after 5, 10, or 15 minutes (press the Eco icon on the main touch screen).  Eco-friendly, minimal packaging for ink cartridges—up to 70-percent less compared to laser toner and/or imaging-unit packaging.  Automatic duplex printing reduces paper consumption and helps conserve natural resources. Also make two-sided printing the default for printing copies and received faxes.  In print mode, the Officejet Pro 8600 Plus consumes just 34 watts of power, while color laser All-in-Ones in this class consume approximately from 300 to 500 watts. Customers will not only pay for less energy consumption, but will contribute less to carbon emissions.  HP provides an ink-cartridge recycling program, Planet Partners, which is available in 42 countries and territories around the world. HP will not refill, resell, or send cartridges to landfills, but will instead recycle them. The company will also recycle used HP printers and other HP imaging equipment via its HP Consumer Buyback and Planet Partners Recycling Program. With this program, customers can avoid contributing to landfills, as HP will provide prepaid shipping for the return of the products for recycling. LIMITATIONS  None. RECOMMENDATION Hewlett-Packard’s Officejet Pro 8600 Plus is a full-color ink-jet All-in-One that’s designed primarily for use in small and midsize businesses, as well as for deployment in small workgroups in enterprises. It has a solid set of business-class features that rival those of much higher-priced office MFPs and exceed that of most competitors in this class. These business-class features include:  Full-color scanning to PCs and TWAI/WIA/Web pull scanning from the PC, as well as push scanning from the touch screen directly to network folders and e-mail addresses, both of which are typically not provided by competitors in this class (most are limited to scanning only to PCs running client software). Also included is scanning to USB memory drives and memory cards.  Standard automatic duplex printing, and wired Ethernet and wireless network connectivity.  50-sheet duplexing automatic document feeder for scanning both sides of originals, and legal-size platen. In contrast, many competitors in this class provide only a simplex document feeder (one-sided scanning of originals only) and A4/letter-size platen.  Color touch screen, including scan previews and a QWERTY-style keypad for entering text. August 2011   Wirth Consulting, LLC  Denville, New Jersey USA  www.wirthconsulting.org Page 33 What You Should Know Hands-On Test Report Hewlett-Packard Pro Officejet 8600 Plus e-All-in-One   Access to Cloud-based document storage sites from the touch screen—a key eStorage Print App enable users to print documents stored in Cloud-based Google Docs and Box.net accounts. With this print-on-demand, users can print documents stored in Google Docs and Box.net accounts directly from the Officejet Pro’s touch screen without having to launch a Web browser and print driver at their PC. (This might be a key advantage for business owners who would like to keep some employees away from using work PCs and their potential distractions.) Plus, users only print the number of copies they need, eliminating waste, and they don’t have to store hardcopy documents. Using the Officejet Pro’s scan capability, users can also scan hardcopy documents to their Google Docs and Box.net accounts for storage and sharing. Super Group 3 color fax, as well as PC fax, and automatic routing of received faxes to a network folder or to a specified email address. Enterprise Support The new Officejet Pro 8600 series also adds support for enterprises with streamlined installation and preconfigured driver deployment, and broader network operating system support, including Citrix environments. The system is also supported by HP’s Web-based network-management solution, Web Jetadmin. Administrators can disable functions such as color printing, fax, simplex printing, etc. The system may also be included as part of an HP Managed Print Services plan with automated supply delivery, and, with its small footprint and easy user and IT management, is appropriate for deployment for enterprises with satellite offices and who employ telecommuters. The Officejet Pro 8600 series also supports HP’s ePrint Enterprise for mobile printing from devices such as smartphones (including BlackBerry smartphones), tablets, and laptops within the enterprise firewall using e-mail accounts. During our hands-on testing of the Officejet Pro 8600 Plus, we evaluated all aspects of performance from image quality to productivity, set-up and ease of use: Tested Print Speed Tested print speed was up to 20 ppm (Normal mode), matching Hewlett-Packard’s rated ISO print speed of 20 ppm, and was fastest printing when printing from Microsoft Word. Tested duplex print productivity was 8.97 ppm, versus 4.29 ppm with the previous Officejet 8500A series. We also observed that ink drying time was markedly faster than the previous Officejet Pro 8500A series—drying time for one side of black text output was approximately 2.50 to 2.75 seconds in testing, versus approximately 5.75 seconds for the Officejet Pro 8500A Plus. Image Quality The Officejet Pro 8600 Plus produced very good text quality that was readable down to even 4 pt. font size, good resolution, and very good line and dot control. The system also produced very good color photographic quality: ISO raw TIFF test photographs printed displayed very good detail and color saturation—colors were vibrant, and flesh tones were realistic, the latter of which is very important when considering any system with photo-printing capability. Ultimately, while not on the same level as with much more expensive specialty photo printers with five or more ink colors, we found that color photographic quality will be more than acceptable for 95 percent of all color-photo printing applications. In our Water- and Highlighter Resistance Test, the Officejet Pro 8600 Plus’s color graphic and text output displayed absolutely no smearing when subjected to water and a highlighter pen. Significantly faster ink drying time means ink is less likely to smear if handled prematurely. Installation Software and network installation was efficient and streamlined, and took just 15 minutes. Hardware set up was also fast at 26 minutes and notably, the print head is conveniently pre-installed, and we observed a minimal amount of packaging materials that had to be removed. Ease of Use The color touch screen is exceptionally easy to navigate—menus flow well, and we found ample, easy-to-access help was August 2011   Wirth Consulting, LLC  Denville, New Jersey USA  www.wirthconsulting.org Page 34 What You Should Know Hands-On Test Report Hewlett-Packard Pro Officejet 8600 Plus e-All-in-One provided if we had a question about a setting. The touch screen has also been enhanced with smartphone-like swiping—just swipe the touch screen to browse options, instead of having to locate and press up-and-down arrows (swiping is with Plus and Premium configurations only, not base configuration). The touch screen also displays previews of scanned documents, and provides a QWERTY-style keypad for entering text such as e-mail addresses and names for scanned files, which is always preferable to using an alphanumeric keypad. The Officejet Pro 8600 series has also been redesigned to prevent wasted partially-printed pages. With a new Ink Reserve mode, when an ink cartridge runs out, users have the option of continuing to keep printing: 1) if black ink runs out, the Officejet Pro can use the remaining colors to create a composite black (a combination of cyan, yellow, and magenta inks) and finish printing the job; 2) if a color ink runs out, users can finish the job utilizing black ink. The print system is also designed to have sufficient ink in the print-head assembly in order to complete printing any given page before ink runs out. This minimizes wasted, half-printed or poor print quality pages when an ink cartridge is depleted (and also protects the print head from drying out). Software Ease of Use During our tests, we noted that the Officejet Pro 8600 Plus’s software suite is streamlined and less demanding on PC resources. Software, including print, scan, and fax drivers, is intuitive, non-intrusive and easy to use, and there is plenty of guidance, which is straightforward and easy to follow. Mobile Printing with ePrint, Support for Apple AirPrint, Fax to e-Mail The Officejet Pro 8600 series supports both HP’s ePrint and Apple’s AirPrint. With ePrint, print from any e-mail-capable device. Just launch an e-mail, attach the file, address the e-mail to your Officejet Pro’s unique e-mail address, and then send the e-mail. We found it takes about 10 minutes to enable ePrint at HP’s www.hpeprint.com, and it’s easy to manage. With Apple AirPrint, printers on local networks are automatically located, and users can print wirelessly to them from Apple iPad and iOS 4.2-capable iPhone and iPod Touch devices. We have evaluated both mobile-printing solutions with previous Webenabled Officejet systems, and both work correctly. Another feature for mobile users is the ability to route received faxes to a designated e-mail inbox, so that users can receive inbound faxes anywhere that there’s e-mail available, whether at home or on the road. Print Apps We have had no difficulty using and managing Print Apps, including adding or removing them at the ePrint Web site. A key eStorage Print App enables users to print documents stored in Google Docs and Box.net accounts. With this print-ondemand, users can print documents stored in Google Docs and Box.net accounts directly from the Officejet Pro’s touch screen without having to use a PC. (This might be a key advantage for business owners who would like to keep some employees away from using PCs and their potential distractions.) Plus, users only print the number of copies they need, eliminating waste, and they don’t have to store hardcopy documents that quickly become outdated. Using the Officejet Pro 8600’s scan capability, users can also scan hardcopy documents to their Google Docs and Box.net accounts for storage and sharing. Build Quality We observed that build quality feels both smoother and sturdier. We are also in favor of the matte finish, as dust and fingerprints are much less apparent than with a glossy piano-black finish. Maintenance Replacing the four separate ink cartridges is very easy, and a new LED light illuminates the media path and the area where the ink cartridges are housed. The newly designed ink cartridges are easier to install than ink cartridges used by other Officejet Pros we’ve tested. Ink-cartridge slots are also clearly labeled, minimizing users installing the wrong ink cartridge in a slot, and cartridges slide easily into place. Loading media in the paper drawers is very easy, and the paper drawer can be completely removed, which we’ve found makes it easier to add paper. Reliability During our evaluation, we did not observe any reliability, installation, or usage problems—no misfeeds or paper-feeding August 2011   Wirth Consulting, LLC  Denville, New Jersey USA  www.wirthconsulting.org Page 35 What You Should Know Hands-On Test Report Hewlett-Packard Pro Officejet 8600 Plus e-All-in-One problems occurred, no paper-curling or ink smudging was observed, installing ink cartridges was clean and easy, printed output was neatly stacked, functions worked correctly, etc. A plus is that help and instructions for performing the maintenance that is occasionally required (such as the automated print-head cleaning) is easy to perform, and the touch screen provides easy-to-follow instructions as well as animated clips demonstrating how to perform these tasks. Other Considerations—Value and Cost per Page The Officejet Pro 8600 Plus provides all of the previous Officejet 8500A Plus’s features, but adds a number of critical improvements (faster ink drying time, faster duplex productivity, improved ink-imaging system, improved build quality), but is priced $100.00 less (as are the other two members of the Officejet Pro 8600 series). At the same time, cost per page remains very economical (1.6¢ [black]/7.2¢ [color] cents). Together, this results in a very economical Total Cost of Ownership (acquisition price, plus cost per page.) Not to be overlooked is the Officejet Pro 8600 Plus’s very economical power consumption—just 34 watts compared to 300 to 400 watts for color laser All-in-Ones in this segment, which will also result in lower operating costs. Summary Wirth Consulting highly recommends the Officejet Pro 8600 Plus—it’s an exceptional business-class color All-in-One that provides an advanced level of business-level features—from auto duplexing print and scan, to mobile printing, color touch screen with previews, color scan and network scan, print and scan from/to Cloud document storage and sharing accounts, and more. It also serves as a first-rate photo printing system with the ability to produce glossy color photos that laser systems can’t match, and uses a new ink formulation that in testing resisted both water and highlighter marking. Value-wise, its economical acquisition price, economical cost per page for both black and color, and low power consumption will all contribute to a very affordable Total Cost of Ownership. Considering its excellent performance in testing, outstanding feature set for this segment, overall excellent value, Wirth Consulting has no hesitation awarding the Officejet Pro 8600 Plus its highest rating, Outstanding. ABOUT WIRTH CONSULTING Wirth Consulting was founded in order to provide independent comprehensive evaluations of digital-imaging equipment. Founder Terry Wirth has over 30 years of experience in the evaluation and testing of business-imaging equipment, and as former chairman and member since 1989 of the American Society for the Testing of Materials (ASTM) F05 Committee on Business Imaging Products, he has authored numerous, published ASTM test methods. ABOUT WIRTH CONSULTING RATINGS When Wirth Consulting rates imaging devices, it assigns the device one of the following ratings: Outstanding, Well Worth Consideration, Worth Consideration, and Not Worth Consideration. Contact Us Wirth Consulting LLC www.wirthconsulting.org [email protected] +1 (862) 223-9491 2101 Middlefield Court Denville, NJ 07834 USA August 2011   Wirth Consulting, LLC  Denville, New Jersey USA  www.wirthconsulting.org Page 36