I've been without a printer for quite a while but a couple of weeks ago, I finally bought a replacement : the HP Deskjet 3052A.
Very reasonably priced at Walmart Canada online on sale for only $50 when I bought it. Our local Walmart store had a very limited supply of printers in-store, so I had to go the online route. But the printer arrived in only a couple of days, so no long wait to get it!
Overall, I'm pleased with this printer, so far.
Top priority: the print quality is excellent.
I tested it by printing this photo first:
I set the printer to a regular plain paper, normal setting for test purposes, not a photo type paper or best quality. Not only was the photo clear, it came out of the printer completely dry and in a matter of seconds! Impressive.
I also made some new biz cards as another print test:
Again, printed (a whole sheet of 10 cards) very fast. This card doesn't show up nearly as well here as it really is. The colors and text are very bright and crisp.
In terms of ink usage, again seems good so far. I've had printers in the past that have just "sucked up" ink, even with simple plain black and white printing being the most common use I had. I just checked the levels now, after a couple weeks of use and they are down to about 3/4 full so not bad. I did have several items to print, that had been on the "wait list" LOL.
Set-up of this printer was fairly easy except for the fact that the print "quick" instruction page left me high and dry, when it came to using a USB connection instead of the wireless mode, which HP seems to be pushing.
I finally figured out (I'm no techie) to go to my computer device page and to continue set-up via that route, including downloading a driver to use for this printer.
I know a lot of people prefer the convenience of wireless these days but I don't think it's as secure as a wired connection for internet etc..especially when it's no biggie to have a USB cable connection, at home.
I also didn't appreciate that HP had one of those checklists during set-up where they had "conveniently" pre-selected a number of sites to subscribe me to for: coupons, Bing search engine etc...I noticed this one (been there before with other products) and chose the custom option and took off these add-ons, which I did not chose myself and did not want either. Why companies do things like that is a mystery to me. I'm turned off by being told what I want to subscribe to, etc...let the consumer decide HP!
The plastic used in this printer is a bit "flimsy" but I guess that's the case for a lot of printers. It's also quite noisy when it's printing but I can put up with that when the print quality is as good as this one is.
Here's some additional basic information about this product from the Shoplet.com site:
Easily print, scan and copy everyday documents with this wireless e-all-in-one inkjet printer that delivers dependable performance. Use mobile printing solutions, like the AirPrint app for iPad, iPhone or iPod touch and HP ePrint, to wirelessly print files and photos directly from your smartphone. Produce documents that feature laser-quality text and vivid color graphics, thanks to the high print resolution. Reduce energy consumption and conserve resources with HP Auto-Off Technology that shuts down your printer when it's inactive. Make the most of your workspace, thanks to the compact footprint that is designed to fit in tight places. Print Technology: Inkjet Maximum Print Speed Black: 20.0 ppm Maximum Print Speed Color: 16.0 ppm Network Ready: Yes.
Shoplet.com is currently selling this printer for $86. with free shipping. If you can get it via Walmart though,it was a better price, at least when I bought it. I'm not sure if that would be the case with Walmart in the U.S. I couldn't find this exact model at Amazon.com either.
If you are looking for a basic inkjet printer that has good print quality and is easy to set-up and use, you might want to check out the HP Deskjet 3052A Printer . So far, I'm happy with mine!
Overall rating for this product: Good. 3 out of 5.
Excellent review. This is a good printer but it does have some things about it that could have been better. For the price, a good value.
ReplyDeleteI am on my second HP, and am very happy with them.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like a very good printer for a very good price!
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear this, Ger!
I am wondering, did you have card paper to print your cards? Paul is thinking of making cards for himself for when he begins "subbing" in schools, and this seems great if a person can print cards at home.
I think your card is lovely!
Brenda
Will definitely get one HP for myself!!I really enjoyed this site. This is such a Great resource that you are providing and you give it away for free. It gives in depth information. Thanks for this valuable information.
ReplyDeleteI've had printers like the ones you describe about sucking up the ink and at the cost of replacement ink, sometimes it's cheaper to just buy a new printer. About 6 months ago I got an Epson printer/copier/scanner for 45 dollars at Walmart and I love it. I don't print an enormous amount so I really like the self cleaning ink heads on this one.So many printers don't have this option and they get plugged solid.
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear your happy with yours!
Hi, there G,
ReplyDeleteI was reading here, while B was in the shower, and notice that she omitted one very important compliment about your new printer - very good photo of the Chedster!
Has the Ched had a chance to try out the new printer? Arthur likes to stand on B's son's and make it beep, and whirr - but we haven't yet figured out a way to make actual prints.
We'd love to hear from the Ched if he has any advice on this.
Headbonks to you and Mr. Cheddar,
Herbert
Sounds pretty decent for the price.
ReplyDeleteHi Joe, I guess they all do. But the print quality is very good and that gets top marks with me.
ReplyDeleteHi SandyL, Nice to see you again Sandy. I've tried several brands over the years: Lexmark (don't go there....), Epson, Canon, HP. I think I'll be sticking to HP. My laptop is an HP as well.
Hi Brenda, I use the biz cards that peel off the pages. I was able to format these more than some types I've tried before, to fit exactly to the border edges. The photo above does not do it justice. There are a lot of template sites online where you can choose a particular card size and customize from there. It was fun!
Hi Plotter Sales, Thank you for your kind comment. I hope you'll stop by again. And don't miss the monthly contests (see left top sidebar for this month's contest).
Hi Cathy, I've had good and bad experiences with Epson. And yes, those "ink suckers" can really add up to a lot of $$$ to keep them fed LOL. This one seems quite good so far.
Hi Herbert, No, Cheddar hasn't actually tried out the printer yet but I'm sure he'll get to it. He's been busy watching the barn swallows outside in the past few days, likes how they swoop up and down! I'll pass along the headbonks too. ;<)
Hi Rumpy, I was lucky to get this for 50. It's a lot more, now than I'm checking around online at other sites. And Walmart only charged .97 for shipping and it arrived in 2 days! I was impressed by that too.
Happy Week, G :<)
I've yet to find a printer that does justice to photos, easy enough to just print words, but the heavy duty stuff, cost a fortune and at best you might get about 5 good ones....which I hope greatly improves with advance technology
ReplyDeleteSeems Mr."Chedda" finds comfort in the print! ;<) _m
ReplyDeleteThat picture of the Ched and your hands sold me on the printer!
ReplyDeleteThe image of the Ched and your hands sold me on the printer!
ReplyDeleteTHis is rubbish. I have this printer and it run out of ink really quick. The most inconvenient thing about this is, it doesn't even give warning if ink is low. It completely stop printing so if u need to print something important and ink is low, u have no choice other going to store and replacing ink. Always keep extra cartridge of ink.
ReplyDeleteHi Lorraine, This printer works well for photos too but obviously, there are limitations as to what any home printer can achieve, when it comes to photos.
ReplyDeleteHi Magyar, He does indeed! :<)
Hi SandyC, He's quite a furry little sales guy, isn't he?
Hi Anonymous, Funny you should post this about the ink today. I was doing a large print job (200+ black and white pages) yesterday and was amazed how far the ink has gone, considering I hadn't replaced either cartridge up til then and have been printing on a regular basis. The black (regular not high yield) cartridge did run out, as of yesterday but it lasted much longer than with other printers and cartridges I've used. And it did come up with a low ink warning, previous to actually running out. I'm sorry that you aren't happy with your printer but I certainly am with mine. And more so, since I've continued to use it since my purchase in April. It's a keeper, in my opinion! :<)
Thanks for your comments and visits, G
Hi, found your review nice and useful, thanks. Just FYI for those in Calgary Canada, this is on sale CA$38 at Walmart till Aug. 16(?).
ReplyDeleteI have this printer. It is terrible! This is my second one of this model. I print a lot and the printer is broken, exactly like the first one. The paper feed is flimsy and now will not feed the paper properly! It prints sideways and the alignment will not align! Ugh. We are now looking for a new printer, again. You get what you pay for I guess...
ReplyDeleteI am returning this printer tomorrow. The print quality isn't the issue. The wireless feature of the printer isn't compatible with 90% of the routers in use right now - there is no way of manually putting in a wireless access key. There is a work-around method using a USB cable but the software involved only runs on Windows.
ReplyDeleteIt is a shame as my previous generation HP worked just fine and allowed you to put in the key manually. This is the way every other device uses wireless, for some reason HP decided to make things non-standard.
One incredibly awesome thing about this printer is how easy it is to set up under Linux. I wasn't expecting it to work at all, but it seems that Linux has some kind of universal HP Wireless Connection deal that literally installed this printer with just two clicks! That is - after I had done the setup on my home Wi-Fi under Windows first the Linux install was super easy.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing such a great post, now a days day by day printer is becoming an important aspect . So everybody needs in their assets. So this blog helped me a lot. All doubts got cleared, Thanks.
ReplyDeleteWhere do you prefer to buy ink for this printer? It takes HP 61 ink and I'm buying ink way too often.
ReplyDelete