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.
