The Deskjet F4280 is the first of two inkjet printers HP sent in for testing this month. This is an all-in-one (AIO) multifunction printer which provides copying, scanning and printing functions. These AIO devices are getting increasingly popular amongst SOHO users as they are relatively cheap and reasonably inexpensive to run. The other obvious benefit is their small footprint; the Deskjet D4280 only takes up around 18 by 12 inches of your desk and you won’t have multiple devices to clutter up your workspace.
In terms of the printing engine, the Deskjet F4280 is rated at 26ppm (pages per minute) for black and 20ppm while printing colours; these are all in draft mode by the way. Most users would use normal mode for text and best quality settings for colour or photo prints. Our test A4 text documents took an average of 8 seconds to print (about 7.5ppm); the first copy took just above 10 seconds to appear. For full A4 colour prints, the Deskjet F4280 averaged 5ppm in normal mode. 4R photos in best quality settings took around 90 seconds each. In terms of quality, text reproduction is very sharp, even at very tiny sizes. However, photos came out slightly dull and dark. This is quite common on lower-end printers, so users might want to tweak their photos slightly before printing. Also, we would like to point out that using the vendor’s own media would give the best results; it’s no different with the Deskjet F4280.
The scanning function can be quite handy for SOHO users, but it takes quite long to scan a colour document – slightly over 72 seconds. The hardware is capable of performing scans up to 1200 x 2400dpi resolution, which is really fine; most users would probably be happy with 300dpi. There is no automatic document feeder, so if you have a stack to go through, it might take some time. We did notice a bit of noise in dark areas, so cleaning up the scans through software before printing might be a better idea than using the copy function. Speaking of the copy function, it works best with text documents, but not for photos. The paper input tray takes 80 sheets, which should be sufficient for SOHO users and we didn’t encounter any paper feeding problems, even with thicker photo paper.
There’s no LCD screen, but seriously, we’re not expecting one at the Deskjet F4280’s price point. Besides, it is simple enough for even novices (i.e. mom and pop) to use. The buttons on the top are clearly labelled and very neat; we also like the 4-stage ink level indicator lights, which will quickly notify users when ink is running low. There’s no card reader, but unless you print a lot of photos from your digital camera, that’s not really an issue. Besides, most users would want to touch up their photos or do some cropping before printing anyway. HP’s supplied software can be a chore to install sometimes, but is necessary for the best results. For ink, the Deskjet F4280 uses dual ink cartridges (HP 60 black and tri-colour).
The device itself is a very affordable AIO device. If you find yourself printing documents or photos only occasionally (like less than 10 sheets once a week), this AIO device would probably suit your needs very well. Just don’t expect very quick results and you’ll be fine. The ink cartridges are reasonably priced (by the way, those are list prices; street prices should be slightly lower) and won’t put a large dent in your wallet.
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