Customer Reviews

HP PSC 1610 All-in-One Printer, Scanner, Copier

5 star:		(33)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(12)
2 star:		(18)
1 star:		(67)

 

 

As a Computer Technician at a major electronics outlet, let me say I've been called apon to tech support all the issues listed previously and more. HPs install software on this model is notoriously buggy, especially under Windows ME and 98SE. I have also gotten numerous calls confirming issues with the printer rejecting the inks a month or two after purchase. Sometimes purchasing new inks works, sometimes it does not, leading me to believe it is a problem with how this printer authenticates geniune HP ink.

All in all, the customers who have gotten this printer to work and continue to work are extremely happy with it, but large scale issues getting it that far make me hesitant to recommend it.

I bought this particular printer because it got good reviews here on Amazon, but I have been very disappointed with it. It prints verrrrry slowly. Paper is difficult to load and it jams up if you put more than about 6 sheets into the paper feed. We hadn't had it a week when suddenly we got an error message saying the color cartridge was not recognized (it's the one that CAME WITH IT.)

I loathe this printer with a passion and I am sorry I bought it. Yes, I can probably return it due to the color cartridge issue, but who wants to mess around with that? I buy new stuff because I expect not to have to screw around with repairs/replacement for awhile.

I bought this printer because I have always been satisfied with previous HP printers that I have owned. However, this one was a mess from the start. I can live with the fact that it prints slowly and the scans are very poor. However, from week #2 this printer started getting paper jams errors and out of paper errors when the tray was full of HP all in one paper. The paper feed often pulls gobs of paper at a time unless you only put about six sheets of paper in the tray at a time. I have called HP customer support but they are of absolutely no use. Since the printer was only days old I wanted it replaced. Instead they insisted on "troubleshooting" the problem. I have complained four times and insisted on a new printer. However, they insist on "troubleshooting" the problem. The problem is that I have a defective printer and want it replaced. HP has outsourced their customer support to India so you cannot get anything out of them other than what they are reading on their computer screens. It is like talking to a robot with a bad accent. My advice: Stay away from HP printers altogether.

I've had the HP PSC 1610 for four months, and it operates exactly as advertised. Flawless performance.

Positive items:

* The printing in draft mode is very fast, very legible, and saves a lot on ink.

* The printing in normal mode looks great.

* The scanner software is easy to use. The scanner and copier work very well and the output is really good (within specifications).

* The 1610 can fit in a small space.

I don't have any overtly negative items to report, but here are a few caveats you should consider when getting this printer. If you read through the previous reviews, you'll see that some people have had problems with the 1610. My guess is that their problems are a result of one of the following four causes:

1. The unit requires a slightly convoluted setup. You are instructed to install the software first, and then hook up the printer during setup when prompted by the software. People who hook up the printer first (ignoring HP's explicit instructions) will likely have driver problems.

2. When the 1610 was released originally, it had some ink cartridge firmware malfunctions (full ink cartridges were incorrectly rendered useless by the machine). This was fixed a long time ago with a firmware upgrade. The upgrade is free and available as a download at the HP site. It's no big deal, but if you skip it, then the unit may not operate correctly.

3. This printer, like any printer, works best with a mainstream "plain-vanilla system." These days that means Windows XP. If you're running older versions of Windows, or some other operating system, or you have a lot of potential device conflicts, then you may have problems with the 1610, or you may not. But this is true of any hardware or software.

4. The unit is constructed primarily for home and light-business use; let's say up to 50 pages a day. So you can't load it with a whole ream of paper. And ink cartridges won't last too long if you're printing hundreds of pages.

My guess is that the above four items cause 98% of the negative reviews this unit has received. But I can't say for sure, because the HP PSC 1610 works perfectly for me. No problems, at all, ever. I'm very pleased.

We bought this unit four months ago. It worked fine for three months but has been a misery for the last month. It developed some kind of software problem that HP hasn't been able to fix. As a result, I can only use the printer with great difficulty. At least HP admitted that the problem is with the unit and that a number of other buyers have had the exact same problem. Anyway, save yourself a great deal of trouble and AVOID this particular HP unit. We have never had any trouble with HP stuff before. Just this one.

My mistake was ignoring others' reviews. I'll summarize: (1) after installation, multiple windows XP file errors occurred and persistent computer lock-ups commenced; (2) local tech support and HP "fixes" produced no improvement in performance; (3) with paper in the feeder, the readout said there was no paper; (4) paper would not pull into the 1610 once printing was requested; (5) 2-5 repeated "ok" key presses were requied to get paper to pull through the printer if it did at all; (6) when paper finally pulled through, 80% of the time it would pull through completely without printing upon the sheet; (7) with the warranty period now expired, I returned the product via UPS to the President of HP with a two page summary articulating the 1610's problems; (8) an "executive" customer service representative called to complain that I had sent the product to the wrong location; (9) I sent copies of my letter (to HP's CEO Mark Hurd) to each of the Board of Directors and to specific VP's of HP; (10) a second phone call from an "executive" customer service representative said HP would not be able to respond until they located the product I had returned. (A UPS shipment not traceable?? Excuse me!!!) My closing statement to Mr. Hurd, VP's and Board read as follows: "After purchasing the 1610, I read in the [...] product reviews that the paper-feed issue was already a known and serious flaw. I hoped this review was wrong. It was not. To continue to sell this product in its seriuosly flawed condition and with clear knowledge of same is immoral, corrupt and inexcusable." Potential customers of HP beware.

This printer produces quality photos (without bending the 4x6 paper unlike some other all-in-ones) and fast documents. I did have a problem getting it installed though. I spent 5 hours on the phone with HP support and they eventually gave up and sent me a new install CD. The new CD worked perfectly so I would advise anyone who has trouble installing to ask for the CD first rather than spend hours on the phone like I did.

I just got this. I had no problem installing it; I have a P4; windows XP with the service pack.

JUST FOLLOW THE INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS TO THE LETTER, especially when to install the USB cable-not first but much later in the installaion steps.

Made some copies-no problems so far

If I have any problems I will do another review.

I just bought the printer this week. I think they fixed the problems that people were having installing the program, because they have installation step #1 be to NOT install the USB cable until step #16. It says that if you install the USB cable first, or before prompted, the software will not set up properly. That would be a natural thing to do if you were in a hurry, install all the wiring first. It took about 45 minutes or more to get this thing totally set up from in the box to ready to print, so do it when you have time to follow the instructions explicitly, and you should be fine.

The print quality is just fine. Maybe the printing is a bit faster than my old PSC 750xi. I also printed a well-exposed photo with a deep green background and large daisy heads in the foreground on 8x11 Hammermill Premium Photo Paper. The quality was beautiful! I use a Canon A75, which I would recommend to anyone that wants to print their photos this size. I did not use the special photo printing cartridge, just the regular color printing cartridge. I wish now I hadn't bought the special photo cartridge, because I don't think it is necessary. You do need to buy the appropriate USB cable, though. It is not included, but your first two print cartridges are. I haven't used the scanner yet, but I expect it to work just fine like my 750xi did.

Only cons: You have to be patient for photos to print. It's not fast; but, at this price, I think that is an unrealistic expectation for a printer of this quality. Also, I dropped it one star, because the software makes my computer initialize about three times slower now. I loaded the full software. There is a way when you set up the software to load a smaller version. You might want to consult the user manual to see which one you really need. I know I may go back and use the smaller version, because there are many times I want to quickly get on my computer to get e-mails and\or a weather report only. Maybe it can just be disabled on start-up.

This is an excellent all-in-one at a budget price.

I was looking for a printer with scan & copy functions on a college students budget. This printer fit the bill. Had no problems hooking it up on my ibook g4 until the software install, as it turns out there is a 97mb driver that needs to be downloaded to successfully install for osx. 20 mins later the printer was up and running. With the exception of the software download, I am thorougly satisfied with the 1610s functionality and performance.