Customer Reviews

HP DeskJet 612C Color Printer

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

If you are considering buying HP 612C because of its low price, you might want to consider the cost of ownership. Most HP printers use 40 ml black ink cartridges, but 610 and 612 use 20 ml cartridges. These smaller cartridges are actually a little bit more expensive than the 40 ml cartridges. So your ownership cost, even if your usage is light to moderate, is likely to be higher than that of some of the more expensive models.

About a month or so after purchasing, my HP 612C stopped working. The yellow light would flash and it will print nothing. The only support number that you can call (even under warranty period) are 900 numbers ($2.50 per minute) or one where you have to pay by credit card.

You can get e-mail support from HP website, but most of the time you get canned answers. One of the common problems with HP 612 is that the printer cartridge that ships with the printer develops problems. There is no documentation or other indication to say that this is the problem. This was what happened to my printer. By the number of questions that are asked at the e-mail support discussion site, this appears to be a one of the most common problem with this printer.

I have an older Deskjet 540 (5 years old) that works like a charm. So I was a little disappointed at the 612C reliability problems and the cartridge fiasco.

Denise.

it gives very good results in printing text and graphics, and even greeting cards. haven't tried photographs yet.

the ink seems to dry up very fast on the paper(it's almost dry when it comes out). this results in minimal waiting times.

the printer software gives great animated on-screen demonstrations for placing the paper, specially while printing 2-sided and greeting cards.

the speed is more than adequate for normal household printing.

overall, good value for money.

I do a considerable amount of printing. My son has used this agreat deal for school projects, homework and the like. Results arealways good on a variety of papers from the plain cheap stuff to photo-grade to notecards. With the optional photo-quality cartridge and good photo paper (I have only used Kodak paper) I was very pleased with the results; however, the 800 series do seem to do better on photos. One downside is that the black cartridges for this model only hold half the ink of the other 600 series printers. Considering that I use black the most, this would have steered me to a different model had I know this before the fact. I have tried refilling cartridges, but really don't find it worth the effort--the quality just isn't as good either. I previously had two Epson Stylus printers and in comparison I am very happy with this HP, it strikes a good compromise between quality, ease of use and cost. In general, this is a very good home printer for your everyday printing needs.

My husband and I bought this printer, we thought it was a goodeconomical choice for an at home printer, we were wrong. Two daysbefore it went off warrenty it would no longer print. My yellow resetbutton flashed, and no tech support was provided with this 612c model. However if we wanted to pay 2.50 a minute they could help us. I looked up the printer on Amazon customer reports and found someone else with the same problem, a faulty ink cartridge that came with the printer. I went and bought a new one for 30.00, popped it in and bingo the printer worked again. If this happens often I'm getting rid of it. Don't get me wrong It prints great, only if you can afford it, and I rarely use mine. That's why we bought A less expensive one. If it wasn't for Amazon reports we would have been out even more money. If you do a lot of printing, this printer is not for you!

A friend recommended this printer, so I ignored the detracting reviews left by other Amazon customers. I'm glad I did; the printer was easy to set up and speedy. At this price, I am completely satisified with the product. This printer is fifty times better than the cheap Canon printer I purchased last year. For fifty dollars more than the Canon Colorjet, I've landed a good piece of hardware. Thanks Hewlett-Packard.

I purchased this printer in August 1999 (7 months ago) and I am disapointed. I have had problems with the software. It conflicted with my other installed printer drivers so I had to remove them. I also found the direct cable connection software which is part of Windows 98 would not work while the software was installed. Additionally, I have been disapointed with the cost and frequency of replacing cartriges. I would not recommend this printer. I have had other HP printers and in each case was satisfied.

I have this printer, because I received it "free" with a new computer purchase. I am a dedicated HP user for printers so I was happy the free one was an HP. I checked out the reviews and was horrified by the comments. However, I have now had this printer for 3 months and have had absolutely NO problems. Certainly it isn't as good as my older higher level HP, but you wouldn't expect it to be for the price. I put it with my older computer which is now my son's. He runs all sort of stuff on it, mostly in color (he's 5), and has had no problems...and it has had a lot of use. If you want something inexpensive, this should be fine.

On page 16 of the owners manual for the deskjet 610C series, a 90 day software warranty is listed. Hewlett Packard states that this is a misprint and HP will not honor the software warranty. Any software help is fee based. The printer developed a software problem after 60 days and would not print.

I have two problems with this printer. Number 1 is that my 612C work out and would not printer anymore after about only 6 months of use. I was well under the monthly duty for what this printer is expected to printer. The second is that the documentation that came with this product led me to believe that my printer was under warranty for an enitre year, but when I called HP to have it fixed I was told my warranty was expired, and that additional documentation was released showing only a 90 day warranty.

This printer was extremely easy to set up. In fact I needed to download the drivers from the internet because the computer it is working with has no cd rom drive, and was a bit skeptical about the outcome. The whole process, from getting the drivers from the HP internet site, to installing them, and setting up the printer was really smooth. Hell, my husband could have done it! (just kidding, dear) Color is fine also-it all depends on what your requirements are. For us it is all we need, and it beats the Canon products hands down. I am giving it four stars because I have not seen yet how long the cartridges last. Also buy the extra year warranty for 10.00 dollars. HP has a long-standing reputation for business computers and peripherals.