Customer Reviews

HP Deskjet 6940 Printer. 36 Ppm Black and 27 Ppm, Up To 4800 Optimized Dpi Color

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I own a HP computer- so I thought when I needed a printer to also buy a HP - maybe they could talk to each other. Mistake #1. I purchased this "printer" in September 2008 and have since gotten to learn how to uninstall & reinstall the printer several times a week. The little light on the front burned out (after 3 months) and can not be fixed (HP support agreed). However, it is ONLY this little light that tells the machine you have cleared the paper jam, or that you have refilled the paper. So now, EVERY SINGLE TIME I need to refill the paper (because I forgot to load it daily) I get to uninstall & reinstall. If I get any type of jam, I get to uninstall & reinstall. If anything happens - including putting in new ink cartridges - I get to uninstall & reinstall. AND HP Support agrees this is my only option, other than buying another "printer." The machine does not recognize original HP ink cartridges, so the machine can never tell you the estimated ink level and frequently I get error messages of "not corect cartridge." And you can guess how I get to clear this message (uninstall again, reboot computer, reinstall printer).
Yes I have gotten quick at doing this, but still it is not an enjoyable task to having to do several times a week, because you bought this "printer!"
I am only waiting until I exhaust my inventory of those expensive ink cartridges until I dispose of this piece of trash. I hope Amazon prints this, although I admit I did not buy this thing from them.

I've used this printer and the additional paper tray to print my company catalogs for the past three years. Still works perfectly. Excellent quality on the print and pics, and NO paper jams. Turn it on and print all day with no problems. The rest of the year, it's used for labels and other items a few times a day. No problems there either! Just wish it was smaller, too big to replace the one on my desk.

I've made the mistake of buying an HP printer on two occasions and perhaps the thuing that bothers me the most about it is a problem with ink jet printers, but here goes:

I spend more money on INK for the stupid printers to print an alignment page than I do on ink to actually print what I want. Every single time I want to print something the stupid machine spits out an alignment page! Total waste of black and color ink and I suspect that this is done by design by HP. The hell with the fact that the customer has invested a small fortune in buying a desktop or laptop and a printer, let's stick it up their collective gickers by making them have to run out and buy our ink every three weeks! Bad form HP, bad form. DO NOT BUY THEIR PRINTERS!

This printer is a good companion to my HP DJ 9800 large format printer (11" x 17") as they use the same print cartridges which was my primary reason for selecting this model. The 2nd point was the potential speed in both B & W and color. However, the speed is not what it was rated "up to", but it is fast enough. It also features a small footprint. Overall it is a good value and I'm very satisfied.

When I was searching for a printer I was searching for a Portable Printer. I selected this printer because the price was right. But this was far from a portable printer as could be expected. What it is, is a small printer for someone like a college student with limited space, it is certainly not a portable printer. I am a sales person who needs a portable printer that I can take on the road with me. This is not that small.

The reason I selected this printer is for the fact that the paper is enclosed in a covered area rather than just being left out open on a paper-feed tray. This helps keep the paper from becoming damaged by having the edges bent which would cause paper jams or the paper becoming dirty. (you'd be amazed at how many people eat stuff while hanging around the office printer while waiting for their documents to print.)

HP has not made a full featured factory driver for the 6940 (Complain to support, and maybe...?!).
Win 7 auto-installs a generic driver that works ok for basic printing "only".

This prints High Quality, and I'd definitely recommend getting it!
All-in-one printers, are a waste of money for most! I prefer a separate scanner, that have lasted me for years! Epson Perfection V30 Color Scanner (good cheap scanner, and use Office Mode!)


There was no Ink level bubble showing when I printed (works on my XP system/ with downloaded driver), and no toolbox to troubleshoot?

I made the mistake of calling HP outsourced support (5 times/ 3 hrs on phone!), and what a bunch of "clueless" techs!
One was Very rude. Three cut me off, and one called back at 1am in the morning.
I would NOT recommend letting them log directly onto your computer!

I finally got ahold of a 2yr tech, that showed me how print a test page that also shows ink levels showing on E/F bars in the middle (wastes some ink though! Grrr!)-

Press the Power button, & turn on printer.
Now hold down the Power button, and press/hold the Cancel button (X) for 5sec.
Release buttons, and test page will print.
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To REALLY save on using up their "Small" Color ink cartdrige (ALL HP printers use color ink, even on text printing!- Black cartdrige is much bigger!)-

Right click on the 6940... Printer Icon (Control Panel/Devices & Printers...).
Printing preferences
Color Tab
Tick- Print In Grayscale, and Black Print Cartdrige Only. Apply/OK (leave other color settings alone!).
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Note: If a blank page prints, or you want to "temp" print Color/WP envelopes (only saves setting for that print session, then auto-back to Black only)-
File, Print, Preferences (reverse above)...

Note2!- If you are color printing photos..., that you want to last for more than 5yrs!?- DON'T buy inexpensive color refills, as they use Cheap Dye instead of HP's long-lasting pigment!
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I also purchased their full replacement 3yr extended warranty, for 25 bucks (It's rare for a printer to last me 3yrs?)???

This is one quality "Photo" printer! It will handel heavy duty paper. Whats weird is it will also grab 2 or 3 sheets of regular paper. I have been amazed and people who I have givem them too think they are real photographs.
Also has special "ink" for doing just photo's.

So far......does what it is supposed to do. Prints. Color is what you expect from an InkJet. No problems. Just click and go.