Customer Reviews

HP Officejet 6500 Wireless All-in-One Inkjet Printer

5 star:		(91)
4 star:		(96)
3 star:		(41)
2 star:		(41)
1 star:		(190)

 

 

I looked and researched wireless printers and was going crazy. This one had all postive reviews so I decided to order it. I wanted an all in one printer/scanner/copy/ fax and wireless. At 149.00 dollars sale price I decided to go for it.
It came in a huge box and I thought what the heck did I order and when I took it out of the box it was bigger than my other all in one, but the double sided printing attachment adds some bulk (I have not tried this feature). It is noisier than my HP 4280 all in one, but that is not a big deal.
Set up was fairly easy, I just followed the instruction set up page. The software took a long time to install. I am familiar with printer set ups and installing software so no problem there just time consuming. It came with everything I needed including the USB cord (usually not included). The fax was easy to set up and send (I have not received a fax yet)It has speed dial too. The wireless works perfectly from my laptop. I'm familiar with HP software so the program is easy to use for scanning and it's easy to do copies too.
I am unfamiliar with printheads that you have to install yourself and I do not know if they have to be replaced periodically or not. The ink comes with a pop off top that was kind of scary but you just pop it off. Cartridges are very easy to install. It seems to have to go through a lot to get going including noise.
It took me over an hour but I wasn't in a big hurry.

The only problem I have encountered is with my new HP pavilion laptop 64bit running Vista. My desk top is a dell running XP, and I didn't have any software problems. The software installed on my laptop with no problems except it gives an error message when I shut down my laptop. My HP 4120 did the same thing, HP has not been able to give me a fix. It's a 64 bit problem.
I'm pretty impressed with all the features and I have printed out some 4 by 6 photos and had no problem using photo paper or 4 by 6 paper. The paper tray holds tons of paper which is nice when using wireless, in case I forget to check before printing.
I only gave it 4 stars because of the Vista 64 bit software glitch.
I am an intermediate to advanced computer user.

If you're looking for a printer with all the latest technologies, check out the HP Officejet 6500 Wireless. Keep in mind that HP makes two 6500 models--one is wireless and one is not. This is the wireless model. With copy, scan, print and fax functions this all-in-one is a real workhorse.

Fast speed (up to 31 ppm) and extremely easy to use. The setup function is all done via software--you don't even need to touch the 6500's keypad controls. It links directly to your System Preferences control panel making the wireless and fax settings easy. It uses 4 separate color inks, so you can control your print costs when only a single color needs to be replaced.

Main drawback is HP's decision to only include a 2-line text display. For a printer in this price range, HP should have included a 2.5" color LCD screen. If you're looking for a multifunction machine that does it all, seriously consider the HP 6500 Wireless.

Yes, the print quality is beautiful, but I'm not as overjoyed as the previous reviewers.

The printer driver alone is 245 MB. That's almost as big as my entire MS Office suite! WHY??? With few of its optional programs included (an additional 100 MB or so), it took a good 20 minutes to copy and install the software from the disk onto my desktop computer and complete the initial setup.

I had expected that once the machine was installed on my wireless network using my desktop, that our laptops on the network could simply detect it and add it with the Windows Add Printer function, if all they wanted was print capability--maybe by grabbing a small driver off the internet or from the machine itself. But oh, no. This thing has to be installed from the disk for each machine, and took 20 minutes each to install on our XP laptops, and almost 30 minutes on our VISTA machine. The useless completion bar sat at 94% for most of that time.

As I said in the header, the machine itself is noisy. A few seconds after each print job completes, it starts back up and clunks and whirs for 15-20 seconds, apparently chewing its way through some kind of self-adjustment/maintenance. I fear that this is not the sound of long term durability. I'm glad I bought the two year warranty.

I have had the OfficeJet 6500 Wireless for a few weeks and am genuinely impressed. The print quality is as good as it's going to get for an inkjet, and is very sharp. Individual ink tanks for each color keeps waste and cost down, and kudos to HP for selling both standard and large capacity ink tanks, allowing heavy users another way to keep costs down. The duplexer is nice and has really cut down on paper consumption. The scanning and faxing abilities are as you would expect for a modern multifunction, and do not disappoint. Where this machine really impresses is the details. It includes a USB cable. You can insert a SD/SDHC/MS card into a card slot and scan any document directly to a PDF file on the memory card, in color or greyscale-without a computer. If you have an iPhone or iPod Touch, HP has a free application that allows photo printing directly from the iPhone/iPod and is really slick. The unit also has a built-in web server than can be used for status, maintenance, configuration, and even scanning using a web app-even if your computer doesn't have the HP software installed. The wireless setup is incredibly simple-run the wireless wizard from the control panel, pick which network and enter the network password. It connected to my WPA2 network immediately (note the network password is case sensitive) and I never even connected the USB or Ethernet cables. And I am quite impressed with the level of support for Apple computers-even the included software bundle is full-featured and works well, although OS X users will find iPhoto to be superior to the provided software for photo printing. In all I am extremely happy with this machine and especially considering the sub-$200 price.

Great printer until I got an error indicating an "ink system error". Followed all of the directions on the HP website to troubleshoot. No success. Tried same recommendations a few more times a few days later. Still no success. Got online with HP Help Chat. After an hour online, the representative tells me my printer has a PEN error and is not fixable. And, I'm told, I'll get a free replacement from HP. And oh, would I like an extended warrantee? After all, the new printer will assume the old printer's warrantee and it will expire in a few months. No thanks. But then -- the HP Chat person tells me she can't authorize the return. I'll have to speak with someone in person. After over an hour! Busy as I am, finding time to sit on a phone line wasn't easy. But eventually I did. And after another HOUR AND A HALF I finally have someone who can authorize the return. Even got an email confirming all the details. Printer was to arrive in 5-10 business days. Well.... you guessed it. After 14 business days, there's nothing. I check the status of the return. Nothing has shipped. Send an email to their customer support team inquiring about the status. And "due to an internal error", they have no idea when my printer will ship. If ever.

Naaah folks. Save your $. Skip the HP experience. Trust me when I tell you I could have bought three new printers for the time I've spent fooling around on this one.

I recently bought this printer but I bought it off the HP site because it was cheaper. I truly like the way my printed copies look---very professional and the ink does not smear. I set up the wireless option on both my windows os and mac os laptops. When setting up my macbook, it was tricky but I discovered that once the software was installed on my macbook and I removed the USB printer cable from the macbook and turned the printer off and then on----the wireless system worked?! Setting up wirelessly with the Windows Vista operating system was very easy. This is nice looking printer and I am enjoying it so far.

I purchased this printer at Costco and I am very pleased with it so far. Wireless setup was simple and worked perfectly for all three of my PCs on my wireless network running XP and Vista. The print quality is excellent as is the speed. Double sided printing is also very nice to have. I could not be more pleased so far.

Our printer is brand-new. Did all the research and decided that even if it was a bit slow etc., for the price point it offered a lot of features we really wanted, such as wireless printing so we didn't have to drag our laptops into the room if we wanted to print something.

It even works without being physically connected to our non-wifi desktop (which is direct-connected to the wireless router).

Unfortunately, it had been set up for less than 12 hours before we discovered a significant, deal-killing drawback. When it goes into "power save" mode, the wireless turns off, and there is NO WAY TO WAKE THE PRINTER UP short of unplugging the power. The power-off button flashes periodically but ignores any effort to turn it off and back on. None of the other buttons work. Attempting to print does not wake it up. I have heard - but have not yet tested - that an incoming fax will still be received. But it's useless as a wireless printer.

Googling it shows it's a known problem and even HP tech support doesn't have an answer that works.

I've checked for firmware updates and we've got all the latest stuff.

At this point, I'm seriously considering returning it. As set up, it's a defective product. The instructions explicitly say "do not turn off by unplugging"... they don't mention that "except this is the only way TO turn it off.

Update: 4/6/2010. After quite a lot of web searching, I've found that numerous sites suggest setting a static IP address. While this helped *somewhat*, it just made the printer take a bit longer before it got locked into "sleeping and can't wake up" mode. However, last night I stumbled across another posting which suggested changing the network settings on the device, to change the link speed from "automatic" to a manual setting (the term is "auto negotiate" though that's not the menu setting's title). I did this, and 18 hours later it is still responding. I'm leaving the rating at 1 star because it should NOT have been this difficult to set the thing up, or to find the solution to the problem. But at least I don't need to bundle it up and return it, as I'd been seriously considering doing.

Update 4/20/2010. That last step helped... for a bit... but after a day or two it was back to its old tricks. It works well when it's responding to the network, but after a few hours of non-use, we have to physically turn off the power at the plug. No buttons work to do this. Don't buy this unit.
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HP "instant help" worked diligently for about 8 hours and could not get the Office Jet 6500 printer to work on my system. It was not the fault of the help, as they really worked hard. It was the printer installation software that did not work on my Windows XP system. I was pleased by how Amazon made it easy to return the printer. My decision to abandon further effort to get the printer to work was based on the concern that even if HP were able to get it to work, after the warrantee expired, I would be up a creek without a paddle, if, say, I had to install the printer on a different computer. I then bought a Brother MFC 490CW all-in-one from Amazon for about $30 less and installed it easily and without help. Please note that I have had great success with my HP 2700n laser jet printer. In that case the installation worked easily, and I needed no help. Not all HP printers have problems, but the 6500 sure did on my system.

UPDATE! I was recently photo sharing with a friend, but my memory card reader wouldn't read her SD card, neither would my camera. Her camera read the card just fine but she didn't have the cable to plug directly into my computer. So- we tried putting the SD memory card into this HP printer and voila! The printer read the card AND wirelessly transferred ALL (200+) of her pictures to my computer! It even turned them (portrait, landscape) appropriately, which was a huge plus because we were going through about 1000 pictures (local hot air balloon festival) total. I was just amazed- I thought surely I'd have to sit by the printer and select each individual picture to send to my computer but it sent them all with no problem! Just get this printer, it's amazing.

I purchased the OJ6500 two days ago. Installation was a breeze on my MacBook with Leopard, 10.5.7. The "quick" installation guide takes you through getting the printer set up, i.e. plugged in, inserting ink cartridges.

There is a separate manual for setting up the wireless and fax. The wireless connection is set up through your computer, as long as you know your network name and WEP password there shouldn't be a problem. The wireless manual also has several pages of trouble-shooting ideas in case the wireless connection isn't working on the printer, or the computer can't find the printer on the network, etc.

I have used the duplex printing successfully, which was one of the main reasons I bought this particular printer, wireless being the other. The duplex printing is a bit slow, so I probably won't be printing out my thesis on it, but great for saving paper with smaller documents and I certainly didn't expect it to be lightning-fast duplex printing.

There is also a separate manual for setting up the fax, but as several other reviewers have commented, the fax capabilities don't work with digital phone, so I haven't even tried to set this up as the fax ability wasn't a priority for me.

I have already used both the scanner and copier as well. I scanned in a number of old pictures which turned out great. The printer has a ton of scanning options which makes scanning pictures in particular a snap- you can choose to scan into a .jpeg format directly into the HP Photosmart program, or for fellow mac users, scan as a .jpeg directly into iPhoto. You can also scan in as a .pdf format, which is extremely handy as well.

The only weird glitch I've had with all of the printing, scanning, and copying I've done so far is that sometimes the printer can't find my computer. You can scan two ways- select directly from the printer, which asks you to select the computer to scan to and the format to scan (.jpeg, .pdf) or you can control it from your computer. When installed, the HP Device Manager application allows you to control the scanning/faxing from your computer, which gives you the same options of format, etc. So part way through my scanning, I was using the buttons on the printer itself and it stopped "seeing" my computer on the network, so I couldn't select any computer to send the scan to. But when I opened the HP device manager, it scanned perfectly into my computer. The printer now is recognizing my computer again, so it's kind of sporadic I suppose.

One final note, my boyfriend has a desktop with Windows XP and wireless capabilities, and he also installed the software and is printing just fine via wireless. So overall I'm extremely happy with this printer, I think it was a great purchase and hope it will get me through my last year of grad school with printing forms and papers, etc. I purchased the printer from Sam's Club and also priced the replacement ink package- the printer has an optional "XL" black cartridge which is supposed to print up to ~1200 pages, so the package that included the XL black, and the three separate colors was $70, just so you have an idea of how much replacement inks will cost. The smaller color cartridges are said to print about 700 pages I believe. I'm very happy with the purchase- happy shopping!