Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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168 of 174 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Impressive Achievment for HP - Fantastic Value, December 6, 2005
You know, on paper, the HP 2600n probably makes no sense - not much memory, one-pass engine (speeds for black and color are the same), expensive replacement cartridges, slow black-only speed, average looks, small & unimpressive LCD display.
But.... In the real world, this printer will surprise and even amaze you! If you print ANY color in your documents, this printer will leave it's competition in the dust in terms of performance. Color print-outs are fast and come out instantly - no warm-up, etc. The unusual design allows it to take up minimal space on your desk and provides easy paper retrieval and cartridge replacement. The simple display is incredibly intuitive and features are easily & quickly located.
Instead of lots of memory, the printer makes use of your computer's memory and cpu (read: not post-script) - this may have a very slight performance effect on your computer. But, you never have to worry about purchasing extra printer memory ($$), since your computer probably has plenty of it available and probably more CPU power than you need.
Operating noise is acceptable and the printer never over-heats (common on some other color laser models). The HP support software isn't the flashy kind that populates your tool bars - just a very simple and effective set of utilities, which helps you configure and maintain the printer.
Color text print quality is the best I've seen on any kind of printer, and business graphics are unrivaled. The photo printouts are pretty decent for a laser, but not in the class of inkjets - but they sure come out fast!
While the cartridges are expensive - at least the printer comes with FULL capacity cartridges, which ironically cost more than the printer. (You are literally getting the printer for free!). I have printed several large documents (including many hi-res pictures) and the cartridges are still showing 98% capacity!
So, when should you NOT get this printer? If you mainly print-out reams of black/white documents, then this printer is NOT a good choice; go for a monochrome or 4-pass color laser instead. But, most home users do print some color (ie, web pages) which makes this a much better real-world printer.
They have the more powerful one-pass engine type HP color lasers where I work, and they are impressive; which makes me believe the 2600n should be reliable as well.
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76 of 76 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Cartridge problems can be overcome, February 2, 2006
I guess the way the printer is set up is to ASSUME that you are using the color cartridges on an average basis, regardless of whether they are actually being used or not. Thus, it estimates when the cartridges should run out and when that time comes, you are locked out of further printing until the cartridges are replaced even though they may be full of toner. However, reading through the User Guide, there appears to be a solution on using the Color Toner Cartridges beyond the "replacement" time.
Page 94 of the User Guide has the following instructions for those who would like to use the toner beyond their replacement time:
Configuration
Cartridge Out Override can only be enabled from the printer's control panel menu.
1. From the main menu, press (RIGHT ARROW) to System setup and press (SELECT).
2. Press (RIGHT ARROW) to Print quality and press (SELECT).
3. Press (RIGHT ARROW) to Replace supplies and press (SELECT).
4. Press (RIGHT ARROW) to Override out and press (SELECT).
5. Press (SELECT).
If Stop at out is selected, the printer will stop printing when a cartridge reaches the recommended replacement point. If Override out is selected, the printer will continue
printing when a cartridge reaches the recommended replacement point. The factory default setting is Stop at out.
The full story of the trials and tribulations of a hapless 2600N owner can be viewed at: http://www.epinions.com/content_196413001348
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115 of 120 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Printer is "Free" But the Toner Is VERY Expensive!, January 19, 2006
I bought this printer in October, 2005, primarily to print documents with occasional color use. To my surprise, about 3/4 of the way through my second black toner cartridge, the three color cartridges were exhausted. The supply counter reported that I had printed 4800 pages in color! I print VERY LITTLE color, and I just could not understand it. I called HP tech support, and was told that in fact even when you think you are printing black text only, the printer uses "a little" color toner too. I was not happy to hear this, since nowhere in HP's literature that I could find is this mentioned, but OK. . .they told me I could prevent this by printing in "draft" instead of in "normal," and by printing in greyscale. So, I loaded the new color cartridges (THREE of them, at approx. $80 each!!!), and guess what? The page counter CONTINUED to count pages for each of the color cartridges AND for the black cartridges! So, I called tech support back and was THEN informed that there is no way to avoid "using" color (I don't know if the printer actually uses color, or if the counter just "says" it does. The end result is the same. You can't print in black if your color cartridges are "out.") Tech support called this a "cheap" printer and said that the grayscale option isn 't available, no matter what you try to set up. Needless to say, I feel pretty disgusted and cheated. I will use up the remaining toner and then throw this machine away. I think HP should be ashamed. The tech guy seemed to think I should have somehow "known" about this. Phoo! Don't buy it. M. Zashin
Addendum: To be fair, I called HP tech support a third time and was then told that tech support #2 was wrong. You CAN print in grayscale and by doing so will avoid "using" color toner. It is also important to download and install the latest firmware from the HP site. I am following these suggestions, and will suspend judgment until I find out if this is now accurate information. M. Zashin
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