HP Officejet J6480: Review

Rating:

2.8 out of 5

Features

The Officejet J6480 also contains a fax option, which is not common on most all-in-one machines and can come in quite handy. With the ability to fax in either black and white, color or photo faxing, a wide variety of faxing resolution options ranging from 300 x 300 dpi for Best to 203 x 98 dpi for black, 203 x 196 dpi for photos and 200 x 200 dpi for color the Officejet J6480 provides the home user a wealth of faxing options for the user that needs to do more than send the occasional bank documentation. Faxing features include color faxing, distinctive ring detection, auto redialing, auto fax reduction, delayed sending, remote retrieval capability, pc interface, pc fax and send archive, fax polling, fax phone TAM interface, fax forwarding, a memory of up to 100 pages and speed dial of up to 100 numbers. With features like this, the Officejet J6480 is more geared toward the home business owner than the casual home user.

The one feature that the Officejet J6480 does lack is a true LCD screen similar to those available on comparable printers. This machine only offers a 2-line LCD text screen which allows you to perform basic functions, but there is no capability to preview your photos before you print them. You will need to print out an index sheet and then via the LCD-based menu, select the photos you would like to print, just another example that the Officejet J6480 is geared more towards the home business/home office user, than the casual home user.

Performance

Photo printing is as good if not better than most, but that's where the equalities end. With only two ink cartridges, one in black the other tri color, you will end up spending more money in the long run especially with the color cartridges. As soon as one color runs out the cartridge becomes useless and needs to be replaced. A Color 4 inch x 6 inch Photos print in approximately 26 seconds, black documents print up to 31 ppm and color documents print up to 25 ppm. Printing resolution is a maximum of 1200 dpi for black and a maximum of 4800 x 1200 dpi for color.

Since this is an all-in-one machine, it does more than just print. The copier capabilities are up to 31 cpm for black documents and up to 25 cpm for color. There are also a variety of copy features available on the Officejet J6480. With actual size, full page, fit to page, custom, legal to letter, letter to A4, 2 on 1, and Reduce/Enlarge (25%-400%), the Officejet J6480 provides a wealth of office functionality in a home printer.

Scanning quality is comparable to that of other all-in-one machines available on the market. The Officejet J6480 has an optical resolution of 4800 dpi.

Summary

In conclusion, the HP Officejet J6480 contains more office related functionality than comparable all-in-one photo printers. Unless you are looking for a business only printer that can print quality photos, then the HP Officejet J6480 may not be the way to go.

Pros

• Energy Star rated
• Color photos print in 26 seconds
• Features more suited to the home business/home office user
• Only 2 ink cartridges

Cons

• No LCD Preview screen

Related Links

Canon PIXMA MX310 AIO Printer, Scanner, Copier, Fax:
Print speed: 22 ppm black and up to 17 ppm color, 4 x 6 photos as fast as 46 sec

Epson WorkForce 500 AIO Printer, Scanner, Copier, Fax:
Print speed: 33 ppm black and up to 33 ppm color, 4 x 6 photos as fast as 26 seconds