Review: HP Officejet Pro 8600 Plus Multifunction Printer
I bought the Hewlett Packard Officejet Pro 8600 Plus as a replacement for the Epson XP-800; which was recently returned to Best Buy because of it’s multiple issues (read my review). The 8600 retails for $299.99 but can be found as cheap as $229.99, which is how much I paid for the Officejet 8600.
The first thing you notice is the size of the 8600 Plus; it measures a whopping 49.4 (w) x 64.5 (d) x 31.5 (h) cm’s will all it’s attachments and paper tray extended! You’ll need a good sized space to install this printer; but with it’s wireless connectivity, it can be installed anywhere with power and in-range of your Wi-Fi router, I installed it in our bedroom as it doesn’t fit where the XP-800 lived.
Installation was very straight forward, simply following the instructions on the Officejet Pro 8600 Plus’ 4 1/4 inch display; it guides you through language selection and network connection setup; total setup time was about five minutes, which is reasonably fast for a brand new device setup! Next step is to install the software on your computer, I recommend that you download the latest version of the install software from HP; it has additional features which does not come with the install CD.
Feature wise; the 8600 Pro is loaded, duplex printing and scanning, print to the unit’s @hpeprint.com email address, scan directly to a network drive, Email address or even a USB stick plugged into the 8600’s USB 2.0 port. The Internet features do require additional setup via the printer’s EWS (web page), which can be opened up in any browser by going to the printer’s local IP address, you can find your printer’s IP address by pressing the network icon on the in-built display.
Performance is good all round; printing is quick; the print job is received within 5 seconds on my home wireless N network; a single black text page is output in just a few seconds, in real world use, it takes less than 10 seconds from clicking print. Scanning performance is also very efficient; being able to scan from the EWS, any connected computer (with drivers installed) or directly from the 8600’s display to network drive, Email address, a specific computer on your network or a USB stick.
It’s also possible to print from Google Cloud Print, HP’s own ePrint system or Apple’s AirPrint system; I have setup and printed successfully using the Google and ePrint but I’ve not managed to get AirPrint to work with my iPad2, it tells me that no AirPrint devices are found on my network.
The Officejet Pro 8600 also has fax and copy facilities, I have no need for the fax facility, so won’t comment on it’s performance but it does have the ability to send and receive faxes digitally on a networked computer, which is a nice touch! Copying performance is adequate; there is some drop out in lighter colours when scanning using the auto document feeder; but the copy is still clear and legible. A nice touch is the duplex copying, it’ll duplicate double sided documents exactly, or even better; it’ll scan two separate pages and print doubled sided, which is a feature I really like!
The 8600 also has apps that you can download and install on the printer; which seems to be mostly apps that create crosswords and colouring books for kids. Personally I think it’s a waste of RAM; I have disabled the app feature on my Officejet Pro, I don’t believe apps are needed on printers.
I personally really like the Officejet Pro 8600 Plus; offers all the features a small office could ever need and at only $300 recommended retail price, it’s somewhat of a bargain; but most places carry this all-in-one for $230, which is an absolute steal. Ink costs are a little pricey but if you buy the XL cartridges; you’ll get 1500 prints from the colour cartridges and 2500 prints from the black cartridge. A full replacement set (CMYK) of non-XL cartridges will set you back almost $84, which will yield 1100 black and 700 colour pages, but that’s comparable to similarly prices printers.
The HP Officejet Pro 8600 Plus a good all round printer, scanner, copy and fax machine with app capability; the only downside I see is the AirPrint functionality which appears to be problematic.
I tried to connect printer with computer but it need IP Address and Network Name. What must I do?
I don’t know how you tried to setup your printer, so I can’t really help but visit this page – Setup, install, and configure your HP Officejet Pro 8600 Plus – Good Luck!