Update: We’re still using the 8500 in our office, months later. The next green claims we’ll be testing are all about office furniture. It’s not always easy to find certified sustainably-produced furniture at good prices, so what else can be done? We’ll be testing furniture designs that use fewer materials for the same functionality — stay tuned.
Original post:
Last month, Hewlett Packard offered to let us (and many other bloggers) try out their new wireless all-in-one, the OfficeJet Pro 8500.
One caveat: I don’t do many reviews of technology products with lots of features, so if that’s what you’re looking for, there are many in-depth reviews out there for this new model, as well as previous posts by Ecopreneurist Editor Reenita Malhorita, here and here.
Ecopreneurist was chosen to weigh in because HP believes that this new model provides efficiency advantages over even low-grade laser printers, which I originally found hard to believe. I haven’t done a ton of searching to make a technical comparison, but after about a month of use, I’m not sure how that claim is justified, except that color lasers tend to be expensive, bulky, and have less-than-all-around functionality.
HP’s press people also told us “…in Hewlett Packard’s eyes, cost cutting is one of the printer’s best value propositions.” Based on a quick search of printer cartridge prices, I’m not sure how this claim pans out, unless you’re making the argument that one could cut costs by not buying a standalone piece of equipment for each of the printer’s functions, and just buying the Officejet Pro 8500 instead. I suspect, unfortunately, that this is the subtext below the claim, which would seem pretty disappointing from a PR standpoint, given that we’re in 2009, and all-in-ones have existed for a long time.
However, despite shaky PR claims, one thing’s for sure: this all-in-one really is, and all of those features are useable, which I can’t say for all of the all-in-ones I’ve used previously, even from HP.
I’ve definitely seen better standalone scanners, and faster (even inkjet) printers, but the 8500 does do all of the jobs it advertises. Also, the wireless functionality is some of the best I’ve seen in a printer. Maybe it’s just me, but other printers I’ve tried to set up with wireless functionality have either taken forever to get working, or failed outright to work wire-free. This one was easy, on both Mac and PC.
Overall, the Officejet Pro 8500 wouldn’t make a bad choice if a) you could afford it, b) it was the only piece of equipment you could fit in your home office, and c) wireless printing would make it easier for your home networking setup. I’m just not sure there’s a case to be made that it’s any greener than any other similar solution.
Special Offer for Ecopreneurist Readers
Now for the good news. If you are interested in possibly purchasing one of these printers, HP has arranged a special offer for Ecopreneurist readers to save 20% ($80) on the new HP Officejet Pro 8500 Wireless All-in-One.
Click here for the coupon code and terms and conditions. Visit here for more product information.
(Note: you may be able to find better deals)
David — Thanks for the review. I’m glad you enjoyed the ease-of-use wireless printing provides, and the legendary HP All-in-One functionality.
To address a point in your review that we have “shaky PR claims” re: cost savings and energy savings: I thoroughly disagree. HP takes its environmental policies very seriously, and we test our products in-house and via third-party experts. HP printers have earned awards every single year (including 45 awards in 2009 alone) for innovation, reliability and versatility — not to mention that the company has been recognized as one of the most admired in business.
Looking at this from your viewpoint, I recognize that introducing a product that can deliver cost and energy savings of up to 50% might be met with some skepticism, which is why I personally provided more in-depth and objective sources to Ecopreneurist to substantiate the claims made in the product information packet and in our advertising. In an effort to reduce our carbon footprint for both our products and our marketing, HP makes it a practice to provide hyperlinks to web pages containing product information, 3rd-party product reviews, and cited test information, 3rd-party test information, studies, and other criteria.
I’m happy to provide that information again for the record and for the benefit of your readers here (and you can also revisit the Officejet Pro information on hp.com):
First, HP tested energy use by using the Energy Star program’s TEC test method criteria.Second, color page volume and coverage estimates are for businesses with 5-19 employees, and are based on an InfoTrends Total Cost of Printing Study from February 2009. (You can get more information about the InfoTrends study here.) Third, page yield is based on ISO/IEC 24711 or HP testing methodology and continuous printing, and is dependent on the individual cartridge and printer. When you’re printing with Original HP Ink Cartridges you get 65% more pages than with bargain ink — and that’s according to Quality Logic.
The cost-per-page (CPP) and energy savings are based, as of June 2008, on the majority of color laser all-in ones less than $600 and the majority of color laser printers less than $300. CPP comparisons for laser supplies are based on published specifications of the majority of manufacturers’ highest capacity cartridges available, as reported by Current Analysis West, an NPD Group Company. HP Officejet Pro CPP based on HP 940XL Officejet Ink Cartridges, estimated street price, and published yield for color prints. And yes, results may vary.
I don’t mean to bore you with dry technical and legal language, but I hope this information is valuable to you and your readers.
Thanks again to you and your team for test-driving the HP Officejet Pro 8500 Wireless All-in-One.
Angela LoSasso
U.S. Social Media Manager
HP, Imaging and Printing Group
I stand corrected. Thanks for chiming in. (The printer continues to work well, by the way. Now we just need to install those energy-smart power strips.)
David: I have one more update to share with you and readers re: energy efficiency and environmental design. PC Magazine published its review of the HP Officejet Pro 8500 Wireless and awarded it an “Editor’s Choice” and certified “GreenTech Approved”.
Thanks!
Angela LoSasso, HP
My husband was attempting to install when a “paper jam” message made its appearance – no paper in machine at all. Tech service awful, hours on phone to no avail. Had discovered that this is a common problem that HP has not addressed. Brand new, expensive machine not useable at all.
I must have had 2 bad machines! I picked the 8500 up from Office Max yesterday and noticed when I tried to scan (and fax) 20 pages [multiple times] it would skip pages. The feeder was fine but for some reason the scanner didnt pick up the pages. I took it back and got a replacement. This one had a similar problem AND when I moved it from my chair to its final resting spot I noticed a pool of black ink on under the printer. Honestly, I like HP but Im a little concerned that the 3rd time may NOT be a ‘charm’ so Im looking for another brands solution. The Epson appears to be nice but the CPP seems to be higher than HP.
I just wish the unit worked as it was designed since Ive now spent 2 days dealing with this…ugghhh!
My experience with this printer so far has been horrible. First everyone tells you how easy the wireles setup is, yes it is simple connecting it to the network but when you install the software it never finds the printer on my network and the SSID is enabled. I have had to do the search by I/P address for all four laptops. Plus you have to hard code the I/P address because every time the router reboots all the wireles connections sometimes get new I/P addresses and if that happens you loose the printer. I have four laptops all running XP PRO SP3 with all known updates. All four of the laptops can print to the printer, no problems printing. Two of the laptops can scan with no problems, two cannot scan at all and both get the exact same extended error codes. I spent hours on chat with HP and got nowhere. I need HP LEVEL 2 support but I can’t get the chat people to pass me up the ladder. I have a Linksys WRT300N router with the latest firmware. I also updated the firmware on the 8500. I use the windows firewall only and have followed all the HP instructions to add programs and ports to the firewall, still not working. There also seems to be an issue scanning from multiple machines, if I scan from laptop1 and then turn around a try a scan on laptop2 if fails and say its in use, a few retries later and it starts working again on laptop2. Another issue is the lack of cover page software for faxing. I can’t believe there is no ability to create a fax cover page on this 8500 with all of its features.
I replaced a HP officejet 7410 that worked great, I replaced it because it would not power up so I decided to replace it with the 8500. The 7410 had fax cover page software.
I am really unhappy with this printer, HP support and the HP Software that it came with.
I have had many HP Officejets going all the way back to the 500 and currently I have 3 HP printers.
The most problems that I have ever had with the printers has always been software related.
I replaced a HP7210xi with the 8500 – NO FAX COVER PAGES! What a situation. I hope HP will offer a software upgrade to give us FAX Cover pages.
I have a HP Officejet Pro 8500 non wireless version. So far so good.
The one annoying ‘feature’ is that it has to warm up, check cartridges, etc for about 2 minutes every time!
Another NON eco friendly point is that they do not want you to refill or reuse the cartridges. It states that on the cartridge packaging. The vast majority of ink carts end up in the landfill!
It does use very little power in Off mode, as verified by my killawatt.
This printer is a joke and HP tech support is a even bigger joke.
Look around for a better machine.
Brand new out the box 8500 never printed- ”
paper jam, open the printer access door” !! No results off and on hold hash and 6 together when starting, just a couple of the web advice tips I have tried…….so far rubbish sending it back to buy a kodak or something???
Anyone help before I do ?
very nice, i enjoyed reading your post
This machine may be very echo friendly right up until it breaks down. We have seen at least 20 of these and similar HP units in our shop for service over the last three months. All out-of-warranty. They are getting broken paper feed mechanisms, and the phantom jam issue. Parts are not available for these units and HP has never been able to address the Phantom Jams (I have read everything I can find on this issue from HP and other sources). Once this unit is out of warranty, if it breaks down you can junk it. I don’t know how echo friendly a print unit is that has to be replaced in a year. (note, a lot of people had these issues under warranty, and HP replaced their unit. Some of these people had their replacements develop the same problems, and at least one person had a third unit develop the SAME problems). As a professional engineering technologist with 20 years experience, I would NEVER recommend ANY HP products that use this same paper feed mechanism.
Long term test – using 3 HP Officejets 8500 in our office. After 15-18 months ALL have failed (one doesn’t power up, another makes strange noises and randomly stops working, the third one shred paper consistently).
It’s a pity, because it was a good printer while alive. After 15 years of being a loyal HP printer customer, we are now seriously looking into alternatives.
Fortunately in Europe the legal manufacturer’s warranty is 2 years, so we got it fixed, but everything was very annoying and a huge loss of time.
I used to love HP. But DON’T BUY the Hp Officejet Pro 8500A Premium. When scanning it skips pages. If you put 10 pages in the scanner all 10 will go through separately but through HP magic only 9 or 8 pages are scanned. This is a known issue and has not been fixed. I wasted $300 for this printer and I am considering never buying another HP product. Yes, I have had the two brand new machines and both have the same problem. You have been warned.