Proof that names don’t equate

We recently decided to purchase a Color Laserjet 2840 all-in-one device. The choice to go with an HP printer seemed wise. After all, HP is synonymous with quality laser printers.

As far as the printer part of the equation, it’s true. The color output is gorgeous, reasonably fast and the printer drivers work perfectly with OS/X. Unfortunately the scanner, fax and copying desktop integration is completely unusable, which was a major disappointment.

Even our very friendly HP technical support representative was stumped. After she finished a complete sterilization of my system and walking step-by-step through the reinstallation, we managed to get some features working. But fax integration is a lost cause, according to her. She very nicely told me that “it’s not very reliable” and “sometimes we have better luck.” We did manage to get the desktop scanner integration working — for a while. It mysteriously broke again a few days after our heroic attempts to make it work. That’s about the best I can hope for until the software is updated “sometime” in the future, according to our support rep.

In regard to the scanner itself I’ve got to say I’m terribly disappointed. We have a $150 flatbed low-profile Canoscan that does a much better job. The Laserjet’s scanner tends to shift heavily into the blues. This results in blue-haired people rather than black-haired people.

In the end, I’ve decided to remove the Laserjet “Director” software. As a standalone printer it works great, but the poor quality scanner and the unusable fax integration is definitely a disappointment. I’d have a hard time recommending this printer to anyone that is going to rely on anything other than hardcopy fax support — the promise of “great” desktop integrated scanning, copying and faxing just isn’t there.