HP Officejet Pro 8500 All-In-One Inkjet Printer Series

Hewlet Packard have just released the Officejet Pro 8500 series of multifunction printers. The HP 8500 performs printing, copying, scanning and faxing duties - all in color. There are a total of 3 variations in the range - the A909a, the A909g and the A909n - each offering progressively better features.

The sales pitch from HP is that the 8500 is for "customers who want laser speeds at as little as half the price". The press release then goes on to say that it's an inkjet printer offering "professional color document quality at laser-comparable speeds". The justification is a cost saving of up to 50 percent per page when compared to equivalent laser printers.

Print technology used in the Officejet Pro 8500 is a HP Thermal Inkjet from 4 individual ink cartridges (black, cyan, magenta and yellow). Print speeds are quoted 15 pages per minute for black and white laser quality and 11 pages per minute for color. Maximum speed is 35 ppm in monochrome.

Input paper capacity is 250 sheets in the standard paper try, although an additional paper tray can be added taking the capacity up to 500 sheets (this is standard on the A909n "Premier" model). Automatic duplex printing is standard on all models.

Connectivity is achieved through a (wired) ethernet network connection, USB 2.0 or a PictPridge interface if you have a digital camera with this capability. The HP Officejet Pro 8500 Wireless (A909g) and Premier (A909n) comes with wireless 802.11 b/g capability as standard.

As with most all in one printers, there is a flatbed scanner built into the top of the unit. A nice touch (in the A909g and A909n models) is the scan size of 8.5 x 14 inches (the A909a only does 8.5 x 11 inch). Optical scan resolution is up to 4,800 dpi. An automatic document feeder is a standard feature with a capacity of 35 sheets for the base model and 50 sheets for the 2 higher models.

The photocopier runs at over 30 copies per minute in both black and white and color and does enlarging and reduction of anywhere from 25% to 400% of the original size.

The fax machine does all of the standard stuff like delayed sending, forwarding and broadcast (up to 48 locations). The fax has a 125 page memory and speed dial capability which stores up to 99 numbers.

This line up of multi-function printers is aimed at the small to medium business market. At around $400 for the wireless model, it's not one of the cheaper MFP's around, but if Hewlett Packard's claim of cheaper running costs is true, then the HP Officejet Pro 8500 could be a more economical buy in the long run.