This all-in-one device is touted to be a great bargain, delivering professional quality color prints for half the per-page cost of laser. Let’s check out if it lives up to its promise.
Design: 3.5/5
Nothing fancy here. The HP OfficeJet Pro 8710 comes in a black plastic body, with an auto-document feeder atop the flatbed scanner. In front are the 250-sheet paper tray, the output tray, the 6.75 cm color touchscreen display panel on the upper right corner, and a direct-USB port on the lower left corner. At the back are a USB port, an Ethernet port, and the fax modem ports. It is lightweight and compact, and can be conveniently positioned on an office desk or work counter.
Hardware: 3.5/5
HP packed all the necessary functionalities in the OfficeJet Pro 8710 like printing, scanning, and copying, then added some other nice-to-have features like faxing and duplexing, as well as an automatic document feeder to up the ante. It’s also no laggard in the connectivity section, with Wi-Fi, Ethernet, USB ports, and fax ports.
User Experience: 4/5
In general, one of the most convenient things about HP printers is the HP AiO Remote app that allows you to conveniently configure and maintain your printer from your tablet or smartphone. The app allows you to control advanced settings such as printer preferences, power management, printer maintenance, network settings, and web-services. So, while the touchscreen control panel is really easy to navigate, the app is an even better and more convenient user interface.
For the OfficeJet 8710 in particular, here are some of the things that I like best: First, its wireless/mobile printing functionality means you can print wirelessly from any device within the same network. And, you can even email print jobs via HP ePrint so you can print documents on the 8710 from a remote location.
The second thing I like is its duplex printing capability, which means that it can do double-sided printing automatically. This translates to additional cost savings on paper, and less guilt about your environmental impact.
Third, I also like the auto-document feeder that allows convenient single-pass double-sided scanning. This one merits a huge star, as it’s not a feature commonly found in even higher-end models. This allows you to just stack documents on the auto-document feeder, press copy or scan, and you capture both sides in one-pass without having to turn over the pages to copy the reverse side.
What needs improvement? Print output from the 8710 is definitely not at par with laser-quality, particularly as HP laserjets produce great high resolution prints. And, while print speed is acceptable, it doesn’t quite match the pages-per-minute output of mid-range office lasers.
Finally, for me, the one thing missing that proved to be a real irritant was the absence of an additional manual feed or single-sheet input tray for when you need to print special jobs on odd-sized paper like letter envelopes or CD sticker labels.
Value: 4/5
The price of printers have dropped to the point where sometimes it’s cheaper to just get a new one rather than bother with replacement parts when your office workhorse needs repairs. A true all-in-one device that lets you not just print, but also scan, copy, and fax, the OfficeJet Pro 8710 retails for a very reasonable
PHP 12,490. But, the real savings are in the daily operating costs as inkjet cartridges are, of course, so much cheaper than laser toners. For ordinary office printing needs such as internal reports and basic documents, as much as 50% savings on ink can add up to quite a sum over time.
What’s Hot:
- Auto document feeder for scanning/copying
- Duplex printing
What’s Not:
- Build quality seems a bit too plasticky
- Single paper tray
Bottomline:
This is a basic all-in-one printer that should be adequate for most SOHO chores.
Specifications:
- Printer Type: Inkjet
- Functions: Print, scan, copy, fax
- Print Speed: Up to 22 ppm (black) / 18 ppm (color); Two-sided up to 12 ppm (black) / 10 ppm (color)
- Scan Speed: up to 4 ipm (images per minute) two-sided ADF
- Control Panel: 6.75 cm color touchscreen
- Connectivity: USB, Ethernet, Wi-Fi
- Max. Paper Size: US Legal
- Paper Tray: Single, 250-sheets
- Memory: 128 MB
- Ink Cartridges: Four (4) – cyan, magenta, yellow, black
- Dimensions: 50.04 x 53.09 x 34.04 cm
- Weight: 11.54 kg
Also published in GADGETS MAGAZINE May 2016 Issue.
Words by Ren Alcantara