HP Officejet 4500 All-in-One (CB867A#B1H)

I have a Canon photo printer with a scanner and printer for my desktop, and I wanted something to use with my laptop because I don't share files between the two. I came across this little HP for $49.99 with free shipping, and I was intrigued. It even has the fax which I did not have. My desktop and laptop are HP and I have always been very happy with them. I read the other reviews and decided to try it. I am very happy so far.I have only had this for about a month, but so far all has gone well. I didn't want to use my router to use it, so I got a cable (Mediabridge - Hi-Speed USB 2.0 Cable - Gold Plated, 10 feet) for about $5.00 and I set the printer up on a bookshelf close to where I always use my laptop. It does not come with the USB cable, so remember that if you are going to need one. You can get a shorter cable for even less money - just check the sizes and prices. Nothing expensive is needed. It only took me about 30 minutes to take everything out of the box and hook it up and set it up with my laptop - and I was printing. Very easy to set up.The printer comes with the one starter cartridge of black ink and one starter cartridge of color ink. I already know that this printer does not print the quality photos that my Canon does, so I am going to use this one to print out paperwork. My main gripe about any of the printers is the cost of ink. When I bought this printer I was getting ready to buy cartridges for my Canon, and I had to laugh when I saw that I could buy a whole new printer for just a few dollars less than the ink for the Canon. I noticed that the ink is going to be expensive for this too, but right now that is just a fact that I cannot change.I have not used the fax on this HP yet - I rarely have use for a fax. When I have the time I guess I will try it just to see how well it works. From my experience with this set so far I predict it will be fine.One thing I particularly like about this HP is the settings. They are so simple to use. You can go to the on line instructions if you need something more detailed, but the written ones that came with it were sufficient to figure out how to use the settings for me.I gave this five stars because of everything that it does, ease of set up and use - and the low price. One thing you may want to remember - this is not put together with strong materials like my Canon for example. Some parts can be very fragile - thinner plastics, like the paper tray, etc - so just be careful, handling things with reasonable care, and it should be fine. It is a nice size. I moved one shelf up on an antique bookshelf to make one slot larger - and if fits in there just fine, even with enough space to lift the lid to make copies, and it's not too heavy for my bookshelf. I didn't want to put it on top because it would have been in the sun in front of the window - so I am very happy with the size too, especially for a device that does photo printing, printing, copying, scanning and fax. It's also attractive - being mostly black it looks very nice on that shelf where I put my laptop in the narrower shelf above it when I am not using it. They are both HP and both black, so nice combo.I still have the issue of ink cartridges being so expensive on both my Canon and the HP. I have looked at the refurbished cartridges that are so cheap, but I am a bit hesitant to try them. I have read positive comments but I have always read so many negative things, it worries me. If they just didn't work and I could return them, that would be one thing - but I have read that some people have used them and they caused damage to their nice photo printers. SO - if anybody has anything they would like to share on that subject I would sure appreciate it, both on the Canon and the HP.Bottom line - if you want something simple and multi-functional with a very reasonable price, this is perfect.

I originally gave this a four star review. I was so pleased with it that when the old one died, I bought a new one from Star Sales. Made sure it was NOT refurbished, by the way. Paid around $10 for an extended warranty, too. Then I left town for a few months, and by the time I got back it was out of time for returns. But no worry - I had an extended warranty, right?Plugged it in, set up, Godawful screeching noises - something interfering with the cartridges returning to the proper place. Fax didn't work. Scanner didn't work. Called Amazon. They said to call the extended warranty people. Who told me to call HP because it was less than a year since I'd bought the printer, so it was still covered under HP's warranty. After an hour on the phone running every conceivable diagnostic, I was told by the HP woman that they would replace it, and could even offer me an upgrade at no charge, plus throw in a bunch of cartridges to replace the ones I'd purchased already for the 4500, that wouldn't fit the new one. Great. How soon? Within 2-3 weekdays. Perfect. She put me through to the ordering department.Who proceeded to tell me that the printer she offered was out of stock, they didn't know when they'd get another, couldn't promise delivery, and certainly wouldn't give me free cartridges. At which point I started to go ballistic. It was now getting onto two hours since I'd called Amazon. I asked to be bumped up a tier, and he told me he was the manager and there was no higher tier.THEN I discovered that the serial number showed that when I'd bought the printer it was already over a year old - though new, not refurbished - and out of warranty with them anyway!! So Star Sales had this printer laying around for, get this, almost two years before I bought it.Called the extended warranty people back. They were sorry, but their warranty couldn't kick in until a year had passed.You can imagine how angry I was.The story has a happy ending. I sat down and wrote a really annoyed email to Amazon's help center, explaining what had happened, saying the vendor shouldn't be allowed to sell out of date printers, why had I purchased an extended warranty that was meaningless, I was a long time loyal customer etc etc.Imagine my surprise when they emailed to say they were crediting my account with the full purchase price immediately, please return the printer when possible. I called, to make sure it was correct, and was told yes - when I said "but I can't return it for another month, I'm out of town" - the guy said that would be fine, he'd extend it a month. When I said "but I have nothing secure to pack it in" he said just throw it into a box or a bag. I protested that it would break into smithereens and he responded that they really didn't care.The money was in my credit card account within 24 hours. Amazingly good customer.I took the extra money, bought an Epson 2650, and have been very pleased with it.

I purchased this printer based on the features (Printer, fax, scanner, auto document feeder (ADF)) and the price point. I needed a printer for my downstairs home office where I work 75-100% of the time. I already own another HP printer (2600), so I was familiar with the product. Keep in mind that this printer does not come with any cables other than the power cable. If you plan to hook this printer directly to your laptop, then you will need to purchase a USB cable (about 5 bucks here on Amazon). If you are planning on connecting it to your internet router, then you will need to purchase an Ethernet cable (also available on Amazon). If you are going to connect it to your phone line, then a phone cord will be needed. I made all 3 connections, and already had all of the cables. I was happy to see that they did include the ink cartridges. Setup took less than 1/2 hour. I am a technical person, so setup times may differ, especially when connecting into your home network.Overall, I am happy with the quality thus far. The ADF takes a little getting used to...your stack needs to be sitting just right for the ADF sensor to recognize that there is a document to feed. Once you get the hang of it, it's OK. The speed of the printer isn't great, but I knew that already before I purchased it. For the average home/office user this printer should exceed expectations. At 60 bucks, you cant beat the price.