Product Review: Who Says You Can’t Be Envy-ious and Happy at the Same Time?

Posted by ad on Apr 7, 2011 in Reviews | 0 comments

My brand new HP Envy100 All-in-One Printer, that’s who!

Yesterday, I woke up dreading something on my to-do list – signing a doc I received via email. Seems simple enough, but not for me. To keep my home office from looking like one, the only things on my desk are an iMac, Harmon Kardon Soundstick II speakers, a stainless steel Banker’s Lamp, Apple Wireless Keyboard and Trackpad. Even the desk doesn’t really look like a desk. Enter my dilemma. To print and scan, I have to pull out and connect two each peripheral, which are hidden away under my bed (Feng Shui was sacrificed for an appealing work space). Frustrated by this chore, I decided to take the plunge and buy an all-in-one, when I stumbled onto this incredible HP unit.

The HP Envy100 is a next generation all-in-one printer with a high-resolution 3.5″ touch screen and its own email address. This wireless beauty is also one of the few on the market that features Apple AirPrint technology, which means my iPhone and iPad just went to the next level. It’s also the world’s first PVC-free printer.

Sleek and beautiful.

What impressed me at first were the design, quality and weight of the printer’s body. This is not one of those giant, flimsy plastic printers. Looking more like a TiVo, the highly-polished black exterior has the feel of a grand piano. At 20lbs, for some, its weight might be an issue. For me, it’s the sign of a quality product that doesn’t sacrifice on materials for a cheap price (more on that later). The scanner/copier cover and touch-screen display are meticulously designed to fit into the body so well, it took me a moment to figure out how to use them. The kicker is invisible paper tray, which automatically extends before serving a print job and retracts after the documents are removed. Looking at the front, I actually can’t see where it is.

Setup is a breeze.

While it can be connected using an optional USB cord, it is meant to be completely wireless apart from the power source. Fewer wires cluttering my space make me very happy. After putting a stack of paper into the tray hidden on the bottom of the unit, I plugged it into a power strip and the screen lit up so bright, my iPhone and iPad blushed in envy. The setup wizard provided written and video instructions for installing ink and software, connecting to my wireless network and setting up ePrint, the feature that allows me to print from anywhere. Following the latter, the paper tray gracefully extended and a doc was sitting on it in seconds. The heading read, ‘Welcome to Web-Enabled, Mobile Printing from HP. Print anywhere, anytime, even on the go,’ and provided instructions to complete setup along with the printer’s email address. A few clicks later and everything was done. Total time spent, about 10 minutes.

How to print? Let me count the ways.

Ready for a test drive, I opened up the document that started the whole process, clicked print and chose Grayscale, Black Ink Only and Draft print settings – I like to save ink. Virtually noise-free and in seconds, there it was, a perfect print of a B&W PDF.  Now signed, I opened the lid, tapped scan, and was offered 3 choices – Computer, USB and Memory Card. Computer then offered me a choice between my iMac and MacBook Pro, and then four more options – Photo to File, Photo to Email, Document to File, and Document to Email. I selected  Document to File and in seconds, there on my screen was a crisp scan of the document.

Next was a test drive of AirPrint through my iPhone. Choosing from 606 photos in my  Camera Roll, I went for one that had been edited with several different apps, clicked Print, chose Envy 100 D410 series from the list and about 1 minute later, I had a full-color print. Here is where one must take care to know what they’re sending to AirPrint. My image was so big, it didn’t fit on 8.5′ x 11′ paper and the quality was just okay. I’ll try it with photo paper, at the actual size I want and report back soon.

Lastly, I found an email that had an attachment, forwarded it to the printer’s address and in much less time than AirPrint, had both waiting on the paper tray.

Overall, after just one day, I can comfortably say this is the best printer I’ve ever owned although I’ve just scratched the surface of what it can do. The price is shockingly cheap – $199 ($149 through Monday on HP.com). Note to HP, I would have happily paid more. Over the next few days, I’ll do some research on how to perfect the AirPrint process, which reviews indicate works great.

Today, my new HP Envy100 is neatly tucked under my desk and a welcome addition to my digital life.