HP Photosmart C7280 All-in-One

3 out of 10 - Poor
Very sharp looking package but not much under the hood
I bought this all-in-one mostly because of the wireless 802.11g networking feature. I assumed that HP has been making ...
I bought this all-in-one mostly because of the wireless 802.11g networking feature. I assumed that HP has been making printers and scanners for so long the quality would be there... I was wrong.

First the drivers have a huge footprint and are fragile. When you install, you will need to install everything or nothing will work. At first I tried to select out some scumware but nothing worked until I redid things with all options checked. HP sees fit to include such rediculous items a browser addons.

Next I tried printing in black and white and the "black" was not nearly as dark as the 8-year old HP Inkjet this was going to replace.

I tried a scan next and the quality is so bad I thought something must be broken. White dots and streaks all over the photo. A quick search of the web reveals I'm not alone. Unfortunately HP does not have user forums I can ask in.

The faxing and copying work but, again, quality is subpar.

On the positive side, the wireless networking is complete and works with WEP secured networks. The printer acts as a web server so you can just browse to it and look through the log files, ink levels, and configure settings.

The speed is decent for an inkjet. I bet it could compete with the older Laserjets. I also was really happy with the form factor. It's easy on the eyes and a really nice size.

Overall I can't give this all-in-one a good review. If the software and drivers were solid (e.g. just turn off the printer and your Windows driver will crash every 10 minutes until you turn the printer back on, sigh) then I would give them much higher marks. Read more
by macaw2000 (see profile) - October 23, 2007

14 out of 17 users found this user opinion helpful.

8 out of 10 - Excellent
Don't know what all the B*#@ching is about...
Read all these bad reviews and have to disagree...I use this thing for general family stuff and find it ...
Read all these bad reviews and have to disagree...I use this thing for general family stuff and find it to be the most useful printer I have ever had.

Yes the colors could be crisper, and it could be quieter...but what do you want for 269.99 at OfficeMax?

The scan works fine, copy function is awesome and it has a doc feeder (ADF for you geeks), the fax works great, it prints from both my desktop that is wired to the broadband modem and my wireless laptop anywhere in the house. I can read/print email from 2 floors up, I can work on spreads/dox on my deck sipping a marguarita.

The Photo capability on this is much better quality than the others I have had. Maybe they fixed some glitches since I have bought it last week...All is OK so far.

And yes, I used the online chat support to setup the wireless and they were AWESOME!!!! I assume that as long as you are somewhat knowledgeable and have your WEP passwords and such ready it goes faster, but I have never had such great support online with any other company! Only downside is that it took about 10 minutes for them to pick up the online chat prompt.....other than that it worked great. Read more
by spooj (see profile) - January 11, 2008

13 out of 15 users found this user opinion helpful.

6 out of 10 - Good
Decent all-round printer
Bought this yesterday to be a low-volume copier & printer in the house. Also considered Canon mp830 and the new ...
Bought this yesterday to be a low-volume copier & printer in the house. Also considered Canon mp830 and the new Canon mx700. Settled on the HP due to smaller footprint and built-in networking.

The 7280 is an attractive unit with a quality feel: compact, well laid out design, with some construction details suggestion that there remains pockets of pretty good engineering skills at HP.

The software installed on a Vista laptop with few hitches (it stopped once and said there is an 'issue' on the laptop, but failed to mention what issue, and then continued fine). It did take amazingly long - ~30 mins, and subjectively, other programs in the laptop seem to respond significantly more slowly if any of the giant HP applications are runing.

So far I've not tested everything, but it copied a color sheet quickly & accurately, and prints photos pretty rapidly.

Here is why I may be returning it: it is really only average as a photo printer. We also have in the house an older & much less expensive Canon Pixma IP5000, and its output it noticable better than the HP. Viewed from fairly close, a 4"x6" photo from the HP has a several small patches of graininess not present in the Canon's, and the lines are not as sharp as in the Canon photo. This is probably due to the HP's 4800x1200 resolution, vs. the Canon's 9600x2400 - didn't realize it would be this visible. More significant, the color is not nearly as accurate as the Canon - a white blanket stayed white in the Canon, but became an odd yellow in the HP. Finally, the HP ink takes a while to dry - so after a few minutes the photo looks quite different from when it just emerged from the printer! It actually ends up looking better - some of the graininess fades, and the colors become more vivid. Better is, well better, the problem is that you don't know immediately if your photo has printed well - you have to wait for the ink to dry.

Very unfortunate - having a compact machine with all these capabilities is great, but having a photo-printing experience significantly inferior to an older machine costing a third of the price feels like too much of a compromise. Read more
by dhugomalan (see profile) - October 5, 2007

9 out of 9 users found this user opinion helpful.

5 out of 10 - Average
Loud and troublesome
I purchased this printer after doing a lot of research both here at CNET and elsewhere. I liked the clean, ...
I purchased this printer after doing a lot of research both here at CNET and elsewhere. I liked the clean, modern look of the printer and the fact that it had wireless network capabilities. I also wanted an ADF and flatbed scanner for making copies of recipe books, articles from magazines, etc.

Overall, the printer prints fine. The problem comes when you try to install it. I have a home wireless network which has worked fine up to now. All three of our computers (wife's desktop, my laptop, and wife's work laptop) all run XP.

When I first installed the printer, I had many problems with the printer connecting to the network and with the printer's automatic duplexer. It turns out that you need to install all of the software (over 300mb) to make the duplexer work automatically. The problem with netowrking seemed to be coming from my Norton firewall.

So after many attempts (including an hour on chat with HP tech support and another hour with Norton tech) I uninstalled both the HP software suite and the Norton. Then, after re-installing the HP first, then the Norton, I seemed to have conquered the problems.

Until I came to my laptop the next morning and tried to scan something. Still no connectivity. I can't spend more time wondering if this thing will work today or if I will spend a day trying to get it to connect.

My last resort is to go get an ethernet wire and hard-wire it. I had hoped to avoid that so I could reduce the number of wires and the need to have the printer and the router relatively close to each other. Looks like the extra bucks for the wireless option is money wasted on this machine.

Besides all of that, the machine is very loud and shakes the stand it's on fairly aggressively. If you are printing using the duplexer, it makes a very loud, startling, grinding noise that the tech people swear is a normal noise. Doesn't sound very normal to me. Plus, when you are done using any of the funtions, the printer seems to take a long time 'settling'- that is, resetting and getting quiet. It continues to whine, whir, rattle, and grind for seemingly minutes after you scan, print, fax, anything.

I have not printed any photos yet, so cannot comment on them. I have spent too much time wondering why the thing keeps telling me that it is not connected to the network.

I am considering returning this machine and finding another. If the ethernet wire doesn't fix all the connectivity woes on this thing immediately, I will go back to the store and find another. Read more
by KyleODonn (see profile) - November 20, 2007

4 out of 5 users found this user opinion helpful.
1 comment posted to this opinion

10 out of 10 - Perfect
I think it's Awesome
I absolutely love it. I was using an ancient HP820 and a glitchy HP1610 for office and personal use. The ...
I absolutely love it. I was using an ancient HP820 and a glitchy HP1610 for office and personal use. The C7280 has taken the place of both in 1/2 the space with features I hadn't even dreamed were possible, like the double sided printing! Scanning is perfect reproduction, photos print clear as a bell both within publications and as separate prints on photo paper. The ability to match quality & speed to the job is very helpful. Also love the low cost individual tanks, have found capacity to be excellent.

As for "FastDraft" black being dark grey... I think that's why they call it "draft", eh? "FastNormal" is good quality and very fast for most purposes where good (not excellent) quality is needed. If you want excellent, set it for "Best".

Installation took time, but no problems if you follow the directions. Read more
by babajji (see profile) - February 15, 2008

3 out of 3 users found this user opinion helpful.

1 out of 10 - Abysmal
Do not buy this printer
I do not recommend buying the Hewlett-Packard C7280. This has been the most frustrating printer I have ever owned. It ...
I do not recommend buying the Hewlett-Packard C7280. This has been the most frustrating printer I have ever owned. It performs some functions well but the reason I purchased it was to generate reports for clients and it cannot print fast. It does not matter what the specifications say, the paper feed tray is unable to feed paper as fast as the machine wants and jams several times during every report.

As a rule, do not try in print in fast draft because it will jam paper. The software has bugs in it and this too does not allow it to print fast. Our previous HP printer could actually do 30 pages per minute. This printer in the "draft" mode stops every page and waits three or four seconds between printing. This machine can only create 10 pages a minute in draft mode. After several phone calls and e-mails to Hewlett-Packard, the technicians in Pakistan have no idea what to do. The technicians that responded by e-mail had me change a setting on the printer that is so hidden it could never be found and then 50 percent of the time the machine reverts back to the original setting of holding every page for three or four seconds and so will still not print as fast as advertised.

On top of all that, my reports average 45 pages for clients. The machine is not capable of printing 45 pages without stopping and cleaning itself. This is as frustrating as trying to get your dog in public to stop licking itself. The machine simply stops, makes a lot of noise with the carriage possibly going back and forth for up to 60 seconds in the middle of trying to print. Another frustrating software bug does not allow the print spooler to function correctly. After several phone calls and e-mails, the machine magically defaults back to going slow and may take up to two minutes after hitting "Print" before the machine will generate the first page. Then I still have to deal with this being a faux/pretend printer and not a real printer.

Simply put, I was suckered into buying this model and it does not deliver on the majority of claims. Do not buy this printer. Read more
by msspi (see profile) - January 16, 2008

3 out of 3 users found this user opinion helpful.
1 comment posted to this opinion

2 out of 10 - Terrible
Printer can't scan, long delays to print a document
Replaced my old HP 7760 because I wanted a wireless hookup. Tried two of these 7280's in the past ...
Replaced my old HP 7760 because I wanted a wireless hookup. Tried two of these 7280's in the past week. It is unable to scan a document. Also, it takes about two minutes before a print will occur (example to print an email, two minutes or more will go by before the 7280 actually will print the email). When doing a task, CPU usage climbs to 100% until job is done. Unable to do anything else while a print job is submitted. After returning the second 7280, I decided to go back to my old trusty HP 7760. I have experienced all the negatives that prior reviewers has commented on. RUN from this printer. Also, the HP chat line for help is a joke. Useless! Read more
by godfreyz (see profile) - December 13, 2007

4 out of 6 users found this user opinion helpful.
2 comments posted to this opinion

3 out of 10 - Poor
Software is a nightmare
Ok, so I ignored the users who warned about software problems, and took the risk because this product had the ...
Ok, so I ignored the users who warned about software problems, and took the risk because this product had the right features at a decent price. Bad idea. I have intalled and reinstalled the software numerous times, and installed the latest version of the software, including the error correction updates. But no user. Sometimes the software would not locate the unit (not user error). Then, the software started showing messages that it was corrupted. I reinstalled the software a few times. Finally, it stopped reinstalling due to a corrupted file, and I am currently waiting to hear from HP. Read more
by Trevor Cox (see profile) - May 4, 2008

2 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.
1 comment posted to this opinion

1 out of 10 - Abysmal
I see EXACTLY what everyone is B*tching about!
This purchase, was by far the biggest disappointment, comparatively speaking with respect to price, and other brands offering similar, or ...
This purchase, was by far the biggest disappointment, comparatively speaking with respect to price, and other brands offering similar, or in some cases even better options.

The previous reviewer asks, "What exactly is everyone b*tching about?" While that person sips margaritas on the deck, I suspect the majority of us have "REAL" tasks, aka "work" to accomplish. One would hope it's the "margarita effect" that positioned such a delusional and ridiculous question.

Perhaps the biggest let down with the C7280 is the software. Quite frankly, it's garbage. As you visit the biased HP review section and read all the 5 out of 5's, the biggest complaint is software. (Yes, the HP site is loaded with 5 out of 5 reviews and most list complaints with those ratings.) That said, we not only have garbage of a product, but consumers are slapped in the face with complete dishonesty. Way to go with consumer relations HP!!

Let's not forget, this is software designed from HP's spectacular and innovative engineers. Absurdity. I suspect that's why it's almost completely incompatible. That, and the fact, the engineer and the idiot sipping margaritas are likely the same individual.
Literally, most of the software is junk, and will never be utilized. Don't fall for the ""custom" install is for advanced users." I suggest only installing the bare necessities. That is, if you aren't so fed up at this point; that you return the printer immediately.

The "OCR" software is completely inoperable and/or incompatible with programs such as Adobe and Microsoft Office. Unbelievable. I imagine that HP has experienced the return of thousands of these printers for this reason alone. What good is a non-functional all in one with such incompatibilities? Let's see, that would render the printer useless to 95% of U.S. offices. I seriously question the basic brain functions of the entire HP team. Tech support will blatantly tell you that there are many incompatibilities in addition to adobe and office. They are aware of the problem, yet, no solution has been offered? Even among the very generic and low quality brands offer an alternative with their respective software packages. After 5+ contacts with tech support, every conversation ended with "I very sorry to enform you that no repare evailable".

Which brings me to address the final issue here. Do you see something wrong with the aforementioned quote? Well, there is, and that is the skill level we're dealing with while seeking help for critical business tasks and approaching deadlines requiring printing. Job outsourcing for obvious reasons is abominable.
While I do a great deal outside of business affairs to address and advocate against this practice; in the meantime my business must go on. I have no choice but to utilize such technology. It damn sure doesn't have to be HP though. I look forward to the day that major corporations assess the extremely negative consequences of such practices. American consumers are angry. Make no mistake about it; eventually corporate survival will depend on eliminating illiterate and uneducated technical and customer support. You get what you pay for, and yet major corporations can't see that philosophy. It's not rocket science. Yet, corps like HP, would rather save a few bucks an hour in payroll and lose consumers 10 fold. Let's not forget about the millions of American's affected by these practices. They don't even have to own an HP product to trash the company. Given those circumstances, HP loses far more than they ever imagined.

This drew the line for me. After considering all of the other issues I encountered, I threw the C7280 piece of sh*t back in the box and happily returned it for a full refund. I did so in such a manner that it couldn't be re-boxed and sold to another vulnerable consumer.

Thanks for the opportunity to provide my experiences and opinions. Sadly, such personal experiences are not unique. Quality is so obsolete these days. Read more
by tenntexdems (see profile) - March 21, 2008

2 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.
1 comment posted to this opinion

9 out of 10 - Spectacular
Not sure about the other reviewers, but my experience is much different
I am no computer/electronics guru by any means, and setting this up was a fairly simple process. The only ...
I am no computer/electronics guru by any means, and setting this up was a fairly simple process. The only problem I had, and I can't tell if this was a software issue or my computer, was the default setting were set to fax. When I went to print, it wouldn't, and I couldn't figure out why. I simply fooled around a bit and added another printer, which took care of the problem. Again, this is from someone who is adequate at best with electronics. I have since downloaded the software to three laptops, and I didn't have the issue on my one Dell (the other two are Macs) with the default to the fax. All three machines now print easily and quickly to the wireless printer. I love it! Read more
by bairdg3 (see profile) - January 29, 2008

2 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.