CNET Editor's rating: 7.1 out of 10
Reviewed by
Felisa Yang
Review date: 07/17/07
Release date: 11/02/05
The good: Great text quality; low print costs; can handle paper up to 13 inches wide; 24-7 tech support.
The bad: Slow prints; graphic and photo quality needs some improvement; expensive for a single-function printer.
The bottom line: The HP Officejet Pro K850 fits a small and very specific niche: offices that need low volumes of high-quality prints--including wide-format prints. Otherwise, it's too expensive for a general-purpose single-function printer.
The HP Officejet Pro K850 is an expensive, single-function printer that fills a small niche in professional settings. This $400 color inkjet can handle medium-format media, but it uses basic, four-color printing instead of six-color for better range of color. Its print quality and speed are good enough for small-scale production of marketing collateral, but serious graphic designers who want slick brochures will be disappointed. If you need a network-ready printer with a duplexer, the K850dn offers both for an additional $100. Offices that require more standard office printing should look for a laser printer that can handle high volumes of prints quickly. Small offices that don't need medium-format media handling should check out the less expensive HP Officejet Pro K5400.
Design
The HP Officejet Pro K850 is an enormous inkjet printer because it can handle medium-format media, up to 13 inches wide versus 8.5 inches on a typical, consumer-level printer. The black-and-silver printer measures 24 inches wide, 17 inches deep, and 8 inches tall, and weighs 27.1 pounds. The duplexer on the K850dn adds an inch or two to the depth when attached to the rear of the printer. The K850's control panel is simple: power, cancel, and paper feed buttons and a set of icons that light up to indicate various problems, including a paper jam, an empty input tray, and low ink levels.
The printer's output tray sits atop the input cassette and tilts up so you can access the paper. The output tray features paper guides and two extension leaves that help corral longer prints. The input cassette also offers adjustable paper guides that let you neatly insert media ranging from 3x5 inches to 13x19 inches.
The four ink tanks reside separately from the print heads and are hidden behind a spring-release panel on the top of the printer. The K850 uses a pigment-based black (for better black text prints over dye-based black) and dye-based cyan, magenta, and yellow inks. Many photo-oriented printers--even consumer-level ones--offer six-ink printing (or more) for a better range of colors over four-color printing, which means the K850 isn't the ideal printer if you're working mainly with high-end graphics. It ships with the standard-yield cartridges, which cost $25 apiece, but you can replace those with high-yield cartridges: the black costs $34, while the color cartridges cost $38 each. Using the high-yield cartridges, HP estimates a black page can cost as low as 2.2 cents and a color page can cost as low as 8.4 cents--both numbers are low for an inkjet printer. Its monthly duty cycle is 6,250 pages, so if your office has high-volume printing needs, this isn't the printer for you.
Features
As a single-purpose office inkjet, the features are not surprisingly spartan. The Officejet Pro K850 can be connected via USB 2.0 or parallel port, but HP also sells an optional print server if you want to network the printer. (If you want both a duplexer and a network connection option, the K850dn offers both.) It ships with a 256MHz processor and 32MB of memory, standard for an inkjet printer. The print driver lets you make N-up prints, poster prints, and assists with manual duplexing if you have not purchased the duplex model.
Performance
It's difficult for us to make performance comparisons to the Officejet Pro K850 because we haven't reviewed similarly priced single-function inkjets. Most inkjets that fall into this price range are either multifunctions or professional graphics-oriented inkjets. The Pro K850, with its four-color printing and lack of any photo-oriented features such as a PictBridge port, is squarely an office inkjet printer.
It printed text at a rate of 6.31pages per minute and color graphics at a rate of 2.92ppm. It produced 4x6 photos at a rate of 0.33ppm. For a $400 printer, those numbers are slow. The $150 HP Officejet Pro K5400 made faster work of all prints, as did the $400 Canon Pixma MP960 multifunction.
CNET Labs' color inkjet speed tests (pages per minute) (Longer bars indicate better performance)
The Pro K850's print quality impressed us more than its speed. The text prints--both black and color--impressed us. The black text showed a rich black color and crisp letters. The color text was beautifully blended. Close inspection showed some minor wicking, even on HP's high-quality inkjet paper, so we'll call this "near laser" quality. The color graphics showed smooth gradients, sharp detail, and pleasing saturation, but the color looked a bit faded. The 4x6 color photo fared the worst, though it still wasn't bad at all. Details were sharp, but we noticed graininess in color blocks and the colors had a somber cast. We would've liked to see more brightness. Overall, the print quality and speed were good enough for offices that want to print small quantities of their own marketing materials (a small real estate or insurance office, for example), but offices that have high volume print needs should stick with lasers, while those that need high-end graphics should look at pro-level graphics printers.
Service and support
HP backs the K850 with a standard one-year warranty, though you can upgrade that to two or three years. Toll-free phone support is available 24-7, or you can chat live online with tech support, also 24-7. HP's site has drivers, software downloads, FAQs, and troubleshooting guides, as well.
9 out of 10 - Spectacular Solid, versatile and cheap to feed
One thing you must know about this printer is that it has a LARGE footprint when loaded with 13 x ...
One thing you must know about this printer is that it has a LARGE footprint when loaded with 13 x 19 paper. You will need a 2' x 2' stand or table space to set it up. The input paper tray needs to rest on something (if you want the tray to overhang the edge of a table, you'll need to put a piece of plywood or masonite under the printer to support the tray).
Because this printer uses individual ink tanks, you will use 100% of the ink you buy. If you think the Deskjet 9800 at $100 less is a better deal, consider that you throw away between 30-50% of the ink in a tri-color cartridge. Also consider that this printer has separate ink tanks and printheads. This means that you can purchase 100% NEW compatible inks - NOT poorly remanufactured ink cartridges that seem to give out when you really need to print something.
The printheads for this printer seem to last forever! And if one should go, you can replace it for about $30. My old Canon BubbleJet had a single four color printhead unit that cost $200!
The only reason I didn't give this printer a rating of 10 is that someone will complain that it's not a great photo printer. I knew that when I purchased it - but for school reports, crafts, posters and working from home, you will not find a better printer and value. Most of the printing in my home is on plain paper, 3 x 5 cards and 9 x 12 envelopes and this printer ROCKS!
If you think this printer costs too much, read the sides of the HP #57, #95 and #97 ink cartridge packages. When they say 15 ml of ink, they mean 5 ml of each color. The K850 ink tanks hold 28 ml of each color and the black holds 69 ml and you can get aftermarket inks for less then $15 per color. $45 gets you 84 ml of ink - that's 6 to 9 each of the #97 cartridges which can cost you over $300 (remember that you throwaway 30-50% of the ink in a tri-color cartridge).
8 out of 10 - Excellent A solid printer; not flashy or expensive. This printer is a good value.
The Cannon i9900 is a better photo printer, but is about $100-$150 more. I bought this printer for work ...
The Cannon i9900 is a better photo printer, but is about $100-$150 more. I bought this printer for work to print ACAD drawings and other minor color jobs. This printer does the job for printing large color graphics or drawings, but if you want high quality photo printer, go elsewhere.
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by Mark Mill (see profile) -
July 28, 2006
2 out of 10 - Terrible Bad Network Card and Support
We bought this printer and it worked great for a few months. then the ethernet card went out so we ...
We bought this printer and it worked great for a few months. then the ethernet card went out so we received a new printer from warranty. We received a refurbished printer that did not work, so after fighting with HP over the warranty, they shipped us a 2nd printer. Now the second printer won't print yellow no matter what we try. HP of course says there is nothing they can do.
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by tjj9020 (see profile) -
June 11, 2008
1 out of 10 - Abysmal Stay away from this monstrosity!
I bought this thing in an emergency situation, and I'm sorry I did...especially having just read that it ...
I bought this thing in an emergency situation, and I'm sorry I did...especially having just read that it doesn't work well with Macs. Guess what? It doesn't work very well with PCs either! I have both Mac & PC computers, and need a printer that works well with both platforms. This piece of garbage takes forever to do ANYTHING -- even the simplest of tasks. I sit and wait for at least 5 minutes for it to go through its repertoire of loud noises before it deigns to print a single page. And if you want multiple copies, make yourself a cup-o-coffe, 'cause you're in for a long wait! Oh yeah, don't even think of performing any other tasks on your computer while this thing is "working". And since all printers come with only low-capacity ink cartridges, I searched for the appropriate hi-capacity ones when ordering this printer online. So I ordered 4 printheads (at $34 apiece). Imagine my shock when I opened the box, and discovered that this machine requires not only printheads, but also 4 additional ink cartridges! WHAT?! And all of them (except the black ink) are dye-based! A huge disadvantage over my last HP printer (which had its own set of problems) that used archival Vivera inks (and only 4 cartriges, not 8!). And one last thing: the HP K850 is HUGE. I've never been so unhappy with a purchase in my life! If you have any inkling that this printer might be a good fit for you, do yourself a favor and research it thoroughly first!
Updated Sorry for not correcting my typos, and for the record, my previous HP printer only required 2 ink cartridges; not 4, which makes the whole "8 cartridge/printhead" issue for the K850 even worse!
10 out of 10 - Perfect HP tech support agent's Opinion
I work for as an HP tech support agent. I do not work directly for HP (as we all know ...
I work for as an HP tech support agent. I do not work directly for HP (as we all know they out-source like all the other companies these days) I support about 15 printer models. This one I have only received about 2 possibly 3 calls on in the last 4 months! I take an average of 15 calls a day so thats saying a lot about this printers sustainability.
I honestly cant tell you very much about this printer because no one ever has to call me to help them set it up or fix it! (thats why I give it a 10).. and trust me I have a few I would NEVER suggest to anyone, such as the Prok550 which is no longer being made but still on some store shelves.
I did see in another comment something about the print heads and ink. I can tell you that if your printer is in warranty and your print heads go out HP will replace them for you! But if you are using non-HP ink you are voiding your warranty. they do build in sensors on their printers that detect the ink catridges and will give you (im sure not on every generic brand) an error light when you install generic ink. I do not really agree with that but the ink is designed to work with that printer, as well as HP paper and Lables. Again I think its stupid that using non-HP can void your warranty. So if you call tech support and they ask, tell them your using HP ink and paper!
3 out of 10 - Poor Don't waste your money
Don?t waste your money on this printer. I purchased it for my small church to print weekly bulletins, (40 ...
Don?t waste your money on this printer. I purchased it for my small church to print weekly bulletins, (40 copies front and back) monthly newsletters, (450 copies front and back) etc. We are on our THIRD PRINTER and we wish we just had our money back! The main reason we got it was to print an 11 x 17 newsletter but finally gave up and I now print then on 8.5 x 11 on my own laser printer because the 850 just can?t handle it. I even have trouble getting it to print one 11 x 17 calendar a month! It goes through ink like crazy which costs an arm and a leg. It won?t print a black and white document if the color cartridges are low, and it wastes a lot of paper by printing half pages. We have wasted a lot of money, time, patience, and prayers on this machine!
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by klynnemorgan (see profile) -
November 24, 2007
2 out of 10 - Terrible Is a great printer as long as you don't plan on upgrading
Although HP was very helpful and ended up replacing this printer, they were not able to get the paper type ...
Although HP was very helpful and ended up replacing this printer, they were not able to get the paper type option to work on my intel computer, of course they would not come out and say that was the problem, but I would steer clear, if you use macs.
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by njayne (see profile) -
July 24, 2007
up to 11.5 pages/min - Black draft - A3 (11.7 in x 16.5 in),
up to 24 pages/min - Black draft - A4 (8.25 in x 11.7 in),
up to 1.1 min/page - Photo - 3.95 in x 5.9 in,
up to 5.5 pages/min - Color normal - A4 (8.25 in x 11.7 in),
up to 0.3 min/page - Color draft - A3 (11.7 in x 16.5 in),
up to 3 pages/min - Black best - A3 (11.7 in x 16.5 in),
up to 4 pages/min - Black best - A4 (8.25 in x 11.7 in),
up to 1.8 min/page - Color best - A3 (11.7 in x 16.5 in),
up to 3.6 pages/min - Mixed text/color graphics best - A4 (8.25 in x 11.7 in),
up to 0.2 min/page - Color draft - A4 (8.25 in x 11.7 in),
up to 0.7 min/page - Color normal - A4 (8.25 in x 11.7 in),
up to 6 pages/min - Black normal - A4 (8.25 in x 11.7 in),
up to 0.2 min/page - Mixed text/color graphics draft - A3 (11.7 in x 16.5 in),
up to 0.9 min/page - Color best - A4 (8.25 in x 11.7 in),
up to 1.2 min/page - Color normal - A3 (11.7 in x 16.5 in),
up to 21 pages/min - Color draft - A4 (8.25 in x 11.7 in)
B6 (4.92 in x 6.93 in),
B5 (6.93 in x 9.83 in),
C4 (9 in x 12.75 in),
3 in x 5 in,
A3 (11.7 in x 16.5 in),
A5 (5.83 in x 8.25 in),
C6 (4.5 in x 6.38 in),
A3 plus (13 in x 16.65 in),
B4 (9.83 in x 13.9 in),
A6 (4.13 in x 5.83 in),
A4 (8.25 in x 11.7 in),
C5 (6.38 in x 9 in)
GS,
MIC,
C-Tick,
IEC950,
UL,
VCCI,
CE,
GOST,
EN 60950,
CCC,
CSA,
BSMI,
FCC Part 15
Scanner
Type
None
Copier
Copier Type
None
Manufacturer Warranty
Service & Support
1 year warranty
Service & Support Details
Limited warranty - Parts and labor - 1 year
Expansion / Connectivity
Expansion Slots Total (Free)
EIO
Connections
1 x Parallel - IEEE 1284 (EPP/ECP),
1 x USB
Environmental Parameters
Min Operating Temperature
41 ?F
Max Operating Temperature
104 ?F
Humidity Range Operating
15 - 80%
Sound Emission (Operating)
57 dBA
Battery
Type
None
Software / System Requirements
Software Included
Drivers & Utilities
OS Required
SuSE Linux 8.1,
Apple MacOS X 10.2.x,
LindowsOS,
Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition,
Debian Linux 3.0,
Microsoft Windows NT 4.0,
Red Hat Linux 9,
Novell NetWare 6,
Novell NetWare 3.2,
Novell NetWare 4.2,
Apple MacOS X 10.3.x,
Novell NetWare 5.x,
Microsoft Windows 2000,
Microsoft Windows XP Professional,
Apple MacOS X 10.4.x
CNET Labs' Benchmarks
CNET Labs Photo Speed Test (pages per minute)
0.33
CNET Labs Presentation Speed Test (pages per minute)
3.09
CNET Labs Printer Graphics Speed Test (pages per minute)
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