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I grimaced at the price, but 4 months later, I'm glad to using the printer without having to entirely re-do my wireless network. My router is a Netgear and functions very well, thank you.There were alternate network options to set up the wireless access manually, but the instructions were for Windows XP, not Vista. a recent Linksys router. Other workarounds weren't particularly workable either.After futzing around with it, I ended up buying a USB connection for $36 and used it that way. I was able to get this printer at a good price & liked the wireless idea. But when I opened the box and read the instructions I learned I had to use a router with a "Easy setup" button - i.e. (This a year after Vista was introduced).
The printer started printing large black rectangles all over the pages. A separate issue: If you print a lot of pages e.g., > 500 month, the cost of ownership---due to the high cost of the ink---should be a consideration. One important point to mention is *not* to use 3rd-party ink cartridges. In that case the quality was good but the configuration of borderless printing didn't work properly. I use it with the duplex unit for double-sided printing of technical materials. I've owned this printer for 2 years and have had few problems. I've only occasionally used it for photographic quality printing. I once replaced the black HP96 cartridge with Staples HP96-"compatible" black.
We run macs and pcs and several other printers, this was our cheapo, but it has turned out to be more trouble than it was worth. We wanted it's wifi capability. Now I'm looking for a new cheapo service printer that won't take up so much of my time. The print quality fulfilled my expectations. Unfortunately I've had to reinstall and reconfigure this printer at least ten times in our twenty months of ownership. I believe it died today, a problem with the ink well, RIP.
Overall I believe I got my moneys worth, it lasted a few years and that is all that I really expected it to do. Only complaints are that the inks dry up if you don't use it frequently and the ink cartridge holders are very fragile. As soon as I turned it on, my mac found the printer over the network, I followed the instructions and let 'er rip. My fault for being a little heavy handed but wish it was a bit sturdier and I feel it's a bit to fragile for an "office use", especially if a bunch of people are using it or poking around in it. I bought this printer when it first came out. I have a MacG5 and it was super simple to set up. Recently one of the cartrige holders snapped and that was it, the whole printer would not work.
Works great with both my Toshiba laptops with Windows Vista with sp1 installed. I had this Deskjet 6980 wireless printer up and running wireless in short order. I did use the installation disk.I did have a problem on only one laptop with the install disk, for some reason the laptop would not read the CD.I transferred the CD to a usb flash drive and run the installfrom it.
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