The HP Good Tank 7602 ($349) is a reasonably priced multifunction printer that provides very low ink prices, quick print and replica speeds, and some office-friendly options. Nonetheless, after utilizing and testing one myself I am upset by the irritating software program, small touchscreen and photograph print high quality.
The HP Good Tank 7602 is not fairly ok to hold with one of the best printers available on the market, but it surely’s a speedy multifunction that could possibly be useful in a house workplace. The 35-sheet automated doc feeder (ADF) eases multipage copying, scanning and faxing. As much as 100 sheets could be saved within the fax reminiscence.
The duplexer permits two-sided printing. There may be one 250-sheet paper tray, with no second tray for conserving photograph paper loaded, for instance. The output tray holds as much as 100 sheets. A USB port on the entrance panel permits printing from a thumb drive, however on this HP Good Tank 7602 evaluation I will clarify why the method of printing from this multifunction generally is a trouble.
HP Good Tank 7602 evaluation: Value & availability
The HP Good Tank 7602 is obtainable for buy from HP’s web site, Amazon and choose third-party retailers for a beginning value of $449.
Nonetheless, at time of publication the printer is discounted $100 right down to $349, and also you might be able to discover it on deeper low cost throughout massive gross sales occasions.
HP Good Tank 7602 evaluation: Design
The Good Tank 7602 measures roughly 16.8 x 14.3 x 9.5 inches. You will want clearance above the unit: The scanner lid’s hinges don’t provide resistance to carry it up at lower than 90 levels, so you will have to open it absolutely if you wish to use each fingers. The paper tray is on the entrance of the printer, with the output tray simply above it. The unit weighs 17 kilos.
A 3-inch touchscreen sits on the highest, in entrance of the scanner lid. The display screen shows white textual content on a black background and is able to displaying three strains of textual content. Nonetheless, when pulling up a brand new menu web page, it tends to show solely two strains of textual content, leaving the highest of the display screen clean. Even when the partially obscured second merchandise was the setting I wished, I discovered the contact display screen unwilling to let me choose it—I routinely needed to drag the textual content upward with a purpose to make my choice.
When pulling out the paper tray, the display screen will immediate you to decide on a brand new paper measurement setting. Nonetheless, after I failed to do that instantly, I couldn’t discover any paper setting within the normal settings menu, and will discover no rationalization within the person guide. At that time, I had to make use of the HP Good software program to set the paper sort. The web specs say that there’s a paper sensor, however the 7602 didn’t routinely change paper sizes for any of the HP papers I used, together with a number of photograph paper sizes.
The ink tanks are seen from the entrance panel. The black ink tank sits to the left whereas the colour tanks are grouped on the suitable facet. Refilling them from the included ink bottles was easy: I lifted the ADF lid and crammed every of the 4 tanks with out spilling a drop of ink.
A standing mild above the output tray modifications colours as indicators, and you may have to seek the advice of the guide to study what every coloration signifies, in addition to strong versus pulsing, as that is key to understanding the standing of the printer.
HP Good Tank 7602 evaluation: Print high quality
This Good Tank produced persistently excessive picture high quality in our exams. Textual content printed with sharp edges and graphics seemed detailed, with easy transitions. Colours seemed correct. This was true of copies as nicely.
Images printed on shiny paper have been additionally of a top quality. Particulars seemed sharp. Colours have been nicely saturated, however general the colour solid seemed a bit of unnaturally heat, with hyped reds and yellows. As well as, some darkish shadow areas got here out with an unnatural blueish solid.
Equally, scans reproduced particulars nicely general in addition to correct colours. The scans reproduced delicate shadow particulars with out getting blocked up. Nonetheless, shut examination of wonderful particulars, on faces particularly, revealed digital artifacts and distortions. At precise measurement, scans typically reveal pixelation and a few smoothing maybe due partially to mud discount (as seems the case with scans of the identical picture by the Canon G6020 and Brother MFC-J4535DW). However these two fashions nonetheless reproduced these particulars whereas the Good Tank distorted and obscured a few of them, whereas making some edges look unnaturally harsh.
HP Good Tank 7602 evaluation: Print velocity
The HP Good Tank 7602 printed a five-page textual content doc in 35 seconds, or 8.6 ppm. This was barely slower than the class common of 30.3 seconds (or 9.9 ppm) for ink tank printers (such because the $270 Canon Pixma G6020) and high-yield ink cartridge fashions (such because the $250 Brother MFC-J4535DW).
The Good Tank printed our six-page coloration PDF of combined textual content and graphics in 1 minute and 33 seconds, or 3.9 ppm. This was sooner than the class common of three.1 ppm. By comparability, the Canon G6020 was slower, at 2.2 ppm, and the Brother MFC-J4535DW was considerably sooner, at 7 ppm.
Utilizing its duplexer to make two-sided prints, the HP Good Tank was constant, proving sooner than the Canon G6020 however slower than the Brother MFC-J4535DW. The Good Tank printed two-sided textual content paperwork at 5 ppm and two-sided coloration pages at 2.8 ppm. The Canon G6020 made the identical prints at 2.3 ppm and 1.8 ppm, respectively, whereas the Brother bested each fashions at 10.7 ppm (textual content) and 5.8 ppm (coloration).
The Good Tank 7602 was very quick at photograph printing. It printed an 8 x 10-inch shiny photograph at excessive decision in slightly below 2 minutes. This was spectacular, contemplating that the class common is twice as lengthy: 4 minutes and 1 second.
The distinction was not as pronounced as smaller sizes, nevertheless. Printing a 4 x 6-inch snapshot at excessive decision the Good Tank took simply 1 minute and a couple of seconds—the quickest time we have clocked for a desktop inkjet. Shut behind was the Brother MFC-J4535DW at 1 minute and eight seconds. The class common for printing a snapshot is 1 minute and 54 seconds.
HP Good Tank 7602 evaluation: Copy and scan velocity
The Good Tank 7602 was sooner than common at making a coloration copy, doing so in 19.5 seconds. The typical is 22.2 seconds. Against this, the Brother MFC-J4535DW was sooner, making a coloration copy in 13.2 seconds, whereas the Canon G6020 was considerably pokey, at 31.2 seconds.
The Good Tank was barely slower than common at making copies of a textual content web page, doing so in 12.7 seconds. The Brother MFC-J4535DW made a black-and-white copy in a extra brisk 11 seconds, as did the Canon G6020, in 11.3 seconds. The class common is 10 seconds.
Utilizing its ADF, the Good Tank’s made copies of multipage textual content paperwork rapidly, doing so at 7 ppm. The Brother MFC-J4535DW was barely sooner, at 7.9 ppm. The Canon G6020 doesn’t have an ADF.
The Good Tank was slower than common at scanning in black-and-white. Doing so to PDF at 300 dpi, the Good Tank captured the web page in 16.2 seconds (exhibiting an on-screen preview in HP Good software program at 13 seconds). The MFC-J4535DW made the identical scan in 11.5 seconds. The Canon G6020 was even sooner, at 8.4 seconds. The class common is 13.6 seconds.
Utilizing its ADF, the Good Tank scanned the web page in 31.6 seconds (displaying a preview at 27.8 seconds).
The Good Tank scanned in coloration at precisely the class common time, capturing a coloration 8 x 10 to JPEG at 600 dpi in 1 minute and 25 seconds. The Canon G6020 was barely sooner, at 1 minute and 5 seconds, whereas the Brother MFC-J4535DW handily bested them each by scanning a coloration web page in simply 41.9 seconds.
HP Good Tank 7602 evaluation: Ink prices and yield
A bottle of the Good Tank’s black ink is rated to final 8,000 pages. The colour inks (cyan, magenta and yellow) are every rated to final 6,000 pages. Shopping for a four-pack will prevent $1.97 off the person value complete of $68.96 for all 4 inks.
This provides as much as simply 0.3 cents per textual content web page and 0.9 cents per coloration web page. The benefit of ordinary inkjet printers is clear. Conventional inkjet printers we have examined common 5.7 cents per textual content web page—when utilizing a high-yield cartridge (7.9 cents with an ordinary cartridge). Coloration pages run 15.9 cents with high-yield cartridges and 21 cents with normal cartridges.
By comparability, the class averages for ink tank printers and high-yield fashions are 0.4 cents (textual content) and 1.5 cents (coloration). The Canon G6020’s prices per web page are even decrease, at 0.2 cents and 0.8 cents, respectively. The Brother MFC-J4535DW’s ink prices are considerably greater, at 1.1 cents and 6 cents, respectively—however nonetheless a fraction of what normal inkjet printers provide.
HP Good Tank 7602 evaluation: Setup & software program
Eradicating a number of items of tape and a pair cardboard inserts are all that it is advisable to take away to get the HP Good Tank 7602 prepared for setup. On my Home windows 10 laptop computer I downloaded the print driver and HP Good software program simply sufficient, as no DVD-ROM comes with the printer. I printed an alignment web page and scanned it, per directions.
HP Good set up provided a brand new printer setup after the obtain. Up to now, all was easy. However my first try at establishing a connection failed. The USB connection was not acknowledged. Later, permitting time to cross within the Home windows printer settings triggered the obtain of the print driver.
Connecting to my wi-fi community was not instantly obvious. So, I pressed the WiFi button on the again of the printer. The sunshine above the output tray was alleged to pulse purple, however didn’t achieve this. This primary try timed out and I needed to restart the printer.
For my subsequent try, I went into the community settings on the contact display screen and selected the WPS methodology. To complete, I used to be prompted to open the printer and kind in a PIN code on a sticker. However this finally despatched me again to Home windows settings, after which a hyperlink for a scan app despatched me to Get Home windows Scan.
After this bought sorted out, the HP Good software program confirmed each the wirelessly linked community printer and the USB model—they confirmed up as two totally different printers with out a straightforward technique to inform which is which. In HP Good, the connection sort didn’t show. When WiFi was offline, I needed to toggle to the subsequent printer to make use of it through the USB connection.
On a Mac operating OSX, the Good Tank confirmed up in my printers record and I linked with out situation.
You’ll want to arrange an internet HP Good account, in any other case some superior scan and print options won’t work. Sadly, HP Good lacks some fundamental and handy options that loads of different software program packages provide. For instance, HP Good doesn’t help you arrange a scanning shortcut at specified decision and file sort for saving to a PC. You possibly can, nevertheless, arrange shortcuts for emailing or saving to on-line locations: Google Drive, Field, Dropbox, Evernote, OneDrive, and Quickbooks. Additionally, you can also make scan-to-email shortcuts for explicit electronic mail addresses.
This similar limitation is true of printing settings as nicely. In case you have explicit settings corresponding to decision that aren’t the default, you will have to pick out these settings each time. And, after making a scan, the software program doesn’t return you to the web page to make one other scan; it’s essential to shut the pop-up “your file has been saved” window and backspace to return to the scan settings.
Scanning of a number of paperwork on the scanner glass will not be supported. Once I tried to scan two photograph snapshots on the similar time, HP Good solely provided me the power to save lots of one in every of them. (Alternatively, I may have enlarged the crop field to incorporate each photographs, however them would have needed to crop and save individually in one other picture processing software.
When utilizing the ADF, scan decision is restricted to 300 dpi. If you would like a high-resolution scan at 600 dpi or 1200 dpi, you have to to alter the supply setting to “scanner glass”.
HP Good software program had a tough time cropping a cartoon journal cowl illustration to PDF format; its detect edges characteristic cropped out a lot of the quilt whereas scanning in coloration. (Scanning to JPEG didn’t When scanning in black-and-white, it accurately acknowledged the complete picture.
There isn’t any preset for scanning 8 x 10-inch photographs (solely 4 x 6 and 5 x 7); you have to to make use of edge detection to crop the scan. Phrase recordsdata and PDF recordsdata will must be printed from their native functions; HP Good doesn’t open these file varieties. From Home windows Explorer, you cannot right-click and open a photograph with the software program. It’s good to open HP Good first for photograph printing.
Getting my iPhone 7 to hook up with the Good Tank 7602 took a bit of work. At first, the HP Good iOS app was unable to seek out the printer, even after turning on Bluetooth to help within the course of (each the printer and my iPhone have been already on my wi-fi community).
The trick in the end was to not use the primary alternative within the iOS app, which is “arrange a brand new printer”. For the reason that printer was already on my wi-fi community, I wanted to pick out “end setup or add a printer that is already arrange”. The wonderful print makes this clear. Selecting the incorrect choice prompted me for a password I couldn’t find.
The iOS app gives printing, copying and scanning through a telephone digicam photograph, and cell fax. Startup is a bit of gradual, taking 46 seconds to supply a menu on the touchscreen.
HP Good Tank 7602 evaluation: Verdict
The HP Good Tank 7602 gives good efficiency, excessive picture high quality, and really low ink prices. Outfitted with a doc feeder, duplexer, fax functionality, and scanning to electronic mail and on-line locations, it is nicely suited to small work teams that want these options and might reside with out a second paper tray.
The small contact display screen will not be superb for normal standalone operation. And, the essential software program gives restricted options. The requirement to be signed into an internet account to carry out on a regular basis capabilities will not be interesting—particularly if you happen to’re merely scanning a file to be saved in your PC. But when on-line collaboration is what you want, you’ll find the scan-to-email and scanning to on-line folder locations to be up your alley.
High-quality print and replica high quality on plain paper are achieved at respectable speeds. The doc feeder and duplexer carried out additionally carried out nicely in our testing, making this ink tank multifunction a very good match for workplace work.
