I love the engineering of the HP 460. I've been using it since February 2007 and so far it has worked well. I experience no problems installing this printer with any of my computers. There is a magnetic catch on the output door that the software opens automatically when you send a print job which is great for preventing a paper jam (if the door were to remain closed). When this printer is printing, the ink cartridge cradle really moves the printer if it is not on a steady surface. The printer is fairly quiet as it prints. It's not as portable as the Canon BJC-50 I used to use. I can even get the HP 460 to easily work with the NETGEAR PS121 USB 2.0 Mini Print Server. However, you lose the ability to use the HP 460 series toolbox application. What I lose it the ability to clean the print heads, monitor the amount of ink in each cartridge and some other good tools. Canon's driver for the BJC-50 supports access to its utilities even when the printer is on a print spooler. Obviously, HP did not write their driver to allow access to the utilities (clean heads, remaining ink) when using a print spooler.
The print quality is very sharp at 1200 X 1200 DPI. The paper feeds well from the hopper. The Canon BJC-50 is a manual single sheet feed. What a hassle. Sure, it kept the profile low but I'll now accept the extra height so I have a sheet feeder (again, beats feeding each sheet by hand, especially when the Canon balks if it meets just a little resistance, I'll shoot that paper out without printing). And another great thing: I'm still on the original ink cartridges! Those Canon bubble jet cartridges dry up after 3 weeks to a month after opening them, even if I place them out of the printer and put them in their "case". And of course, the print quality of this HP is much better than the Canon bubble jet.
The HP Deskjet 460 is sold in four different configurations but all start with the same HP 460 printer. The 460C has just the printer and USB cable, the 460CB also includes a LiON battery, the 460WT includes the battery and 802.11g Compact Flash (CF) wireless card, and the 460WBT includes a battery, and Bluetooth CF card. Both wireless CF cards are set up using the toolbox software. I thought I read somewhere that the USB cable was not included (I got one included with this printer). It includes a 14 ml (capacity) black and a 7ml tri-color ink cartridge. These cartridges are larger than the Canon BJC cartridge which means printing more pages is possible before changing cartridges. And the HP Deskjet 460 series toolbox tool (you can't get to it through the print server) can show you the remaining ink levels, something not available with the BJC-50. And this printer is quiet when printing. But, I could at least perform the same functions via the printer properties options tab with the Canon BJC-50 when it is on a print server as I can with it connected directly to my computer. But, I can live with this shortcoming.
Out of the box, I had a problem with shadowing of the print out (a black and white print out looks like it was printed out of focus). I tried aligning the print heads, asked someone else if I chose the correct (A-H) patterns and even tried to adjust the print head by playing with the A-H settings. I finally exchanged two e-mails with HP technical support (the first to describe the problem and the second to tell them their solution fixed the problem!). It turns out that the copper print contacts on both the print cartridge and the printer needed cleaning. Since it was not specifically covered when I searched in the HP Knowledge Base, it is step three at the following link:
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Again, this is a well designed, portable printer.
PROS:
A great portable printer for travelers. The ink cartridges don't dry up after opening, even after a year of use.
CONS:
So far, no show stoppers.
(44 customers reviews)Customers Rating=4.0 / 5.0
More Detail For
HP Deskjet 460c Mobile Printer C8150A A2L - Professional, portable mobile InkJet printer
- Crisp and clear 4,800 dpi print quality
- PictBridge-enabled for printing straight from mobile phones and PDAs; SD/MMC card slot to print straight from memory cards
- Super-fast USB 2.0 connectivity; accepts HP Bluetooth and WiFi network cards (sold separately)
- 1-year limited manufacturer's warranty
