Hands-On Review: HP OfficeJet 7130 All-In-One

VARBusiness

In fact, use me as a benchmark representing your below-average tech user. With that in mind, you can just imagine the sense of euphoria that washed over me when exactly the opposite occurred. Suffice to say, the OfficeJet 7130 was so easy to use that even someone with a low tech IQ like mine can do it. And that's good news for your customers, who won't be left hating you from the get-go.

OK, enough with the self-deprecation and onto my OfficeJet journey.

If you can judge a book by its cover, all the buttons on the 7130 were clearly labeled and segmented by function. That bode well for me. I miraculously installed the printer software without a hitch, and was ready to get started within minutes. I put some photo paper in the paper tray, retrieved a color-intensive picture of my son off my hard drive, and was nothing short of impressed with the print that emerged soon after. When I changed the printer setting from normal to best, the resulting print was a degree or two more crisp, and the reds were richer in intensity.

Another cool feature is the ability to insert digital media into the machine and print directly from it. I have a 64 MB Compact Flash card, but anytime I stuck it in (and I know I did that part right!), I'd get an error message on the unit's display that said "Error On Card." Eager enough to want to get this to work, I looked it up in the manual, but there was no explanation. Then I tried a smaller card,8 MB,and that worked. Not remembering what pictures were on there, I chose the thumbnails option and got a color printout that showed my photos all on one page. From there I chose a few pictures to print larger, and again, it worked like a charm.

Later, I spoke to Rex Robertson, who handles worldwide customer support for HP's all-in-one products. He suggested reformatting my Compact Flash card, since the printer can handle up to 512 MB. So I did, took a quick picture and inserted it into the computer. Again, same error.

So onto the copying function. Happily, this was also quite simple, and the color quality was as excellent as expected. Again, I was able to choose from a number of quality options. A poster option allowed me to enlarge my photo by as many pages wide and deep as I specified. I could wallpaper my house with pictures of my son if I really wanted. Needless to say, I quickly realized just how handy it was to have a copy machine at home

Next, I pressed my luck and tried scanning photos. The unit walked me step-by-step through the process, and I was successful from the get go. First I had to press a button on the machine itself to initially scan my image. Then I previewed the results on-screen, where I could manipulate what I saw (crop, color correct, etc.) before I gave the machine the final go-ahead to save the file. The printer software also helps you organize your photos into albums, and though I didn't play around with it too much, I could tell that even I would be able to figure it out. The only glitch I encountered was that after I did maybe a dozen or so scans, the scanner quit working on me for a while. I gave it some time, then tried again, and it worked, but only for another batch of scans; then it would freeze up until I gave the machine another rest.

I brought that up to Robertson as well. He said that traffic on my USB hub could be the culprit and suggested I plug the printer directly into the PC. Truthfully, the thought of rearranging wires made my eyeballs twirl in their sockets, so I let it be. After all, at least it worked, which is more than I can say about the faxing function. Although it seemed no-brainer enough, I just couldn't get this to work. I tried faxing to my home fax machine right next to me, and also to my fax at the office. The unit scanned my document, the numbers dialed, but nothing came through the other ends. The status report that printed out didn't give me a clue as to what was wrong either. I double-checked with the manual, expecting to read I was doing it all wrong, but I wasn't. At that point, I gave up,a typical knee-jerk reaction of mine, I admit.

I took this up with Robertson. As he walked me through the steps, I sheepishly realized my big goof: I never plugged a phone wire into the printer. Sigh. With high hopes and wire in place, I tried faxing again, but to no avail. Robertson suggested the phone wire I was using was probably old (it was) and to use the one that came with the unit (couldn't find it). I found another newer wire, tried it all again and still couldn't get it to work. The interesting thing is, a day or so later, I glanced over at the printer and realized I had received a fax. So I'm sure if I played around with it enough, something would eventually kick in.

Overall, though, the 7130 treated me to an empowering experience that I believe promotes me from a tech moron to mere dope. According to HP's Web site, the unit costs $499. That seems in line for this powerful all-in-one unit whose predecessor cost $200 more, according to Robertson.