HP Deskjet F380 > Reviews (20)

Usually before buying something, like you are doing now, i would do some research. However after living with our desktop for over a year with no printer, simply the idea got us so excited we walked straight into a high street electronics store and bought it straight off the shelf, based simply on what it looked like. Breaking all my rules, never buy high street and always know what your buying before you buy it!
I wanted a cheap printer, so if and when it died it wouldn't be the end of the world. There were cheaper printers available, but the impulse shopper never buys the cheapest one, only the second third and forth cheapest will do, depending on your budget that day. i was undecided on whether to buy the epson which was £49 or the Hp which was £39, i had never had any experience with hp before and was unsure but i was completely swayed by the glossy white shine on the top of the Hp. (never buy a printer on the basis of design)
The guy in the shop tried to talk us into buying extra ink at £12 each as he said the ink inside was only enough for the print test pages. I declined, as I hate salesmen and hoped he was wrong. It cost another £7 for the cable to connect to my pc.
Inside the box everything was neatly packed inside the printer itself. The setup was pretty simple, just follow the cd etc.The first thing i noticed (after not paying attention in the shop) was that the printer didn't need to be connected to the computer to work, it will quite happily scan and print like a photocopier without being connected. This may seem obvious, but i had not taken this into consideration. Big thumbs up as it would be great for a photo printer, but it is lacking in media card slots so that blows that out the water!
Testing consisted of printing a test page and then scanning it and printing it. I was a little disappointed with the print quality, it had printed at a good speed and with little noise, but the quality was lacking somewhat. It'll do i said to myself, I wanted a cheap printer and i got one. It wasn't so bad that I would want to return it and its only for home use nobody will be looking at the sharpness of my letters anyway.
I have so far found it very pleasant to use, simple, easy and nice and quiet, so when in the living room it doesn't disturb everyone else.Especialy when starting up after being switched on, my last printer messed around flexing its muscles for a while after being switched on, and was very noisey. The f-380 is almose instantly ready to use and makes little noise.
I am still using the first ink cartrages that i recieved with the printer however I imagine for heavy users it would run through a lot of ink.. i only print about 20 pages a week and imagine the black ink will need to be replaced every 3 months, based on my use so far.
So generally a great wee 3 in 1 for the money, good for home light to medium use and it will look fab, but if your looking for great quality or cartrage life, you'll have to spend a bit more.