HP has always been at the forefront of the inkjet revolution. The company has now launched a new range of inkjet printers based on the ink tank system. We received one such model – the HP Deskjet GT 5820 – for a review.
The new GT 5820 features a small footprint and comes finished in matte black. The GT 5820 is capable of printing, scanning, and copying. Since the printer uses an ink tank system, it comes with ink tank outside the printer. This makes it easier for users to refill the printer with ink, when the ink levels go down.
Another major feat HP has achieved with the GT 5820 is that it uses a replaceable print head. Unlike most printers which come with the print head as part of the printer body, HP bundles the print heads separately within the box. So, if something goes wrong with the print heads, you technically have a way to replace it, without having to replace the entire printer.
Inside the box, you get the HP Deskjet GT 5820 All-In-One Printer, one Plug cable, one USB cable, and one Software & Driver CD. You also get one Black ink bottle (90ml), three colour (Cyan, Magenta & Yellow) ink bottles (70ml), one Black printhead, one colour printhead and the user manuals and setup instructions.
Setting up the GT 5820 is a breeze. Connect the printer to the power supply, switch it on, go to http://123.hp.com and download the required printer drivers. Once the drivers are installed, the software setup will take you through connecting wirelessly to the new printer.
The printer’s ink tank is designed to have a safety seal and a cap so that even when the printer shakes, the ink will not spill out. According to HP, the GT 5820 can print up to 8000 pages with a set of HP colour bottles or up to 5000 pages with an HP black ink bottle.
In terms of print speeds, HP claims the GT 5820 can print up to 8 ppm in black, up to 5 ppm in colour, and up to 16 ppm in colour draft mode. In our performance tests, we were able to clock 7 ppm in black, 4 ppm in colour and 13 ppm in colour draft mode.
Print quality was quite good on the HP Deskjet GT 5820. The quality of the scanner and copier functionalities were also quite good. The GT 5820 also comes with an LCD display that acts as a status indicator. It also comes with a button pad, which lets you toggle between functions such as turning on the WiFi for mobile printing, colour and monochrome photocopying, and so on.
At a price of AED 699, the HP Deskjet GT 5820 might seem a bit on the higher side. However, considering the fact that it comes with an ink tank system, that lets you do away completely with buying expensive ink cartridges, at the same time offering very good print quality, the GT 5820 does sound like a good deal.
[highlight color=”yellow”]Price: AED 699[/highlight]
