As part of my work-at-home business set-up, I bought the HP Deskjet F4280 All-in-One Printer (CB656A)
I was first attracted by the printer’s compact size, which is good for people with small work spaces 
An ultra-friendly control panel
The various functions are neatly lined up in a row – really, really idiot-proof one-touch buttons for you to:
- print – black or colour
- scan or copy – switch from A4 to 10 x 15; increase the size of the image and that’s it.
Printing is a breeze…
All you need to do is set up the driver using the CD provided, plug in the USB and print, print, print! The user interface for the “Print” option is also straightforward e.g. manual settings for double-sided printing, economical printing and page orientations.
The print quality is about as clear as you can get with a deskjet (sigh, I sure miss the HP LaserJet…)
Photocopying is another one-touch function
I’d used this function once to photocopy a few pages – the pages came out great but I feel that it’s expensive to photocopy anything on a printer!
Scanning is as easy as ABC and the quality of the scans are great.
I’d used the printer to scan the covers of some of my old books and some documents to email to colleagues. However, I’m used to the “Save as…” menu popping up after each scan on previous HP scanners but I was perplexed when nothing popped up.
Instead, a complicated and irritating photo-scanning options menu appeared asking me if I’d like to “share”, “send” and other supposedly ‘fun’ things I could do with my scanned document!
Frustrated, I did a bit of digging through My Documents and finally found it under ‘Downloads’ where multiple ‘Scan 15 April 2009′ folders were created. Ahh…that’s where the scans go 
After printing about 20 pages, I was informed by the HP Ink Level pop-up that I was running low on black ink. Uh, excuse me, the IT guy told me the ink cartridge is good for 200 pages especially since I’m a home user and not an industrial user?
Due to cost-saving, I didn’t buy original HP ink cartridges but got myself 2 packs of a generic brand called Saint Ink (RM30 for colour, RM24 for black).
Saint Ink needs the patience of a saint to refill!!!
I had to peel off the sticker from the ink cartridge, assemble a syringe, attach a plunger to the ink tube and then gently inject 25 ml of ink into the cartridge.
Then, I had to soak the cartridge in a plate of water to clear the print head then dab it gently with tissue to ensure that no ink’s clogging it.
As a creature with NO patience for delicate and fussy small items, I was the perfect yoga student as I went through each step carefully. Trying to be a work-at-home Mum takes all sorts of sacrifices, right?
After doing everything to the book, I sat down and click ‘Print’ again, expecting picture-perfect pages.
AAAARRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHH!!! As a freelance writer, I have to review the drafts of articles that I am writing – I was fuming mad when pages 1, 3 and 5 turned out OK but then 1-2 paragraphs of pages 2 went missing or half a page disappeared on page 4!
I am already having a headache and dealing with a queasy stomach, the last thing I needed were holes in my drafts!!!
In the end, I resorted to buying original HP cartridges, which gave me the printed pages I needed.
The printer packaging shows high-quality photos but I have had no reason to try that function out yet.
Sigh…the misadventures of a wannabe work-at-home Mother.
After using the HP Deskjet for more than a year, it’s a great low-cost printer to have at home for kids’ school projects or small office. Click HP Deskjet F4280 All-in-One Printer (CB656A)
