HP OfficeJet Pro 8725
Thanks to the Insiders UK I’m currently putting HP’s Office Jet Pro 8725 through its paces — this is an All-In-One device offering print, fax, scan, copy and web functionalities.
(Needless to say all of the thoughts that follow come from my own brain, irrespective of the lovely people who’ve supplied the kit.)
Introducing the HP OfficeJet Pro 8725
Opening the door to the delivery driver it soon becomes apparent that this is a chunky bit of kit.
The box the device comes in is huge and the thing itself, well, let’s just say it’s big in comparison to the typical cheapy inkjets you’re likely to find sitting on a desk in people’s back bedrooms, coming in at 40cm(l)x50cm(w)x 33cm(h). The Pro moniker is appropriate — this is clearly a machine aimed at frequent users and those rocking small or home office setups.
In sacrificing the desk space you’re getting a printer, copier, scanner, fax machine with a 150-sheet paper tray feeding the printer and a 50 sheet 2-sided automatic document feeder supplying the scanner.
Getting connected
As you’d expect you can forge a direct connection to a PC via USB and, more usefully, easily hook the device up to your network (either via ethernet or wireless) allowing all manner of devices to connect — including phones and tablets. There’s also a USB port on the front that can be used to access files to output as prints (or save you can save your scans here or to a specified location on your network). Android phones can also connect using NFC.
You can even reach your printer by email using HP’s ePrint service. Once registered you’ll receive a dedicated email address for the device and anything sent to that address is then printed. This will include emails themselves and any attachments — great for printing things you know you’ll need later so they’re ready and waiting for you when you get home.
I was able to get connected to my wifi network and register for the ePrint service in well under 10 minutes (including time to unbox) without looking at the instructions and just following prompts on the touchscreen. You can also navigate to 123.hp.com/setup to get up and running
Beyond initial setup many of the functions can be accessed via the almost 11cm touchscreen on the front of the device with tabs for copy, scan, photo, fax and apps and access to settings.
There’s also a browser-based control panel that allows you to set up more functionality (as well as trigger scans and faxes) and you can install the HP 8720’s Printer Assistant software on a PC to access settings too. Phones and tablets can use HP’s All In One Remote app to do likewise.
Instant Ink
The printer comes with four ink cartridges (Black, Cyan, Magenta and Yellow) and these can be purchased from HP or your usual ink-retailer of choice in high and standard yield variants.
The printer is also compatible with HP’s Instant Ink subscription programme which posts subscribers spare inks ahead of time in line with their pricing plan (which is based on the number of pages expected to be printed each month).
Quick, simple, convenient, easy to set up and with packages starting from £1.99 per month HP estimate savings of 70% over retail pricing although it’s worth pointing out that you can only rollover 50 unused pages a month.
Print speeds and quality
The design means that paper handling is incredibly quick with HP claiming duplex speeds (24/20ppm) close to simplex (20/17ppm) and the container paper tray means that your output won’t fly across the room as it’s expelled away from you and into the integral tray instead of some flimsy holder.
Switching from regular copier paper to photo paper I was able to put the device’s photo printing to the text and report sharp, crisp, photos with little evidence of bleeding, all expelled quickly.
In effect you’re getting close-to-laser speeds and quality for inkjet prices.
Scan speeds and quality
Scanning is simple; you can use the flatbed or the double-sided automatic document feeder. You can then save to USB or network path as PDF, JPEG or editable text via OCR.
Scanning is swift if a little noisy and you can always sacrifice resolution to speed if you’re not looking to retain fidelity.
Initial impressions
After just a few days it’s fair to say I’m very impressed with the HP OfficeJet Pro 8725. It’s been a few years since I bought my previous device and the myriad of connection options mean you’re no longer looking for workarounds to get your input or output in the right place or the right format. Expect to spend less time faffing with settings and more just getting on with using the kit.
The Instant Ink service seems reasonably priced and assuming my usage stays within the estimated boundaries I may have moved from compatible inks to manufacturers’ own for the first time in years.
Quality is on a par with lasers on text and photos as is speed. For the budget-conscious small-office manager this really is a no-brainer and the only obvious omission I can see in that scenario is for a user to be able to spool print jobs and only release them at the device itself.
Early days then, but this is clearly an impressive example of modern printing technology and succeeds in making printing and scanning something you no longer have to think about and instead something that just comfortably fits in your workflow.
Nice work, HP.
