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  • Introduction

  • Design & Usability

  • Features & Performance

  • Conclusion

  • Science Introduction

  • Color Performance

  • Print Speed

  • Detail Performance

  • Introduction
  • Design & Usability
  • Features & Performance
  • Conclusion
  • Science Introduction
  • Color Performance
  • Print Speed
  • Detail Performance

Introduction

Design & Usability

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Through and through, this unit is an office printer.

What's an office printer without a bunch of connections? In addition to having the ability to be shared over a wireless network, the {{product.name}} can also be connected to a computer via a USB cable. To handle the fax function, the printer has dual fax ports to support more than one line, and it also has a parallel port as well. On top of all that, the {{product.name}} also allows you to buy apps for your printer via the WebOS store of HP's failed TouchPad tablet. While the tablet may have flamed out, the printers still have apps uploaded to the market to enhance your experience with the {{product.model}} and others.

All of your main printer controls live on a capacitive panel (that includes the screen) on the front of the printer, and it functions well to the touch. When you navigate through different tasks or menus, the applicable buttons will light up and alert you to your options. To toggle an option on the screen, simply tap it with your finger, much like you would with a tablet or smartphone.

Tapping the icons on the display feels a lot more intuitive than mashing arrow buttons.

The tiny display on the {{product.name}} isn't all that spectacular in terms of resolution or size, but it does offer an updated experience necessary to make the printer a little more accessible to younger operators. You will find that tapping the icons on the display feels a lot more intuitive than mashing arrow buttons.

The {{product.name}}'s ink cartridges are segregated to one dye per cartridge, removing the frustration of depleting one color of ink and being forced to toss out a cartridge that still has other colors of ink in it. Inside the packaging, you will find a cyan cartridge, a magenta cartridge, a yellow cartridge, and a black cartridge. Each cartridge slides and locks into a slot revealed after the printer is turned on.

{{photo_gallery "Front Photo", "Left Photo", "Right Photo", "Back Photo", "Top Photo", "Controls Photo", "Screen Photo", "Box Photo", "Ports Photo", "Ink Photo", "Ink Management Photo"}}

Features & Performance

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The Officejet 8600 can print on a wide range of media.

The {{product.name}} is incredibly easy to set up, save for the fact that there is no included USB cable, either leaving you to set up your printer via wireless home network, or forcing you to buy a USB cable. Once you take your printer out of the box, you'll need to remove all of the plastic coverings, as well as slide the duplex unit into the back of the printer itself. After you've plugged the {{product.model}} in, running the drivers disc on your computer will guide you through the rest of the process painlessly.

The {{product.name}} does a fairly good job of handling color gradients.

The {{product.name}} can handle many different sizes of media, but you must be sure to adjust your paper tray accordingly. If you do, you can print on 3 x 5, 4 x 6, 5 x 7, 8 x 10, 5 x 8, 4 x 10, 4 x 11, and 4 x 12-inch sheets, as well as envelopes. You can also use the duplexer for letter sheets and executive sizes.

Because the {{product.name}} is an office printer with a focus on document printing, detail and color in pictures suffers. All of the prints from the Officejet 8600 are a little reminiscent of a pointillistic painting, or a comic book page, and that's no accident. Beyond that, though, the {{product.name}} does a fairly good job of handling color gradients.

Conclusion

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It's an office printer, so don't expect too much in the photo department.

As a strict office printer, the {{product.name}} does a fantastic job of churning out print jobs like nobody's business, but the quality is a little bit lacking. For documents, that's totally fine, but don't expect your pictures or graphics to jump off the page or impress anyone.

{{product.name}} is right at home in a modern office, specifically if there are many tech-savvy employees running around, as this printer can download apps and run them to increase its functionality and support for some of the more specialized office functions. If you're looking for an office printer for a small group, the {{product.name}} isn't a bad bet at all.

If, however, you don't need an office printer, and you're just looking for something to fill the role at home and make the occasional photo print or two, we'd strongly suggest you look elsewhere. The {{product.name}} is an office printer through and through, and isn't well-suited for that endeavor.

Science Introduction

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It functions well as an office printer, but pictures are not so good.

Color Performance

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Don't buy the HP Officejet 8600 if you plan on printing photos.

Using the included packet of colorlock paper will improve your color performance a bit, but you'll still be left wanting for more. Due to the fact that this printer is primarily used for office functions, you probably won't care so much about color accuracy, but the {{product.name}} managed to limit its struggles to bright colors.

By reproducing 41.34% of the AdobeRGB color gamut, the {{product.name}} has a somewhat narrow range of colors, but this should be sufficient for most documents—not so good for prints or photos, however. Comparatively speaking, this score is not good enough to compete with photo printers in any way.

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Documents print out exceptionally fast.

The {{product.name}} dawdles a little bit before printing to clean its heads and whatnot, but you won't die of boredom waiting. It scores fairly average marks here.

When you have a large print job, or need to get out the door quickly, the {{product.name}} is the printer you want. Not only can it churn out document pages at a rate of 2.9 pages per minute on its highest quality setting, turning down the quality to "Normal" (which is still fairly good) will get you your document at a rate of 9.43 pages per minute. Impressive!

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Detail Performance

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A decent contrast level, but nothing mind-blowing.

By producing a DMax measure of 2.46, the {{product.name}} gives a fair level of contrast in prints, but ultimately it does not matter as much given the function of the printer. Should you elect to print graphics in your documents, however, they won't be terrible.

Because the {{product.name}} is an office printer with a focus on document printing, details in pictures suffer. You'll notice that all the pictures in your documents are a little reminiscent of a pointillistic painting, or a comic book page, and that's no accident. Beyond that, though, the {{product.name}} does a fairly good job of handling color gradients.

A model wearing a pair of white high-waisted wide-leg jeans.
Credit: Reviewed / Aritzia
The 70s are calling—and they’re begging you to rock these Hi-Rise Wide Jeans immediately.

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Meet the tester

Chris Thomas

Chris Thomas

Staff Writer, Imaging

@cthomas8888

A seasoned writer and professional photographer, Chris reviews cameras, headphones, smartphones, laptops, and lenses. Educated in Political Science and Linguistics, Chris can often be found building a robot army, snowboarding, or getting ink.

See all of Chris Thomas's reviews

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