Customer Ratings & Reviews

The ink cartridge curse is near its end! Inkjet printers with separate cartridges for each color were the best thing in hardcopy technology since color ink. Now, we've advanced to saying good-bye to those pesky (expensive) cartridges entirely: Enter the tank. Printers where all you need to do is pour more ink in from a plastic bottle. Unboxing: don't be like me (ignoring safety "suggestions"). Do NOT use a knife to open the box. I was lucky. The ink bottles are RIGHT INSIDE. [see photo] The initial setup was a bit more involved than most modern printer setups I've done. Fortunately, HP provided a link to a very good setup video that covered two models of the printer. I elected to follow that instead of the printed instructions, especially since there was at least one place where the printed instructions didn't realize that I had the lesser of the two models it was intended to cover. The print heads (one black and one color) had to be unpacked and installed according to proper steps, and it didn't work the first time. It worked fine on the second attempt. HP really didn't want anything moving around during shipping, so you'll need to remove a plastic support from the print head carriage. [photo] This must be done as they describe in the video. I thought about the mechanical engineer who spent the time to design it. Telling his dad his latest design must have been somewhat anticlimactic. The print heads had matching little orange inserts, but it was unclear why. [photo] Later, I realized that you should save the ones for the print heads to prevent getting ink all over should you take the print heads out. I don't know why you'd want to do that, unless they need periodic cleaning or...replacement (like ink cartridges?!? I hope not...) The best thing about this printer is of course the ability to purchase bulk ink, eliminating ink cartridges. The second best thing is the set of four windows clearly visible on the front of the unit. You can actually see how much of each color ink you still have. [photo] The worst thing about this printer is the tiny paper tray. I really miss the first small office printer I bought for home use - it held a full ream of paper. Just crack open the paper and set the whole thing in there at once. This printer is like so many others, requiring you to come up with a staging area for the rest of the paper. I expected somewhat faster print speed, but it's not agonizing. Wireless printing is a big plus. Since the last three printers I've owned have been wireless, I no longer need to keep a print server running. I usually shy away from manufacturer's specialized software, even though it promises all manner of nifty features. The last Lexmark printer required theirs, and it was horrible. The Windows drivers usually work just fine for most printers. In this case, the HP Smart app for the iPhone is handy and makes it possible to do useful things like checking the printer status, getting the printer's email address (you can email to the printer), etc. It isn't super obvious what your ink level is (might be nice to know if you are traveling and want to check remotely). The Windows version is unobtrusive, and can be handy at times. You can still print to this printer as with any other installed on your Windows computer. The only truly troubling thing is that, at the time of writing this review, there were NO sources for replacement ink, including HP! I am reluctant to sign up for HP's Instant Ink program, mostly because I don't want a surprise shipment (and charge!) for whatever HP feels like charging at that moment.

HP Smart Tank 551 Wireless All in One Printer The color inkjet printer is being re-introduced to those of us who print lots of color pictures or other color print projects. The resulting photographs are brilliant. Colorful. Fairly fast. And, the mechanism feels like it will last awhile, which is important considering that this printer encourages printing. Lots of printing. If you’re like me, you may have given up on printing photos at home. I found everything about the previous generation color inkjets to be aggravating. Expensive, low capacity cartridges, that never actually seemed empty until one depleted ink compartment required you to replace them all. Or, the heads dried out as you tried to keep usage low. You didn’t dare buy 3rd party replacements because they might not be compatible. The HP SMART 551 and the rest of HP’s large tank printer family are doing inkjets right. Comparatively huge ink bottles are each replaced independently, as needed, at a reasonable cost. Even the heads appear to be replaceable, and the persistent priming from the large reservoirs should prevent drying problems. The overall low cost of supplies will encourage everyone in your family to print pictures, embrace color print projects and concentrate on having fun. It’s a nice change. SETUP: HP’s instructions offer very nice, large diagrams accompanied by the fewest words possible. Follow the diagrams carefully. The bottle mates snuggly with the reservoir keeping the ink where it belongs. The installation of the 2 “ink head/cartridges” requires careful repositioning, alignment and some serious push to get them into the right place. All of this is accomplished while reaching into the body of the printer through the limited view entrance. No hints. I had to repeat some actions to get the printer ready for the next step. I predict more than the usual number of support calls. Connecting to Wireless: This started a little ugly, but ended very well. I wanted to first connect to my XR phone, so I downloaded the HP Smart App and followed the directions (to the extent I could understand them) to get the printer onto my home wireless network, I have no doubt it was me, not fully understanding when it was HP’s temporary network or my home network that I was joining. And, of course, I have 3 networks in my home, and using the mobile setup, it was impossible to know to which one the printer was attempting to connect. No matter. I gave up on this approach and moved on to connecting to my Mac Powerbook using the HP “123” site. Laptop wireless connections: Now the process was greatly simplified and instructions were precisely matched to what I was seeing. HP really understands the intricacies of Mac setup, directing me to the correct system or network settings. I was ready to print in a few minutes. From there, the HP guidance got my mobile connection up and running. Once the printer was online, I didn’t even have to load software onto my wife’s phone or tablet because they recognized and easily printed without fuss. I eventually installed HP Smart Print App for more control. Like I said, it was probably my problem. Paper handling was reliable. This is my preferred “gravity” feed design. Paper capacity seems low although this is rarely a problem for photo printing with frequent size or finish changes being typical. Minimal space is needed from the rear, close to vertical feed, and overall weight is less than I’m used to. CONCLUSIONS: My first printing efforts were on letter sized glossy photo paper. This printer creates brilliantly colorful photos when your images are rich with color. Get premium glossy paper to fully appreciate the color intensity and sharpness. Compared to the local photo processor I found the HP prints to be superior, with clean, pure colors. Color brochures were reasonably colorful and printed quickly. All efforts to connect wirelessly after the setup are flawless. The printer is always ready. Expenses for replacement ink should be reasonable. Whether you are need a color printer for an office or a classroom, or you’re a budding photographer, this is a great printer choice. Recommended.

This printer is amazing. Has wireless connectivity which allows me to print from anywhere in the house.

This printer should be in everyone's home. It is not that big. Looks great. In fact, sizewise it looks like any other printer and is stylish. But the capacity is huge. Wireless and blue-tooth connectivity is fast and precise. Photo-printing is crisp. Normal BW printing is as desired. Ink life is astonishing. I mean there is no bad thing I can discuss about this product. The app works seamlessly. Super highly recommended.