Review: HP Envy 100 printer

HP's Envy 100. Photo / Supplied

If, like me, your first introduction to inkjet printers was a piece of hardware that had more in common with a beige bread-bin than a serious computing peripheral, then be prepared to have your existing view of inkjets turned on its head by HPs Envy 100 inkjet printer.

While most printer manufacturers have continued to launch "me-too" multi-function printers featuring bog standard print, copy, scan, and fax functions, HP has taken printing online.

Equipped with a nifty colour touch screen on its front panel, the Envy takes a leaf out of Apple's book and encourages users to use their fingers to explore online apps downloadable from HP's ePrinterCenter. For those out of out of finger-swishing reach, text and images can be sent to the envy for printing via email.

Look & Feel

Finished in silver and black, the Envy provides a new (and much needed) refresh for a market that has long been dominated by boring boxes.

Looks-wise the Envy is definitely not boring, nor is it beige. Its low-profile, rectangular design is striking, and could easily be mistaken for a chunky, high-end laptop.

On the connectivity front, HP appears to have been fairly stingy, supplying only one USB port located on the left side of the Envy's rump.

Whilst the lack of an ethernet port is disappointing, the Envy does sport wireless connectivity. This not only means less cable clutter, but also allows the printer to be put anywhere in the house or office where there's Wi-Fi coverage.

The Envy's new low profile form factor may look the part but there's one fairly major drawback. In keeping the envy slim and sleek, HP's printer designers built a small slide-out paper tray that can only hold 80 sheets of A4 paper.

While there are cheaper inkjets out there that can hold more, chances are that this won't be an issue unless you're printing batches of large documents.

Eprinting & other bits

HP has taken a bold step with ePrinting. Although the Envy will print from PCs or Macs, it can also print documents sent to it via email. Email-based printing aside, HP also has a bevy of downloadable apps that are accessible from the Envy's touch screen. These range from printable recipes through to weather forecasts and Sudoku puzzles.

The Envy won't break any print speed records, It managed to squirt out only eight pages per minute for A4 mono prints. A key hold-up to print speeds was the Envy's motorised output tray which had to extend before any print jobs could begin. Sluggish print speeds aside, the Envy 100 also had automatic duplexing, which is pretty impressive given its petite form factor.

Print quality, whilst passable, proved average. Photo prints on photo paper passed muster at a casual glance, but a closer look revealed dithering issues (the breakup of solid colours into dot patterns). On plain paper text output was however fine for everyday use.

The Envy's flatbed scanner is accessed using a hinged cover on its top panel. Digital camera owners were also catered for thanks to direct printing off of a built-in memory card reader (accessible via a flip-up panel on the Envy's front). Using the Envy for scanning produced crisp, detailed images.

Verdict

Priced at a reasonable $464.57, there's a lot to like about the Envy. Stylish looks and wireless connectivity means it can go pretty much anywhere. Add in a bunch of nifty (and free) downloadable online print applications and the ability to email text and images to the device and the Envy is a pretty good bet for an all-in-one inkjet/scanner/copier for home.

HP Envy inkjet printer/scanner/copier
$484.57

Specs

Speed: 27 ppm black, 22 ppm colour (max)
Print Resolution: Black: Up to 600 dpi
Colour: Up to 4800 x 1200
Print Cartridges: 2 (1x black, 1x tri-colour)
Scan Resolution: 1200 x 1200 dpi
Standard Connectivity: 1 USB 2.0, WiFi 802.11n
Paper Handling: 80-sheet input tray, 25-sheet output tray
Duty Cycle: To 1,000 pages per month