The HP Virtual Focus Group- Review Post #1

HP contacted me maybe a week and a half ago about participating in their focus group, and I agreed. We will be comparing two printers- a HP Photosmart C6380 and a Kodak ESP 7- in our home for six weeks and deciding which one of the printers gives us the best quality and value overall. Us being my husband and I.

I had all the items shipped to my Moms house, since I live on a huge hill that UPS doesn't like to drive up. Mom calls this afternoon and ask "Jo, did you buy some computer stuff?" Pretty vague huh? I was like "Umm.. probably." I am always shipping stuff to her house. She says "There are 3 big boxes on my porch, so they are probably yours." Me being the airhead I usually am, could not figure out what I ordered that would be in 3 big boxes. I call DH. "After you pick up Bailey go by Moms and get my stuff." Dh comes home and looks at me with that "What did u do" look, and says "Why do u need two new printers?" I had forgot to mention that I was going to be doing this focus group to him. Once I explained, he was in a much better spirit about it.

We pack in the boxes and I am like a kid in a candy store. I have to check out every detail of everything. Of course I had to snap some pics as well.

Pictured are the following items that I will be using during this six week period.

HP Photosmart C6380 All-in-One Printer

Kodak ESP7 All-in-One Printer

USB 2.0 Cable (Two)

HP 564 XL Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black, and Photo Black Ink Cartridges (Two sets)

Kodak Five-Color and Black Ink Cartridges (Two sets)

HP Advanced Glossy Photo Paper, 4x6 in (Three), and 8.5x11 inch (One)

Kodak Premium Photo Paper Gloss, 4x6 in (Three), and 8.5x11 inch (One)

Third-Party Plain Paper, 8.5x11 inch (Two)

That is enough stuff for me to print 700 photos and 1000 documents!

For the duration of the six week testing period, I will need to print at least 5 photos and 15 text documents a week. I will print the same documents and photos from both printers. Then I fill out a weekly log of the number and type of pages I printed and when I needed to replace the ink cartridges, and will need to print of default mode as much as possible for fair comparisons.

If I were to go to the store and buy a printer based on packaging alone, I would probably have picked the HP. It is just more appealing to me. It says Photosmart right on the box and I normally print a lot of photos. However the Kodak would have caught my eye because of the Save $110 a year on ink that they have on their box.

When opening the boxes to install the printers, I noticed that both printers were packaged nicely, but there was a little more boxing in the Kodak than the HP. So there is another point for HP. I think the least amount of packaging possible is best for our environment.

The Kodak was much harder to get out of the box than the HP.

The printers are about the same size width wise, but the HP is a little taller than the Kodak. The Kodak weighs a lot more than the HP. It is really heavy.

I like the color and design of the HP better than the Kodak. The grey/silver/white just looks better here in my living-room than the black.

We are pretty tough on our electronics. The HP seems to be more 'sturdy' even though it weighs less than the Kodak. The pieces to the paper tray, photo tray, and scanner lid are not as flimsy as they are on the Kodak. Yet the power cord to the Kodak is much more heavy duty than the HP.

I did read the instructions provided by the companies, and I still had a little trouble installing the Kodak, but not enough to stress about. They both installed fairly quickly, and had a nice set of directions with photos. I liked that the HP printer has a video showing you how to install the ink right on the printer display screen.

It takes longer to insert the ink in the HP thank the Kodak because the HP has five cartridges to insert and the Kodak only has two. However, I like that the HP has a regular black and a photo black. Instead of just one.

I would say it took an hour overall to install both printers. This includes moving my printer and cleaning off a place for an extra. I hooked both printers up via USB cables, because I have my router turned off right now. However both printers can be used wirelessly if need be.

So, that is it for now, but I will be reporting back a lot over the next six weeks with my comparisons.