The HP Officejet Pro K550 is a four - color inkjet pressman aimed at small office staff and venues that require a average volume of colour printing . It costs more than most four - color , ecumenical - purpose inkjets , but it can hold more newspaper , and its higher capacity ink cartridges can print more pages than most universal - purpose inkjets . So this printer ask less sustenance from substance abuser . It ’s fast and it does a respectable problem on photos as well as charts and graph . Though its text prints were n’t exactly optical maser - sharp , text output was like to most inkjets .
Setup and installation of the printer was straightforward : The four individual ink cartridges load through the front of the printer . The cartridges are available in both high and stock capacities , but even the lower capacity ink tank have at least the same estimated page payoff as the higher capacity cartridges usable in other inkjets , such as the HP Deskjet 5940 ( ) . The K550 ’s high - capacitance cartridges are clearly the way to go , giving you Sir Frederick Handley Page take three times as much as the lower electrical capacity cartridges , for about 50 percentage more money . Two photographic print heads , one for Black and Yellow , and one for Cyan and Magenta , are installed separately . HP count on that the cartridges can print 41,500 pages before needing to be supersede .
The pressman is very fast , speedier than any of our recently quiz inkjets in two of three test – and placing second in the third test . The printer ’s speed does not sacrifice print quality . Although its textual matter could have been sharper , it impress impressive color photos on sheeny paper and did well on our plain paper graphics test , deliver liquid gradient and unbroken curving personal credit line .
There are status lights on the front of the printer for each individual cartridge and for each of the print heads . The social unit employ a standard power cord — not a powerfulness brick — and connects to your Mac via USB 2.0 . It comes with a candle containing manuals and drivers for Mac OS X. connection versions of the printer that let in automatic duplexing are available for $ 299 .
Timed Trials
Scale = minute : Seconds
jury tests
Scale = Excellent , Very honorable , Good , Flawed , Unacceptable
Specifications
Macworld’s buying advice
If you are sharing a color inkjet printer at abode or in a small workgroup , you should conceive the HP Officejet Pro K550 . Its text printing could be acute , but its fast mark speeds , roommate paper trays , and available high - mental ability ink cartridges , allow you to expend more clip printing than hold off or loading supplies .
[ James Galbraith isMacworld ’s lab manager . ]
