The HP Deskjet 3550 is an entry-level printer that's surprisingly fast and produces reasonably good-quality prints. However, it is let down by high ink costs.

The AU$99 Deskjet 3550 is print leader HP's latest offering for bargain hunters. It is hard to get past the mindset of a budget unit being excruciatingly slow and producing legible blots on paper. However, HP has something up its sleeve and we were caught unawares by this printer's nifty performance and quality.

HP appears to have taken a liking to the breadbox styling of the Deskjet 3420. The 3550 retains the same chassis with the cover clad in a darker shade of blue. With just one button, the power switch, it can't get much simpler than this. In case of a paper outage or paper jam, this button can also be used to reload or eject the sheet manually.

With its sights set firmly on the home market, the printer measures just 420 x 122 x 182mm and will fit virtually anywhere, allowing this unit to be hidden or tucked away easily. Similarly, the 2kg frame makes this inkjet one of the lightest around.

As with most consumer-oriented inkjets, setting up the 3550 is straightforward, although we encountered contradicting instructions. The quick setup poster suggests that you connect the printer to the PC before installing the drivers. However, the CD installation software indicates otherwise; informing the user not to connect the printer before the program is done. Other than that discrepancy, the process is straightforward and you'll be up and running in under 10 minutes. The other plus is a USB cable comes bundled with the unit.

The 3550's specifications are 14ppm (pages per minute) and 10ppm for monochrome and colour, respectively. This puts the Deskjet slightly ahead of the other entry-level units (Epson C43UX and Lexmark Z605). In our speed tests, this model completed our draft-quality 10-page test under 1.5 minute, or about 6.9ppm. This is really good considering it beat the more expensive (by AU$200) Canon i470D, albeit by a narrow margin.

In the photo print runs, this Deskjet also excelled, annihilating its other budget-class rivals by an astonishing margin. The 3550 took a rather short 7 minutes and 40 seconds when compared with the 20 minutes required by the Epson C43UX and 29 minutes for Lexmark's Z605. Similarly, for 4R prints, the 2.5 minutes taken by the 3550 was only a fraction of the 13.5 minutes needed by Epson's offering.

In terms of print quality, text output was average, producing legible 2.5-point font size text. The inkjet's colour graphics were also good overall with dithering visible only on draft prints. Even with the "low" 2,400dpi rating by today's standards, the unit managed to produce pleasing photos with vibrant colours, betraying only a tinge of banding. As expected (and disappointingly), this entry-level printer does not support "borderless" prints.

The 3550 uses the HP27 (black) and HP28 (colour) ink cartridges which the manufacturer claims are good for 220 black-and-white sheets and 190 pages of colour. At AU$39 and AU$46, respectively, this reads at AU$0.18 per monochrome and AU$0.24 per colour output--which is expensive.

The 3550 is HP's most affordable inkjet for the retail market. In our lab tests, the unit's performance and print quality were competitive with other more expensive, higher-end models. If not for the high running costs, this printer would rank well and come highly recommended. However, if all you need are occasional but fast prints, this Deskjet will fit your bill.

HP Deskjet 3550
Company: Hewlett-Packard
Price: AU$99
Distributor: Selected reseller
Phone: 13 23 47

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