HP OfficeJet Pro 8710 All-in-One Wireless Printer with Instant Ink & Amazon Dash Replenishment | Black (M9L66A) | Perfect for Home Office & Small Business Printing Needs

(I promised I would update as I find more to report on this printer and I am back again at the end of August 2016 to let you know I found another reason to up my original low rating another star. This one is important. SEE UPDATE AT THE END)-------------------------I have been using HP printers for a VERY long time. I have also had the opportunity to use a lot of different brands of printers over the years, and have always come back to HP. HP has had issues at times, but for me, it has been an excellent quality printer for the most part. However, once I tested out this printer, I can see that something has changed.I have really tried to like this printer. I will do my best to make this review as brief as I can, but I will also try to outline the basic observations I have made with this printer. I plan to update more in the future as I continue to try to work with this, as it is something I am going to have to find a way to cope with. My current printer (HP Officejet K550 dtn) is on its way out and HP no longer supports it or sells printer heads for it.WHAT IS THIS PRINTER LIKE?First of all, you need to be sure you have the space to put this printer. It is rather large. If you have one of those compact computer desks with a retracting printer shelf, get ready to move the shelf way down almost to the bottom, keeping the bottom shelf for paper only. The top needs plenty of swing space to lift as well if you need to scan something.The screen on the front of the printer is very clear and easy to use. It is self explanatory when you set it up, guiding you through all of the steps. The printer comes with ink, basic instructions and a CDROM to set up the software. You can also get it online. This printer uses either wi-fi from your in house router that you have with internet or you can use the cloud online. You can also connect via USB port to a desktop or laptop if desired.PROBLEMS I HAVE ENCOUNTEREDI have not tried to print photos from cameras or anything like that due to regular printer quality being so low, I am just trying to make it look decent for regular printing needs. I will update should I try to use it for photos.INKFirst of all putting the ink into the unit was frustrating. I have never seen such rickety sockets for ink cartridges in all of my years using printers- even the really cheap ones that I didn't like too much. This was ridiculous. There is a spring in the socket and the ink cartridge (which is also cheaply made) is supposed to press in and lock. The problem is that they don't always want to stay locked in. I had a problem several times of ink cartridges popping back out and the printer would not run. I have NEVER had that kind of problem with any printer.SOFTWAREThe driver is really annoying. I am frustrated most of the time trying to use it. This printer is designed to be used by smartphones, tablets, laptops and a desktop. I have tried it with all four of these and the results are frustrating at best. Using android, it is very difficult to control the print and how it will turn out. Many times the pages are cut off and are not fit to page, and are really lousy looking. The laptop and desktop are also frustrating when used for online printing. I know there has to be more control somewhere, but it is not anywhere as intuitive and easy to use as it has been in the past. I do not have this hard wired into USB at this point, so perhaps things would be different at that point, but I am being hopeful here.PRINT QUALITYBesides being goofy looking, half cut off and adjustments not being easy to use, I have also had trouble with the ink printed on the page. When it does print, the quality of the print is horrible. I mean HORRIBLE. This looks like some of the lousy quality bubble jet printers I have used in the distant past (not all were lousy, just the lousy ones). The ink looks faded, very blurry and not strong colors at all like the other HP printers I have in my house.PAPER FEEDINGI have been spoiled. In the past HP printers have had a tendency to be fussy with paper feeding. Usually a year or two of feeding paper and then they really mess up. The current printer I have had for 8 years has had NO problems feeding paper. If something gets jammed on the rare occasion (Bent paper or something) it is a snap to fix and it still goes strong. This printer, however, is a different story. It feeds paper okay, but then it feeds through multiple papers, or halfway paper, etc. I am not impressed. I am using the exact same paper in my very old printer and it feeds through fine- it is not the paper.THE BOTTOM LINEI can no longer buy printer heads for my beloved K550 Officejet printer, the best HP printer I have ever had. I would rather use that in a moment. The ink is vivid, colorful, crisp, and fast. The HP Officejet Pro 8710 is such a disappointment in comparison that I have a hard time liking it. The software is not as easy to use as HP software in the past and I am not very happy with it. The printer itself is easy to set up although the ink cartridges seem cheap as well as the sockets they are supposed to be pressed into. I have had problems with printing being fit onto the pages, ink quality, as well as paper feeding.I will continue to work with this printer, since I am stuck with it, but I am so far unimpressed. Perhaps I will find some more positive things about it to report and I will update should that happen. At this point, I don't like to have to work so hard just to make a printer do what it is supposed to and has done without much effort in the past.I am giving this two stars at this point, but it is open to change in the future should I have better experiences with this printer over time.UPDATE May 31, 2016As I said I would, I have continued to try to work with this printer to see if I might be able to get more satisfactory results. I have printed out a photo which I had at the exact same time on two different printers so you can see the comparison. The HP Officejet Pro K550 has such amazing definition, contrast, etc, that I could print the photo on draft print and it would look perfect. This was done with regular ink printing on that printer. Again, I could have reduced it down to draft level and it still would look good.The HP Officejet Pro 8710 has almost no contrast, very grayish black, and a red tone to the photo which is awful. The K550 photo is much more true to life. The HP 8710 is not at all the level of performance that I am used to with HP printers.I will continue to work with the printer, but so far, I am disappointed. Should I have the need to attach it directly to my desktop instead of Wi-Fi, perhaps it would be different. For now, it is not great. If I can find solutions to my frustrations with this printer, I will update to let you know. For now, I am used to MUCH higher quality printing from HP printers.JULY 11,2016 UPDATEI wanted to amend my original rating to bump up my review one star. I have had the opportunity to use and interact with this printer a lot more and have found that there are some things that I have come to like about it that I didn't get to use much before.COPYINGThe copying feature is really nice. The paper sits in the feed slot and makes the printer kick in to prepare to copy the page. All I do is pick what I want to copy (Document, Photo, ID) and then the machine pulls in the paper, scans, and copies it and returns it out of the other slot. The result is a lot better than the photo results were when printed and sent from the same computer desktop that I previously posted. That leads me to wonder if the problem is in the drivers for the printer or if it just seems to do better when scanning in itself as a unit. The results for simple lined diagrams, illustrations and print are nice and accurate, unlike my photo experiences so far.INKThis ink is pigment based ink which is important if you are doing any kind of industrial labeling which needs to have permanency to it with those special labels.FURTHER UPDATES COMINGI will continue to update as I have a chance to get to know this printer more as I interact with it over time. If I can find out how to adjust the problems I have been having with it, I will surely let you all know and change my rating accordingly. I am not one to give up so easily so if I can improve the way that it has performed so far, I will let you know and pass it on. It has potential to be a great all in one printer, and I hope perhaps I can find ways to get it to work better.UPDATE JULY 24,2016 (THIS LOVE HATE RELATIONSHIP TAKES YET ANOTHER TURN)I promised I would update as I found more out about this printer and I am about to explain why I updated and added yet another star to my originally low rated review.Although I am still not thrilled with photo printing which is important to me that this printer does, it does do something else which is fantastic and has me thrilled to no end. I have had a need to print some high quality oil resistant labels. I could not afford to have them printed and wanted the creativity options to do my own. I came upon the Update: I have fixed the WiFi eco/sleep issue!!! Ignore the Firmware Update in the printer and web page when it says it's the most current...it's not if you are having this problem. You must 'manually' go to the HP software update page and choose the firmware update.Bad firmware ends with ...AR (WBP1CN1606AR). Good firmware ends with ...BR (WBP2CN1619BR).1. Go to:[...]2. Select Model.3. Click: Go directly to the software and driver results4. Click on Firmware, then Download, and follow instructions.IMPORTANT: Make sure you turn off and turn on the printer just before doing the update to make sure the printer is connected to the network.Note: 8710 only supports 802.11bg, NOT 802.11n, so you must make a 2.4GHz connection instead of a 5.0GHz channel. Most routers now broadcast dual channels, one with B/G and other the other N, so for most it's not an issue unless your WiFI is 'only' broadcasting on the 5.0GHz frequency.Additional occasional issues: If you are using the BR update and have problems, set a static IP address for the printer and change your printer port to a TCP/IP connection with that same address. Check to make sure your router is broadcasting the bg 2.4GHz band. I personally have two separate SSID's on my router with different names, which I just added 24 to the end of the existing bg 2.4GHz so that I can easily see what freq I am connecting to. Many devices today still don't support N, so this is a very helpful way to troubleshoot and even test the different freqs for speed and connectivity issues.***Original Post***If you are looking for a WiFi printer, DO NOT BUY THIS PRINTER!!! There is a known problem that HP has completely ignored and has not bothered to even attempt to fix, creating hundreds if not thousands of angry customers. This model will put it's WiFi card into sleep mode after just 2-3 minutes, even if the printer sleep itself is set to 15 minutes, which disconnects the printer and eliminates it's ability to wake up if you attempt to print from a PC or the online print service. You have to literally power the unit off and back on and then print your job across the WiFi or Internet. HP's solution to everyone has been move the printer beside your router, but that doesn't do anything at all except frustrate affected users as HP then shrugs their head and will no longer respond to your complaints.As I stated above, my sole purpose for purchasing this printer was to print across WiFi and through the HP Web-Enabled service. Since neither will work unless you send the job after turning the printer off and on and within 120-180 seconds of it connecting to the WiFi network, it deserves a well earned 1 star for the purposes of it's claimed features.