If you were ever in love with an old printer you used to have and find it to be discontinued, then there is an obvious process for you to go through to find something that you can have as much faith in as the old printer you want to replace.
Looking For Your Printers Cousins
Just follow its bloodline. If you are finding which printer directly replaced the printer you loved so dearly to be difficult, look for something in the same series. If you can’t find something the same you will most likely find something similar. As time goes by, technology improves, so the chances are you are going to find something better.
Let’s use the example of the HP DeskJet F340 and follow it through to find a suitable replacement. Buying an older model can sometimes be a futile exercise as in most cases they do not become any cheaper, in fact they often increase in price.
Whether you can find a new one online or buy a used one from an individual seller is doubtful but going with an older printer can be beneficial in some ways when you can locate them.
The biggest benefits are ease of use, and lower ink consumption. In this review, we will be looking at the HP DeskJet F340. When it was possible to find one online you could expect to pay around $350. A refurbished one will cost around $100 – $150. And a used one will cost around $50.
Obviously, paying $350 for an outdated printer makes no sense. So, unless you like burning money, that is not a good option. If you’re a trusting soul, then you can spend $50 and buy a used one. This will save you the most money, but don’t be surprised if you run into problems fast.
The best option is probably to buy a refurbished model. If you look hard enough, you can find one for close to $100. A refurbished model is almost always as good as a new model.
How to Trace the Family Tree
Finding out what directly replaced a certain model is not always possible. Occasionally on Amazon, if the printer you are looking at is there but has no stock, then sometimes there is a link available which leads you to a similar machine that is available on Amazon.
Another method is to look at the website of the manufacturer. In some cases, it may point you towards its replacement but if not, in HP’s case, you have the option of live assistance. You can simply ask the agent online who will quickly advice you as to the replacement model of any old printer.
If you have no luck, then simply look through printers in the same series, as in this case the HP DeskJet series.
Click Here For Full Feature List and User Reviews
Before we get into all the good things this printer could offer you, it should first be stated that this model prints 3 pages per minute. If it were competing in today’s world, that would be like a turtle attempting to race with greyhounds. It would be left in the dust … and lapped … several times. Okay, I’m sure you get the point. The speed of this machine is downright awful. This is the primary reason this model is best for home use only. It should not be considered for anything else.
Now let’s look at the good stuff. The greatest asset for the HP DeskJet F340 is that it’s only 12.2 inches wide and 5.9 inches high, making it extremely portable. It’s also a good option if you have very limited space. But based on its light weight and compactness, its best role is as an on-the-road printer. It’s also a good fit for Notebook PC and PowerBook users.
The DeskJet F340 comes with a few good features. One is the HP Color Kit, which includes a color print cartridge and storage container. This will allow you to exit the world of black print only for older printers and enter the world of vivid color.
To take advantage of this, just snap in the color cartridge. From there, hit the print button. The HP Color Kit in combination with HP ColorSmart technology will provide you with what used to be very advanced color technology. HP Resolution Enhancement will also automatically enhance colors, images, and also adjust red eye.
Most printers, new and old, often have a lot of negatives. In this case, there is really only one negative, which is a lack of speed. So, it really comes down to how much quality you need on your prints and how important speed is to you. Though not at today’s levels, the quality is there; the speed is not.
Click Here To Find the Best Price on This Printer
The HP DeskJet F340 can print from anywhere. That is its biggest selling point. The lack of speed is a big setback, but if that’s not an issue for you, then it’s a well built machine that should be considered if you’re ever lucky enough to find one used, refurbished but don’t consider new at the price tag of $350.
These alternative suggestions will tell you why.
Relatives at Bargain Prices
Looking through the HP DeskJet series multifunction printers, interesting options pop up. The HP DeskJet F4480 Inkjet is a natural replacement being a printer scanner copier in the same mould. The first thing of note is its price at less than $100 on Amazon on a good day. On a bad day, you are looking at around $140 which does not really make this model overpriced.
With maximum speeds of 28 ppm black and 22 ppm color it’s like a rocket compared to the old F340. It will kick out a 4×6 inch borderless photo in around 26 seconds. The maximum resolution is 4800 x 1200 optimized dpi and you are able to produce borderless printing up to 8.5 x 11 in.
The scanner is a flatbed with an optical resolution of up to 1200 dpi. It will turn out copies at 28cpm black and 22cpm color, an 80 sheet input tray and a decent monthly duty cycle of around 3000 sheets meaning over a 7 day week you can print out 100 sheets a day without overstressing your machine.
Second Generation
A suggested replacement for the F4480 on the HP website is the Hewlett Packard 3050A Wireless Color Photo Printer which again the first thing you will notice is the price of this printer, copier and scanner at a mere $80. It matches the resolution at 1200-dpi optical and a maximum scan size 8.5″ x 11.7″.
It can provide you with borderless 4” x 6”-inch color photos and has a 60 sheet input tray but a little less of a workhorse with a monthly duty cycle of 1000 sheets a month.
The moral being, why look for an antique when newer brighter faster improved and even cheaper model is out there new. These are just a couple of easy follow up leads which took no great amount of research to find, simply by looking up the ancestry of the F340. As you can see the bloodline just gets stronger.
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