HP OfficeJet 3830 Review

The HP OfficeJet 3830 is a great entry-level printer with a decent standard sheet capacity of 60. This best-selling printer has a flatbed design for scanning and copying, and its built-in faxing functionality allows for the storage of incoming faxes even after paper runs out. The printer can store up to 99 pages of fax in memory and has a fax printing speed of 20 pages per minute. Its impressive functionality ranks it as the best all-in-one printer you can get, especially if you want to stick to a tight budget.

HP OfficeJet 3830

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Why We Like It – HP OfficeJet 3830

Performance

The All-in-one printer performs quite well compared to many of the other choices in its price range. It spots an automatic document feeder that allows you to load multiple documents into the feeder for scanning or copying, all within one operation, unlike the Canon TS5120, which doesn’t have an automatic document feeder. It also lets you print in black or white if the color cartridge is empty, though you can only do this for a short while before you have to replace the color ink cartridge. It has a print speed of 8.5 pages per minute at work, though this scales down to 2.7 pages per minute for color docs – clearly no match for the Brother Monochrome Laser Printer or other monochrome printers like the HP Laserjet 4PA41A. Photographers will be happy to hear that the HP printer can print borderless edge-to-edge photos. In case you prefer duplex printing, check out our Hp Laserjet Pro M148FDW review

Design

The HP OfficeJet 3830 is compact and looks a lot like the HP OfficeJet 5255 Wireless Printer. It measures 8.5 by 17.2 by 14.3 inches, which doesn’t take up that much space on your work desk. Regarding connectivity, it doesn’t have ethernet support, but it works through a WiFi network connection or a Wi-Fi direct connection from a mobile device like a smartphone. You can also decide to connect it to your PC through a USB or print through either AppleAirPrint or Google Cloud Print. This Hp Officejet 5255 review offers a great alternative photo printer, for those who prefer wireless printing.

Value

Just like the HP Envy 5055 Wireless Photo Printer, the HP OfficeJet 3830 doesn’t do too bad with a monthly duty cycle of 1000 pages. The printer also helps keep your costs down, but only if you’re part of HP’s Instant Ink monthly subscription plan, much like the HP Officejet Pro 8620 All-in-One. The plan gets you Ink Cartridges from HP every month according to the feedback it gets from your printer regarding your rate of use. The first three months are free, but thereafter, you can print up to 300 pages or photos per month at 3.5 cents per page. This is much better compared to the 9 cents for monochrome or the 21 cents for color prints that you’ll pay outside the subscription.

HP OfficeJet 3830 Wrap Up

The HP OfficeJet 3830 is a decent choice that guarantees top-tier print quality at a price that won’t hurt your pocket. It comes with HP Photo Creation software and drivers for photo editing and produces good-looking photos on HP photo paper. Its only shortcoming is the lack of ability to print or scan both sides of the paper in one operation, but other than that, it’s a good business inkjet for low-volume work.