HP Officejet Pro 276dw MFP

The HP Officejet Pro 276dw MFP is in the odd position of being head-to-head competition for two different Epson printers. The two Epson models?the Editors' Choice Epson WorkForce Pro WP-4533 and the Epson WorkForce Pro WP-4590?are nearly identical to each other, except that the WP-4590 adds support for PCL and Postscript and costs about $100 more. The HP printer includes PCL and PostScript like the Epson WP-4590, but is priced like the Epson WP-4533. That's enough to make it Editors' Choice as well, especially if you need PCL or Postscript.

All three of these printers offer speed and paper handling comparable to similarly-priced lasers, making them serious contenders as an alternative to a color-laser MFP for a micro or small office or workgroup. All three also offer a similar set of MFP features, with the ability to print, scan, and fax, including over a network; work as standalone copiers and fax machines; and scan to a USB memory key. In addition, the 276dw lets you print from a USB key, and it lets you print from or scan to a memory card.

All three printers also offer mobile printing. Connect to the Internet through a network connection, using either Ethernet or Wi-Fi, and you can print through the cloud. If you have a Wi-Fi access point on your network, you can also print from iOS devices using AirPrint. In addition, the 276dw lets you print from other mobile devices using the HP ePrint App, and it goes a little further than either Epson model by adding support for Wireless Direct, HP's equivalent to Wi-Fi Direct. Even if you don't have a Wi-Fi access point on your network, with Wireless Direct you can print from you iThing or other mobile device by connecting directly to the printer.

Paper Handling and Setup
The 276dw's paper handling comes up a little short compared with both Epson models, because it lacks a multipurpose tray. However it's otherwise a close match not only to the Epson printers but to most color laser MFPs in this price range, with a 250-sheet tray and duplexing standard. That's enough input capacity for most micro or small offices, but if you need more, you can add a second 250-sheet tray ($79.99 direct) for a total of 500 sheets.

For scanning, the 276dw offers a legal-size, rather than the more usual letter-size, flatbed, plus a 50-page automatic document feeder (ADF). Even better, the ADF can scan in duplex, by turning the page over when it scans. And with duplexing available for both scanning and copying, the Copy menu includes options to let you copy both single- and double-sided originals to your choice of single- or double-sided copies.

As you might expect, this level of paper handling requires a large printer, at 12.4 by 19.5 by 18.1 inches (HWD). Assuming you have room for it, however, setup is absolutely typical. For my tests, I connected it to a network using its Ethernet port and installed the driver and software on a Windows Vista system.

Speed and Output Quality
I timed the 276dw on our business applications suite (using QualityLogic's hardware and software for timing), at an effective 5.9 pages per minute (ppm). That's essentially tied with the both WP-4590, at 5.7 ppm and the WP-4533, at 6.0 ppm. (At these speeds, a range of 0.3 ppm isn't statistically significant.) It's also faster than the color laser Editors' Choice Dell 1355cnw Multifunction Color Printer, at only 4.5 ppm. Photo speed is reasonably fast as well, averaging 50 seconds for a 4 by 6.

Output quality for business applications is a strong point, with top-tier text for an inkjet MFP and par-quality graphics. Photos on photo paper were at the low end of a very tight range where most inkjet MFPs fall, but better than any color laser.

Text output is a touch short of what I'd want for a resume or for serious desktop publishing, with edges on characters a bit less crisp than you'd get with a laser, but it's easily good enough for any business use, even with small fonts. It's also water resistant enough so it didn't smudge at all when I rubbed it with a wet tissue.

Par-quality graphics translates to the output being good enough for any internal business need, up to and including PowerPoint handouts. Most people would also consider it good enough for reports going to a client when it's important to convey a sense of professionalism.

Photos on photo paper qualified as true photo quality, but at the low end of the range for an inkjet MFP, or roughly equivalent to the low end of what you can expect from drugstore prints. This isn't much of an issue for a printer meant for office use, however. The quality is notably better than you would get with almost any color laser.

Quite simply, the HP Officejet Pro 276dw MFP delivers a lot of printer for the price. Its more notable features include laser-class speed and text quality, paper handling suitable for light to medium-duty printing by small office standards, the ability to copy and scan two-sided originals, and support for PCL and Postscript. That's more than enough to make it Editors' Choice. If you're in the market for a laser-class MFP for a micro or small office, the HP Officejet Pro 276dw MFP may well be the printer you want.

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