I really have better things to do
I dislike the HP printers. It's not that they are bad. In fact my problem isn't the printers themselves. It's the software. It's big, clunky and it makes the installation of a printer into a chore.
I just spent today trying to make the printer work properly. It finally got an IP number and was connected to the network. So all I needed to do was to get it working. There was an installation CD with the printer but it didn't have the Windows 7 driver. That's because there is no Windows 7 driver for the Color LaserJet CP 2025dn printer. The instruction and the site say one needs to download and install the Universal Driver. This is untrue. I mean sure it does make the printer work and even print in duplex but not in colour.
To make the printer print in colour you need completely different driver. You need the Color LaserJet CP2020 Series PCL6 driver. But then the printer looses the ability to print in duplex. It's because the drivers installs with option for duplex set as Not Installed. One needs to go to Printer properties then to the Device Settings and manually change the Duplex to Installed.
Then I went back to another building were the printer just like this was in use for about a year. I was told when I arrived it was without duplex. This was untrue of course. I wonder how many people out there I convinced they got the version without duplex even though it's untrue. All those trees.
In my previous work we had XP on computers. The installation disks for that HP printers should be working just fine. The installation always crashed couple of times before it went through. It was better to allow Windows to just find the driver. Especially since once again it sometimes installed without duplex option. More randomly in this case.
I don't know who writes those driver installation programs but if installing your printer needs an someone who is tech savvy to make it work properly then there is some very serious problem with your software. This is something that installation software should be able to detect. You write for people whose ability ends at putting the right disk in and clicking through setup program. If making the device work involves wading through misinformation and obscure options it's not user friendly. It's a puzzle to solve. And most people won't even be able to do it.
If I'd ever decide to buy printer for myself it won't be HP.
I just spent today trying to make the printer work properly. It finally got an IP number and was connected to the network. So all I needed to do was to get it working. There was an installation CD with the printer but it didn't have the Windows 7 driver. That's because there is no Windows 7 driver for the Color LaserJet CP 2025dn printer. The instruction and the site say one needs to download and install the Universal Driver. This is untrue. I mean sure it does make the printer work and even print in duplex but not in colour.
To make the printer print in colour you need completely different driver. You need the Color LaserJet CP2020 Series PCL6 driver. But then the printer looses the ability to print in duplex. It's because the drivers installs with option for duplex set as Not Installed. One needs to go to Printer properties then to the Device Settings and manually change the Duplex to Installed.
Then I went back to another building were the printer just like this was in use for about a year. I was told when I arrived it was without duplex. This was untrue of course. I wonder how many people out there I convinced they got the version without duplex even though it's untrue. All those trees.
In my previous work we had XP on computers. The installation disks for that HP printers should be working just fine. The installation always crashed couple of times before it went through. It was better to allow Windows to just find the driver. Especially since once again it sometimes installed without duplex option. More randomly in this case.
I don't know who writes those driver installation programs but if installing your printer needs an someone who is tech savvy to make it work properly then there is some very serious problem with your software. This is something that installation software should be able to detect. You write for people whose ability ends at putting the right disk in and clicking through setup program. If making the device work involves wading through misinformation and obscure options it's not user friendly. It's a puzzle to solve. And most people won't even be able to do it.
If I'd ever decide to buy printer for myself it won't be HP.