HP review: printer is hopeless! 49

The HP Certified obviously You either did not test this product or may have been the lucky guy who got one that worked? 6 months of paper jams especially with thinner paper or two side printing is no coincidence the manual says you must do many things to even get this printer to work fan paper, align perfectly,a sticky tray and don't push tray in too hard? Drivers are outdated however there is and update, and malfunction. Instructions on toolbox are very complex and non user friendly. I fell for the discounted price now I know why it was discounted. Also the large ink wells was what I needed however Office Depot does not that them for recycling! Fast isn't fast if you spend most of your times clearing jams and try to get the paper out have fun if you don't loss it in the process.

Update!

I just spoke with a technician at HP (a person who spoke English and was very easy to understand - from now on, I'm through with first-level, poor-English tech support ...) He said that yes, there are issues with the K550 printhead design.

Apparently the wrong algorithm was used in the K550 printhead design - the black ink, which dries faster than color inks, was supposed to be handled differently by the printer, but was not. This means that unless you print frequently, there is a good chance that your black/yellow printhead may clog up with black ink and stop working. (That's exactly what happened to me recently - I got a replacement printhead from HP 2 weeks ago, used it infrequently, and it was toast, as of 2 days ago.)

He said the new HP 5400 inkjets, which are the successor to the K550, have a different design, where the ink is kept flowing through the printhead. That eliminates the clog-up issue. The latest firmware update to the K550 may help with that issue, but it may not...

Word to the wise: skip the K550 and go for the 5400. It has a cheaper duplexing solution as well, which for any serious printing is a must-have.

Wow, I have a list of complaints a mile long about the K550 - and more visits to HP support than I can even count. When the K550 works, it's just fine - but numerous paper jams and terrible print head issues do make it a "brain-dead" design. A zillion firmware updates is a sign that something has gone terrible wrong in design.

I have received over 10 replacement print heads from HP and 2 or 3 new K550 printers, all under warranty. How does HP make any money on this? Now they are telling me to flash the firware again, and the utility refuses to work on either of my computers. So they are offering to send me another free printer. I just want one that works!

By the way, Mark Busby, I discovered that the secret to getting access to the printheads is to 1) open the lid 2) press and hold the paper feed button for about 10-15 seconds. The printheads will move to the left where you can remove them. I recommend a manual cleaning with a good cleaning solution, not just the "clean printhead" option from the dialog.

Bottom line - this printer is like your dream date, only with an IQ of 15...

Purchased the Pro K550 online. Stopped printing black quite quickly. Tried cleaning printhead first, but did not solve. Changed cartridge, but still same problem. Further, it does not help that the instruction manual tells how to install the printhead when printer is first received, but not how to install new, replacement printheads - the printhead carrier is in installation position when new, but needs to be repositioned to install a replacement printhead - and there is no guide how to do this.

I agree - Printer is a month old, Jams and now is useless as it only prints on half of a page, tried this on multiple computers, same issue. Flashed the firmware, same issue - Must have bad paper sensors .

I have a case open with Hp right now!

Sean,

The officejet k550 SUCKS! I don't care if you work on them or not. I partially agree with K Pani. The design is ok but the operation SUCKS. These models are always jamming up and they go through ink like crazy.

I regret the purchase of this printer. I have more paper jambs on this printer than 15 or 20 other printers I have owned. When a page is printed, a load "KLUNK" is heard throughout the office. Then it prints. With Windows XP Professional, and Word, when the print button is pressed, it takes 5 to 7 seconds before the "KLUNK" and then it starts. Don't try to tell me this is "state of the art", it is poor performance, time wise, poor paper handling, and I believe I have to change the ink cartridges more often. Also, I know that the industry stops the printers when the ink get low, but there should be a way to print with a low ink cartridge. In a pinch, I know there are a few pages left in the cartridge.

This is, by far, the worst printer I have ever had.

Brand new HP Officejet Pro K550dtwn printer, took out of box, assembled as per manual, put paper in it, turned it on, the paper jam light turns on. The software for the printer says that the printer has a paper jam. The paper has never left the tray and the print head does not move back and forth by itself when the motor makes noise. Removed and reassembled everything with no change. Followed all steps listed for troubleshooting in manual and online on HP.com webpage titled: Identifying a Hardware Issue - Quick Check for the HP Officejet Pro K550 Printers Series. Unit was purchased new online so I can't take it back to a local store. Shipping was $35. Any suggestions from the guy who services these all the time? Is there a known connection that someone forgot to plug in during assembly? Thanks.

The Office Jet Pro K550 is not , by any means, a brainless design. I personally service these printers and the design is flawless. The only problem that the K550 ever encounters is a short printhead life, which can be fixed quickly by simply cleaning the nozzles on the printheads. The author of the complaint obviously knows nothing about the printer and needs to take more of an in-depth look at it before they decide to trash talk a quality HP product.
Please think before you decide to give a poor report to a product that has created ease in the work place of thousands.

Sean...HP Certified.