Review on HP OfficeJet Pro 6978 AIO Wireless Printer, HP Instant Ink, Compatible with Alexa (T0F29A) by Aaron Cruz

This is an amazing printer and there are a few additional components/aspects that are good to know as well! I decided to add some information to my review to cover things that would help me choose a printer. I'll talk about the device first, then Instant Ink, and then the HP Printing app. Printer (scanner/fax/copier). This device takes the standard OfficeJet design and adds some great features that I didn't know how much I would appreciate. HP has streamlined the setup of its printers for incredible efficiency! Installing and running this OfficeJet Pro 6978 wireless printer was the easiest hardware experience I have ever had! What I didn't quite get was that the printer itself becomes a network, which is great for when our daughter's college friends come over and want to print something. We can just give them access to the printer network and they can print from their phones/tablets/laptops/whatever! It's very smooth and comfortable! While very similar to every other OfficeJet we've had, the duplex feeder, which scans or copies two-sided documents, is a big improvement over our previous models. The document feeder itself is heavier than our latest OfficeJet, but that gives the overall impression that this machine is also more durable. Being able to print or scan directly to or from a flash drive is great! Our kids often need to save the schoolwork they are working on on a flash drive and it is very helpful to just plug it in and print or scan new pictures on it. The USB port is located just above the power light on the lower front left of the printer, so you can easily access documents straight from a USB drive or save scanned items straight to it! The scan and copy functions appear to be faster than our last device, but they still won't win scan derbies. The touchscreen menu offers many new features that our previous one didn't have (passport photo printing, special settings for copying ID cards, help videos that can be viewed directly on the touchscreen, and even some pre-designed forms that can be printed!). The interface is more like using a first version smartphone with the ability to show options in certain menus, which is a nice change too. I feel the screen needs a little more aggressive touch and is now a bit clunky compared to tablets and smartphones (which is why I said first edition). but it's a convenient and good way to choose things instead of figuring out which menu you want and how to get back. The paper tray actually holds a little less than our latest OfficeJet (this has a 225-sheet capacity, ours has a 250-sheet capacity). We're not "force printers" so it doesn't matter to us, but it might matter to someone else. One thing I really dislike about this printer is the same issue that I've never liked about the OfficeJet series as a whole. The extension tray that holds our printed documents seems very fragile! It looks especially strong on this printer because the rest of the machine is so solid! We've never broken any of them, but I have to admit that I fear it will happen one day. Instant Ink We've always loved our HP OfficeJet printers, but unmistakably they all suffered their timeless fate in the same way. They usually last a few years and then, ironically, as soon as we buy a huge supply of replacement cartridges, they tip over on us. Seriously, EVERY TIME! It was this repeated experience that sparked our interest in this wireless OfficeJet Pro 6978 MFP! With Instant Ink, we're unlikely to run out of Fort Knox-worthy ink for a printer that doesn't exist! Instant Ink is a program offered by HP that allows your printer to notify HP when your cartridges need to be refilled and automatically send you replacement ink. They have 3 different monthly plans depending on usage. Starting today, tiered pricing is $3/month for 50 pages, $5 for 100 pages, and $10/month for 300 pages. Prices are the same whether you print all black and white or full color images. We did extensive research on Instant Ink and initially had some reservations about the program. First, it's based on pages being queued to print (this is the data HP collects) and we've had a lot of issues with pages being queued in the past, but for one reason or another were not printed. Second, we read that after Instant Ink came out, HP made it hard for you to go back to regular store-bought cartridges (although you shouldn't be tied to Instant Ink). Finally, we were concerned about overage charges piling up if we underestimated our printer usage each month. After reading extensively and calling HP to confirm the details and address my concerns about the initials, we were pleased to find that: - HP will notify you when your printer is in use. and where it fits into your plan before proceeding so you can adjust the plans if necessary. Plans can be upgraded to a higher tier at any time during the billing month. (These can be adjusted to a lower level at the beginning of the billing cycle) - According to HP, you can cancel or change your plans at any time and fall back to store-bought cartridges if you wish. (What finally helped us to believe this claim was reading recent reviews from Instant Ink customers. Very old reviews made us nervous, but new ones made us believe you weren't a prisoner of Instant Ink. If our experience proves otherwise , I'll be sure to update!) - They have a recycling program and prepaid postage so you can return your used cartridges! We love this eco-friendliness and convenience! We decided that Instant Ink sounded like the program we were interested in, so we were happy to get this printer and set it up. HP All-in-One Remote App. The HP Mobile App that I can install on my phone if one day I want to print directly from my iPhone. I say reluctantly because I suspected it would be a sloppy late-release app that HP added to reassure those users who want to feel like they have some portability/flexibility. Well boy was I ever wrong! This is an AMAZING app! Firstly, it took me less than 2 minutes to download the app, connect it to our OfficeJet and print exactly what I needed! I was immediately impressed. The app is simple, easy to use, and just what any gadget-centric person or family needs! I can print photos from my phone or even from my cloud in just a few seconds! I can take a photo of the document and save it as a .pdf or print it out as I please! We are trying to adopt a medically disabled child and I was able to quickly fill out the form they sent me, take a picture of her (it automatically recognizes the borders but you can adjust them however you like), give him a name and then email him. without having to be at home or doing anything! Or, if you prefer, you can print it out or send it to Dropbox, Evernote, GoogleDrive, etc. WOW! I love it and it works so smoothly! You can also use the AiO app to change printer settings. So if you're lounging around the Cook Islands sipping an adult drink and suddenly realize you need to send your neighbor a signed document authorizing your neighbors to take your dog from a shelter before you come home and you want to Their 3-page legal document regarding the acquisition agreements was one-page. You can change the default duplex setting to single-sided and have a completed printable form in your home office for your nice neighbor to pick up on her way to the job site at the right time. Which also brings me to the accessibility aspects of this printer, which we love! This is the easiest printer we've ever had in terms of usability and accessibility. We can print on it from anywhere! I was in the hospital with our daughter. Okay, so it wasn't the Cook Islands. But it was 2 hours away and I was able to send the form to our home printer for my husband to fill out and email back to the hospital. ! It has made our life a lot easier! Some of the features our family loved the most: - Ability to print directly from a USB drive - Ability to scan directly to a USB drive (vice versa) - The touchscreen is much more intuitive and has a beautiful interface! - Two-sided printing by default saves us paper! Eco-friendly and we love it! Although sometimes I forget to change this setting (like when I need to fax something and separate pages would be more convenient), but I really love this feature! The duplex document feeder for duplex copying/scanning was also phenomenal. !-App!-Print photos from our phones. This is the most convenient OfficeJet printer we've ever had. It worked right out of the box, conveniently installed and was an incredible help to our family! I'm so glad I don't have to worry about running out of ink! We have children with health issues and the convenience of having ink delivered to our door is phenomenal! Anything that makes our life easier is a blessing we appreciate and has exceeded all of our expectations!