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Hewlett-Packard has its hands in many parts of the consumer electronics market, especially when it comes to the computer and printer market. The good news is that printers still work in the same basic fashion that they did 20 years ago. The bad news is that there are so many choices—even from HP itself—that it can be tough making a choice.
One of the brand’s more popular product lines, the OfficeJet printers, has several models that are similarly named and even similarly priced after sales and rebates. Two models in particular, the 8710 and 8720, offer great value for home and small business users, and have most of the capabilities that expensive commercial printers do.
So how do you choose between the two? Here are high points of each model:
HP OfficeJet P.c 8710 All-ln-One
The HP OfficeJet Pro 8710 is designed for home and small business use and delivers quick printing at a budget price. Though it’s slightly slower than its 8720 counterpart, the 8710 still prints at a rate of 22 pages per minute in black and white and 18 pages per minute in color. There is a clear and easily-visible 2.65-inch color touchscreen, mobile printing through HP’s Smart app, AirPrint capability, two-sided printing, and scan/fax functionality. There is a privacy function that helps protect sensitive and confidential printing jobs.
In addition to all of the advanced functionality, the 8710 does the basics well: fax, scan, copy, and print. One downside with purchasing the more value-oriented 8710 is that it can’t use HP’s largest black ink cartridge, which makes the cost per page slightly higher for black-and-white printing than with the 8720. It’s also slightly slower and not quite as heavy-duty as its more grown up sibling, though for home users and light business users, the 8710 is a solid everyday printer at a great price.w
OfficeJet Pro 8720 All-in-One
The HP OfficeJet Pro 8720, while still not expensive by any means, is aimed at a more demanding target audience than the more affordable and slightly slower 8710. Whereas the 8710 is best suited for home use and light business use, the more robust 8720 is capable of handling the workload demands of medium business users and more hardcore home users.
The 8720 is extremely easy to set up and ends up being very affordable to operate: delivering black-and-white printing at about 1.8 cents per page. The 8720 is also eligible for the HP Instant Ink program, which can help reduce the cost of color pages – great for people that need to print a lot of photos.
Like its little brother, the 8720 does the basics well also. Print, fax, and copy are all in the HP’s wheelhouse. AirPrint capability is also an option, as well as the ability to print from a smartphone or tablet via HP’s app and NFC touch-to-print from a compatible device. The 8720 also sports a 4.3-inch color touchscreen that has wide viewing angles and remains visible in a variety of lighting scenarios.
