The HP DeskJet 6540 color inkjet printer offers versatile performance and connectivity and a sleek-looking low-profile design. Get fast 30 ppm black printing or up to 20 ppm in color or sharp resolutions that are fine enough even for detailed photos.
The 6540 produces crisp 1,200 dpi resolution in black, up to 4,800 optimized dpi in color. The standard four-color printing yields high-quality prints, or for your finest creations you can choose six-color printing (requires HP 99 photo print cartridge, sold separately). The 6540 also offers the choice of printing photos with or without borders on a variety of media types and sizes, and includes HP photo printing software for easy task management and image editing. An optional duplexing accessory is available for two-sided documents.
The HP 6540 offers versatile connectivity. It features two USB ports, one in the back and one in the front. An optional external print server and optional 802.11b wireless accessory are supported for further expansion. The unit is backed by a one-year warranty.
What's in the Box
HP Deskjet 6540 printer, HP 96 black ink cartridge (C8767W), HP 97 tri-color ink cartridge (C9363W), HP Photo Printing software (Windows only), Printer software (Windows and Macintosh), User's guide on CD-ROM, setup poster, reference guide, power supply, power cord; printer cable not included; HP 99 photo inkjet cartridge not included
Breakthrough speeds, easy laptop printing and addedfeatures for advanced productivityWork more efficiently with breakthrough performanceup to 30 ppm black and up to 20 ppm color forprofessional photo quality up to 4800-optimized dpior 6-ink color. Enjoy convenient printing from laptops using front USB port, and print photos in standardand custom sizes up to 8.5x24-inch, with or withoutborders. The advanced control panel saves time withone-touch print quality selector, print cancel button and ink status display. Print more pages with high-volume ink cartridges and use up to 50% less paper in the processwith optional auto two-sided printing, automatic papertype sensor and optional 250-sheet plain paper inputtray (auto two sided printing and 250-sheet paper trayare included with the Deskjet 6540dt printer). Make easyphoto reprints and enlargements with HP photo andprinting softwarelong-lasting, professional-qualityphotos with exceptional fade resistance.
1 terrible service
My wife and I wasted hours and hours trying to get HP service. HP has outsourced customer service to several developing countries, and each time we called, the representatives were unable to locate the record of our previous call. We were told time and again that we would be contacted by a "case manager" but that never happened. After weeks of trying, it became obvious that we need to discard the product (still under warrantee) and buy a new (non-HP) product ourselves.
2 Ink prices aren't too bad
As long as you buy your cartridges mail-order rather than locally, it's not too bad. Black cartridges cost me about 3.5 cents per page, and the color cartridges about 7 cents per page. By comparison, my Samsung ML6060 laser printer costs about 1.7 cents per page for toner, about half the per-page cost (which is typical for a laser printer).
We put this thing onto a factory floor because the HP flatbed feed mechanism is bullet-proof and it's fast. We did not put a laser printer there because we are feeding glossy pre-printed sheets into the thing and a laser printer would have melted the coating on the glossy sheets (this thing basically is printing serial numbers and activation keys onto jumped up warranty cards). I looked at buying one for my house, but I'm not sure that the low quality of the photo printing will be acceptable to me. I need to replace my (basically disposable) Epson C84 printer because it's started spewing black ink everywhere, and while I tried to clean out all the various sponges and wipers and such that are supposed to wipe the black print head's nose, it's still dropping globs of ink at random on my pages. I've never had any problem of that sort with an HP inkjet printer. They're solid and bulletproof. So if I can't manage to get my C84 working again, I may end up getting an HP inkjet after all, despite my reservations about their photo printing.
3 Fast but drinks ink like a fish. Hope you have deep pockets.
This printer does a good job like all the HP Deskjets I have owned. No problems there. My other HP Deskjets would start up automatically but this one? Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't. Tech service was no help. My biggest complaint is the ink! The cartridges for this thing are the most expensive HP offers and there are no generics out there yet. To make matters worse it drinks ink like a fish! I think HP is trying to make too much money on the ink these days. My next printer will not be an HP.
4 Fast
This is a good quality printer. We needed something that would spit out pages quickly, and this printer doesn't dissapoint. Also, it seems to be a well built unit. If you're wanting something that will print out text real quickly, and do some fair quality color images in your print outs, then I'd recommend this.
For those that are complaining about the photos, I have a suggestion - purchase a true photo printer. I'd recommend Canon over HP in that department.
5 Great Printer but Auto Power On feature missing - all 6500's
Purchased the Australian version of this printer,
Ours arrives with the base duplexer wich works well but pauses a little between flipping paper.
Super fast printing on Fast draft which is great.
Picture quality is very good with standard color cartridge compared to the old HP930 must be really great with the Photo cartridge.
Has Auto Power off feature to save power - but is Now missing the Auto ON Power feature the old HP930 had, so it lost two points because of this as the printer is not near the computer.
If you go to HP Web site on this matter be sure to scroll all the way down to see the true note regarding the Auto On Feature.
6 Uneven performance, considering price.
This printer has some strengths, but some serious weaknesses as well, particularly given the price of the unit (some 130 US, give or take).
It is great for printing text; the quality of the text output is certainly very good, and the printer is remarkably fast. In addition, economny is acceptable--it's not bad, but not outstanding either. Further, the printer is both attractive (a minor consideration) and sturdy (major consideration). You can realistically expect speedy printing of almost anything; photos, graphics, text, what have. It'll be a fast printer, and with the text and graphics, output ranges from acceptable to great.
Also, you can do duplex (that is, two sided) printing, which can be nice to have in some limited circumstances.
However, the photos are simply atrocious, particularly for the price of the printer. My three+ year old Epson C84 (which was a hundred dollar printer three years ago--that's 30 bucks cheaper folks) prints far better photos.
The issue isn't so much the color; there are actually some good color management features in the software. It's just that it doesn't seem to produce sharp photos; details are fuzzy, the picture pixilated, etc. It's truly dissapointing, particularly because I'd wanted to like this printer, given it's capabilities at printing documents. But honestly, it looks like someone used to much digital zoom when they took a photo if you print it off on this printer. The ONLY exeptions are really simply photos; ones without detail.
Photos aside, the software is ghastly, in true HP fashion. Changing all the settings anytime you want to print something else (labels, photos, different paper sizes, etc.) is a real pain in the butt.
(...).
7 Review from Pc Pro.com
HP Deskjet 6540 [PC Pro]
COMPANY: Hewlett - Packard
DATE: Nov 04
Verdict: Excellent text quality, high speed, expandability and smart styling aren't quiteenough to make this basic printer competitive.
The 6540 is the first unit we've seen from HP's all new Deskjet line-up, a range that's been home to several Recommended and A-List award-winners.
Compared to Canon's Pixma iP3000, the 6540 is a fairly basic unit - there's just a single printer tray, no duplex or CD printing, and no direct-print-from-camera functions, yet it still manages to be almost £30 more expensive. In terms of build quality though, it's streets ahead of the Canon. The dapper metal shell of the HP is much slicker than the iP3000's silver plastic, and the whole unit suffers from much less rattle. The lid is even geared so that it closes softly rather than slamming shut.
This attention to detail is carried over to the button panel on the left; the keys have a positive clicking action and are smartly lit. The bottom button switches between printing modes (draft, normal and best), though the printer software can override this if you'd prefer. Paper follows the traditional HP U-feed path - not a problem unless you want to print on non-standard or thicker media - and there's the usual slot for feeding envelopes. You'll also notice the inclusion of an upstream USB port on the front - not for connecting a camera, but as an easy way to connect a laptop. We're not convinced it's a must-have feature, but it's there if you want it.
In testing, text documents were near laser-quality, with crisp, black and well-formed characters on default settings, while draft mode only added slight feathering. Print speeds aren't staggering, but with our 25-page text document taking four minutes, six seconds to run through on draft mode, and only a minute more for default, the Deskjet 6540 should be fast enough for all but the most demanding users. For extra speed, we found fast draft mode to yield an impressive 21.4 ppm, with still reasonable results.
Photo printing is slightly more disappointing. Though prints are delivered in a timely fashion - one minute, 54 seconds for a best-quality borderless 6 x 4in photo - colours are a little washed out, and detail is softer than we'd like. Some prints also exhibit a slight embossed effect, with ink appearing to sit on top of the printed surface.
The black cartridge can be swapped for a photo cartridge to turn the printer from a four- to a six-colour device. Results were certainly smoother, and though colours still lacked punch and the detail was a little fudged, photo prints of this quality are uncommon in a sub-£100 printer. An additional grey cartridge is also available for smooth monochrome prints. On the plus side, it means you can choose how much to invest in the machine as a photo device; we just wish there was somewhere to put whichever cartridge you're not using.
It isn't just the ink that's modular. HP offers a range of accessories, including an automatic duplexer, complete with separate small paper sheet feeder. There's also an additional 250-sheet paper input tray. Compared to what the Canon iP3000 is offering, however, these aren't cheap, costing another £40 each.
If you're looking for a cheap workhorse inkjet, the basic model is a good choice. Its photo printing is respectable for a printer at this price, and when you add to this smart styling, low running costs, and superb build quality, the Deskjet 6540 deserves a PC Pro Recommended accolade. For sheer flexibility and value for money, though, the Canon is a better choice.
By Christopher Phin
Hope this helps you out.
