HP Officejet 3830 Wireless Printer Review

The latest offering in the competitive AIO (all-in-one) printing market is the HP OfficeJet 3830 All-in-one wireless printer. The OfficeJet 3830 has a lower cost point than most of its competitors but is lacking features such as Ethernet networking, flash capability, and two-sided printing. It faces some stiff competition in the AIO marketplace.

Although lacking some notable features, the OfficeJet makes up for this with a lower cost. It’s cheaper to purchase and run provided you stick with HP’s Instant Ink subscription program. Generally, the OfficeJet 3830 prints well and is good for low volume printing and copying. If you are planning to use it for your home office or need to run some printing from a student dorm, then this is among one of the best all-in-one printers you can find.

If you are looking to buy an AIO printer, then look at this review to determine whether the HP OfficeJet 3830 is a good choice for you.

Quick Pros & Cons of HP Officejet 3830

Depending on your situation, this printer might be just what you are looking for. It is light, compact, as well as reasonably priced. But, in some circumstances, this will not be the case. If you are unable to subscribe to HPs instant ink you might find that the low price of entry was well paid on the back end.

You can check out this HP printer on Amazon and order it now. Not only is the printer itself quite affordable, but the low profile makes it very cheap to ship as well.

Design

If you are looking for a printer that is business-oriented, appearance is often not at the top of the list of important features. However, the OfficeJet 3830 weighing 12.4 pounds is a front-runner that has a lot going for it as it is one of the most inexpensive on the market. With a measurement of 8.5 by 17.2 by 14.3 inches (HWD), the OfficeJet is in the same ballpark as other small business inkjets.

In case you decide to go for a bulk-ink model which gets filled with ink from a bottle, you would then get a design that is bigger, meaning you would need more space in your work area.

Paper Handling

When it comes to the aspect of paper handling, the OfficeJet 3830 comes with a single 60-sheet rear paper tray.  The output is only 25 sheets, which when compared to what the other AIO printers offer, is quite small.

Its close rival, the Canon TR8520, holds about 200 sheets through two 100-sheet input sources. The Brother MFC-J985DW also has a holding capacity of about 100 sheets, and the Epson ET-4750 allows for up to 250 sheets in a single paper drawer. You can see that the OfficeJet 3830 has a relatively small holding capacity when compared to the others.

Connectivity

Newer models of devices have been known to eliminate Ethernet connectivity; be it laptops, desktop PCs, or even smartphones. Now they use either Wi-Fi or Wi-Fi direct, sometimes both. This is the wireless protocol that is used on the OfficeJet 3830. This is the AIO comes without the Ethernet port which is usual since Ethernet is no longer a fundamental part of computing.

Other connectivity choices on this printer include a USB port for linking to a single PC, as well as support for HP ePrint and AirPrint. It also includes some mobile apps that make printing and scanning to various cloud and social media streams easier.

Printing

The OfficeJet comes with a 35-sheet ADF; although it is not auto-duplexing, it is still a great feature. Another component that is not auto-duplexing is the print engine, which means you cannot print two-sided without having to flip them over manually. The OfficeJet 3830 has a monthly duty cycle of up to 1,000 pages and a suggested 250 pages monthly putting it on the same level as similar AIO printers.

The OfficeJet 3830’s functions are controlled through a 2.2-inch monochrome touchscreen, a feature which is not often found on entry-level all-in-one printers. The screen consists of a control panel that is incredibly easy to use with touch inputs that are very responsive.

Print Speed And Quality

The OfficeJet 3830 has been billed at 8.5 pages per minute for monochrome prints and 6 pages per minute for color. When used with an Intel Core-i5 Pc running on Windows 10 home OS, it was found to print a sample 13-page MS word text document at about 9.6 pages per minute which exceeds its rating by over 1 page per minute.

When compared to the Canon TR8520, it was found to be about 3ppm slower, but faster than the Canon Pixma G4200 by 2.5 ppm. If you decide to add things like separate color-laden PDF and some other business graphics, then the print speed drops to a slow 2.8 ppm, which is still not bad for an AIO printer of this price. There are printers that cost more yet have the same results.

Bearing in mind that the OfficeJet 3830 is an off-budget system with low running costs, the printing and copying capability is outstanding. It manages to produce PowerPoint and Excel prints with great dark fills and looks delightful on different types of paper.

Running Costs

The running costs of this printer all depend on you. If you plan to print complex documents or photos without subscribing to HP’s Instant Ink delivery program, then it may be the most high-priced AIO printer that you have ever laid hands on.

Though with HP instant ink, the OfficeJet 3830 is able to keep an eye on its ink usage and order subsequent replacement cartridges as needed. If you opt to subscribe to the program, you can print as many as 300 pages of text documents or photos every month for a low cost of 3.5 cents for each page. HP offers the first three months of Instant Ink for free, thereby reducing your cost per page even more.

Final Verdict

The HP OfficeJet 3830 Wireless Printer is a compact, low-cost, all-in-one printer that is great for scanning, copying, and printing. While it lacks some features, it makes up for it with its low price point. If you are running a home-based office or need it for school, this printer would be a solid choice for you.