HP 340 Ink
Deskjet 340 Ink Cartridges

For less than $150, the HP Deskjet 340 is a reliable single-purpose printer. It was designed for the traveling business or family man. It has a unique frame, measuring only 12.2x5.8x2.6 inches and weighing just over 5 pounds. It is so compact that it can fit in a travel bag, so when on the move, documents and photos can still be readily available for printing.

The automatic document feeder can only feed 30 sheets of paper, which will be just fine for normal-sized printing jobs. Featuring HP's Resolution Enhancement technology, or REt, images are automatically enhanced and brightened so the final result is accurate to the original. Nozzles inside this inkjet printer eject HP 340 ink in small dots and layers. This system provides pictures that will last a long time and have professional quality.

There is one black Deskjet 340 ink cartridge that is standard in this unit, but that doesn't mean it offers exclusively black and white printing. There is a color kit containing cyan, magenta and yellow HP 340 ink. To use this, remove the black printer ink tank and install the color. This process can get annoying, especially for higher-volume printing, but only one HP 340 ink cartridge can fit into such a small machine.

The 340 is slow and has below average resolutions. Using black printer ink, it can produce 4 pages per minute at a maximum resolution of 600x300 dpi. When using the color Deskjet 340 ink, less than 2 pages can print a minute at an unimpressive resolution of 300x300 dpi. Both the output rate and quality of prints will leave much to be desired.

Most reviews about this HP inkjet printer were negative, complaining about the lack of mobility it actually has. However, consumers on the market for simple and convenient printing will most likely be satisfied with the HP Deskjet 340.