HP 850 Ink
Deskjet 850 Ink Cartridges

HP 850 Printer Review

When it comes to the simplest printing requirements, such as printing directions or school reports, there is no need for a fancy printer with fancy features. The HP Deskjet 850 will be able to cover all the bases, and do so with quality and precision. Released over a decade ago, this outdated inkjet unit will not provide much more than consistency and convenience. An office environment is not the place for the 850—it is more of a homebody.

Compatible with all kinds of operating systems, no matter what PC is being used, the HP 850 will work with it. It has the ability to print on various kinds of paper, such as glossy and photo, as well as envelopes and transparencies. Connections are mainly through the parallel port, but optional networking is available. There is a built-in memory of 1 MB and a 2 MB ROM.

This unit contains only two HP 850 ink cartridges. One has only black printer ink and the other consists of cyan, magenta and yellow. The black Deskjet 850 ink cartridge has a page yield of 830 pages and can reach a resolution of 600 dpi. Using only black, up to 6 pages per minute can be produced. The tank of tricolor HP 850 ink has a page yield of 460 and can only produce 3 pages per minute at a resolution of 300 dpi.

When the Deskjet 850 ink needs to be replaced, hundreds of vendors online offer OEM or compatible options. With a monthly duty cycle of 1,000 pages, the printer ink should not run out very often. High-volume needs will not be met by this unit, considering HP predicts it will only last for 60,000 pages over its lifetime. The HP 850 ink has good quality and long-lasting potential but cannot handle too much. The HP Deskjet 850 is a decent inkjet printer available for just a few bucks.