HP F2224 Ink
Deskjet F2224 Ink Cartridges

HP F2224 Printer Review

The HP Deskjet F2224 all-in-one inkjet will certainly be appealing to home users due to its low price and compact form factor. Its print speeds are decent, at up to 19 pages per minute in black and 14 pages per minute in color, but it can only make copies with the aid of a computer, and prices for HP F2224 printer ink are surprisingly high.

The machine has a relatively small footprint of 16.8x10.5 inches with the tray extended, with a height of 7.1 inches. It weighs only 11 pounds, even with the Deskjet F2224 ink installed. The input paper capacity is only 80 sheets, so even busy home users might find they are replenishing it more often than they would like.

Designed mainly as a printer and scanner, the control panel is very limited, with only a single-digit LCD and a series of buttons and lights for relaying information to the user. As a result, most functions are handled by the included software, and a computer is required for making copies, partly because the limited memory of the device needs to be augmented. This may not be a major inconvenience for home users with simple needs, but it tends to slow the process down a bit, and lack of a standalone mode decreases its value.

The cost of printer ink is one of the unit's bigger hurdles. HP F2224 ink cartridges are not only pricier than expected, but have fairly small page yields. The combined tricolor Deskjet F2224 ink cartridges provide only 165 pages, while the black supply provides 190 pages. Even remanufactured HP F2224 ink is not significantly cheaper.

In the same price range, buyers can find models a lot more capable than the Deskjet F2224, which makes this inkjet printer difficult to recommend. Although its speed and output quality are solid, the PC-only limitation for copies and the high cost of supplies degrade its value.