HP Deskjet 3520 Ink Cartridges

HP 3520 Printer Review

Users looking for a color printer to use in the home will appreciate the simplicity and quality of the HP Deskjet 3520. This is a basic inkjet printer connected by a USB port, lacking the special features and technology of more advanced models. Still, it produces impressive quality at a decent rate and supports a wide range of paper types so users can create a variety of projects.

Sometimes referred to as the 3520v, this device can print at different speeds and quality based on the print mode that is selected by the user. In Draft mode, up to 9 pages per minute can be produced, but the maximum resolution will be 300x300 dpi, which also reduces the amount of HP 3520 ink that is used, making it only sufficient for basic text documents. In Best mode, the maximum resolution is 1200x1200 dpi, but the speed is less than 1 page per minute.

Only a single HP 3520 ink cartridge is used during operation and the one provided upon purchase of the machine holds cyan, yellow, and magenta printer ink. These colors can be mixed to form composite black, but the text will not be as sharp. A black Deskjet 3520 ink cartridge is available, referred to as the HP 27, and this can be installed for better and more cost-effective text documents or black-and-white images. The tricolor printer ink can last about 190 pages while the black supply can yield up to 220 pages.

HP recommends not printing more than 500 documents in a month and no more than 10,000 over the lifespan of the 3520. There is a Print Cancel button, which will automatically stop any job in progress. An ink indicator is also present on the top of the machine, alerting users when the Deskjet 3520 ink is running low.

The input tray can hold up to 100 sheets of paper and the output tray can hold as many as 50 completed documents. Those numbers vary depending on the paper type that is used. Some of the supported media types include envelopes, transparencies, labels, greeting cards, and photo paper, which gives users a lot of flexibility in the types of creative projects they can produce.

There is nothing overly fancy about this color printer, but it is compact enough to fit comfortably in a home with limited space. This unit does not have the capacity to be used in an office, but the affordable price of HP 3520 ink makes it ideal as a cost-effective personal inkjet printer.