Dan Littman

HP Deskjet 920c Color Inkjet Printer

The Deskjet 920c does a nice job on text, which looks clean and attractively weighted. Gray-scale graphics look detailed and realistic even on ordinary paper, while color graphics and glossy photos show superb detail and shading. The 920c's driver offers useful features, including a gray-scale modification setting for better faxing and copying. The paper tray folds up when empty, so you can recover some desk space when you're not using the printer.
HP supplies a wafer-thin warranty and a very limited support policy for the 920c. The company provides only 30 days of free tech support for this low-cost printer, and even during that first month you'll pay toll charges for the call. Thereafter support will cost you $2.50 a minute (up to a maximum of $25 per call), plus toll charges. And the 90-day warranty doesn't engender much confidence in the printer. HP's user manual is a hurried jumble that covers three different printer models; fortunately the on-screen documentation is more thorough and includes information on operating and troubleshooting the printer.
The Deskjet 920c's print speeds are on the slow side, at 4.2 ppm for text and 0.7 ppm for graphics--however this performance is reasonable for a printer priced at $99. HP's price for ink is a little high, especially for black, which comes to 6.0 cents per page of text. The price of a color page, at 13.8 cents, compares more reasonably to the competition. The system we used for testing the Deskjet 920c struck some problems with the included driver. When we called HP, the company was unable to duplicate our problem. Fortunately HP pointed us to an alternate driver on its Web site that cleared up our difficulties. It's always a good idea to check the vendor's Web site for updated information on the drivers.
If you're looking for a bargain and you're willing to forsake a good warranty and free support to get it, the Deskjet 920c could be a good choice.

Buying Information

HP Deskjet 920c Color Inkjet Printer Rated 5.2-ppm monochrome/2.2-ppm color, 2MB memory standard, 2400-by-1200-dpi maximum resolution, 100 sheets input, 50 output. $ 99 Rated 5.2-ppm monochrome/2.2-ppm color, 2MB memory standard, 2400-by-1200-dpi maximum resolution, 100 sheets input, 50 output. http://www.hp.com 800/752-0900