PRINTERS
80 DECEMBER 2019|COMPUTER SHOPPER|ISSUE 382
T~E~POjjCE»ETPro 6970 is an inkjet
MFP all-in-one that prints, scans and copies.
It comes withanumber of smart features
designedto make lifeinab usy homeoffice
alittle bit easier.
Its homeoffice bias is reflected in sensible
features, such asa225-sheet paper trayin
the base,a35-sheet, duplexing automatic
documentfeeder ontop, and ink supplies
rated forupto1,500 black pages, or 825 in
colour.Att he front isaUSB portfordirect
printing, although this is less well suitedto
the demandsof an office.You can only print
photos from an inserted USB drive,not PDFs
or other documents, which might be an
acceptable compromise onageneral home
MFP but isastrange limitation on something
more professionallyfocused.
STRAYTRAY
The OfficeJet Pro 6970 also seems much
wider than necessary,and it’s not the most
user-friendly MFP.Its large paper trayis
trickytoload unless you release the two
blue catches near the rear and pull it free.
Its lid doubles as the output trayand
latches up nicelyto help you reload.
HP OfficeJetPro6970
★★★★★
£111•From http://www.amazon.co.uk
VERDICT
AmostlygoodhomeofficeMFP ,albeitone
thatcomeswithfrustrations
However,its two telescoping partsfelt too
loose andtended to stick momentarily as we
extended or retracted the tray.
Still, it’s not all bad news;farfrom it. This
is afast printerforthe price,reaching 4.7ppm
in our colour graphicstest, and churning out
black text at an impressive 18.5ppm. Copies
were swift in black, witha10-page mono job
needing just 89 seconds, butacolour version
took twice as long, andaduplex colour copy
inched out at 2.1ppm.
The software needs work, however.
HP’s scan interface isover-reliant on
shortcuts and istooproscriptive,allowing
only alimited setof pre-defined resolution
choices. The 6970 spent nearly five minutes
working on our 1,200dpi photoscan be fore
giving up and returning no image.Wer eset
the host PC, reinstalled HP’s drivers and
retried over awired Ethernet connection,
but the issue remained.
At least once we got it working, scan
quality was generally good, although our
600dpi photoscan looked as though it had
been overly sharpened and seemed artificial
when viewed at 100%.We were also
disappointedby the faint bands that appeared
in some graphical prints on plain paper.
JETTINGAHEAD
Colour photos were goodforanon-specialist
device ,but our black-and-whiteprint had a
distinct green tint. Using the highest-capacity
supplies, it should cost the 6970 around 6.8p
to print apage of mixed text and colour
graphics–acouple of pence cheaper than
the Pixma TS6250,asimilarly priced inkjet.
The OfficeJet Pro 6970 is alsoafaster printer
than Canon’s MFP,both forblack text and
colour graphics.
Nevertheless,of the two we’d rather
have the Pixma TS6250. It’s not that the
OfficeJet Pro 6970 is badoverall –it’s a
good-value MFP that would suit and serve
generally well inahome office –but with its
frustrating scan software andadesign that’s
clunkyinp laces, the Pixma TS6250 is just
⬆HP’s software provides onlyalimited setof pre-defined resolution choices that little bit easierto live with.
opies.
s
ce
nsible
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in
ect
o
print
PDFs
ome
970
ne
This isafastprinterfor the price, reaching4.7ppm
in ourcolour graphicstest,and churning out
blacktextat an impressive18.5ppm
