HP’s OfficeJet 700 looks like a fax machine and smells like a fax machine, but functions as a low-cost inkjet printer, copier, scanner, and fax. HP boasts a long line of multifunction OfficeJets in the “fax machine formfactor,” but the 700 is the first to offer color faxing capability. For overall features, the 700 doesn’t compare to its cousin, the OfficeJet 1175Cse, but it’ll save you $500 and a hunk of desk space.
The 700 stores up to 50 faxed pages in memory, and can receive and send black-and-white faxes while your PC is off. While HP touts it as an all-color machine, the OfficeJet 700 really needs your PC when it’s sending or receiving color faxes. Bummer. A 14.4 Rockwell Group III modem is built into the unit, and it claims to fax about six black-and-white pages a minute. But if you’re working with color, you must use your PC’s modem. The OfficeJet 700 will accept 20 pages in its automatic document feeder.
If you go with the 700, you’ll have to lower your scanning and copying expectations. You just can’t get smashing scans out of a sheet-feeder when compared to a typical flatbed (and of course you can’t scan or copy books, banana peels, and butt cheeks from a sheet-feeder, either). Scanning resolution is limited to 300x600dpi at 24-bit color. Print speed is rather slow, with black-and-white pages rated at 3.5 sheets per minute. Color printing slows to one page per minute.
An anemic 150-page-capacity paper tray (supporting both letter- and legalsized paper) is standard. Bundled software includes Caere’s OmniPage and Adobe’s PhotoDeluxe. To help you scan odd-sized and delicate photographs, HP includes a sleeve to protect the photos.
Given its limitations, the OfficeJet 700 is the right device for users with modest requirements.
