HP Officejet Pro 8000 Enterprise review

Can an inkjet printer really replace a laser and still get the job done? Simon Handby takes a look at HP's enterprise-oriented inkjet, the Officejet Pro 8000 Enterprise, to find out.

The HP Officejet Pro 8000 Enterprise

There's also little doubt that, with just four large ink tanks accessed through a front panel, the Officejet is easier to maintain than many lasers. HP's 940 cartridges are available in XL versions that yield 2,200 black pages and 1,400 for each colour. Using the best retail prices we could find, that equates to less than 0.7p per mono page and just over 2p for a colour page.

HP's cost, energy and ease-of-management claims stack up, but...

While that may not sound remarkable in the context of a departmental printer, it's dramatically cheaper than an equivalent colour laser. By comparison, Kyocera Mita's 250 FS-C5150DN which has among the lowest running costs we've encountered costs around 50 per cent more per mono page and almost 200 per cent more in colour.

HP's cost, energy and ease-of-management claims stack up, but the quality and speed of the Officejet's prints don't quite match those of a laser printer. The Officejet's first page out time of 16s is slower than a typical laser unless the latter is sleeping. At just 9.4ppm over 25 pages it lags significantly behind when printing text, and at just 4.1ppm on our graphics-rich colour document test, almost all colour lasers would leave it in the dust.

Simon Handby

After a brief career in corporate IT, Simon Handby combined his love of technology and writing when he made the move to Computer Shopper magazine. As a technology reviewer he's since tested everything from routers and switches, to smart air fryers and doorbells, and covered technology such as EVs, TVs, solar power and the singularity.

During more than 15 years as Shopper's long-time printer reviewer, Simon tried, tested and wrote up literally hundreds of home, small office and workgroup printers. He continues reviewing smart products and printers for a variety of publications, and has been an IT Pro contributor since 2010. Simon is almost never happier than when surrounded by printers and paper, applying his stopwatch and a seasoned eye to find the best performing, best value products for business users.