There’s a familiar feeling of dread that sinks in the moment you need to print something urgently. It could be a last-minute school project for your child, a crucial shipping label for a package, or a treasured family photo you want to frame. You hit ‘Print’, and… nothing. The printer is offline, the ink has mysteriously run dry, or it’s throwing an error code that might as well be written in ancient hieroglyphics. This was my reality for years—a constant battle with a bulky, unreliable machine that seemed to fail at the most inconvenient times. The promise of easy, wireless printing often dissolved into hours of troubleshooting. This quest for a simple, dependable, and affordable all-in-one solution for the modern home is what led us to thoroughly test the HP DeskJet 2842e Wireless All-in-One Inkjet Printer, a device that claims to solve these exact frustrations.
What to Consider Before Buying an All-in-One Inkjet Printer
An Inkjet Printer is more than just an item; it’s a key solution for bridging the digital and physical worlds in your home. It’s the tool that turns digital memories into tangible photo albums, online recipes into kitchen-ready cards, and important documents into official hard copies. The main benefit lies in its versatility—offering printing, scanning, and copying in a single, space-saving footprint. For families, students, and home office workers, this eliminates the need for multiple devices and simplifies tasks, from archiving important papers by scanning them to PDF to quickly duplicating permission slips or invoices. An all-in-one becomes the central hub for a household’s document management needs.
The ideal customer for this type of product is someone facing the need for occasional but varied printing tasks. Think of the parent who prints coloring pages and homework, the remote worker who needs to print and sign contracts, or the hobbyist who wants to print high-quality photos without a trip to the print shop. This user values convenience, wireless connectivity from multiple devices (laptops, smartphones), and a low upfront cost. Conversely, this might not be the right choice for those who need to print hundreds of pages per week, as the cost-per-page on standard inkjet cartridges can be higher than laser printers or ink tank models. It’s also not for professional photographers who require wide-format printing or specialized ink sets for gallery-quality prints. These users might consider a high-volume laser printer or a dedicated photo printer instead.
Before investing, consider these crucial points in detail:
- Dimensions & Space: Home office and living space is often at a premium. Before buying, measure the intended location for your printer, accounting for not just its footprint but also the space needed to open the scanner lid and extend the paper trays. The compact dimensions of the HP DeskJet 2842e Wireless All-in-One Inkjet Printer (12 x 16.7 x 6.1 cm) make it a contender for tight spaces, but always double-check your own setup.
- Capacity/Performance: Look at print speed (PPM – pages per minute), paper tray capacity, and print resolution (DPI – dots per inch). For casual home use, speeds of 5-10 PPM are generally sufficient. A 60-sheet input tray is standard for budget models and works well for small jobs, but if you print long reports, you’ll be refilling it often. Higher DPI means sharper text and more detailed photos.
- Materials & Durability: Most consumer-grade printers are made of plastic. While this keeps them lightweight and affordable, look for thoughtful design elements. We appreciate that the HP DeskJet 2842e is manufactured using 60% post-consumer recycled plastic, which adds a layer of sustainability to the product without compromising its solid feel for everyday use.
- Ease of Use & Maintenance: The setup process and day-to-day operation should be intuitive. App-based setups, like HP’s Smart App, have become the standard and can simplify wireless configuration immensely. Also, consider the cost and availability of ink cartridges and whether subscription services like HP Instant Ink would be a cost-effective choice for your printing habits, automating maintenance by ensuring you never run out of ink.
Understanding these factors will ensure you choose a printer that not only fits your budget but also seamlessly integrates into your life.
While the HP DeskJet 2842e Wireless All-in-One Inkjet Printer is an excellent choice for many homes, it’s always wise to see how it stacks up against the competition. For a broader look at all the top models, especially those designed for high-volume, low-cost printing, we highly recommend checking out our complete, in-depth guide:
- Print, Copy, Scan: The PIXMA TS3720 is a true colour printer scanner copier all in one that is compact, versatile and easy-to-use with a 60 sheet rear tray that reduces the need to refill paper as...
- Innovative Cartridge-Free Printing ― No more tiny, expensive ink cartridges; each ink bottle set is equivalent to about 80 individual cartridges (2)
- FROM CANADA'S MOST TRUSTED PRINTER BRAND – The DeskJet 2855e is perfect for homes printing to-do lists, letters, financial documents and recipes. Print speeds up to 5.5 ppm colour, 7.5 ppm black.
First Impressions: A Compact and Eco-Conscious Design
Unboxing the HP DeskJet 2842e Wireless All-in-One Inkjet Printer was a refreshingly straightforward affair. The packaging is efficient, and lifting the 3.42 kg unit out of the box is easy for one person. What struck us immediately was its surprisingly compact and modern design. The “Skyride” color is a pleasant, soft off-white with subtle blue-grey accents, allowing it to blend into a home environment much better than the traditional office-black monoliths. Its small footprint is a significant advantage for those of us with limited desk space. The build, primarily composed of 60% recycled plastic, feels solid enough for its intended home use. It doesn’t feel like a premium, heavy-duty machine, but it doesn’t feel flimsy either—it strikes the right balance for its price point. Setting it up involves removing a few pieces of tape, plugging it in, and letting the HP Smart App guide you the rest of the way, a process we found to be remarkably smooth, confirming the positive experiences of many users who praised its simple installation. You can see the sleek design and full feature set for yourself.
Key Benefits
- Extremely simple app-guided setup process
- Compact, lightweight design ideal for small spaces
- Includes 6 months of Instant Ink, offering significant initial value
- Good quality colour and photo printing for home use
- Made with 60% post-consumer recycled plastic
Potential Drawbacks
- Print speeds are slow for larger jobs (7 ppm B&W, 5 ppm color)
- Setup can be frustrating if Wi-Fi connection is unstable
- Reports of faulty ink cartridges included in the box
A Deep Dive into the HP DeskJet 2842e’s Real-World Performance
A printer’s value isn’t just in its specs, but in how it performs day-to-day. We put the HP DeskJet 2842e Wireless All-in-One Inkjet Printer through its paces, focusing on the core experiences that matter most to a home user: the setup, the quality of its output, and the long-term value proposition of its ink subscription service.
The Setup Experience: Seamless Simplicity Meets Potential Pitfalls
HP has heavily invested in its HP Smart App to streamline the setup process, and for the most part, it pays off beautifully. Our experience mirrored that of users who found it “above expectation and smooth.” Upon powering on the printer, we simply downloaded the app on a smartphone, created an HP account, and the app immediately detected the printer. It then guided us, step-by-step, through connecting to our Wi-Fi network, installing the ink cartridges, and printing an alignment page, which we then scanned using the flatbed scanner to complete calibration. The entire process took less than 15 minutes. This is the modern, user-friendly experience people expect. One user specifically noted, “Guys, they really did pretty well leading you to get things right when first launching the device,” and we wholeheartedly agree. Printing directly from a phone via Apple AirPrint or the app itself was instantaneous and flawless.
However, it’s crucial to acknowledge the other side of the coin. A vocal minority of users reported significant struggles, with one stating they spent “hours to set up the WiFi connection.” We suspect these issues are less a fault of the printer itself and more a symptom of unstable home Wi-Fi networks or router compatibility issues. The printer relies exclusively on a stable 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi connection for its app-based setup. If your network is spotty or congested, the handshake between the app, your phone, and the printer can fail, leading to immense frustration. We recommend ensuring you have a strong, stable signal where you plan to place the printer before you even begin. While our setup was smooth, it’s clear that your mileage may vary depending heavily on your home network’s health.
Print, Scan, and Copy Quality: Exceeding Expectations for its Class
For a budget-friendly home printer, the output quality of the HP DeskJet 2842e Wireless All-in-One Inkjet Printer genuinely impressed us. Let’s start with text documents. Using the standard 1200 x 1200 rendered dpi, black text was crisp, clear, and perfectly legible, even at smaller font sizes. It’s more than adequate for school reports, recipes, and business invoices. The print speed, at 7 ppm for black and white, is modest. You won’t be using this to churn out a 100-page manuscript in a hurry, but for the typical one-to-five-page jobs common in a home environment, it’s perfectly acceptable. The printer is also surprisingly quiet during operation, a point one user highlighted as “Awesome product, very quiet,” which we can confirm.
Where the DeskJet 2842e truly shines for its category is in colour printing. Leveraging its 4800 x 1200 optimized dpi resolution, we printed several 4×6 photos on glossy photo paper. The results were vibrant, with accurate colours and good detail. One reviewer mentioned using it to “print my granddaughters baby pictures so I can store them in an album,” and we found it perfectly suited for this exact task. While it won’t compete with a dedicated six-colour photo printer, the quality is far superior to what you’d get from a drugstore kiosk and ideal for family albums and school projects. The integrated flatbed scanner and copier performed reliably as well. The Scan to PDF function is a fantastic feature for digitizing documents, and copies of both text and images were faithful to the originals. The ability of the HP DeskJet 2842e to produce such quality prints is a major selling point.
The HP+ and Instant Ink Ecosystem: A Game-Changer for Casual Users
Perhaps the most significant feature of the HP DeskJet 2842e Wireless All-in-One Inkjet Printer is its integration with the HP+ ecosystem, which includes a compelling 6-month trial of HP Instant Ink. This is a subscription service where you pay a monthly fee based on the number of pages you print, not the amount of ink you use. The printer automatically orders new cartridges before you run out, which are then delivered to your door. For many, this completely eliminates the “Oh no, I’m out of ink!” panic. During setup, you’re prompted to activate HP+ and enroll in the Instant Ink trial. We found this process seamless, and it’s an incredible value proposition.
For the first six months, you can print a set number of pages per month (the plan can be chosen and adjusted) at no cost. For a family that prints moderately, this could easily save over a hundred dollars in ink costs right out of the gate. After the trial, the paid plans are very reasonable, especially for those who print a lot of color photos, as a full-color photo page costs the same as a single line of black text—it’s all just one page. However, there’s a catch: you must activate HP+ and provide payment details during setup to get the offer, and the printer requires an active internet connection to remain part of the program. This model isn’t for everyone. If you print very rarely and unpredictably, a traditional pay-as-you-go cartridge model might feel less restrictive. But for consistent, worry-free printing, the value offered by the Instant Ink program is hard to beat.
What Other Users Are Saying
Diving into feedback from other buyers, we found a distinct pattern that largely confirms our own testing. The sentiment is generally positive, with a strong focus on the ease of setup via the HP Smart App and the convenience of mobile printing. One happy user summed it up perfectly: “Got this today and was super easy to set up and the printing is amazing and fast. Also quiet.” Another praised the extra features in the app, noting access to “to do list, coloring page, kids math and many more.”
However, the negative feedback is just as telling and clusters around two key issues. The first is connectivity problems, which we discussed earlier. The second, and more concerning, is a recurring complaint about faulty “starter” ink cartridges arriving with the printer. We saw several reviews like, “Just got this brand new in the box and the ink cartridges are faulty- the black ink won’t print at all,” and another in French describing a defective colour cartridge. While we did not experience this issue ourselves, it appears to be a notable quality control problem. If this happens, the solution is to contact HP support for a replacement, but it’s an undeniable frustration for a new owner.
How the HP DeskJet 2842e Stacks Up Against the Alternatives
The HP DeskJet 2842e Wireless All-in-One Inkjet Printer occupies a competitive space. To understand its position, it’s helpful to compare it to a few other popular options that cater to different needs.
1. HP OfficeJet 250 Portable Printer
- Main functions of this HP all-in-one portable printer: scan, copy, easy portable printing wherever you need it, wireless print from your laptop or mobile devices, 2.65" color touchscreen, auto...
- Mobile printing: print from anywhere using your smartphone or tablet with the free HP ePrint app, Android users can easily detect and connect to a nearby OfficeJet 250 and print using Wi-Fi Direct
If your primary need is portability, the HP OfficeJet 250 is in a class of its own. It’s designed for the road warrior who needs to print, scan, and copy from a hotel room, a car, or a client’s office. It includes a rechargeable battery and is significantly more compact than the DeskJet 2842e. However, this portability comes at a much higher price point, and its performance specs are geared toward mobile document printing rather than high-quality photos. For someone who prints exclusively at home, the DeskJet 2842e offers better value and superior photo quality for a fraction of the cost.
2. Epson EcoTank ET-4800 Wireless All-in-One Supertank Printer
- Innovative Cartridge-Free Printing ― No more tiny, expensive ink cartridges; each ink bottle set is equivalent to about 80 individual cartridges (2)
- Dramatic Savings on Replacement Ink ― Save up to 90% with replacement ink bottles vs. ink cartridges (1) – that’s enough to print up to 4,500 pages black/7,500 colour (3)
The Epson EcoTank ET-4800 represents a different philosophy of ink management. Instead of cartridges, it uses large, refillable ink tanks, which drastically lowers the cost per page. This makes it an excellent choice for users with high-volume printing needs, such as a busy home office or a homeschooling family. The upfront cost of the printer is significantly higher than the DeskJet 2842e, but the long-term savings on ink can be substantial. If you print hundreds of pages a month, the EcoTank is the more economical choice. If your printing is light to moderate, the DeskJet’s low initial cost and the convenience of the Instant Ink subscription are more appealing.
3. Epson Expression Photo HD XP-15000 Wireless Wide-Format Printer
- Epson printing system is designed to be used exclusively with Epson Genuine Cartridges. Use of non-genuine ink could cause damage not covered under the printer's ltd. wnty.
- Professional ultra HD photo quality get brilliant border less prints upto 13 inches X 19 inches
For the serious photography enthusiast, neither the DeskJet nor the EcoTank will suffice. The Epson Expression Photo HD XP-15000 is a specialized machine designed for one primary purpose: producing stunning, borderless, gallery-quality photos up to 13×19 inches. It uses a six-color Claria Photo HD ink system for superior color accuracy and gradation. This is a single-function printer (no scanning or copying) aimed at a niche market. The DeskJet 2842e is the versatile family all-in-one; the XP-15000 is the artist’s tool.
Our Final Verdict: Is the HP DeskJet 2842e the Right Printer for Your Home?
After extensive testing, we can confidently say that the HP DeskJet 2842e Wireless All-in-One Inkjet Printer is an outstanding choice for its target audience: the modern family, student, or casual home office user. Its greatest strengths lie in its simplicity, compact design, and the incredible value offered by the initial 6-month Instant Ink trial. The app-guided setup is a breeze (provided your Wi-Fi is stable), and the print quality for both documents and photos is excellent for this price range. It successfully addresses the common pain points of home printing by making the process intuitive and worry-free.
It’s not without its flaws. The print speed is slow for heavy workloads, and the reports of faulty starter cartridges are a valid concern. However, these are balanced by its low upfront cost and overall convenience. If you need a reliable, easy-to-use all-in-one for everyday tasks—from printing recipes and photos to scanning important documents—this printer delivers exceptional performance and value. For those tired of fighting with their old technology and looking for a smart, simple solution, we highly recommend it. If you believe this is the right fit for your home, you can check the latest price and secure yours today.
Last update on 2025-11-07 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API