Output from the Officejet Pro 8100 was generally very good. Text looked sharp, though it tended toward charcoal gray instead of black. Monochrome graphics were attractive and had smooth transitions, though of the same overall charcoal cast. The slightly oversaturated palette in color photos made for warm and friendly nonhuman subjects, but it gave fleshtones an unnaturally ruddy appearance.

The Officejet Pro 8100's ink costs are outstandingly low--especially for the high-yield supplies. The unit ships with special "setup" versions of its standard-capacity cartridges that have extra ink for the initialization process, so you still get basically a full set to use for printing. The standard-capacity cartridges cost you 2.6 cents per black page and 2.9 cents per page (cpp) per color. A four-color page costs a very affordable 11.3 cents. The high-yield XL supplies are even cheaper: 1.6 cents for monochrome pages and 7.3 cents for a four-color page.

Fast and competent, the Officejet Pro 8100 is a more economical choice than a color laser printer. But so are most business-class inkjets. Before committing to anything, you might want to check out the , which is slightly faster than the HP and has a rear feed for thicker media such as photos and envelopes.