All cased in textured and gloss black, the scanner is effectively incorporated into the case and in addition the lid is at the same level as the surrounding edge of the unit. In front, the paper tray folds up out of the way, just like the D5560 and as with that machine, you must clear the table in front of the F4580 before you start printing, and locate somewhere to hold the paper while you are not using it, or risk dust as well as spillages on the paper.
The control panel is unconventional in being recessed in to the top of the unit, beneath the surrounding rim, and uses a group of five LEDs to show copy configurations. It has two LCD indicators, also, with the exact same customized ink indicator as the D5560 along with a seven-segment display with regards to amount of copies - at most nine at any given time.
The column of six buttons straight down the left-hand side of the control panel, for features like black and colour copy and also job cancel, are also unconventional in all being made from just one strip of flexible plastic - simple, yet practical.
The F4580 runs on the exact same two ink cartridges as its single-function counterpart and they clip in to the head carrier, once you have folded down the front cover for entry. Sliding in the cartridges and pushing them up in to place is actually fiddlier than loading cartridges on some other models.
HP supplies drivers for Windows and OS X 10.4 and above on the given CD, but there's no indication of support for Linux owners. The HP Solution Centre as well as a copy of Windows Live Gallery are provided, giving simple features for scanning, in addition to printing.
The device is rated at 9.5ppm printing black as well as 6.5ppm printing colour, in normal print settings. These optimal rates of speed were not realised with our tests, largely because of processing time before beginning to print, and also as a consequence of hesitations during print. The machine would be smoothly printing a page of text or even text along with graphics and would then simply pause for half a second or so, before carrying on as earlier.
A five-page black text print required 54 seconds to finish, and that is equal to a speed of 5.6ppm. Once we raised the run to 20 pages, the speed actually slipped to 5.3ppm, due to these stopages. The five-page black text and colour graphics assessment needed 2 minutes 23 seconds, a speed of just 2.1ppm. A 15 x 10cm photograph print upon A4 paper required a realistic 1 minute 29 seconds.
Black text is definitely dark as well as heavy when using the HP Deskjet F4580 printer ink cartridges, however there is actually some fuzziness round characters, particularly emboldened ones, indicating feathering in to the paper fibres. This is actually just minor, though. Colour graphics are really vibrant as well as attention-grabbing, without any noticeable symptoms of dither patterns though a colour photocopy did display some lightening of colours, nevertheless is actually very usable. A picture, upon HP's Advanced Photo Paper, was well duplicated, with healthy colours, clean gradations and good amounts of detail, even in more dark, shadowed areas.
If the single-function Deskjet D5560 appeared to be value for money, the Deskjet F4580 all-in-one resembles exceptional value, nevertheless, you need to take into consideration operating expenses and this is exactly where HP makes its cash back. Having said that, in every other respects, this product punches clearly above its weight.