This capacity, at 30 pages, is way less than the amount of paper the input drawer can hold, and in our testing, the printed sheets tended to skew on this support after printing about 10 pages, so keep an eye out to make sure that modestly long print runs don’t wind up on the floor or desk. Under this is a swing-out support for paper output.

The front drop-down panel is where you access the pullout paper drawer, which has a maximum capacity of 100 sheets. Minimalist in design it may be, the Envy 4500 actually has a complete set of controls surrounding a 2-inch monochrome display, which includes buttons for navigation, wireless status check, HP Web Services, and a help button. Measuring 17.5 x 13.2 inches (width and depth) and 4.7 inches high, it’s not tall but it does take up some desk space. With the front paper tray panel raised, the Envy 4500 is a fairly innocuous black box. Performance is good for a printer at this price point. The Envy line is relatively new, and is designed and priced for a user who wants a great looking device that is low-cost, and is willing to put up with some compromises to obtain it. HP segregates its printer lineups according to user type. But if you run out of paper often and you expect quality color prints and photos, the Envy 4500 is going to cost you more in the long run you’re better off with a more expensive model that offers better yields and good quality on a variety of paper. If you’re a household that rarely goes through a ream of paper, prints color once in a while, and isn’t too concerned about print quality, the Envy 4500 does the job.

There are customers that benefit from a printer like the Envy 4500. Still, a low price doesn’t exempt a product from things like performance. To do so would be unfair, as some tradeoffs are to be expected in exchange for a cost-savings.

When you look at a value-priced all-in-one photo printer/copier/scanner like the Hewlett-Packard Envy 4500 ($99), it’s easy to criticize it for not having this feature or missing that feature.

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