The HP OfficeJet Pro 7740 is the best, most capable inkjet printer we have tested.
By far. So far.
It is capable, speedy, easy to use, affordable in both capex and opex, and displays a gracious élan generally not seen in this space for a while.
It is a SmallBizWindows Superstar Product.
Let’s start from the beginning.
The HP OfficeJet Pro 7740 Wide-Format Printer 
As one of the “Pro” line of HP OfficeJet printers, it is targeted squarely at businesses.
You can print, copy, scan, and fax.
Sadly, faxing documents is still a thing for several businesses, and is accepted over emailed documents!
According to published specs, it is supposed to be rather speedy, both for black-and-white, and color prints.
Let’s delve in.
Unboxing and OOBE
The OfficeJet Pro 7740 came in a box that didn’t rattle when shaken at my location.
Seems trite or trivial, but I always do this, not only for review devices, but also for everything I order. For I believe that a snug fit generally means care had been given to packaging, with a resulting reduction in returned equipment.
I opened the box to a boxy, yet stylish printer, with little protrusions or protuberances spoiling the line. The design language here is sleek, smart, reminiscent of old HP LaserJet III and, – dare I say it? – the Apple LaserWriter printers from days gone by.
It came with a set of inks cartridges, a quick start guide, a power cable, and some safety info as required by the authorities.
Me being me, I opted to use the quick start guide. I plugged the device in, and we were on.
I inserted the ink cartridges when asked, entered the SSID of the network it would be connected to and voilà, I was good to go!
Internal Testing
The OfficeJet Pro 7740 was used as the primary printer here at the Orbiting Dacha for a week in place of a black-and-white laser printer.
I wanted to see if the users experienced delays, or felt a drop-off in the outputted b&W or grayscale documents.
I also used it to print out a very good number of color documents, from presentations, to slide decks, to full-color photographs. I also made a fair number of tabloid-sized prints.
The OfficeJet Pro 7740 performed impressively well.
Sadly, it was soon time to take it to a real-world environment for further testing.
AbsolutelyRealWorld Testing
The environment chosen for our real-world review was for a partner at a structural engineering firm.
This firm uses several high-end printers that output in large format. They also have a couple of individual large-format printers for their draughtspersons.
Fortuitously, the OfficeJet Pro 7740 was offered for review, and so it came in.
I unboxed the device, and plugged it in. I added some letter-sized paper into the printer, then demonstrated the HP Direct Print feature by asking my tester to print to it from her HP z620 workstation.
I tell ya: that brought smiles.
I then had it connected to their wired network, and properly configured for her.
The easy discoverability of the OfficeJet 7740, and indeed of all HP devices by Microsoft Windows is impressive.
It really is.
For the past three weeks, the printer was the deskside adjunct to the big printers and plan printers in use at that firm.
It was a success.
For one, the deskside production of tabloid-sized output meant that my tester could make changes on-the-fly for either her staff, or for consultation with her partners.
As with our use of the OfficeJet Pro 7740 at The Orbiting Dacha, they ran the printer through stress tests designed to max out the performance of the printer in order to determine the suitability of the OfficeJet Pro 7740 for their deskside output requirements. They also almost ran it in tabloid mode, as that was their preferred output format.
According to her, it eliminated the need for the distraction of walking across the office to the printer room for printed output.
Furthermore, being able to generate such clear output was definitely worth it.
The speed of the printer was another factor in their satisfaction with the printer.
Also, it fitted the ROI they are looking for in a deskside large-format printer.
Finally, it comfortably beat their current printers by a considerable margin.
The Review
OOBE
One of the very first things I look for in a device is the OOBE, or Out-Of-the-Box-Experience.
So many firms fall down on their faces right here.
HP is an outlier here. I am often able to use HP devices without worrying about device drivers because they just work right out of the box. This kind of experience breeds confidence that a device won’t let you down even in tough situations where internet access is problematic.
Secondly, and this was also the case with the OfficeJet Pro 250 Mobile Printer we tested a couple of months ago, the devices were automagically discovered by Windows and provisioned with a single click. For busy ROBOs or SOHOs, this is rather ideal. You also do not have to worry about the insecurity of having to load drivers from media which may have been compromised with slipstreamed malware, a definite nightmare in this day and age.
Installation
While HP’s instantaneous and simple instructions are nice, they hide the amount of backend work that makes for easy discoverability and provisioning.
Connecting to networks are dead easy, and the touchscreen user interface is intuitive, showing that careful thought had gone into that UI design.
I like that a lot.
Like I always say, this stuff is NOT rocket science. Make it simple, make it useful, and stay out of the way of your users.
They did.
In Use
The OfficeJet Pro 7740 is fast. In fact, the initial hiccup when it is receiving data to output is forgotten when multiple pages start briskly loading up in the output tray.
OfficeJet Pro 7740 is versatile. Having multiple document trays standard is very smart. Not even do my tester’s architect clients generate tabloid output at all times. However, the ability to generate such output ad hoc is an added boon for them. Adding to this versatility if the ability to print directly from non-Windows devices, such as iOS devices, such as the ubiquitous iPhones, and from iPads as well. I understand this can be done with Android devices. However, I am yet to meet up with an Android device at businesses we are affiliated with…..
It can also be secured with the use of HP JetAdvantage Private Print, which keeps prying eyes away from your stuff until you are physically at the printer, and direct it to print.
Scanning was a breeze. Both out testers locally and at the structural engineering firm were able to scan and copy a variety of odd-sized documents
Conclusions 
However, one quote from our tester sums it up best: “This is the best printer we have had here. By far. It just works very well for my needs.”
There you have it.
Pitted against enterprise-class large-format color laser printers, and against other deskside large-format printer, the HP OfficeJet Pro 7740 not only prevailed, even as a newcomer, but kicked the other similar devices to the kerb.
It is well priced, and consumables are, both for an HP printer, and an inkjet, priced rather reasonably.
Plus, it looks good!
For this and the robust specs on this device, as seen here, it is the recipient of the SmallBizWindows
Superstar Award.
It is also an automatic entrant in both the SmallBizWindows Printer of the Year and Scanner of the Year categories.
Some HP OfficeJet Pro 7740 Technical Specs (From HP.com)
- 11 x 17 inch printing
- Automatic two-sided printing, fast print speeds, and an auto document feeder help ease your day.
- Print speed ISO: 21 ppm (black); 17 ppm (color)
- Increase paper capacity to 500 sheets with the included second 250-sheet paper tray.
- Tap & swipe the smartphone-style color touchscreen for timesaving shortcuts.
- The 35-page ADF handles documents up to legal size (21.6 x 35.6 cm), so you finish duplex jobs quickly.
- Print, scan, and copy in standout color on sizes up to 11 x 17 inches (A3), for bold documents and presentations at up to 50% less cost per page than color laser.
- Fax up to 8.5 x 14 inches (21.6 x 35.6 cm).
© 2002 – 2016, John Obeto for Blackground Media Unlimited
Follow @johnobeto