Sharp AJ2200 review

Sharp is a relative new kid on the block in the inkjet market - and it shows.

The AJ2200 is a printer that's a little rough around the edges.

Design

The appearance of the AJ2200 is an improvement on Sharp's first efforts, but it's still bulky. As with the HPs, the paper is stored in a 100-sheet front tray, where it won't get dog-eared. However, more than one sheet was picked up on occasion. Like the Canon S520, it uses four separately refillable ink cartridges to cut running costs. However, it was the only printer to give us grief during the driver installation - we had to manually point the installer at certain files, and errors were later thrown up in Windows Me.

Print Quality

It may be Sharp by name, but judging by our tests it isn't sharp by nature. Our photo was grainy, despite using a high resolution and glossy paper, while colours were somewhat faded. Photos were no better on plain paper, as revealed by the newsletter test, while the driver gave a green tinge to the solid banner that should have been grey. Text was also disappointing, with spideriness clearly visible at all point sizes. Its best showing was in the report test, with the clearest looking charts here.

Speed

Unfortunately for Sharp, the generally poor output was not compensated for by the printer's speed, which was only average. Its best showing was the six minutes it took to produce our test photo. However, it was the second slowest at the newsletter, taking over five minutes, and mid pack for the report and text tests.

Overall

As the Sharp didn't impress us with its performance, the printer's only potential saving grace is the relatively low price of £72. However, the far superior HP 920C is even cheaper - and much quieter, too.

Author: Benny Har-Even