HP Product Review

I'll admit it, I am HUGE Hewlett-Packard HP fan. I bought a desktop computer from them in early 2009 and it still works just as fast and accurately today as it did the day I set it up--I have a lot of stuff stored on it! In fact, I just today had to finally replace my wireless keyboard and mouse that came with it (after 6 years!) but only due my children damaging them, not because the product was faulty! In fact, my keyboard only had to have the batteries changed TWICE in 6 years. Needless to say, they make a very quality product and I always feel like they stand behind their items.

As a gift, I received HP EcoFFICIENT paper to try at home. OK, I admit it, I thought, "What could I say about paper? Isn't all paper the same?" But I was actually surprised at how different this paper was from all the others that I had owned and used before (many different brands and colors and weights).

So this paper couldn't have come at a better time for me. I am a seasonal personal tax preparer for my friends and family and despite everything in this world being done electronically, I still do have to print some forms for my records (and theirs). This year, I actually had to mail in two state returns and an amended federal return. Why is this relevant? I'm getting to that.

When I opened the first pack of paper, I was shocked at how thin the paper felt. I instantly new that I would like this more of just about any use (my daughters watercolors are the only exception to that). I am kind of a weirdo about the texture and sounds made by paper (I buy notebooks based on how that page sounds when I turn it after I have filled it with writing). This was so lightweight and made the slightly, soft crinkle when moved around just one page--almost like tissue paper.

So my next thought was, "is this going to print well on my inkjet printer and not bleed through the page?" See for yourself! The photo below is of printed words on this HP ecofficient paper (on the left) and of a much thicker Target brand paper (on the right). The Target brand paper is about 10 times thicker and feels almost like cardstock compared to the HP paper. As you can see, both have equal amount of showage from the back of paper, I almost dare to say that you can see through the HP paper LESS. (Ignore my messy desk)

So why did I mention the taxes I am mailing to the IRS? Because the weight of this paper allows me to get an amended federal return and all the supporting documents mailed in just a standard envelope through the post office and not be too bulky or weigh too much for just one stamp! Seriously, I could fit at least twice as many pages as standard paper (but I'm daring to say more like 5 times as much) with it being the same weight (which does matter to the post office when sending things standard mail AKA third class).

To compare the stats (which mean nothing to me) on these two papers: The Target brand is 20 lbs and 75 G/M^2 and the HP brand is 16 lbs and 60 G/M^2. (as seen on the product photo at the top of this post)