Set Up:
For reasons I am not going to explain, I stepped totally out of character on this review and instead of blindly plugging things in and loading software, I actually followed the instructions on the included "Quick Start Guide". The guide walks you through removing the cardboard packaging, setting up paper trays, loading the ink cartridges, and getting the phone and power cords plugged in. It warns repeatedly not to connect the USB cable to your computer until you are cued to do so when loading the software on your computer.
When the time finally came to install the software (more on that later) a pop up let me know that it was now time to connect the Officejet 5610 to the computer via the USB cable. The loading of the HP software and set up of the Officejet 5610 was a little time consuming, but went smoothly with no issues using the Quick Start Guide.
Software:
I am not a fan of most proprietary software, but from the start I was somewhat pleased with the software HP provided with the Officejet 5610. The install went smoothly and even with all the HP "Solution Center" applications running, the Windows task manager showed 1,385K of memory being used. The system showed no signs of being slowed by the software what so ever. The picture below shows the software interface. I found it simple and easy to use.
So for the first two weeks or so I was feeling pretty good about the HP software, but unfortunately that came to an end one evening when the software decided it needed to be updated. A pop up window ruined a good session of Quake 4 and the software proceeded to take over my system. Trying to cancel the update only resulted in a new pop up window. So I decided to go ahead and update the software. I never thought the update would be so intensive. It took a total of 30 minutes and much to my surprise a total of 4, yes count them FOUR, restarts of the system to complete the update. Although I appreciate updated software, I do not like it being forced on me, especially when the old software seemed to be performing just fine. Since the update the software has continued to work as it should without any issues or a noticeable hit on the system's performance, but I haven't seen any benefits from the forced update, either.
