Well I bought this printer about 12 months ago because I wanted a cheap, good quality HP printer with a card reader that could print good photos and documents, and that's what I got, a good sturdy printer. I'll just go through a few of the points about it and hope you find them useful, especially ... Read review
Advantages: Small, Good Card Reader, Quality Prints Disadvantages: Cartridges!, bit slow
...wanted a cheap, good quality HP printer with a card reader that could print good photos and documents, and that's what I got, a good sturdy printer. I'll just go through a few of the points about it and hope you find them useful, especially if you're looking for a new printer yourself
* Design *
It's very small compared to most printers and another advantage is it completely folds up into a nice rectangle for travelling ... ...
Well it's a HP printer so the cartridges are a bit more expensive than other printers and in this printer they can get quite confusing. The printer takes 2 cartridges, although 3 different cartridges fit the unit. It must have a colour cartridge installed and one other - either a black cartridge or a photo cartridge.
The Black cartridge is self explanatory whereas the photo cartridge contains 3 colours (black, pink, cyan), ... more
Well I bought this printer about 12 months ago because I wanted a cheap, good quality HP printer with a card reader that could print good photos and documents, and that's what I got, a good sturdy printer. I'll just go through a few of the points about it and hope you find them useful, especially if you're looking for a new printer yourself
* Design *
It's very small compared to most printers and another advantage is it completely folds up into a nice rectangle for travelling or storage (easily as well!) which is a bonus.
The card reader and all the functional buttons are on the left. the card reader is very easy to use although out of the 5 buttons on the front I only actually know what 2 of them are (power button & cancel print). Out of the other 3, one looks like a file with an arrow pointing to it and the other two show one of a big person and one of a little person. Having said this I have had no problems using the printer at all.
On the front there is also a firewire port and light saying when the ink cartridge is low, however the computer will also tell you this. The top lid of the printer also lifts up to store about 20 sheets of 4x6 (normal camera photo) size papers.
* Functionality *
Well this printer is nice and easy to set up, firstly plug in the two cables at the back one goes to the computer and the other to a free plug socket. Install the software CD that comes in the pack and pop the ink cartridges into the printer and your good to go.
The card reader is not jus for printing from a digital camera and plugging in many different types of memory card will make it appear as a memory stick would in my computer. This is a bonus if you have a mobile phone or other equipment with a memory card.
The paper alignment slider is inside the printer which took me a while to figure out! For a few months I kept getting skewed prints, but by putting your hand to the left hand side of the printing tray and moving the slider right should sort out this problem if anyone else has it.
I generally use this printer for printing text with a few pictures although I have printed out a few pictures with the unit. It is recommended you install a photo cartridge rather than a black one if you use it for printing lots of photos. However I have had both and have not noticed any difference in print quality between the cartridges (and the photo one is about £10 more expensive!). Prints for both photos and text are of a very high quality (as long as you set the print quality to "best" in the printer settings).
I have noticed that the print speed is generally quite slow; there is an increase in speed if the Black cartridge is in the printer as opposed to photo.
Once the printer is connected up and working I have not had any problems with the unit since and has continued to print good pictures and documents
* Cartridges *
Well it's a HP printer so the cartridges are a bit more expensive than other printers and in this printer they can get quite confusing. The printer takes 2 cartridges, although 3 different cartridges fit the unit. It must have a colour cartridge installed and one other - either a black cartridge or a photo cartridge.
The Black cartridge is self explanatory whereas the photo cartridge contains 3 colours (black, pink, cyan), similar to the colour cartridge (which contains blue, red, yellow) in the printer. Supposedly by putting a photo and a colour cartridge in the printer the printer will produce better results; in personal experience I can see no difference and all the extra expense of a photo cartridge does is slow down printing.
New cartridges cost roughly; - Colour £20 - Black £18 - Photo £28
Although it is possible to find them cheaper from various websites, I found ebuyer.com very useful for cheap replacement ink cartridges with a official HP black cartridge costing under £10 inc delivery.
* Conclusion *
If you want a cheap reliable photo/document printer with a card reader then the printer is definitely for you. It has a good design, easy to set up & use, it is also easy to transport (good for university students and people who travel a lot). For under £70 you can't go wrong! Though be warned it can be expensive to buy new cartridges if you print a lot, if this is a problem maybe you should look at other brands of printer.
* Summary *
ADVANTAGES
- Cheap - Reliable - Easy to use - Good card reader - Small - Smart Design
DISADVANTAGES
- No borderless printing on A4 paper, can still print borderless on other paper sizes though - Cost of Ink Cartridges is ridiculously expensive (although you can refill them or get them cheaply as mentioned) - You'll have to read the manual if you want to find out what the buttons on the front of it do!! - Will not work after plugging it in, you must first install the software CD as windows XP does not recognise it initially - Slow Printing
Advantages: Small, Card Readers, Nice prints, Good Value Disadvantages: Paper jams, Lack of borderless A4 printing, costly cartridges
...function is only intended for HP cameras. And like many printers, it does not come with a USB cable.
The main drawback compared to some models is the inability to produce borderless A4 prints. Even 15x10cm photos require special paper with a 'tab'. And then there are the running costs...
It is based on the same ink cartridges as the popular HP5150, so printing costs should be similar, although I haven't calculated mine yet. I have seen figures ... ...nearly as expensive as original HP ones. And I've not tried refilling the cartridges yet. But you've got to try to deprive the printer manufacturers' of this income to discourage them from using this ridiculous marketing model. And then there's the paper costs... For borderless 6x4" photos, you'll need paper with a special tab. HP charge 30p/photo just for this.
Overall, I'm quite pleased with the HP Photosmart 7260 and would recommend it for light-moderate ...
Igloo_Vindaloo 30.01.2005 (31.01.2005)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of HP PhotoSmart 7260
Advantages: Excellent quick printing, photos just add icing on the cake Disadvantages: Paper jams for drafts
...relatively quick speed (depending on settings). But beware of using draft prints as this for some reason causes the printer to jam or crumple through the process. Ink catridges suprisingly outlast any other inkjet I have owned. HP 56, 57, 58 are used in this machine. ...
makro74 19.07.2008
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of HP PhotoSmart 7260
Advantages: Fantastic photo prints Disadvantages: Flimsy build quality
...is good value however the hp paper and ink is not cheap,a HP photo ink cartridge is over £20 and 20 sheets of HP 6x4 inch photo paper cost me £8 but the results speak for themselves.It may be posible to reduce these running costs by using third party consumables but i havent tried any yet so cant coment on these
The printer retails for £89 in the high st but you can get it cheaper online or by shopping around try Dabs or Amazon.
I got my printer ... ...from Comet online for £200 i reckon i saved about £30-40 of the seperate selling price,online prices always seem to be better value as the instore price was £20 more.
Finally a BIG thank you to all the Ciao members who E Mailed me with coments & suggestions after my first review very helpfull thank you feels like a big family ...
wavyframe 01.06.2004
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of HP PhotoSmart 7260
Advantages: Good photo printer Disadvantages: Cost of ink catridges
...directly into the printer control panel to print your photos as well as prininfg them from your computer..
With an added attachment, a photo cassette you can also print 6x4 inch photos(10x15cm) .
The only drawback with this printer is the price of the HP replacement ink cartridges. ...
bigblue 06.06.2004
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of HP PhotoSmart 7260
Advantages: Good quality, elegant, fast Disadvantages: expesive maintenance
This is a very good products with both pros and cons. The design structure of the printer is very aesthetic and eyecatching. The presence of a five in one card reader is of great assistance. Not only in the process of printing straight out of the memory chip but also in connecting such memory chips to the computer. As the name suggests this printer is primarily designed for the use as a photo printer and it does its job absolutely well. The print ... ...as well. A lot of ink is wasted during the printing process and the cost of the cartridges are very and refilling is equally expensive. The capacity of the basic cartridges that come with the printer is very limited. Another issue common to most inkjet printers is that the ink solidifies when the printer is not used commonly. But I'd clearly recommend this product to anyone who wishes for a worthy colour printer. ...
hnilesp 08.10.2008
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: somewhat helpful Review of HP PhotoSmart 7260
Picture quality
Printing speed
Colour sensitivity
Ease of use
Value For Money
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Advantages: Built in display screen Disadvantages: Poorish print quality for an inkjet
This printer isn't really worth it's price tag, the image quality is pretty poor for an inkjet printer and I would definately expect more for my money. There are better printers out there which you can buy for around the same price. I think to get a really decent printer you'll have to pay over £100 at least. All said, the built in screen is a pretty cool feature and works very well. Sufficient memory card slots which work with ease. Easy enough to connect and install onto your PC. I really expected more because HP make some very good printers and I have had very good experiences with other photosmarts in the past. In conclusion, there are better printers available in this price range. Overall 6/10. ...
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Product Information for "HP PhotoSmart 7260" »
Manufacturer's product description
The HP Photosmart 7260 photo printer delivers easy true-to-life photo printing in 6-ink color or up to 4800-optimized. At the touch of a button, it is so quick and easy to download, print and save your photo. Just slip your camera's memory card into a compatible slot and print - no PC required! Or, use your printer's save-to-PC button to easily save photos to your computer. Photos resist fading for generations - twice generations - twice as long as most traditionally-processed photos! And, it's a snap to print fabulous borderless photos using the convenient 4 x 6-inch photo paper tray and HP Premium Plus Photo paper.
