Last week my old Hewlett Packard Printer died. I was not a happy bunny because I depend on my printer a lot. Not only were the cartridges costing a fortune, but the results were getting worse and worse, and even after cleaning the ink cartridge heads, nothing improved the quality.
DECIDING WHICH TO BUY
There are a lot of printers on the market offering all kinds of options and here is was difficult to make a choice as so many companies offered so much. The range of features on printers has evolved so much since I last bought a printer, and I decided to research rather a lot before deciding between this printer and the Epsom Stylus 2200 and the Epsom R320 which came pretty close on spec, but the Epsom was pricier and to my mind did not offer as much as the Hewlett Packard did, nor did I like the design of the machines as much as this one.
UNPACKING
It's a little like Christmas. The printer was tidily wrapped and with it came power lead, software including an imaging package which is pretty basic, and free cartridges (photo and colour) and a pack of paper so you can get through loads of ink trying the machine out for the first time.
SET UP
Set up was pretty straightforward, although here you must remember to add the software to the computer before getting too enthusiastic and plugging the printer into the computer. Mistakes happen but this is a minor one and I am known to be impatient.
APPEARANCE
The Printer is a solid looking machine, and has the usual opening at the top to change cartridges, smaller cartridges than normal, and a little slot to put a spare cartridge, protected from any leakage by a little gadget that comes with the printer. Here, they have improved things, because there is a slot at the back that you can open to get rid of jammed paper as well.
LCD SCREEN
I thought that the screen on the printer would have been a little hard for me to use as my eyesight is appalling, but it is crystal clear and the pictures from your memory card, slotted into the neat little slot area of the printer are easy to zoom, fix, frame, and select from a neat menu on the top of the printer, which works independently of the computer and can take photographs directly from memory cards or camera without even having to turn the computer on.
Something I have since learned on the screen is that if you press the middle of the zoon button, you can get 9 pictures on the LCD screen at the same time and with the arrows, work your way through chosing the ones that you want to print.
TRANSFER
Photos are easily transferred between printer and computer at the touch of a button. It is kind of like another drive and all card pictures show up as they would with a card reader.
MEMORY
For those who understand about sizes, the printer is capable of holding 16MB of memory, although here, I tend to transfer my pictures directly to the computer. For those users that do use the printer independent of a computer, I can see that this would be useful storage.
ENHANCEMENTS
I love this feature and have played with it a lot. You can make your pictures into sepia prints, black and white, or antique finish which is rather nice. You can also chose the size of print from the printer, as well as quantity, and menus are simple to understand and very clear.
LANGUAGES
I liked the fact that I could chose the language preference because I bought this printer in France and as most of my software is English, I did not want the added complication of introducing French, Spanish, Portugese or the other languages available. Again, switching from one language to another is simple and this for me is very handy because it means that I can demonstrate the machine to my french friends as well as enjoying it myself.
INK CARTRIDGES
The ink cartridges are tiny and I was worried that they would not last long, although with sensible use, the black cartridge has been tested and test reports are available on line that state that the cartridge lasts up to 2 and a half times as long as normal cartridges, which to me is good news.
What Hewlett Packard have done is made one section of the ink cradle interchangeable, and what this means is that you have in fact three cartridges, one for black, one for colour (6) as normal, and one special cartridge for photos which you only place in the cradle when you have special photographs to print. There is a little slot for the spare cartridge under the lid with a secure clip which means that it is protected from leakage.
Changing between cartridges seemed a little tedious at first although now that I am accustomed to it, it is really easy. I was concerned also that the printer may calibrate the cartridge every time I changed it, thus using up loads of ink, but this proved not to be the case.
WHAT MAKES THIS MORE USER FRIENDLY ?
Well, here it is the simplicity of the menus. My husband is completely incapable of using the computer and yet he can insert the card and print photographs without even having to turn it on. For me, a little bit of a perfectionist when it comes to photographs, I like to manipulate the photographs and get them perfect on my computer screen and then print them, so this printer suits both of us.
QUALITY OF PRINTS
I was actually amazed at the quality of the prints, using the colour cartridge. They were really clear pictures and the quality undeniable. Then I tried the photo cartridge and my amazement went into overdrive, because this is the nearest I have ever seen to perfect prints. Apparently Hewlett Packard have worked on their inks, and the photo inks actually make the photo last longer than traditionally printed photographs which is pretty amazing in itself.
PAPER SIZES
There are two trays for paper, one taking smaller photograph paper, and one taking the standard A4 paper and switching from one tray to the other is simple by sliding a small bar on the top of the paper tray forward and backwards according to which paper you wish to use.
AM I DISAPPOINTED WITH MY PURCHASE ?
I could go into reams of technical detail because this printer warrants it, but the purpose of writing this review is to extol the virtues of the machine. Lists of technical data can be found on millions of site across the net, but here it is more a case of one individual telling the public about the machine they have bought and how they found its performance.
Since buying the machine, I am astounded by the comparisons I have made with other friends who opted for a totally independent printer (i.e. one that does not have to be attached to the computer), and they all seem disappointed with their purchase when they see what my printer can do, making me a very happy bunny for making the choice I did. The fact that it can be used either with or without the computer is a plus because I do have the need for a printer to be attached to the computer, and here I have the best of both worlds.
FEATURES I LIKE
Saving photos and transferring from the printer to the computer is done at the touch of a button.
I like the fact that you can print proof sheets because you can share more with friends, chose photos easier and generally have more control over your photographic experience.
I like the fact that you can zoom on the LCD screen, and add frames to your pictures, which is rather nice.
MENU FRIENDLINESS
This machine has been made with all kinds of users in mind, but what I like the most is that Hewlett Packard have not assumed that all users are technically advanced. The menus are easy to follow and although some of them are choices I would not make, i.e. date stamping photos, I believe that they have thought the internal instructions out very thoroughly.
My goodness, prices have changed over the years and to be able to buy this quality at this price is pretty amazing. The price was 149 Euros, which is the equivalent of £98.
CARTRIDGE PRICES
Here I was pleased that the cartridges at worst case scenario cost 28 Euros for the colour cartridge as opposed to the 65 euros I paid for the old printer cartridges, making the whole experience more easily affordable. Thats £18 and to my mind well worth the money.
GUARANTEE
One year.
ONLINE AND OFFLINE SUPPORT
24 hours a day every day, and reliable too. When I made a mess of installing the printer, they helped me out and were extremely helpful. I had to get help and found that Hewlett Packard have an online chat with an engineer which was amazingly helpful and they got me over the initial hiccups very fast and extremely well.PRINT SPEED
I have to admit that it was relatively slow, although the quality probably merits the speed. All things come to he who waits and good things are worth waiting for. When I say slow, up to 13 pages per minute which is not bad, but as I say I am an impatient person.
NOISE
The printer is a little noisier than my last one although not annoyingly so.
COLOUR CONTROL
This really is amazing. By changing the settings by the menus, you have total control of how biased you want your photos to be. I remember with old films, certain makes veered towards certain shades, i.e. Fuji was always a little green, Kodak always a little blue, and I used to develop my own photographs and chose the paper I wanted to compliment the subject of the photo, i.e. Scenery was nicer when it was a little biased towards green. Well with this printer, I have total control which is astounding.
INSTRUCTIONS
The instruction leaflet that comes with the product is pretty basic and I went onto the Hewlett Packard site and kept the instruction manual to favourites which is much more detailed.
You can load up to 100 sheets of A4 or the smaller photograph paper at a time which is adequate for my needs.
OVERALL IMPRESSION
I know that my friends that bought the other makes were disappointed with their purchases when they saw what this printer can do. I made the right choice and it fell easily within my budget. It's a super printer, and quite ergonomically designed without forgetting that users don't want things that look like space ships on their desks. The rounded adges make it look pretty neat and compared with all the fancy ones that had photocopiers, I am happy with my purchase because I have a scanner and do not need a huge machine with an unecessary photocopier.
I believe that I made the right choice and would happily recomment this machine to any serious user that wants choices that other printers do not give you.
SPECIAL UPDATE
I have found that my printer is an intelligent beast and I did not know about this when I wrote the review. Going through the menus, you can print a proof sheet, and here is where the printer amazes me. It prints a superbly clear proof sheet, and if you fill in the bubble at the bottom of the photographs that you want to print with black pen, the printer picks up these dots and can print only the pictures that you have chosen, but the inrtelligence does not stop there. At the bottom of the proof sheet, you can chose how many pictures you want to print and also the format in which you want them printed. It is so clear and easy that a child could use it.
I AM IMPRESSED.
Rachel
More details
Reliability
Excellent
Design
Excellent
Range of extra features / functions
Excellent
Instruction manual
Satisfactory
Manufacturer Support
Excellent
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