HP PhotoSmart A526

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The HP photosmart A526 is a photograph printer that doesn't need a computer to use. It has a 2.4" LCD colour screen for previewing photos before you print. You scroll through the contents of your memory card and selct and print the photo you want. If you wish to edit any photos, you can plug it into a computer beforehand. The idea seems based around convenience and portablity.

Technical Information
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*Print Speed up to 0.6 min/page - Photo draft - 4 in x 6 in , up to1.3 min/page - Photo - 4 in x 6 in
*Built-in Devices Preview screen
*Preview Screen Size 2.4"
*Connectivity Technology Wired
*Interface USB
*Max Resolution ( B&W ) 1200 dpi x 1200 dpi
*Max Resolution ( Color ) 4800 dpi x 1200 dpi
*Direct Printing Specifications PictBridge
*Language Simulation PCL 3
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The basic description

The HP photosmart A526 is a photograph printer that doesn't need a computer to use. It has a 2.4" LCD colour screen for previewing photos before you print. You scroll through the contents of your memory card and selct and print the photo you want. If you wish to edit any photos, you can plug it into a computer beforehand. The idea seems based around convenience and portablity.Technical Information

• Inkjet Technology - HP Thermal Inkjet
• Print Speed up to 0.6 min/page - Photo draft - 4 in x 6 in , up to1.3 min/page - Photo - 4 in x 6 in
• Built-in Devices Preview screen
• Preview Screen Size 2.4"
• Connectivity Technology Wired
• Interface USB
• Max Resolution ( B&W ) 1200 dpi x 1200 dpi
• Max Resolution ( Color ) 4800 dpi x 1200 dpi
• Direct Printing Specifications PictBridge
• Language Simulation PCL 3

Comes with a one year warranty.Design

This is quite a compact printer that measures only 9 inches wide and about 5 and a half inches tall. The smoothed corners makes it look quite nice and the light blue colour is also easy on the eye. Moving on from the aesthetic design it is also practical. There is a flip out handle that helps portability, and added to the fact it is very light, there are no problems with carrying it. The front panel opens out and becomes the output tray for the printed photos. This works quite well and is a smart idea. When you open the front panel it automatically lets the paper holding bit pop open from the back of the printer. The front panel hides the memory card slots and also a USB port. Once the back panel is open it can hold 20 sheets of paper but it can only hold paper that goes up to 4 inches in width. The length of the paper doesn't matter which means it can print different sizes e.g 4 x 6, 4 x 8 etc.
The screen is well placed on the printer and is a good angle to look down over. It is a pretty good screen and shows a clear picture. You can scroll through these pictures with simple to use buttons. There is a left button, a right button and a OK button. This makes it very easy to be used and you pick it up very quickly. You also get a cancel button and one to remove red eye, although i rarely find photos with that problem. It fits comfortably on pretty much any surface and is fairly stable.

Working

As i mentioned earlier it is possible to connect this to a computer and this will alow you to do more to the photos editing wise. Although with most modern cameras there are no problems with them that need too much editing. When it isn't plugged in to a computer, there is very little you can do aside from actually printing. However, that's what it's made for. You can't purchase a printer and complain because all it does is prints. When you want to put in a memory card there is no problem and it will take most normal cards. (You need to buy an adapter for others because there isn't one included) Also, you can get a blutooth adapter and this allows you to send photos wirelessly from your phone. There are some problems where it seems they have made it a little bit too simple. If you want to print more than one photo, then you have to select that photo over and over rather than selecting a number of copies. This sounds negative but it is good to have a printer that is simple. Included with this is a CD that contains filing and editing software so that you can work further on the photos than the printer itself will allow. When the photo is being printed they take roughly 1 minute each, which is pretty fast. They come out in ok quality and all runs smoothly. The quality could be questioned but it is a very cheap printer and they are no where near "Bad".

Conclusion

This is a very simple and easy to use printer that prints in good quality and is pretty fast. It is able to take most cards and the computer editing is a nice addition that cancels out the lack of editing that can be done with the printer. The price is one of the best things about this and is surprising for the quality you get. Overall, this is very useful and i would reccomend it to anyone that is looking for something at the simpler end of the market, yet doesnt want to lose out on quality.

Thanks for reading
Joe 2008 

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