HP - Photosmart C5180 (ITreviews)

HP's all-in-ones continue to march on, yet this generally impressive machine has some surprising omissions that might make you think twice before buying similar models at a comparable price.

In terms of design, it's very similar to the Photosmart D7360, with the same cream, grey and silver tones and the two fixed in-trays at the front: one for conventional paper and the other an automated tray for 6 x 4-inch photos.

Indeed, everything here is arranged for front action, including an extensive fixed control panel, a separate adjustable 2.4-inch QVGA colour image display and four memory card slots (handling CompactFlash, Secure Digital, Secure MultiMedia Card, xD-Picture Card and Memory Sticks).

It's worth noting, though, that some of the memory cards need non-supplied adaptors and for some peculiar reason there's no PictBridge facility for printing straight from your digital camera.

There is, on the other hand, a networking possibility via USB to a single PC or via Ethernet to several. Mac users can breathe a sigh of relief that the Photosmart C5180 software is geared to both Windows and Mac but if you're also hoping to send faxes you will be cruelly disappointed.

The aim here is to be able to do most scanning, printing and copying without having to switch your PC on, and to that degree this machine succeeds admirably. All the control buttons are self-explanatory and the LCD has simple scrolling arrows as well as a help facility as a prompt.

It all links to the software that comes in the package; Photosmart Express, which is for basic operations, as well as Photosmart Premier for editing, organizing and sharing, and Photo Fix which, er, fixes your photos by removing red-eye and adjusting lighting, sharpness and contrast. This all works well but it's a pity you don't have the option for printing four different photos on an A4 page which you do with Epson's Easy Photo Print.

There are no fewer than six HP Vivera ink cartridges, which are easy to load, long lasting and heavily fade-resistant. They are thus economical to use as you only replace the relevant colour when it disappears.

However, copies of text and colour graphics had a distinctly faded look and scanned photos came out with a yellowish bias even though the sharpness was spot on. Photos printed from the computer and memory cards were far superior, retaining the authentic colours and clarity.

HP claims the C5180 has 'the world's fastest photo printing speeds', with 15 x 10cm (6 x 4-inch) images at 'best' quality in 12 seconds, documents at 32ppm in mono and 31ppm in colour. In practice the 15 x 10cm photos averaged around 20 seconds and typical text documents reached 10ppm, which is still admirable.

HP - Photosmart C5180 features - Verdict

The lack of PictBridge capability allied to the faded quality of scanned documents and off-colour scanned photos make this a disappointing addition to the usually exemplary Photosmart series, although you will still have fast reproductions and excellent prints from memory cards.

HP - Photosmart C6180 (ITreviews)

All-in-one office machines are all the rage at the moment, as they hold out the promise (especially for small businesses) of combining many tasks at a high standard for remarkably low costs. HP is one of the leaders in this area and has been eagerly trumpeting the virtues of the Photosmart 6180, especially for its supposed 'ultimate' printing speeds of 32ppm for mono documents and 31ppm for colour.

Well, it certainly won't take up too much space as it's a conveniently compact 17.5 x 15.2 x 9.2 inches, weighs a comparatively featherlight 10.6kg and unites the roles of fax, copier, scanner and printer. The optical scanner has a top resolution of 4,800 x 4,800dpi and directly above the scanner lid is an automatic document feeder (ADF) which will hold 50 sheets of A4 or Letter and up to 35 Legal length sheets. The scanner itself cannot duplicate any greater size than A4.

The main input tray holds 100 sheets and there's an additional 10 x 15cm (6 x 4-inch) photo tray above, which can dispense 20 sheets before you need to reload. If you need it, an optional automatic two-sided printing accessory can be purchased separately and you can scan in transparencies and film (but without the holder that comes as standard with the slightly more expensive Photosmart C7180).

There are six large, well labelled, individual Vivera ink cartridges (CMYK plus light magenta and light cyan) which slot easily into the centre of the machine, and on the front are four memory card slots (supporting CompactFlash, SD/MMC, Memory Stick, and xD) and a USB port which is PictBridge-enabled so you can import photos directly from your digital camera.

The large front control panel dominates the design but is refreshingly uncomplicated to decipher. There's a separate column for each function and every step of the process appears in the bright, 90-degree pivoting, 2.4-inch LCD that enables you to make your copies and scans without connecting to a PC (if you want to make use of the basic variations), or you can opt to make commands through HP's supplied printing software.

What will be especially appealing to small business users are the networking options via the 802.11b/g Wi-Fi and Ethernet connections, while the fax alternatives include 60 individual, programmable, speed-dial numbers and up to 60 groups.

However, the print speeds - despite the manufacturer's claims - are relatively low unless you're using HP's own Advanced photo papers. The same is generally true of the scan and copy functions, although printing from memory cards was noticeably swifter. On the other hand, the sharpness and faithfulness of the colour reproduction was of a high standard, so on balance this is indeed good value for money.

HP - Photosmart C6180 features - Verdict

Not the fastest All-in-One on the market, but the ease of use, superior photo print quality and networking capabilities should ensure a faithful fan club among small business operators.

HP Photosmart 3210 All-in-One

We reviewed the HP Photosmart 3310. For $100 less, the Photosmart 3210 shares the same features and components but lacks wireless connectivity.

HP Photosmart 3310 All-in-One

The good: The HP Photosmart 3310 is Wi-Fi and Ethernet ready; has built-in storage card slots; scans film negatives and slides; and delivers excellent text quality, good photos, and fine graphics prints.

The bad: Lacks an automatic document feeder; scanning could be better; the HP Photosmart 3310's paper capacity is small for office use.

The bottom line: The HP Photosmart 3310's many useful features make it a good fit for a home office.

The HP Photosmart 3310 shares many features with earlier all-in-ones from HP, but this model ups the ante in a couple of important areas. Like the HP Photosmart 2710, the 3310 features stand-alone copying, faxing, scanning, and printing, plus wired and wireless networking, built-in camera card slots and a PictBridge port. The 3310's individual ink tank system, featuring two dedicated photo inks, is superior to the 2710's dual cartridge system, plus the 3310 adds scanning for negatives and slides. If you like the scanning adapter but don't require networking or faxing, check out the sibling HP Photosmart 3210 or the rival Canon Pixma MP760. But if you need an automatic document feeder for frequent photocopying, check out the pricier HP 7410 or the Canon Pixma MP780, which better fit small offices.

Design of HP Photosmart 3310 All-in-One

The shiny gray HP Photosmart 3310 measures a compact 18 by 20 by 20 inches (WDH) with the scanner lid open and the paper trays extended. This machine weighs 26.5 pounds, heavier than its slim body may appear yet easy to lift. Unlike more business-oriented all-in-ones, the HP Photosmart 3310 lacks an automatic document feeder; instead, the detachable flatbed scanner lid houses a built-in adapter for film, negatives, and slides to serve photo hobbyists.

A large, 2.5-by-3-inch color display dominates the center of the HP 3310's elegant control panel, which you can tilt for the best view. Dedicated buttons cover Photo, Video, Copy, Scan, HP Instant Share, and Fax functions, alongside an alphanumeric keypad, a target-style menu, and a blue-glowing wireless radio icon. Four camera card slots and a PictBridge digital camera port are also in front. Lift up the control panel from underneath to access the six pop-out ink tanks, which include an extralarge black module and smaller cartridges for yellow, light cyan, cyan, light magenta, and magenta.

The HP Photosmart 3310 includes a 50-sheet output tray; a photo paper tray that holds up to 20 sheets of snapshot paper; and a main, bottom paper tray that holds 100 sheets of paper from 3x5 inches to 8.5x14 inches in size. To load photos, you must remove the underside of the output tray, which is easy. But because the photo tray doesn't move, you'll have to grope around to load pages into it. At the back, the HP Photosmart 3310 conveniently locates a USB 2.0 port, an Ethernet port, and an indicator light, as well as two fax ports (1-line and 2-EXT) in one area.

Features of HP Photosmart 3310 All-in-One

The HP Photosmart 3310 prints, copies, scans, and faxes in grayscale and color, with or without a computer. You can print photos or frames from digital videos directly from a camera card or connected PictBridge digital camera. The LCD on the control panel lets you preview and print images from your camera, digital storage card, hard drive, or scans. You can also use the control panel and LCD to change brightness, remove red-eye, add a border, and make passport photos with your digital pictures.

The HP Photosmart 3310 is easy to set up and install. You can choose from three connection options: direct to your PC or Mac via USB 2.0, straight to a wired network via Ethernet, or wirelessly to a network via 802.11b or g. Plentiful setup documentation includes a four-color, large-format setup guide, a 200-page user guide with a chapter on networking, and a help guide on the included software CD-ROM.

You can choose either the 1,133MB full install with HP's Image Zone Photo and Imaging software or the slimmer, 395MB express install. We recommend the express install unless you need photo-editing software, because Image Zone can eat up a lot of your computer's resources. Although we didn't encounter problems with Image Zone in our tests of the 3310, we have suffered through clunky installation of the same software when we've tested other HP all-in-ones, such as the HP OfficeJet 7410.

The HP Photosmart 3310 ships with starter, or "initialization," ink cartridges. Oddly, the black starter cartridge holds 6ml more ink than its 10ml replacement. Replacing all six of the inks will set you back about $70.

Performance of HP Photosmart 3310 All-in-One

Speed
Inkjet multifunctions are less than speedy, and the HP Photosmart 3310 is no exception. In CNET Labs' performance tests, this printer produced 5.26 pages per minute (ppm) of normal quality black text, slower than the 6.45ppm of the Canon Pixma MP760 but faster than the 2.10ppm of the Epson Stylus RX620. On the other hand, HP 3310 dawdled by printing a letter-size photo in 81 seconds; the Epson RX620 took just 41 seconds, and the Canon MP 760 did the same in 57 seconds.

CNET Labs all-in-one speed tests (page per minute)
(Longer bars indicate better performance)

Copy

Color scan

Grayscale scan

Photo

Text

HP Photosmart 3310

2.17

6.11

6.22

1.21

5.26

Canon Pixma MP760

3.93

5.23

5.25

0.57

6.45

Epson Stylus Photo RX620

1.49

3.08

4.15

0.41

2.1

Quality
The HP Photosmart 3310's text print quality on HP Premium paper was great for an inkjet, on a par with that of the Canon Pixma MP760. Letters looked dark black and easily legible, even at 2-point size. The 3310's color graphics enjoyed smooth gradients and excellent details but suffered from inaccurate color matching due to an overdose of cyan. Printed on HP Photo paper, CNET Labs' letter-size test photo looked good, with bright colors and accurate details. However, dots were visible up close, especially in skin tones. The quality of the HP Photosmart 3310's grayscale and color scan was only fair, suffering from washed-out or absent light grays as well as halolike bright spots around bold black text. The color scan had a similarly overexposed-looking appearance.

CNET Labs' all-in-one quality tests
(Longer bars indicate better performance)

Grayscale scan

Color scan

Photo

Graphics on inkjet paper

Graphics on plain paper

Canon Pixma MP760

Good

Good

Excellent

Excellent

Good

Epson Stylus Photo RX620

Fair

Fair

Good

Good

Excellent

HP Photosmart 3310

Good

Good

Good

Fair

Fair

Service and support of HP Photosmart 3310 All-in-One

The HP Photosmart 3310 comes with a one-year limited warranty; 90 days only for the software. Free technical assistance is available 24/7, toll-free by telephone, in English and Spanish for the life of the warranty. More assistance is available at HP's Web site in the form of software updates, software and driver downloads, setup help, manuals, answers to FAQs, and e-mail chat.

HP Photosmart C6180

The good: Built-in networking, including wireless; supplies ADF and media card reader; PictBridge port can be used to connect storage devices; great print quality and good scan quality; dedicated photo paper tray.

The bad: Task speeds are a bit slow; color prints can be expensive; photo print features need to be fleshed out.

The bottom line: The HP Photosmart C6180 all-in-one tries to be everything to everyone, and ultimately it fails to meet this lofty goal. It's a good printer at a decent price, however, for the home user who wants to consolidate all tasks into one machine.

Introduccion

The $300 HP Photosmart C6180 is a photo printer by name but has office-printer tendencies by function. The inclusion of an automatic document feeder, built-in networking (including wireless), and fax functionality make it attractive as an office printer, but its task speeds are too slow for all but the smallest offices. It offers great print quality, but it lacks photo features. While it excels in neither role, it's a decent all-around all-in-one for a home user who wants a machine that can do everything. If your needs tend to the office functions and you have to have faster task speeds, the comparably priced Canon Pixma MP830 is a good choice, though you lose fax functionality and a bit of print quality. If you're leaning toward a truly photocentric all-in-one, check out the $200 Canon Pixma MP600.

Design
The HP Photosmart C6180 AIO is quite compact for a multifunction that includes a flatbed scanner. It measures 17.5 inches wide, 15.2 inches deep, and 9.2 inches tall, and weighs nearly 23 pounds. There are handwell-like indentations on either side of the printer, but it would be a stretch to call them handwells, as they are too shallow to serve as such.

The automatic document feeder (ADF) sits atop the scanner lid and can hold up to 50 sheets of letter- or A4-size paper or 35 sheets of legal-length paper. Though the flatbed scanner can accommodate only A4 originals, you can scan legal-size documents using the ADF.

Mounted on the front of the printer are four media card readers and a PictBridge-enabled USB port. The media card slots can take a wide range of cards, though some require adapters. You can connect PictBridge cameras to the USB port to print photos directly, or you can attach a USB storage device, such as a thumbdrive or a hard drive.

The C6180 AIO employs HP's consolidated paper system. The main input tray pulls out partway for easier loading, and adjustable paper guides help you align everything from envelopes to legal paper. Above the main paper cassette is a dedicated photo paper tray that holds 4x6 sheets and smaller. Finally, above both inputs is the output tray, which flips up to allow access to the input trays. A small window in the output tray lets you see whether the photo tray is empty.

The control panel on the C6180 is quite busy because each function has its own set of buttons, including menu and start buttons. Additionally, there is an alphanumeric keypad, menu navigation buttons, and some photo shortcut buttons, including zoom, preview, reprints, and Photo Fix. Rounding out the control panel is a 2.4-inch color LCD display that pivots through a range of almost 90 degrees so you can optimize the viewing angle.

The HP Photosmart C6180 employs a six-ink/six-cartridge print system. Because the tanks aren't attached directly to the printhead, changing them (even while the printer is powered down) is a snap. Black cartridges cost $18 and each color cartridge costs $10, so changing the whole lot will cost you $68. Based on HP's estimates of cartridge yields, we estimate that a black page costs about 2.7 cents and a full-color page costs just over 10 cents. The color estimates for both the Canon Pixma MP830 and the Dell Photo 966 are lower.

Features
The Photosmart C6180 comes chockablock full of features that blend a photo-oriented printer with a more business-minded one. You can connect to the printer directly via USB or mount it on a network so everyone can share. Even better, you can network the printer wirelessly, as it comes with a built-in wireless print server.

The C6180 includes built-in fax, which is more commonly found on office AIOs. The setup manual walks you through various fax configurations, depending on the type of phone line and accessories you have (such as answering machines). You can program up to 60 individual speed dial numbers and up to 60 groups. If you subscribe to caller ID, you can also turn on junk-fax blocking, which blocks faxes from numbers you designate. One minor problem we encountered was an organization issue: we pressed the Fax Menu button, expecting to find an option that would allow us to program speed-dial numbers but we didn't. Eventually, we found it by pressing the printer's general Setup button, which isn't intuitive.

The copy and scan functions offer the array of features we've come to expect from HP. When copying, you can select the type of original (to maximize copy quality), change the number of copies, crop, change paper size, and so on. You can also reduce or enlarge the original, either using preset values or custom, from 50 percent to 400 percent. When scanning, you can save the document to your PC or to a memory device connected to the PictBridge port; reprint the scanned document; have it attached to an outgoing e-mail; or scan it into a number of programs (such as Word, Paint, or PowerPoint) or into one of HP's bundled utilities for editing. Unfortunately, when scanning to a file, you can't choose the format (for example, TIFF or PDF): it's automatically saved as a GIF. Nor can you choose the destination--it defaults to your My Documents folder. You get more options if you initiate the scan from HP's bundled Solution Center utility, as opposed to using the control panel. And unlike the more expensive C7180, you can't scan negatives or slides on the C6180.

When you insert a memory card into one of the slots, you have a number of options. First, you can save all of the photos from the card to your PC. Second, if you've set up the printer on a network, you can e-mail photos. And, finally, you can print them directly off the memory card, but the PC-free photo printing options are limited on the C6180. Basically, you can print all the photos in one fell swoop or step through the photos on the card, choose which ones you want to print, select among a few paper sizes and layout options, and print. You can do some minor editing as well, including adjusting the brightness, adding a frame, or altering the color effects, but if you want to do any major editing, you'll need to print from your PC using HP's bundled software (or a third-party photo editing program).

Oddly, the print-all feature is a bit buried. We think it should be a near-top level option; instead, you have to select the first photo to be printed before you're presented with the option. If you choose to print all, you can print one photo per page, several per page, or an index sheet on 8.5x11 paper. The index sheet gives you the file name but not the photo number. And it only serves as a reference. Some HP multifunction photo printers and most Canon multifunction printers such as the Canon Pixma MP830 allow you to use an index sheet to select photos to be printed. Considering that the C6180 is a photo-centric printer with a flatbed scanner, we're surprised by the omission.

Performance
In CNET Labs' speed tests, the HP Photosmart C6180 gave a middle-of-the-road performance compared to other all-in-ones in its price range. It printed black text at a rate of 5.36ppm, faster than the Lexmark X9350 (4.93ppm) but much slower than the Canon Pixma MP830 (7.70ppm). It printed 4x6 photos at a rate of 0.6ppm, more than twice as slow as the Pixma MP830's 1.83ppm. Grayscale images were scanned at a rate of 7.26ppm and color images at a rate of 2.99ppm, the slowest of the pack. Using the automatic document feeder, it made copies at a rate of 2.26ppm, again, twice as slow as the Pixma MP830's 5.80ppm.

Multifunction printer performance
(Longer bars indicate better performance)

Copy Speed

Color Scan Speed

GrayScale Scan Speed

Photo Speed

Text Speed

Canon Pixma MP830

5.8

10.75

11.61

1.83

7.7

HP Photosmart C6180

2.26

2.99

7.26

0.6

5.36

Lexmark X9350

1.14

5.61

7.99

0.56

4.93

Dell Photo 966

1.19

6.57

4.71

0.67

4.82

What the C6180 lacked in speed, it made up for in print quality. Text printed on inkjet paper was clean, dark, and sharp. The color graphics page displayed smooth color gradients, pleasing saturation, good handling of photo elements, and overall sharp detail. We printed both types of documents on regular copy paper, too, and as expected, the results weren't as good. This is to be expected, though, as inkjet printers usually require inkjet paper for optimal performance (copy paper results in faded colors and more wicking). The 4x6 photo print on HP photo paper also impressed us: it showed sharp details and good skin tones, but could've been a bit brighter overall.

The scans were generally good, though the color scan was a bit soft and the grayscale scan showed compression in the dark end of the grayscale. This was evident in the loss of detail in dark areas of the photo element.

Multifunction printer quality
(Longer bars indicate better performance)

Color Scan

GrayScale Scan

Photo

Graphics on Inkjet Paper

Text on Inkjet Paper

HP Photosmart C6180

Good

Good

Good

Excellent

Excellent

Canon Pixma MP830

Good

Good

Good

Fair

Good

Dell Photo 966

Excellent

Excellent

Fair

Fair

Fair

Lexmark X9350

Good

Good

Fair

Good

Fair

HP Photosmart D7160

HP’s Vivera inks and scaleable print technology have together improved the print quality and reduced the cost of the company’s ink-jet printers. The Photosmart D7160 is one of the latest beneficiaries and has a couple of other good features as well. Selling at around £80, it's surprising to see the range of facilities available.

This is a substantial printer, as large as some of HP’s entry-level, all-in-one machines. Coloured in white and two-tone grey, the printer has a fold-up, 61mm LCD display in its top, a series of well laid-out buttons for control of menus and print functions and a set of memory card readers below a curved, flip-up cover on the right.

The paper trays, which project from the front of the machine, offer simultaneous loading of up to 100 sheets of A4 paper and around 20, 10 x 15cm photo blanks. When you choose through software or from the control panel to print photos, the photo tray is automatically drawn into the machine and rolled out again, at the end of the print job.

HP’s Vivera inks and scaleable print technology have together improved the print quality and reduced the cost of the company’s ink-jet printers. The Photosmart D7160 is one of the latest beneficiaries and has a couple of other good features as well. Selling at around £80, it's surprising to see the range of facilities available.

This is a substantial printer, as large as some of HP’s entry-level, all-in-one machines. Coloured in white and two-tone grey, the printer has a fold-up, 61mm LCD display in its top, a series of well laid-out buttons for control of menus and print functions and a set of memory card readers below a curved, flip-up cover on the right.

The paper trays, which project from the front of the machine, offer simultaneous loading of up to 100 sheets of A4 paper and around 20, 10 x 15cm photo blanks. When you choose through software or from the control panel to print photos, the photo tray is automatically drawn into the machine and rolled out again, at the end of the print job.

The speed dropped to 3.3ppm when printing colour pages, though a 15 x 10cm print took just under a minute from a PC. The print time increased to two minutes when printing from an SD card or a PictBridge camera however, which is not so impressive. Despite HP's claim of a 12 second draft print mode, we could find no reference to this in any of the printer’s documentation.

The quality of prints produced by this machine is generally good. Text comes out dense and black, though with some feathering into the paper. Colour block graphics are clean and solid, with good gradations of tone.

Photo prints at best quality and on HPs Advanced Photo paper were very good, with exceptionally smooth transitions from shade to shade, high levels of detail and natural, well-reproduced colours. Prints on HPs Premium Plus glossy paper were a little grainy, though you have to look closely to see this.

Because of the permanent head arrangement in this printer, it takes more time to service its heads, including during longer print jobs, than earlier machines with cartridge-based heads. It's reminiscent of Epson printers in this respect. We also saw frequent ‘paper out’ messages, when there was plenty of paper in its tray. Pressing ‘OK’ continued the print, but it meant we couldn’t leave the machine unattended. We assume this was a fault with the specific review sample.

You wouldn't expect an inkjet printer to produce much noise and while printing the Photosmart D7160 is commendably quiet. When feeding paper though, it peaks at around 60dBA, which is quite obtrusive. If it happens to stop for head maintenance, the pumping noise is also noticeable.

The cheapest way to buy ink for the Photosmart D7160 is in a six-pack, complete with 150 sheets of photo paper, for around £25. If you're going to be printing a lot of mono pages, there's a high-yield black cartridge, as well as the standard-yield one, and this works out cheaper per page. However, we managed to get over 1,000, 5 per cent A4 pages from the normal yield cartridge, giving a cost per page of just 1.33p, which is very good for an inkjet printer.

Colour ink cartridge costs give a 30 er cent A4 page cost of 53.7p, which is a lot less attractive. However, this is on A4 photo paper and an equivalent print on a 15 x 10cm blank would be a lot cheaper.

Verdict

All the right design elements can be found in the Photosmart D7160, but some shortcomings, such as print feathering, possible paper mishandling and noise when feeding sheets detract from what would otherwise be an excellent machine.