HP's Photosmart A646 printer claims its place right in the middle of the photo printer lineup that's currently available on the market. It isn't meant to be a pretentious, high-end device, but its price recommends it for the regular user. It also offers multiple options for just about everything, including the device you’re printing from, connectivity or photo formats. The printer is very compact and its design clearly states portability.

If digital cameras are becoming smaller and at the same time offering better specifications, the next logical step for the photo industry would be to provide the quality of professional photo printers in a small portable device, and the A646 is a good start in trying to achieve that.


Unfortunately what HP doesn't offer for this printer (yet) is an optional battery pack. So if the main idea of the printer is to be portable, and HP has been offering optional batteries for most of its lightweight photo printers, it's not clear why it didn't happen for the A646 as well. Most photo printers will only work with one size of paper. The Photosmart A646 however, supports three, including 4 x 6 inch, 4 x 12 inch and 5 by 7 inch. One of the great things about the HP Photosmart A646 photo printer is that it's so pleasant to use.

Installing it is pretty simple, especially if you're working with a Mac. On the top of the printer you'll find a display panel that incorporates a 3.45 inch color touch screen. After you've installed the A646 you'll mainly use the aforementioned LCD to navigate (which can be done by using either your finger or the stylus the printer comes with). Hence it can work just fine as a PC-free photo printer. If you’re using a PC, that won’t mean much to you, but if you’re printing straight from a memory card, you’ll find it nice to know that you have many editing options such as creating photo stickers, greeting cards or panoramas. You could also apply one of the many photo enhancements that the A646 offers.

When talking about connectivity, the A646 offers a Pictbridge port, hence works with digicams that have Pictbridge, and built-in Bluetooth support. You can easily print straight from your mobile phone (assuming it has Bluetooth), digital camera, PC or notebook. On the front of the device you'll also find two memory card slots, that can handle xD, SD or Memory Stick memory cards. It's a good choice among PC-free photo printers.



Moving on to consumables, you will find that it’s not very expensive to purchase new ink, so the cost /photo price is more than acceptable. Another nice thing about the printer is that it lets you know how many photos you can still print out of the ink cartridge till it is completely empty. So you will not get caught with an empty cartridge just when you needed to print the most. Now, the only thing you could complain about is speed. But the quality of the prints makes it worth the while, and it’s around $150 price tag, even more so.

The first impression HP's Photosmart A716 compact photo printer leaves is that it highly resembles a boombox or a portable radio. This is because when closed, all you can see is a white, sleek device with a handle for taking it along with you. The fold up design as well as the optional battery HP has to offer, turns the Photosmart A716 into one of the ideal candidates for photo printing on the go.

If you stop to actually study the printer you'll notice that it features an adjustable 2.5 inch color display, which serves for previewing and editing photos. When you buy the Photosmart A716 what you will find in the box includes the actual printer, HP 110 tri-color ink cartridge, a setup and a user guide, tv/video cable, the HP Photosmart Premier software (including several useful utilities for editing and managing your photos) and a power supply.



Right in front of the LCD you will find the power button. On the front of the printer (under the flap) you'll also find the memory card slots and a memory card light that let's you knowNavigation is made easy by a 4 way arrow button with an OK button in the middle for confirmation.

Aside from portability and good photo quality, what's also nice is that the prints are instant dry and water resistant. There are several options if you're looking to make your photos more interesting and you can add an antique, vintage black or sepia style. To ensure that you get good quality photos easily, there is also a HP Photo fix button which will help you remove the red-eye effect, sharpen images and play around with brightness, saturation or contrast.

What's not so convenient is that it'll take a while to actually print a photo, but this is a general rule for small photo printers, at least for now until manufacturers manage to improve them even further with better technology. Hence, the HP photo printer A716 will take somewhere in between one and two minutes to print from either your computer, a memory card, digi cam or it's own hard drive. Now that we've mentioned it's hard drive, it's also important to know that the A716 includes 4GB of storage space on-board.



If you're interested in viewing the photos on a larger screen, know that you'll be able to do that on your pc as well as on the TV. Just connect the printer to the TV, and with the help of the included remote, you can view and skip through a slide show. The HP photo printer A716 is versatile as well, and will allow the user to print from a PC, any PictBridge digital camera or a memory card. Due to the USB port, you may also connect an external optical drive and print straight from a CD/DVD. If that's not enough for you, there's also an optional Bluetooth adapter that you can buy. You can get the Photosmart A716 for around $160.

Hp's Deskjet line mainly includes HP home printers as well as solutions for small-offices, basically environments with rather low-volume printing needs. The HP Deskjet 6940, a stylish printer belonging to the Deskjet line, will work great with plain paper and plain text. It offers great speed and quality for your usual office document printing. It will print around 36 pages per minute in monochrome and about 27 pages per minute in color.

When confronted with photographs, it won't do so well. This is highly understandable. Customers who want high quality photo printing should stick to a dedicated photo printer. Once you've bought an office printer that offers better printing speeds and networking features, the fair compromise is on the quality of photos. Still, for people who don't expect the best photo quality, it will be satisfying. Color graphics on normal paper look good as well.



Because it has built-in Ethernet, you can just print from any networked computer. Moreover, you'll also be able to print straight from your digi cam. So it was mainly designed to give it's user freedom of choice. Use a PC, or not, print from the same room, or the next, print straight text or photos, it can basically do all of it. It's one of the most suitable HP home printers.

Like most HP printers, it is pretty easy to set up. Along with the install software you'll also get the Photosmart Premiere suite of software for photo editing and management. Compared to setting up the printer, installing the Premiere suite takes a bit more time and might be a bit annoying as well. But hey, hopefully you'll only have to do it once. The HP Deskjet 6940 has a brushed metal design that looks very high quality and rather expensive. In the case of this printer, first impressions deceive, and overall, it can be considered very cost effective. It retails for around $120 (which is dirt cheap for a printer with many features) and it's running cost isn't high either. The only case in which you'll spend a bit more money on the Deskjet 6940 is if you're planning to print photos on a regular basis.

The 6940 comes with HP's high-yield black and color cartridges (so full capacity ones) and you won't need to replace the ink short after you bought the device. According to HP the black cartridge should last for 800 pages while the color will probably need to be replace after about 450 prints.



But it's important to know that for photo printing it's recommended to replace the black ink cartridge with another tricolor one or a gray one (for black and white photography). It may sound inconvenient to have to switch ink cartridges, but it's a pretty simple task. You'll just have to open the main cover and remove each ink tank. The paper tray works for both input and output of paper and will hold up to 150 sheets. An optional 250 sheet tray is also available on the market if the user feels like paper capacity is an issue. The printer also offers borderless printing.

Hewlett-Packard (known for short as HP) is an information technology company that comes from California, USA. They are well known for their desktop and laptop computers as well as their digital cameras. But most of all, they are known for providing high quality printers. HP's printers seem to be so good, that once a person has bought one, when on the look-out for replacing it, they still chose HP. On top of that, they also offer a varied range of consumables, like special photo paper and ink cartridges.

The HP Laserjet series is pretty old on the market. The first printer from the Laserjet line became available for use in 1984. It was known as, simply, the Laserjet. Later on (probably when more models were released) it started being referred to as the Laserjet Classic. In the fall of 1991, the first color Laserjet printer hit the market, which was a major achievement for US-based Hewlett Packard.



One example of HP's quality is the HP Laserjet 5500 color laser printer. Let's start by saying that it is a floor standing printer, quite bulky and space consuming. It's pretty safe to say that in 99% of the time it will end up in a rather large office with a workgroup of over 10 people relying on it. Since it was designed to handle multiple print jobs, the printer has some pretty advanced features and hardware. It's meant to be a workhorse, that almost never breaks down or fails to print. Its maximum resolution is of 600dpi, and it has a built in 400 Mhz processor (that allows better speeds to complex printing, like color images, for example). While it may intimidate you with its size, in all reality the printer is very simple to use.HP understood that in an office environment people need to move fast and not be bothered with complex navigation menus.

One thing that doesn't really make it a top notch printer is the printing speed. At 22 pages per minute, it could have done much better for a pretty expensive device. Another down side is it's low paper capacity of 600 sheets. Since it's a workgroup printer, several users can and will print documents at the same time on a daily basis. Now, unless there's a designated person that will re-stock the printer with paper every time it runs out (which will probably happen often), this will cause a bit of frustration.

What it does good is printing color, rather fast and in high quality. It also fits well in an environment where users will require larger size printing. The HP Laserjet 5500 color laser printer has no problem with 12 x 18 inch tabloid extra or A3 prints. It also offers pretty high capacity toner cartridges.



As a conclusion, the HP Laserjet 5500 is just as sturdy and reliable as most HP products, but somewhat more expensive than similar printers with comparable features. What you seem to be buying, when paying the money, is a guarantee that the printer will continue functioning, without needing repair, for years on end.

Why do so many people go for HP printers instead of chosing some other brand? It's not like Epson doesn't make high quality printers, or Dell, for that matter. Well, most customers that have owned a printer from the US manufacturer were not dissapointed. They were promised high printing speeds and reliability and their devices generally provided all that. This is why HP is now the world's largest technology company, with it's products being commercialized in almost all countries.

First off, let's define the notion 'multifunction printer'. Just like the name suggests, such a printer can do several things, usually copying, scanning, faxing and inkjet printing. Most quality printers manage to do all of the above at pretty high quality too. While not as fast and heavy as color laser printers (which are an ideal choice for large workgroups), all-in-one inkjets are a fair choice for any home office. One of the multifunction printers released on the market by HP is the Officejet 6110 offering a copier, color scanner and a automatic document feeder. The automatic feature implies that you can safely place all the documents you need copied or scanned in it, and just go drink a coffee till it finishes.

Upon receiving the HP 6110, you'll find that it's a pretty easy to install printer. It only involves inserting the software and driver CD in your CD-Rom drive, clicking next a couple of times then just giving it a couple of minutes to finish. But be warned that it has become tradition to an extent for HP not to include an USB cable, so be prepared to bring your own because you'll need it. What you'll actually find in the box includes a power supply cord, the software CD, a user's guide CD and 2 ink cartridges.

Actually using the machine, after installing it, is pretty simple as well. You'll have a choice between using your PC to print, or the buttons on the machine itself. It doesn't require your PC to be powered on for printing. Printing speed is 19 ppm for black and 15 ppm for color, while copying takes place at 19 cpm for black and 14 cpm for color. This is obviously for draft quality, and if you choose to print at the highest quality offered, you'll end up waiting significantly more for a page to come out. For your regular printing, the HP 6110 printer comes with two ink cartridges, a black one and a color one (cyan, magenta, yellow). If you want to print high-quality photos, however, you'll have to replace the black cartridge with a specially made photo-ink cartridge.



One major inconvenience that potential buyers should be aware of is that it can't fax straight from your PC. While it does have a fax-modem, a convenient keypad and one-touch speed dial, no PC-faxing is still a major drawback. A duplexer would have been nice to have on board as well, but you can add it later if you're willing to spend a little extra money.