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.