18 Nov, 2009
Putting our HP printer to the test
Posted by andrea tomkins in: Giveaways and product reviews
Many moons ago I was contacted by a PR lady regarding the new HP Photosmart Premium printer. Would I be interested in giving it a spin? Yessir I would.
(To make it absolutely clear, HP sent my family an HP Printer, some paper and some replacement cartridges, all of which we have kept.)
When someone asks me to review computer or electronic gadgetry I take my job seriously. Very seriously indeed! (I don’t just take it and run!) We’ve been working it to the bone ever since we got it. Other than photos, I have printed iron-ons using t-shirt transfer paper, greeting cards via the HP website, bookplates on sticker paper, two-sided brochures for community events … and I’ve been happy with everything that’s come out of it.
Over the summer I took a really intense college-level photography class which focused specifically on lighting. I printed out weekly assignments on our HP Photosmart and let me tell you, the prints were all flawless.
The first assignment, for example, was studio lighting of high and low key images (which is just a fancy way of saying bright white background and dark background.) I have a pretty decent camera, a Nikon D70, and was shooting at a JPEG “fine” setting but I was worried about how the black levels would stand up in an 8 x 10 colour print. I wasn’t disappointed. The final image always had a sharp, crisp glossy finish with great colour. Skintones also came out looking great, very true to life with a really warm glow.
But is it my camera? The printer? The paper? Personally, I think you need to have all three things in place in order to get a really good photo.
I’ve been reading up on why it’s important to use the photo paper developed by the manufacturers of the printer. I used to think that paying extra for the “good” paper was a concept foisted on unsuspecting shoppers, but this is not the case. HP sent me a stack of 8 x 10 as well as 4 x 6 photo paper and I’m a convert. I don’t think I’ll ever go back. Good paper makes a good photo. (Here’s more information about how to choose photo paper and why shelling out for the good stuff makes a difference.)
I was curious about longevity of these prints so I asked HP. Apparently if I’m using HP Vivera Inks, my photos can resist fading for 108 years. (You can read more about that here.)
Other features I really like about our HP printer:
- It’s intuitive and easy to use. The user interface is perfect for people like me who are too busy to read the user manuals. Changing the ink cartridges is totally idiot-proof. Even I can do it!
- It’s quiet. No more clickety-clacking and knock-knocking noises coming from god-knows-what interior shifting buckling printer parts! This purrs along just fine thankyouverymuch.
- Printing from my iPhone. My phone is not my primary camera, but I don’t have a point and shoot and sometimes it’s all I have. The HP is a wireless printer (if I had a laptop I could see myself using this feature all the time) but I am happy to be able to print wirelessly from my iPhone onto 4 x 6 photo paper. Sometimes this is all I need.
- Just being able to print photos on a whim has saved our butt on several occasions. Why just last Sunday night one of my darling children informed us that she needed five photos printed for a school project that was due the next day. No biggie. The printer also has a “quick forms” setting which means I can print off things like standard calendar pages, notebook paper, music paper and graph paper (which was used last night for homework).
- Scanning: the quality of the scan is great for what we need
- Photocopying: I used to balk at the idea of having a printer with a photocopier abilities. Silly silly me! I can think of a half-dozen times I’ve used it in the past month alone. I’ve made copies of (1) travel documents (2) work contracts (3) school forms (4) homework assignments (5) artwork (6) instructions, and the best of all (7) recipes (when I cook something for someone else I often copy the recipe and bring it along to the dinner/potluck/bake sale).
The only thing I haven’t set it up to do is fax. (But I’m finding that I’m needing to do less and less of that in a digital age. Does anyone fax anything anymore?)
What I don’t like:
- The cost of the cartridges. But perhaps this is a moot complaint, simply because it’s a sign of the times. Does any printer manufacturer offer inexpensive inks? Although the unit keeps track of how many prints I’m getting (this prevents the *hey-I-just-CHANGED-the-ink* feeling I get whenever we start running low but it still pains me to fork over this kind of dough. Is it cheaper to print them at home vs. having them printed elsewhere? Maybe. But if I am printing archival images (and by archival I mean fine art portraits to hang on the wall and hand down to my children) I might still hand them over to a real photo lab like Henry’s.
- The need for regular updates of the HP software. I realize this is a small thing, but this is a pet peeve of mine in regards to software in general. Every week or so another “time to update” notice appears on my screen … bug fixes or something. I’m not entirely sure why it needs to be updated so often. Is it because software is released prematurely? Because companies aren’t spending the resources they need to make it perfect before it’s released? Or maybe this is an impossible task given the number of different software configurations there are in the world today?
Mark might have something to add here, but I’ve been very happy with our printer.
I take hundreds of photos every month. Only a tiny fraction of them are uploaded to Flickr (which I only use host my files, otherwise I’d pay an arm and a leg for bandwidth). The others sit in folders on Mark’s Mac. I really need to get on the ball, get organized and start printing out some family pics. Thanks HP, for helping me get one step closer. :)
