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April 06, 2007
[REVIEW—HEWLETT PACKARD Photosmart A716]
HEWLETT PACKARD Photosmart A716 printer
Price: $500
Recommended
The low-down: This is a portable inkjet printer that produces 10x15cm and 13x18cm prints. The printer footprint is a mere 245x100mm and construction and finish are attractive. There is a carrying handle, 1gb of flash memory and an optional battery to enhance portability.
Paper and ink come together in what HP call a Photo Pack ($54). This contains 120 sheets of 10x15cm glossy paper and an ink cartridge.
The A716 is connected to a PC by a USB 2.0 cable but it also works as a stand alone unit. There are slots for all memory card types, a Pictbridge connector for direct printing from the camera and an optional Bluetooth receiver to print from mobile phones. There is a small LCD screen for previewing photos and doing elementary editing.
Print speed is reasonably fast with a very short time between pressing the print button and the printer springing into action. There is less sitting around waiting for something to happen than with most printers.
Output quality is generally good with the print matching the screen image. Colour and resolution are good but the ink dot pattern is visible under low magnification – something not seen from Epson and Canon printers. Prints dry almost instantaneously but with a blue cast in dark areas. The cast fades away after a few hours.
Slideshows can be created on the printer and played back on a TV. A remote control is supplied.
Like: The software is well thought out and easy to use. There is no real reason to avoid using a computer. In fact it is a lot easier to prepare images for printing on the PC than on the printer’s tiny LCD screen.
Dislike: We had several instances of paper mishandling where the sheet failed to feed cleanly or two sheets went through together.
Verdict: This printer is the ideal companion to a compact camera, for someone who only intends to produce postcard sized prints but might like occasionally to go up to the next size of 13x18cm. Cost per print is approximately 47 cents. The excellent Epson Picturemate ($330) in the small inkjet range.
Posted by terry at April 6, 2007 12:50 PM
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