Review: HP Photosmart Premium

Pros: Amazing printing quality (photo/documents), fast printing, great connectivity (WiFi/Bluetooth) and a smartly integrated CD/DVD drive for printing.

Cons: Expensive ink cartridges, bulky.

The HP Photosmart Premium, I shall label it as a good servant, one that does everything I want, everything I need and everything… hmmph, Else! The basic features for a good printer in the current market has to have the ability to scan, print, and fax. Well, this printer has got it all, and perhaps a little more.

HP labels the Photosmart Premium as “One Machine For The Whole Family”. Now, let’s have a clear breakdown on how this printer stand up to its Premium brand.

The HP Photosmart Premium carries these features:

1. Print
2. Copy
3. Scan
4. Fax
5. CD/DVD Print
6. Memory Card Slots
7. WiFI
8. Bluetooth
9. 2.4-in LCD

It prints out at 33Ppm on Black ink and 32 Ppm on Color, churning out 9600 x 2400 dpi(color), 600 x 600 dpi(black). We specially love the integrated Memory card slots, as it allows us to print on the go without a computer. The card slot supports CompactFlash, Memory Stick, Memory Stick Duo, Secure Digital/MultimediaCard, Secure Digital High Capacity Card, and xD-Picture Card. That pretty much covers all the available consumer memory cards.

The scanner features a high 4800 x 4800 dpi optical resolution.

Since HP labeled it as the One machine for the whole family, it sure does stand out as one. Stationing the printer in a certain section of the house, connecting it to a router via WiFi, then setting up the connection with all the other computers within the network. The kids will now be able to print from the top floor and collecting it from the main station, mum and dad can be printing from the kitchen and little Johnny can also print from the restroom while doing his little business.

The CD/DVD printer, a charm of course. ever wonder how to make those CD/DVD that we give away to our friends/family standout? The Photosmart Premium comes with bundled software, where users can design the artwork before printing, and then printing them on the CD’s or DVD’s. The CD/DVD drive slot does come in handy.

Printer size is 18.43 x 18.62 x 11.14 in, weighing at 10.4kg. The supported OS are Windows XP, Windows Vista, Mac OS X v 10.4; Mac OS X v 10.5 and Linux.

Yes, it is certainly one machine for the whole family; just do cross your fingers and hope that the young-lings don’t press the printer button as often. Priced at RM 1385