Foolproof fotos!
Written: Dec 10 '00
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Pros: Simple installation, brilliant results
Cons: None
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| AlanCrax's Full Review: Hewlett Packard PhotoSmart 1218 Inkjet Printer |
When I changed my home computer recently I decided that I would also look at the new developments that have taken place in the field of digital photography. My first digital camera did sterling work (sending email photos, incorporating pictures in Word documents, holiday snaps stored and viewed on computer) although I never got as far as manipulating images and printing my own efforts.
PURCHASE
There are several home colour printing kits on the market now, currently aimed I suppose at the Christmas season. Kodak have teamed up with Lexmark to bundle a camera and printer with software and paper into a box that will give you your festive photos even without the aid of a computer. I already had a camera and in any event the pre-packaged offer was restrictive in capabilities.
I acquired details about many printers from several companies. The final choice was the Photosmart range from Hewlett Packard. I then looked at the various options at the computer store. The major promotion was on the entry level P1000 machine which was in stock. I then looked at offers from my main internet supplier who also had available the P1100 (double sided print option) as well as the P1215 (faster) and the P1218 (faster and double sided print option).
All models have a similar appearance with a two tone dark and light grey chassis. The front panel has a series of press button controls and an LED status screen. There is a paper tray at the front (with a further small tray that takes 6” by 4” photo paper). There are parallel and USB ports at the rear. Each supports monotone, colour and photo quality output and paper type is sensed automatically. They support printing direct from a digital camera by putting CompactFlash or SmartMedia cards into slots on the side of the printer.
The P1218 boasts 17 pages per minute in black mode (P1000 = 11ppm); 13 ppm in colour mode (P1000 = 9 ppm). Photo quality output is at 2400 x 1200 dots per inch. A full A4 sheet with four separate images took just over three minutes to appear. This speed is identical across the range. The P1218 comes complete with an automatic dual-sided print mechanism.
The difference in price between these models was surprisingly small. The difference in price between the computer store and the internet supplier (dabsdirect.com) was quite significant. The HP price for the P1218 is $ 499.00 (dabs - £ 290); the P1000 was $299.00 (dabs – £219). The UK price includes sales tax at 17½%.
I picked the P1218 as the highest specified option. Dabsdirect delivered it overnight from stock.
Once out of the box two things were immediately apparent. There was no supplied printer cable (HP are advertising a special package with a free USB cable in the US). The manual was in French!.
I contacted HP customer support to ask for a manual I could understand. She apologised profusely and offered to have one sent to me – from Amsterdam!! She also asked me to print out a test page from the machine (it’s still in the box remember) Apparently a number of these machines were sent out with the wrong firmware installed (they act like P1215 printers) – if mine was affected they would arrange for it to be collected and swapped for one that did work correctly. Fortunately mine is OK
SET UP.
So everything is unwrapped. I now have the problem of fitting it all together. This surely is the ultimate test of modern electronics and programming. My equipment base is as follows:
A new PC (11 MHz running Windows ME)
A USB hub
A Kodak DC 3400 digital camera
This printer.
An Iomega ZIP drive
How long will it take to have a final photograph in my hand?
Step 1: USB
The computer recognised the USB port immediately. I had a slight cheat in that the computer supplier had installed the ZIP drive.
Step 2: The camera
No problems here: I plugged the camera into the hub using the USB cable. (Make sure the camera is switched on and turned to Connect mode!!!) Recognition was immediate. I had to start Set-up from the CD ROM drive to download the Kodak software. Transfer of jpg files from camera to ZIP drive was fast! (A card full of files took less than a minute whereas transfer from my older DC210 camera via a serial cable would have taken 15 minutes).
Step 3: The printer
Again no problems. The computer immediately recognised the printer when it was plugged into the USB hub. The printer came with five CD-ROMS (three installation disks for various platforms). Auto-run operated quickly and the process was completed in just over two minutes. A test page option then calibrated the printer and printed out a sample page.
Step 4: My first print
HP photosuite software is extremely simple to use. It allows access to the files on the flash card of the camera which are shown as thumb prints. It can also access jpg files on the computer’s hard disk or on other storage medium. I chose four images that I downloaded into the print software. There is a menu which presents a wide range of different sizes and shapes of output (a single A4 print – right down to multiple passport size pictures). It is possible to print out (say) four copies of the same picture or four different pictures on the same page.
Hit the print button ---- three minutes later I have developed and printed my first photograph. The detail is great; focus is pin sharp; the colours superb.
I have not yet explored all the other software that came with the various equipment. There are facilities to do fancy manipulations (sepia tones, solarisations, filter effects, borders); there are correction facilities (under- and over-exposure, colour tone and saturation); there are date – time and titling facilities. This has all the makings of rivalling the professional laboratory.
Digital photography at home from push of a button to final print. This is a great idea, a tremendous implementation - it is foolproof!. Not a hitch in getting started. With no hardware or software problems my photographic adventures will be limited only by my own imagination.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 435
Operating System: Windows
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Epinions.com ID:
AlanCrax
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Member: Alan Craxford
Location: Tyne and Wear, UK
Reviews written: 212
Trusted by: 37 members
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