Excellent Multi-Purpose Printer for Home Use!!!
Written: Dec 11 '00
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Pros: Multi-Purpose, Ease of use, Great Photo & Extremely Quiet when printing
Cons: Original Color Ink Cartridge goes out fast
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| soundfaith's Full Review: Hewlett Packard PhotoSmart 1218 Inkjet Printer |
My wife and I had come to a decision that it was time to replace our printer with a real printer. We had grown tired of our Epson Stylus 600 and all it's paper jams, not to mention the poor quality. The major lesson I learned with that one is take the time and do you research. Well, that wisdom paid off greatly this time. When I bought the Epson I jump the gun and bought the first printer someone recommend. What a big mistake that was. Not only were we not satisfied, but a month later the upgrade came out for the same price that I had paid for the lesser model.
Well, my search began by visiting local retailers to see what my options were. Interestingly enough, there was a big push at both Office Depot and Staples (actually one in the same company with two names)by the salesperson for the Lexmark (can't remember Model #). Needless to say, I was not impressed with it. For one it does not carry the history behind it that HP does and secondly, I am a bit leary when you try different stores and they are all feeding you the same line. It was as if they were reading from a script. I say all this only because if you are considering getting the HP PhotoSmart 1218 (or 1215 if Duplex Printing is not important to you) you need to take your time and pay for quality once.
Early in our decision-making process we had decided that we more that likely would go with HP. I started by looking at the 900 series, but then I noticed the PhotoSmart printer. Now at this time the 1200 series had not yet hit the market and I was looking at the P1100. After actually seeing it in the store my mind was pretty much made up mainly because we had just purchased a digital camera (see review on the Olympus D-490 Zoom) and I like the idea of being able to print directly from the printer through the Built-in Card Readers. This in itself places HP PhotoSmarts above the competition.
Now I also like the Duplex Printing capabilities which comes with the P1100 and the 1218. With the money you are already spending, you would be wise to get it now. Although you can purchase it as an add-on feature for the P1000 or 1215 later on down the road, you will pay a considerable difference in price to get the Duplex attachment separate.
Where my research really pay off was when I came across a news release (magazine article) stating that HP was coming out with its' 1200 series This was days before I was about to the P1100. These models are a bit faster and include an Automatic Paper Sensor that scans the paper in your tray then selects the print quality automatically based on the type of paper (photo stock, plain bond, etc.) it determines you are currently using. Now you can still chose to select the print quality manually. This is done through the easy to use LCD Screen (another prize winning idea by HP). This LCD Screen is almost unlimited in what it allows you to do. I says almost only because everything has its limits, although in the 2 months I've had it I am yet to find any. Another plus is the separate tray for 4x6 photo paper. It has both USB and Parallel connects and installation was a breeze.
I could go on for quite some time about this printer. Sure it is a bit pricey, but I had already determine that I was not going to let and $100 or so get in the way of making the right decision this time. I believe I have both a printer and camera to last us for years to come.
P.S. HP also has a line of Digital Cameras that works with the Infrared Technology on the printer (basically working similar as a remote control does with a TV) sending photos directly to the printer from the camera without having to take out the Media Card via infrared. Truthfully though, HP does printers NOT CAMERAS. I saw the camera, it looks cheap compared to my Olympus and it was unusually hard to find which throws up a flag for me.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 499.99
Operating System: Windows
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Epinions.com ID:
soundfaith
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Reviews written: 2
Trusted by: 0 members
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