I was shopping for a new computer and decided to purchase a whole new bundle. My old printer is an HP Officejet T45 which I bought 3 years ago and is still working and has been handed down to the kids. When I purchased the officejet, I never stopped to think that the scanner was not going to be of any use to me when wanting to scan something from a book or to copy old tin type photos.

This printer (under 20 pounds) takes up more deskroom than my old T45 did and if you dont want to keep bumping into it you need even more room once you extend the output tray. If you do not extend the tray, your copies and faxes will fall right out once printed. At least the old T45 kept the paper in the printer until I was ready to remove it.

This time I wanted an all in one with a flatbed scanner so I chose the psc2410 due to the price (under $250 after rebate). When I first opened the box, there was a disk titled CRITICAL UPDATE which I needed to install before doing anything else.

Once the update was installed I was pretty well good to go. The software provided with the printer: HP Director, Photo Gallery, Image Editor, HP Scan to E-mail, PC-Fax, HP Scan to Web, HP Creative Photo Projects, IRIS OCR, DVD creator, HP Memories Disc Creator


My first task was to try out the smart card slots. We had taken pictures with our new digital camera, then placed the card right into a lot in the printer. Next thing you know, you could view the photos right on the viewer on top of the printer plus it communicated directly with my PC and I was able to load them onto my hard drive. I actually find it easier to do this through the printer instead of inserting the card in my PC. I have not tried out the proofsheet option yet.

Now for printing. The photosmart came with 2 ink cartridges. One Black & One Color. They are half the size of what I used to buy for the Deskjet (hence I assume I will be purchasing twice as many now as I used to). The top lifts right up and each slot is marked so you know which goes where. The marking also makes it nice for when you forget what cartridge #'s you need. I have to add this because my boss actually made this mistake: When inserting the ink cartridges, make sure you face the contacts to the rear of the printer. The speed is supposed to be up to 15 color pages per minute and 21 black. I have not really times it to see if the estimate is accurate. The 2410 is best used by those who print less than 5000 pages in a month.


To copy was simple enough, you press the COPY button and then the numbers of copies you want and then either the black or color button and you are ready to go. You can reduce or enlarge depending on your needs and make up to 50 copies at a time (The T45 offered me 99 copies at a clip).

Faxing is another chore that I do just about every day from home. The 2410 is a little more work than my old T45 which worked more like a conventional fax. With the 2410, you place your page down on the glass, push the fax button and enter your phone number. Once the image is scanned it will ask you if you have another page. If you do not answer fast enough, it will just fax without you answering the question. It does give you enough time if you are sitting and waiting for it to scan. The 2410 allows you up to 60 speed dial numbers. Even if I used this at work, I would not need all 60. You can fax in black or in color. Of course the color fax only works if you are faxing to someone who can receive color faxes. For those who just use one phone line, this machine does offer Distinctive ring detection.

Scanning is simple enough but I prefer to use a different editing software than what HP provides. You can chose the pixels/resolution you want scanned and it scans in a fair amount of time but no faster than my older model HP. It took a little getting used to but within a day I was having no problems scanning my old photo's and recipes from magazines for my friends and family to share.

The Printing... I print a fair amount each month as I use this machine for home as well as work and for producing a monthly printed newsletter for a local club I belong to. The smaller ink cartridges does mean less copies. The 2410 offers you different print options such as "fast draft" which lets you proof your project while using less ink and I use it for printing that only uses black ink as it is still dark enough to read. You can also choose the "fast normal" print option. I do not know how much ink you save on that setting but it does use more ink than the fast draft. I only use the "best" setting for projects such as cards or reports with color pictures or on any project that I want to make a good impression on and I have not even tried using the photo printing yet.

Even though I do some work from home, you do not need a home office to use an all-in-one. You can actually save desk space as you don't need extra room for a scanner. These machines also come in handy when you all of a sudden find the need to fax something and you are not at work or near someplace that overcharges for fax services.

***UPDATE***
From time to time I check for updates to my printers. I recently downloaded an update a week ago. Ever since that update, it seems that the printer re-installs itself each time I turn on my computer. I tried restoring to an earlier point but it still installs each and every time I boot up.Everything still works fine, just this minor glitch. If I ever find the time to sit on the phone with tech support I will update this again.





Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 249.99
Operating System: Windows