I am not entirely techno-savvy. This is a gross understatement, but one I can live with and still retain some twenty-first century dignity. Despite my lack of innate techno-skills, I do love gadgets. Due to my own limitations, I require my gadgets to be user friendly nearly to the point of holding my hand and making me hot chocolate while walking me through the initial phases of understanding the product. Fortunately for me, I recently received a gift that fits beautifully with my personal techno-talents. Hewlett Packard has scored with its hp photosmart 7760 photo printer in a big way.

Why Do Fools Fall in Love? (aka: why I want, want, want this gadget)

So, why do I want this thing? It prints pictures, so what? Don’t all printers print pictures? Well, yes and no. In my house, printers print lots of things, mostly text. When they are called upon to print pictures, those pictures are often of dubious quality. Using special media paper (that glossy stuff we want our pictures on) they become sulky and recalcitrant. They don’t like the variable sizes of the paper and delight in making squiggly, wiggly off center pictures that waste ink and paper, neither of which is cheap. So why not just take the picture card to the photo processing center? Easy enough, right? They can do your prints for you in a flash. Or you can photo edit, burn a photo CD and then take that CD to the photo processing center and pay them to print your photos. Bah, I say. I want to take the pictures, edit them and print them myself. I want to bypass the photo processor. I want prints of scanned photos, prints from slides, prints in whatever size I choose. I want it all. Now I can have it.

Psycho IV: The Beginning (aka: setting up)

Alright, I admit it. I’m not so good at patiently following long pages of confusing instructions. My eyes glaze over and I start to just randomly push buttons, hoping that something good happens. It doesn’t usually work out so well. This is why I greatly appreciate the simple, illustrated set-up guide included with my hp photosmart. Seven steps, each fully and simply, thoroughly explained (assuming you know nothing – good call on their part), laid out on a single glossy, colored insert. Complete with relevant illustrations, this brief guide includes documentation of all the items that should be in the box, where to plug in cords, how to load paper, selecting an LCD language, installing ink cartridges and installing the printer software and connecting the entire thing to your computer – either Mac or PC. The best part? It works. It covers all the details, and the set-up process goes smooth as silk. The entire process takes less than ten minutes. And that’s for me. Most people could probably do it in five. It’s just that easy.

Also included on this insert is a small box pointing the user to the manual, the software and the hp website for further information if you do run into snags during set-up.

Lights! Camera! Action! (aka: let’s work this puppy)

So what now? You have it installed, now you want some pictures. You have several print options. Actually you have many print options, but let’s start with where you get the picture you want to print. You can do one of three things – print from your computer, print from your digital camera photo card or print directly from your hp digital camera or laptop. We’ll focus on the first two. My camera is not hp and I don’t own a laptop, so I haven’t tried that option. So we’ll start with printing from your PC or Mac. First, connect your photosmart to the computer using a USB cord. Then simply find the picture you want to print. Easy as pie, just locate it and highlight it, and print as usual. The noticeable difference this time will be that you have an additional printer installed to choose from. Be sure to make that change from your default printer (you can set the photosmart to be your default printer if you choose; it will print text as well as pictures). Once you choose your printer, you choose picture size, paper type and quality and off you go, print as usual.

Picture size

Choose from 4 x 6 (with or without border), 2.5 x 3.25, 3 x 4, 3.5 x 5, 5 x 7, 8 x 10, 8.5 x 11 (with or without border) or combo (according to the manual, a combo “prints five photos on one sheet – two photos at 4x6 and three photos at 2.5 x 3.25” – sounds like a school photo package). If you’ve chosen a country outside the US as your default country, your paper options will reflect this change and you will be offered size ranges in centimeters and standard European sizes.

Paper Type

Like any printer, you can choose any paper type you want, but this baby functions beautifully on glossy photo paper. It does a good job on regular paper, but your regular printer can likely handle those projects equally well. Unlike other printers, the photosmart specifically accommodates smaller special media paper. One of the largest obstacles I’ve faced in the past in getting good prints from my regular printer is its absolute refusal to accept any paper other than standard 8.5 x 11. The photosmart has a specially designed upper tray that fits 4 x 6 paper perfectly, insuring that your photos are straight, without wasting a whole large sheet of photo paper if you want to make a single print. The upper tray is also the one used for all smaller print size choices.

Quality

The manufacturer set default here is “best”. You can also choose “normal”, “draft” or “super-duper takes a bunch of time and computer space to run so I haven’t tried it”. There doesn’t appear to be a huge difference between “best’ and “normal”, but the “best” setting is perhaps a bit more crisp, the colors a little more vibrant.

When printing directly from a photo card, the procedure is slightly different and makes use of some of the more fun little bells and whistles on the printer itself. The photosmart supports the following picture card types: IBM Microdrive, CompactFlash Type I and II, SmartMedia, Sony Memory Sticks, Secure Digital, MultimediaCard and xD-Picture Card. Each has a special slot, and the manual contains a diagram for which to use for which card. I took the card out of my camera and lo and behold it wasn’t labeled with a type. I sure couldn’t remember what it was, but the slots are widely different in size – it only fit in one. Are you getting the idea that they made this machine specifically for me? Once you insert the card, the printer will begin to read it – loading a single picture at a time and showing it on the small LCD screen on the top front of the unit. You can scroll through to find the picture you want before each one if fully loaded. Just use the handy arrow buttons in front of the LCD screen. You have some minimal editing abilities within the photosmart, zoom and color lightening/darkening as well as rotation. The menu button on the unit gives you access to these functions. Perform any editing you desire, pick a size and number of prints (default being one) and off you go. Personally, I find this option, while easy, to be limiting. I prefer to edit photos on my computer to get the precise crop and effects I want, and then print from there.

Printing from a camera involves simply connecting the camera to the printer via the USB cable that came with your camera.

Once More, With Feeling (aka: more good stuff you can do on this thing!)

Along with the single print and combo options, the photosmart software also has an album page function, in which you can set up groupings of pictures to be displayed together. By going into your “all programs” section and opening the “photosmart series” program, you’ll find the album printing options. You can use templates to create photo collages from pictures stored on your computer using this function. You can also place a large number of smaller pictures onto one large sheet of paper to be cut apart later. Also in this section you’ll find more “help” options. There is also a “memories disc” option contained here. This is something I’ve not yet explored in depth, but appears to be the picture CD creator included in this software package.

The manual covers in detail all of the default settings and how to change them. This is a nice feature if you usually want one particular size or always want more than one print. I find the factory defaults fine, they are easy enough to customize for each print job and I don’t have set print requirements.

What I Like About You (aka: the good stuff)

1. The photosmart makes gorgeous, great quality prints. The color is bright, the image remarkably crisp.

2. The paper tray settings make getting smaller pictures simple, and they’re made specifically to handle special media paper, so it doesn’t slip and slide all over the place.

3. The set-up directions are easy to follow and, miraculously, work.

4. The software is user-friendly and really does what it says it will do.

5. The unit is a fairly attractive black and silver design with lots of complicated looking (but simple to use) buttons and screens and things with which you can impress your even less techno-savvy friends.

6. Some sample paper (as well as one black and one color ink cartridge) is included with the unit so you can try out the functions before you start shelling out for paper you may or may not use. It’s nice to get a feel for what uses are for you before you start buying supplies.

7. The manual is easy to follow and provides ample instruction as well as additional resources should you need them.

8. The printer has room for an additional grey ink cartridge that increases the quality of black and white prints.

9. The paper is quite affordable, considering what you would pay for prints from a processor. You waste fewer prints because you approve of them beforehand, and the paper doesn’t cost an arm and a leg (between about 30 cents up to three dollars per sheet depending on size and fanciness). And this is hp paper I’m talking about. My suspicion is that cheaper paper can be found.

10. It’s fun. Plain and simple, it’s great to be able to put together single prints or collages of your favorite pictures. I’ve already got pictures (big ones!) of the kids for grandparents ready to be gifted.

10 Things I Hate About You (aka: some not so good stuff)

1. The printer does not include the USB cable you need to make the initial installation and print photos from your computer. The box clearly states that you need to go buy one before you start, but I find it annoying that they couldn’t toss one in there.

2. This is not a small unit. If, like me, you have limitations on your computer area space, it’s going to be something of a chore to find a place to put it. It can replace your current printer if you like, but I won’t be giving up my scanner and copier any time soon, so this will be additional. Because you can get a nice long USB cable or print directly from a picture card or camera, it doesn’t necessarily have to be right next to your computer, but space is definitely an issue.

3. When first trying mine out, the upper tray that holds smaller paper appeared to be stuck. I was unable to get it to insert fully and engage so that the smaller paper would get used. Being me, I simply took both thumbs, carefully and gently placed them on the front edge of the tray.....and shoved until it went in. I don’t recommend this approach. Even if it seems to have worked, it will probably come back to haunt me, but I wasn’t going to take the thing in for service.

4. Ink. I don’t know how many pictures I’m going to get out of these initial cartridges, but they aren’t cheap to replace. Between $20 and $35 per cartridge, with at least two cartridges necessary for any print job.

5. The paper trays have limited space. Understandable due to the greater thickness of photo paper and the slim design of the trays, you’ll still have to refill the trays during large print jobs.

6. Limited editing for photo card pictures. While it’s nice to be able to do some editing on the machine itself, it would be even better to be able to crop more precisely and have more options for color modification. But really, now I’m just being greedy. I can do those things on my computer.

7. It comes with no gourmet chocolate treats.

8. It comes with no beautiful man-stars to install it.

9. It has no automatic hot chocolate dispensing function.

10. It refuses to alter my image to conform to society’s conventional idea of immense and irresistible beauty.

I did say I wanted it to do every thing, after all……

The End of the Affair (aka: the end of the review…..finally)

I’m quite delighted with this gift. It makes beautiful, quality prints without relying on a commercial processor. It’s easy to set up and operate, and the manual is thorough without being overly technical. Though not without its drawbacks, the hp photosmart 7760 photo printer is a fun, maybe even ultimately economical way to get the pictures you want in an instant gratification sort of way. I’m thoroughly enjoying this gadget. If I can work it, anyone can work it – believe me. Focus, shoot, print, enjoy!







Minimum System Requirements (I found this right on the box!):

4x CD-Rom Drive
500 MB free hard disk space
64-128 MB RAM
SVGA monitor (800 x 600, 16-bit color)
USB port and USB cable
CD writer if you want to use the “memories disc” creator

Hopefully someone out there understands what all these things are. All I know is that it installed on my system without a hitch.


***A big thank you to the folks at Epinions for sending this gift. It's terrific and much appreciated!!***


Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): Gift
Operating System: Windows and Macintosh