My wife and I do lots of printing at home. She does business cards and flyers for Mary Kay and I print a lot of color documents for work. We also have a digital camera, so we wanted something that did very good photos. The near perfect answer to our needs? Hp 2575 AIO printer. Here's why:


Photo Capabilities

My wife and I like to take pictures. Why keep a diary when a photo is worth a thousand words? Like you may know, the big thing now is do-it-at-home photo printing. Is this any better than going to Wal-Mart and doing your photos there? With the HP 2575, the answer is yes! While the crispness of the photos largely depend on the camera you're using, a large part is also due to the printer you are using. The pictures I've printed out on the HP 2575 have all come out very rich in color and texture. They are not blurry at all unless the camera took a blurry picture. The printer has memory card slots that fit CompactFlash 1 and 2, IBM Microdrive, Memory Stick, Memory Stick Duo (only with adapter, not included), Mini SD (only with adapter, not included), Secure Digital/Multimedia Card, and xD Picture Card.

The Printer uses 2 cartridges, one for black and another for tri-color that do not have to be changed when alternating between photos and regular printing. HP Vivera Inks are used and, when used with HP Premium grade photo paper, are supposed to give you 80 years of fade resistance. They are also smudge resistant and water resistant. Keep in mind though that they are not smudge-proof and water-proof.

The printer has on screen editing options, as do many photo printers. They include HP Auto Red-Eye removal, HP Adaptive Lighting feature (the printer will automatically lighten dark areas of the photo if this option is set on default), black and white photos, antique looking photos, zoom/crop, adjust brightness and so forth. All of this is done on the 2.5 inch LCD screen that is adjustable. 6-ink printing is optional if you buy the HP 99 cartridge that has black and the 2 extra colors. Personally though, I think that 4 ink printing is sufficient. This printer does all the main photo sizes from wallets up to 8.5 x 24 panorama. I usually just do 4 x 6's though. This printer saved me $30 though, since it also does 2 x 2 passport photos, saving me time and money from having them done somewhere else. Also, you can play, freeze, then print video from your digital camera, provided your camera has the necessary components.

*UPDATE* After playing around on the printer, I've found that you can't actually "play" the videos on the screen. Rather, you view the frames one by one by pressing the up arrow button on the top of the printer on the panel. Holding down the arrow key will allow you to flip through the frames at a faster rate until you find the frame you would like to print. If your digital camera does videos, and you do decide to print a frame from a video using a printer with these capabilities, you might remember that the pixelation will be of much lesser quality for video than it would be for a digital photograph.

Printing a photo takes about 35 seconds on average. Cost per photo is between 24 and 29 cents with the HP Photo packs.


Copying/Scanning

Copies come out very well, in fact much better than I really need it to. The only thing that might bug some people is the fact that it has no automatic document feeder so your stuck copying one thing at a time. It cannot scan legal size documents. You can make up to 50 copies of one page at a time and the resolution is very nice, very very close to the original, even for text. I've not used the scanner since I don't really need it, but I've listed the stats down below if you want to know. It can do 3D scans, such as from a book.


General Printing

This printer is a little noisy, but I suppose the speed makes up for it. It does 30ppm black and 24ppm color in fast draft mode (about half that in normal mode). Text comes out in near-laser quality, which is more than enough for what many people will use it for. Compatable media includes paper (plain, inkjet, photo, banner), envelopes, transparencies, labels, cards, HP's premium media, iron-on transfers for "I'm with Stupid" t-shirts, borderless media, and panorama.


Exterior Design

The printer is medium gray with a 2.5 inch flip up display on the top, right side of the printer. In front of the screen are all the buttons for printer function. They include the power button, "ok" button with directional arrows for making selections, setup button, cancel, HP Instant Share for sharing photos via the web, zoom, rotate, photo menu, proof sheet, print photo, scan to, start scan, copy menu, start copy black, and start copy color. On the front of the printer are located the memory slots, USB PictBridge port, and the paper feeder. Behind the printer is a removeable cover for removing any paper jams. The demensions are 17.32 x 11.2 x 6.8(16.9max)inches and weighs 12.2 pounds.


Internal Technology

The printheads are located on the ink cartridges so when you buy new ink you are also buying new printheads. This printer uses HP Thermal Inkjet technology for printing and has 64MB memory. Has built-in networking, but no faxing capabilities. Most other internal technologies have been listed above.


Setup/ Getting Started

It takes a little while to install your new printer on your computer, but it's pretty self-explanitory. It walks you through step by step. Also, this printer comes with a manual that's actually easy to read. One thing to remember is that you have to set up the printer twice. Once without plugging it into the computer and another time with it plugged in. I'm not sure what the deal is with this but I didn't care at the time. The manual tells you to do this. With this printer you get Image Zone software for photo editing and digital photo organizing.What's the purpose of having an editing software when you're printer does it all already? But, the photo organizing can be nice.


Ink Cartridges

HP 95 tri-color $25

HP 98 black $20

HP 99 black, light cyan, light magenta for 6-ink photo printing (use instead of regular black cartridge) This cartridge will give you slightly better photos than just using the 98 black cartridge $25

HP 100 grey for best black and white photos (use in place of black cartridge) $25

You can purchase the HP Photo pack that has the 95 cartridge AND 50 sheets of premium grade 4x6 photo paper for $20. I've seen them at Office Depot. All prices listed in this review will of course vary from place to place.


Operating System

Windows 98, 98 SE, Me, 2000, XP Home, Professional
Mac OS 9.1 and higher; OS X v 10.1.5, 10.2.3 and higher,; 10.3 and higher


Other

Monthly Volume: 3000
Printer Language: HP PCL 3
Print Resolution: (Black) up to 1200-rendered dpi black when printing from a computer (Color) up to 4800 x 1200 optimized dpi color.
Copy Resolution: (Black Text) up to 600 x 1200 dpi (Black Graphics) 1200 x 4800 dpi (Color Graphics) 4800 x 1200 dpi.
Copy Speed: black 30cpm, color 24 cpm
Flatbed Scanner
Warranty: 1 year limited hardware backed by HP Customer Care, service and support, one year technical support, toll free number, free online chat with live technician.
Bluetooth capable.


In the Box

Printer, 11ml 98 black cartridge, 5ml 95 color cartridge, software, setup booklet, user's guide, power supply, and power cord. No USB cable.

The Good
This printer is enough to make most people happy. The photos are really nice, copies are great, there are enough features to keep you playing with it for sometime. I recently printed 50 sheets from a PowerPoint presentation and the printer handled the job find. Paper didn't jam once.

The Bad
A couple of times its grabbed more than one sheet of paper at a time. Of course this gets annoying, but it doesn't happen enough to prevent me from recommending this printer. Photos, while very nice, are not quite photo lab quality. Close, but no cigar. Most people will not notice the minor difference in quality. And if superior scanning is want you want, dedicated scan beds are still the best.

The Ugly
Personally, the exterior design of this printer could be more attractive. But hey, that's just me. It doesn't affect its performance.


Concluding thoughts

The great quality of the photos, ease of use, and features make this printer a fantastic choice. So far mine has given me 2 months of near flawless performance (paper jammed once) and I'm confident it will continue to do so in the future. For it's price and functionality, it can't be beat.

**UPDATE**

This printer has been replaced by the newer HP C5180. The C5180 offers individual ink cartridges and much lower print costs, but otherwise has the same features as the HP 2575. Thankfully, for those wanting the HP 2575, many retailers have dropped the price from $175 to about $120. However the HP C5180 has been a highly successful printer for HP and I highly recommend it. For a review of the newer and better HP Photosmart C5180, click the following link:
http://www.epinions.com/content_263186124420

Read My Other Reviews of Good Photo Printers at the Following Links:

HP 335:A Cheap, Portable Photo Pinter
http://www.epinions.com/content_223361011332

HP 3210:The Master All-in-One for Digital Photography
http://www.epinions.com/content_226013515396

HP 8250: PC Mag's Editor's Choice!
http://www.epinions.com/content_224366595716

Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 179
Operating System: Windows and Macintosh