Pros: Portable, low cost per print potential, great prints, compatible with all memory cards
Cons: Not as sharp & detailed as thermal/dye printing, ink can be smudged off
The Bottom Line: No other printer offers as robust hardware, compatibility, and software all in one little package. This is the best for your money in terms of quality and low-cost per-print potential.
wsmunch's Full Review: Hewlett Packard Photosmart P325 InkJet Printer
HP is a large company with huge successes, though it's best comes from the market it holds from printer sales. From business printing to basic home printing, HP has served many with consistent quality and performance. Since digital cameras first started to appear on the market, HP has been there to provide new and better means of turning those digital images into photo prints. Fast-forward to the present, HP has an entire line of Photosmart printers which are dedicated to the combination of quality and ease of use. One of the printer types growing in popularity have been the portable photo printers. Small printers, such as the Photosmart 325 are dedicated to 4x6" printing, and are small enough so consumers can bring them almost anywhere.
Hardware
The HP Photosmart 325 is probably the smallest, fully-featured 4x6" photo printer that is available in retail. It has a smooth, compact shape, though I personally disagree with the choice of color HP has chosen (white? bluh). The front of the printer has a flat, full-faced panel that folds down to expose the memory card slots, USB PictBridge connection, cartridge door, and paper ejection pathway. This panel also serves as a paper-catch for prints that are done, so they don't just fall anywhere. The cartridge door opens downwards to open up the cavity where a single ink cartridge is inserted for printing. The ink cartridge slides in and clicks in place with minimal force. The rear of the unit has a panel that pulls out similar to the front, yet it will only pull out slightly. This is where the photo paper will be loaded. There is a little, plastic stem that you can pull up, which gives the small stack of photo paper a spine and keeps them flat while they're sitting, waiting to be printed upon. You can load up to 20 sheets of photo paper into the tray, and there is a spring-loaded adjustor that hugs the edges and keeps everything straight. The USB port and power port are also located on the back of the unit. The bottom of the printer has a door locked with a screw, which opens the space for the portable battery pack (sold separately) that will let the printer be used without the use of the power adapter. The top of the printer has a small 1.5" color LCD screen that is used to preview pictures that are on memory cards inserted into the card slots. There are buttons to turn the printer on, delete pictures, print pictures, cancel, confirm, and scroll through options/images. The buttons are rubber and nicely tactile. The cancel button is quite marvelous, since prints will immediately cease upon the pressing of the button. This is an ink-saver, due to the machine discontinuing it's printing process and not wasting more ink on an undesired photo. The memory card slots can read every card type available right now. This is handy since users can own any brand digital camera that they want and still be able to print all of their pictures, all without the use of a computer.
Navigation of the menu options is simple. The main menu allows users to modify the print quality, print sample or test pages, clean & align the cartridges, modify bluetooth settings, and access the help feature. There are additional preferences that can give enhancements to pictures that are printed directly from the unit. You can change the smart focus, digital flash, date/time settings, colorspace, borderless, and passport photo options. You can change the menu language as well.
Printing is done fast and easily. Once a memory card has been inserted into the HP Photosmart 325, it will automatically detect and read the images. From there, users will be given an option of how they want to set up the number of prints on a page. You can choose to have 1, 2, 4, or an index of 16 pictures done on each 4x6" photo sheet. As you browse back and forth through the pictures, you can press the center OK button to select the pictures that you want to print. There will be a check mark displayed on the bottom left hand corner of the LCD screen for those images that have been selected for printing. Press the OK button again to increase the copies for that particular image. Once all desired images have been selected, printing is as simple as pressing the print button and waiting for the unit to process everything. Each photo takes less than a minute to print, so those who demand instant gratification will be pleased. While the printer has memory card slots for computer-less printing, you can still hook up the HP Photosmart 325 to your computer and print any photos that you have stored on the PC. Since this unit does not have automatic paper weight detection (like most of HP's full-sized machines), you can make adjustments to the paper type and ink output when printing through the computer. One new feature on this series of portable Photosmart printer is the bluetooth capability. Most (not all) bluetooth capable camera-phones can send it's saved pictures directly to the HP Photosmart 325 without any need of cables or memory cards. This is a pretty impressive addition that HP has included to this small printer, since I know many people/customers that have such bluetooth enabled phones and can appreciate truly mobile printing.
Included in the box:
• HP Photosmart 325
• Power Adapter & Cord
• #95 Tri-color Cartridge with Vivera Inks (7ml)
• Users Guide
• CD-Rom with Drivers & Software
Software HP has been good at providing effective, yet easy to use software with all of their printers. The imaging gallery portion of the software lets you view all the pictures in any directory on your computer. From there, you can choose your pictures that you want for photo prints, album prints, emailing, ordering prints online, creating online albums, or burning. Use of the emailing service, online album pages, and online print ordering is all done through signing up for the service with HP, though such features can be found built in most ISP's personal web spaces they provide for their customers. The software also gives you access to minor image editing features such as: image rotation, color adjustment, brightness adjustment, image sharpening/blurring, red-eye elimination, or adding titles. I feel that the best part of the software is their album printing software. Even though it's only 4x6" paper, users can choose from over 15 (double it if you include landscape orientation of those templates) templates of how they want to print a 4x6" album picture (yes, picture albums come in that size too!). Once you choose the template you wish to use, it appears on the right hand side of the screen, while all of your pictures that you want to browse through are on the left in thumbnail form (just pick the directory you want to load and they'll all display). From there, you drag & drop the images that you want into each picture spot in the template. You can adjust the images in the template frame to center on the part of the picture that you want. Once you're satisfied with the result, print! You can load more than one template at a time if you wanted to do multiple pages at once, or even to compare how different combinations would look. Overall, the software provides 100+ templates for your creative needs, from paper size ranging from 4x6" to tabloid size (and many other options in between). On top of that, if any of the templates aren't what you want, you have the option of manually creating your own album template to stick your pictures in and print. Personally, I think that the album templates are the strongest part of the imaging software that HP provides with the printer.
Quality HP maintains great quality of prints, even when they're done with a smaller printer using only three ink colors. The colors in the photos are pretty accurate when they're compared to the image subject, though the pictures overall tend to be slightly darker than the natural environment. Reds & yellows are very bold, the blacks are solid, and the HP Photosmart 325 does quite well with whites and greys (though sometimes whites are a little greyish when they should be crisp). It's a bit inconsistent since most of the time the whites are good, though some pictures (depending on outcome) the whites seem a bit stale or greyed. Even so, the output is quite impressive considering it's only using a tri-color cartridge that doesn't have black. Edges are pretty sharp, though looking at the photo up close will give away HP's ink-layering method of printing. Though it seems that the "spotty" nature of the way the picture looks up close might make one think it should create a fuzziness, it doesn't. Since most people look at pictures at least from an arm's length, instead of nose-length, the spots can't be seen and the pictures look spectacular. Despite how great a job this little printer does, the major issues it suffers from are complex translucence and reflection. Translucent objects can tend to get muddy easily, especially if there is something else behind it that is representing structure or color. Subtle reflections are almost non-existent as the printer fails to ink out the little details in favor of the easier pieces. By itself, it may not be entirely noticeable, though when you compare the picture to non-ink prints (such as Kodak or Sony) you can see how those brands succeed where HP fails. It may be picky, but I am sure that there are those who find this information invaluable if they're ones who take pictures of translucent or reflective (like cars, or jewelry, or plastics). The photos are not smudge-proof, so you can lick your thumb and instantly rub off a corner of your picture. HP prints are meant to be stored and viewed, not handled and viewed.
Supplies & Cost of Ownership HP gives great options when it comes to flexibility and choice for quality of printing. The paper is purchased separate from the ink, so users have options of different paper finishes (glossy, semi-gloss, high-gloss), thicknesses (everyday photo, premium, premium plus), package quantities, and all with or without tabs. The HP Photosmart 325 uses the 95 tri-color (low capacity, 7ml), 97 tri-color (standard capacity, 14ml), or 100 greyphoto (15ml) cartridge. The standard capacity cartridge retails for $34.99 and should net roughly 125 4x6" photo prints. This puts the ink cost of each print to about $0.28 each, though you still have to factor the cost of paper as well. A standard, 60-sheet package of Premium photo paper costs $14.99 retail, which puts the paper-cost of each print to $0.25 each. Add the cost of ink with the cost of paper to total the cost per print, which comes out to $0.53 per photo print. This is the standard cost of printing with this unit, though this number can change dramatically depending on the ink quantity and paper quantity/quality purchased. Larger quantity packages will reduce the cost of each print, while lower quantity packages will raise the cost. Higher quality paper will raise the cost, while lower quality paper will lessen the cost. Such inks and papers can be found in bulk packages and are also very prone to great retail sales (sometimes buy-one get-one free, or free paper package with ink purchase). Bargain shoppers will wait for the best sales to stock up on their supplies and give themselves the lowest possible cost per print on the Photosmart 325. If one were to get the 60-pack of Premium photo paper as buy-one get-one free and a bulk pack of the 97 tri-color ink (usually $5 less than purchasing individually), then the cost per print would drop down to $0.39 per print. There isn't much to worry about the cost loss of ink when it concerns wasted or leftover ink in the cartridges. Most home-prints will use up the individual colors evenly so once you're out/low on one, you're just about empty on the others. Exceptions to this would be those doing multiple copies of a picture that is heavy in one color. Still, the cost is quite good, since places like Walmart or local drug-stores charge anywhere between $0.20 to $.75 a print, though you're guaranteed consistent quality prints when you purchase the supplies and print them yourself at home. The photos that are printed from this unit (especially with the new Vivera inks) are meant to last a long time without fading, when stored under glass or in a photo album. This is pretty good since it reduces the need for reprints due to fading & wear, and keeps your printed photo collections low-cost.
Issues
While the printer works quite well out of the box, the test of time can start to cause minor problems in the printing process. The paper is loaded vertically, so dust and particles will tend to settle into the gears of the machine and eventually can affect how well the paper is fed through. As it starts to age past the basic warranty, the HP Photosmart 325 can tend to jerk the paper, which results in a misaligned print, when the gears aren't functioning properly. Every so often, the memory card reader will come across a card with pictures on it, yet it won't recognize anything on the card itself. The card will work perfectly in the camera and even in other memory readers (like those that come standard in HP and Compaq desktop PCs), but for some reason it just won't work in the slot. Other memory cards of the same type (even same brand) with pictures on them will work fine in the slot.. so it just comes off as odd that the single card doesn't get recognized yet everything seems to be working fine. This happens very rarely, though.
COMPETITION COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS
So out of all the current, portable, 4x6" photo printers, which is the best to get? Well I was curious (moreso slacking off at work, yet still being productive in the sense of valueable information) and figgured that a showdown between the top contenders was at hand. I took 3 pictures using a Kodak Z740 digital camera at the 5 megapixel level. The pictures, combined, had a mixture of complex and simple elements, text, varying levels of contrast, bold colors, and some mixed colors as well. The pictures were taken indoors in well-lit conditions, and with perfect focus. I took the memory card out of the camera and printed the 3 pictures on five of the current, portable printers (each with their own brand supplies) that are sold on retail shelves: Kodak Easyshare Printer Dock Plus, Sony DPP-FP30, Canon CP400, Epson PictureMate, and HP Photosmart 325. Each group of three pictures were compared to the subject of the photo and compared to each of the other prints. Basically, I was looking for anything that I could point out as a difference whatsoever. After reviewing all fifteen photos, I've been able to make conclusive observations about the photo quality of each of the printer units, which are listed below in the overall comparisons. Here's the lowdown.
Kodak Easyshare Printer Dock Plus • Weight: 2.43lbs (38.88oz)
• Size: 13.1" x 7.4" x 3.3" (with tray)
• Image LCD Screen: No (viewed through camera)
• Flash Card Reader: Yes (SD/MMC)
• PictBridge Enabled: Yes
• Onboard Controls/Effects: No
• Print Technology: Dye sublimation (thermal)
• Colors Used: Yellow, magenta, cyan, black
• Smudge-Proof: Yes
• Picture Longevity: 8-15 years
• Photo Strengths: Photo lab quality, accurate, continuous color & detail
• Photo Weaknesses: Expensive cost of prints, subtle softness of edges (text too)
• Hardware Strength Summary: Very portable, easy operation, recharges batteries, IR port
• Hardware Weakness Summary: No picture previewing & direct printing for non-PictBridge or non-Kodak users (or ones with models incompatible)
• Standard Cost of Print: $0.62
Sony DPP-FP30 • Weight: 2.18lbs (38oz w/o tray)
• Size: 6.88" x 2.38" x 5.38" (w/o tray)
• Image LCD Screen: No
• Flash Card Reader: No
• PictBridge Enabled: Yes
• Onboard Controls/Effects: No
• Print Technology: Dye sublimation (thermal)
• Colors Used: Yellow, magenta, cyan, black
• Smudge-Proof: Yes
• Picture Longevity: Approximately 8-16 years (based on print technology)
• Photo Strengths: Photo lab quality, accurate, continuous color & detail
• Photo Weaknesses: Light magenta hue cast over every picture (makes images look unnaturally warm)
• Hardware Strength Summary: Highly portable, accepts 2 sizes of paper
• Hardware Weakness Summary: No picture previewing & direct printing for non-PictBridge cameras
• Standard Cost of Print: $0.62
Canon CP400 • Weight: (28.9oz)
• Size: 6.73" x 4.72" x 2.1"
• Image LCD Screen: No
• Flash Card Reader: No
• PictBridge Enabled: Yes
• Onboard Controls/Effects: No
• Print Technology: Dye sublimation (thermal)
• Colors Used: Yellow, magenta, cyan, black
• Smudge-Proof: Yes
• Picture Longevity: Up to 100 years (only under certain storage conditions)
• Photo Strengths: Photo lab quality, continuous color & detail, bold blacks, sharp text & edges
• Photo Weaknesses: Photos darker overall & loses some subtle colors
• Hardware Strength Summary: Purse-sized portability (or big pocket)
• Hardware Weakness Summary: No previewing or direct printing for non-PictBridge cameras, no power button
• Standard Cost of Print: $0.55
Epson PictureMate • Weight: 5.5lbs (88oz)
• Size: 10" x 12" x 6.4"
• Image LCD Screen: No (screen is for menu & options only)
• Flash Card Reader: Yes
• PictBridge Enabled: Yes
• Onboard Controls/Effects: Yes
• Print Technology: Ink
• Colors Used: Yellow, magenta, cyan, photo black, red, blue
• Smudge-Proof: Yes
• Picture Longevity: Up to 100-200 years (only under certain storage conditions)
• Photo Strengths: Good overall quality, low print cost
• Photo Weaknesses: Colors can muddy (yellows), blues too rich, fuzzy text, mediocre greyscale & contrast (moreso for detailed areas)
• Hardware Strength Summary: Easy loading of 6-ink cartridge, standalone printing, save pictures to external storage w/o PC, optional wireless adapter
• Hardware Weakness Summary: Huge, heavy, picture preview through proof-sheet only
• Standard Cost of Print: $0.29
HP Photosmart 325 • Weight: 2.6lbs (41.6oz)
• Size: 8.7" x 4.6" x 4.6"
• Image LCD Screen: Yes
• Flash Card Reader: Yes
• PictBridge Enabled: Yes
• Onboard Controls/Effects: Yes
• Print Technology: Ink
• Colors Used: Magenta, yellow, cyan
• Smudge-Proof: No
• Picture Longevity: Up to 75 years (only under certain storage conditions)
• Photo Strengths: Great quality, bold reds & yellows, sharp, low print-cost potential
• Photo Weaknesses: Weak printing of reflective & translucent, prints darkened very slightly
• Hardware Strength Summary: Very portable, standalone previewing & printing of all pictures, wireless, optional internal battery
• Hardware Weakness Summary: Potential (low) for paper jams
• Standard Cost of Print: $0.53
Summary
Overall, this is a great printer. You can have any brand digital camera (or bluetooth enabled camera-phone) and print directly from this unit without any PC involved. You can preview the pictures that you want to print straight from the unit. You have options of what paper types that you want to use. The cost per print is pretty reasonable, and only gets better for those who bargain shop. The drawbacks with the Photosmart 325 are that the ink photos are not as sharp as ones printed thermally, and that the prints are not smudge-free. Considering that most photos are framed or stored in photo albums, the smudge-free aspect can be overlooked (as long as you handle it well as it goes to it's proper storage spot). Even though the thermal printers give a better quality, the HP unit is probably the best that you'll get for an ink printer. The colors are accurate and the overall pictures look great, especially when you consider it's all done with only three ink colors. The selection of album print templates is better than what any other brand offers. Those who want THE BEST looking prints might want to see how well the thermal printers do, though if you're satisfied with great quality, want the most amount of options & hardware for your money, and appreciate the highest compatibility, then the Photosmart 325 will be an excellent choice to consider.
Recommended Accessories:
• #97 tri-color ink cartridge
• 60ct 4x6" premium HP photo paper
• USB Cable (for PC printing)
• Internal battery pack (for truly mobile printing!)
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
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