Fantastic printer!
Written: Apr 09 '01
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Fast. Photo quality. Looks cool, too.
Cons: On the high-end of price for a home printer.
The Bottom Line: If you don't mind spending a few extra bucks, this is a great printer for normal day-to-day printing, and for photo printing.
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| jtjackson's Full Review: Hewlett Packard PhotoSmart 1215vm InkJet Printer |
I finally gave up on my old HP 694C (what a mistake that
was!), and replaced it with the hot, new HP Photosmart
1215. This printer seems to be about 5 times faster than my
old printer (on text and graphics), and it prints at photo
quality on good paper.
I have a Kodak DC 4800 digital camera (check out my review t http://www.epinions.com/content_6626315908), so I was very interested in a photo quality printer. I brought some printed images from the camera to work last week, and the people in the office couldn't believe they didn't come from a photo lab. I know these pictures will fade a lot sooner than photo lab prints, but the files are on my PC and backed up to CD, so in 8 years, I'll print them again!
Neat features I haven't tried:
- Compact Flash slot. The printer has a slot that I can stick the camera's memory into, and print without even turning on the PC. I tried this in the store, and it worked, but I haven't tried it at home, yet.
- 4x6 paper feed. Most photo labs give you the choice of standard 4x6 inch prints, or jumbo 5x7 inch prints. I've always asked for 4x6 inch. This printer has a separate paper feed mechanism for 4x6 inch paper. The intent is to print photos that you don't have to cut up with scissors.
The price is on the high-end for a home printer. These days, you can get a pretty good printer for under $100.00. For about 3 times that price ($299.00), the HP 1215 gives you photo quality, Compact Flash input, and speed. I think it's well worth it. Or wait about 6 months, and get this one for less when the price drops.
The installation wasn't the smoothest. I'm not sure why, but my PC didn't see the printer at first. I carefully followed the installation instruction that came with the printer, but ultimately I had to give up and let Windows ME do its own thing. It works, and all the HP troubleshooting stuff looks right, so if you have trouble, ditch the HP book and let Windows do it.
And just by coincidence, the black and gray match very nicely with my new Dell Dimension 8100, which I will be reviewing soon.
Sorry about reviewing this printer twice, but it seems to be listed twice (once as "PhotoSmart 1215" and once as "HP PhotoSmart 1215"), so I figured people looking for this printer might end up either place.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 299
Operating System: Windows
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Epinions.com ID:
jtjackson
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Location: Ellicott City, MD
Reviews written: 73
Trusted by: 5 members
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