scapp70's Full Review: Hewlett Packard Photosmart 2410 All-In-One InkJet ...
I have finally ended my love/hate relationship with Lexmark. They really didn't wish to help me with my on going problems with my old X83 model anymore. I would buy a new color cartridge and it wouldn't work anymore after a week even though the ink levels were still high. I asked for help, but they finally pretty much said no more help for me.
I tried the Epson 6400 and after a printed some photos out that looked really good, there was a glitch with the photo quality that did not have any help issues on how to fix it.
I returned the Epson 6400 after a week, and exchanged it for this HP 2410.
Appearance
It has a high end quality look to it. It has a nice silver finish on the top with a dark gray underneath. Whatever function is in operation has a bright green light above the nice shiny silver buttons on the dialing pad.
Also above the dialing buttons is a flip up 2"x2" color info/picture viewing LCD screen.
Out Of The Box
When you open up the box, you'll find the following items included (besides the printer that is):
. A very short detachable USB connector. It's a good thing that it is detachable and not connected to the printer, so you have two options if it's not long enough like mine wasn't.
One option is to purchase a longer one, or if you have a longer one hanging around from a previous printer, you can use a longer one, instead of the too short one included.
Another option, (this is what I did), is to buy a USB extender. I did this last one because the printer I had previously did not have the detachable feature.
. HP 56 black inkjet print cartridge (19 ml). This cartridge is not recommended for photo quality pictures, but does have "laser-quality" black for text. This ink usually goes for just under $20. For photo quality pictures the HP 58 (17 ml) is recommended and this ink usually goes for just under $25.
. HP 57 tri-color inkjet print cartridge (17 ml). This ink usually goes for under just under $35. This ink is designed specifically for photo-quality printing. When printed on premium photo paper, you will get the best results.
. HP Photo & Imaging software & HP Memories Disc Creator on CD-ROM. There are two discs that have the same software on it, one for Windows and one for Macintosh.
. Phone cord for the fax machine features.
. A detachable power supply and power cord. I have never seen a power cord of this like. You have to plug in the plug from the electrical outlet to the power supply, and then from the power supply into the printer. The male input that goes into the printer is a little bigger than the USB plug, except this has a strange flat three prong male end.
. Set Up Poster. The set up poster is almost helpful. It has all of the instruction illustrated, except in my case, it did not go in the numerical order that the poster displayed. Not a big deal.
. Reference Guide. I only skimmed through this book rather quickly. I'll leave it out in case I need it.
. Sample paper. A small packet of sample photo paper, regular white printing paper, 4x6...etc
Software
Well, the software was readily accepted into my computer. It made set-up very easy, even if the set up poster tried to throw me off. The software contains the drivers for the printer, scanner and fax obviously, but the disc also contains the image editing software.
You can click on the HP Director icon that is now on your desktop and all of the choices are laid out before you. You have the choices:
Scan Picture which scans and saves the scan
Scan Document which allows you scan and then to edit any text
Send a Faxself explanatory
Make Copies black & white or color, different sizes.
HP Gallery is where you find, edit, share and send pictures or documents
Transfer Images from cameras or memory cards
Creative Ideas which is a self help area that shows you how to work all of the areas of this software step by step.
HP Shopping and the very important HP Software Update which will scan your software and if you're connected to the internet, will scan the HP site and see if there are updates that you can download to make your HP even better.
This software for editing and advanced imaging, HP Gallery, is a bit too complicated for me. I view myself as a person who can figure out computer programs pretty easily and quickly, but this software is a little too complex.
For instance, I wanted to scan a picture, edit it and then just copy it to another program I was working on without having to save it, but I was unable to right click on the picture and choose copy, the word Copy was grayed out. So I opened up my Picture It! 7.0 (which is still my favorite and the easiest to work with), and did it in a snap.
HP Memories is the image editing software. You can obtain photos off your hard drive, the scanner or from camera/memory card.
You can create with the Projects section like flyers, album pages and cards.
With the HP Memories Disc section you can easily create a disc with your selected pictures, set music to them and special effects and share it through e-mail, put it on DVD and watch it on TV or on the computer.
The HP Instant Share can be used to create online photo albums, or create perfect sized thumbnails for e-mail, or order perfect prints of your digital photos for a price. I don't know why we would do this since this is the reason why we got this all-in-one.
The Ink
The printer comes with the Black 56 cartridge and the Tri-color 57 cartridge. I have printed photos with these and it looks really good.
HP suggests the Black 58 cartridge for photo printing. This 58 along with the 57 gives the printer 6 different color inks to work with instead of the 4 different inks that come with the printer.
HP says that with the 6 color inks, your pictures will look almost or totally without grainy appearance, and that they should last for generations.
The Prints
I expected to be very pleased with the results from this feature, and happily I was. I am still using the 56 blank ink cartridge and the pictures do come out great. They come out very clear, sharp and colorful. What I like to do is raise the color saturation of the picture I am printing by 1, and the colors come out very vibrant.
The printer settings are very easy to understand and set.
For instance if you set the setting to a fast draft, it will tell you that the dpi will be 300 x 300.
Fast normal will set it to 600 X 600 dpi and so on.
It also has an illustration above the settings of a graphic document with text. As you fix the settings it gives you an idea of the quality by the colors becoming sharper, or duller, the text gets sharper or less sharp.
Printer Facts print speed 21 ppm black, 15 ppm color
print resolution up to 4800 x 1200-optimized dpi (when printing from a computer and 1200-input dpi print resolution technology)
The Scanner
I am very pleased with this scanner. It scans so fast and easily. The scanning is almost as an important feature as the printer and it's good to know that I could have confidence in this quality scanner.
Within the HP Director there is a Settings option at the top. In this area, you can set the settings for the fax, copies, prints and the scanner.
This makes it so easy to set the scanner's settings. It recommends a 200dpi setting, but for large pictures or documents, I set mine on 300dpi. If I am scanning something smaller like a CD or a wallet size, I raise it to 600dpi.
Scanner Facts
optical and hardware resolution: up to 1200 x 2400 dpi
enhanced scan resolution: up to 19,200 dpi4
color bit depth: 48-bit, 256 grayscale levels
OCR/US Letter size page: 33 sec
preview speed: TBD sec
The Fax
Very impressed and pleased with the fax feature. Most of the all-in-ones will not come with its own fax software. I don't have any fax software installed on my computer, so when I tried to set up the fax before with Lexmark or Epson all-in-ones, it will just give the error message that it cannot locate any fax software on my computer. This HP has the fax modem built in and it is totally external from the computer. It even has the dialing pad on the top of the printer. So you can edit and compose a fax that's going out through your computer, you can input fax numbers that you wish to remember through the computer too.
But when it's time to fax, all you need to do is hook up the phone wire to a phone jack and you're set to go.
What I did was, I took the phone wire that was in my phone, and put it into the printer, and then from the printer I used the wire that HP supplied and hooked that into my phone, and it was that easy.
Fax Facts
fax modem 33.6 Kbps
fax speed 3 seconds/page
incoming fax memory 50 pages
fax speed dials 60 numbers
Copying Features
Yes, like most all-in-ones, this can also be used as a copy machine. I am very happy with this copy feature. Like I said about the scanning above, it's fast. So when it comes to copying, it's fast and accurate.
Copy facts
copier speed 21 cpm black, 14 cpm color
no. of copies 1-50 from original
Extra Fun Features
The small LCD display on the top right of the picture that flips up is a doosy and a huge upgrade from my last all-in-ones. It gives you status on a fax, a scan, or printing. It gives you a nice clear preview of pictures when reading from a memory card or camera. This doosy comes in real handy.
I like that it has slots for any and every memory card. I do not think I have to use them because my computer already comes with this feature. If I did not have this feature already through the computer, I would be very excited to have this on my printer now.
When reading the memory card, it could print out an index sheet if so desired of all the photos stored on it.
This all-in-one also has an e-mail feature where you can share and send pictures. I, being an AOL subscriber for so long, was pleased to find an AOL option in the e-mail settings. Nothing is ever compatible with AOL, until now!!
I may just use it too.
If you look in the back of the printer you can see a large plate that is removable. What's this for? I'm glad you asked. I am very excited to obtain an optional upgrade feature of the two-sided printing accessory (duplexer). So now, if I wish to print double sided copies, or catalogs or whatever, I do not have to go through the frustration of turning the page over and hoping it's in the right way and all, this automatically will turn the sheet over for me the correct way every time.
If you are printing any documents you have the option of creating and printing watermarks on the print outs. It looks really cool, very professional.
Any Uh-Ohs?
Well, it bothers me that it will not automatically shut down to prevent energy waste.
It is larger than other all-in-ones in depth. Make sure you have the proper sized shelf or area to place this all-in-one. I did a lot of maneuvering of my desk space to place this baby, (especially with optional duplexer).
Dimensions
(w x d x h)/ Weight
19 x 15.4 x 9.3 in (482.6 x 390 x 236.5 mm) / 18.36 lb (8.3 kg)
The paper is not a top loader, it's a front loader. With a top loader I know how to place the paper in, and which side it will print on. This has a front loader, and so far I keep forgetting that the sheet should be placed face down.
What's the big deal? Printing on the wrong side of photo paper stinks, that's what the big deal is!
These uh-ohs are all very minor. The quality this machine produces is the only important thing.
So far, I am very happy with this purchase. Keep it up HP, and you'll gain one more loyal customer.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 299.00 Operating System: Windows
The HP PhotoSmart 2410v All-in-One Printer, Fax, Scanner and Copier will bring the speed and versatility that business needs to thrive. Print and copy...More at GreatPrinterDeals.com
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