CNET editors' review
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CNET editors' rating:
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Excellent
Detailed editors' rating
- Reviewed on: 08/28/2002
No need for a PC
Setting up the HP Photosmart 130 won't take long, thanks to a colorful setup poster and a comprehensive user manual. But this documentation tells you merely how to print directly from one of the many removable media cards the printer accepts. To take advantage of the included image-editing and management software and to print through your PC, you have to be savvy enough to connect the printer to your system via the USB port (cable not included), insert the included CD-ROM, then follow the straightforward installation directions.
If you opt not to get your PC involved, you'll find that printing from a removable media source such as CompactFlash, Secure Digital Multimedia, or SmartMedia cards, as well as Memory Sticks, is a no-brainer. Just insert the card into one of the slots on the front of the printer, load special photo paper (we went with 4x6-inch HP Photo Paper at 25 cents per sheet) into the tiny input tray, and use the 130's easy-to-navigate LCD panel to start printing.
The LCD's layout and controls follow the same simple paradigm as those of a digital camera or monitor menu. The icons are arranged in a semicircle and depict, for example, photo size (4x6 inches, wallet, or thumbnail for printing an index sheet of all the snapshots on your media card), paper and print card status, and number of copies. Use the tab button for navigating through these icon categories and the plus/minus button for selecting within each category. To choose which pics to print, select their numbers from the LCD (photos are numbered according to their order on the source media).
It pays to specialize
HP Photosmart 130 may be a one-trick pony, but it's Churchill Downs material. Our 4x6 test photos outclassed the best prints from conventional inkjets we've tested, including the Canon S900 and the HP Deskjet 995C. The HP accurately rendered colors, especially tricky reds, with rich pigments, and skin tones looked remarkably smooth. Unlike most inkjets, the printer produced even, detailed backgrounds. To top it all off, the Photosmart took a reasonably quick 2.5 minutes per page. We've seen conventional inkjets that print an 8x10 glossy in about the same amount of time, but the output quality can't compare with that of the 130.
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