CNET editors' review
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CNET editors' rating:
stars
Very good
Detailed editors' rating
- Reviewed on: 12/03/2002
- Updated on: 12/04/2002
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 Technocuddly look. |
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Outwardly, the 7550 manages to look both cute and space-age. It's built like a brick house, but at 15.2 by 6.5 by 20.2 inches, this compact printer won't hog your desk space. The paper tray is nonretractable, but even that doesn't add many extra inches to this printer's waistline. Rather, this heavy-duty, two-way tray can handle an impressive amount of paper without falling off.
 Handy USB port lacks only a cable. |
 Sturdy, self-enclosed paper tray. |
The CD contains drivers for Windows 98, 2000, Me, and XP, as well as Mac OS 9.x, X, and 10.1. In addition, you get photo and imaging software for Windows. Although the 7550 fully supports the USB 2.0 interface, HP's package includes no USB cable; it's sold as a $17.99 accessory. That's a frustrating omission, particularly because this printer is USB only. We know that this is becoming a common industry practice, but it's a pain to bring home a new printer and find that you can't connect it to your PC. In fact, it stinks.
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 Photo ink creates high-resolution images. |
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You'll need to engage the photo color cartridge only when you're printing a color photo, usually via the Print dialog box. Depending on your printing habits, you may be able to replace some of your ink less often. For example, if you primarily print photos, you'll most likely replace the photo color cartridge more frequently than the others. Fewer cartridge changes equal less cash outflow, although the 7550 negates any savings by using more ink than most other printers--more on this greedy inking in the Performance section.
 Supports all major media cards. |
 LCD for printing sans PC. |
In addition to printing images from your PC, the 7550 prints directly from camera media, such as CompactFlash Type I and II, SmartMedia, Secure Digital, Sony Memory Stick, and MultiMedia cards. Plus, the 7550 includes an integrated 1-inch (diagonal) LCD, that lets you preview, zoom, and crop images for printing without accessing software on your PC.
In CNET Labs' official speed tests, the 7550 churned out inkjet text at 3.83 pages per minute (ppm), faster than the Canon S900's 3.64ppm but notably slower than the output of regular inkjets, such as the Canon S530D's 5.9ppm. Printing one 8x10-inch photo took 5.3 minutes--less time than the 6.5 minutes its older cousin HP Photosmart 1215 needed but far slower than the Canon S900's 1.7 minutes per page.
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Inkjet printer text speed Pages per minute (longer bars indicate better performance) |
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Inkjet printer color photo speed Minutes to print a color photograph (shorter bars indicate better performance) |
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For a photo inkjet, however, middle-of-the-road speeds are far less important than its output quality, and the 7550's output practically cancelled out its mediocre print speeds in comparison to those of fellow photo printers. The 7550 generated photographic prints nearly on a par with those of the Canon S900. Although the 7550's picture was a little dark, it looked sharp and detailed. The colors, particularly skin tones, appeared accurate, smooth, and well blended.
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 The inks will cost you. |
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Inkjet printer quality
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On the downside, the $399.99 7550 may end up costing you a bit more than similar printers, thanks to its prodigious ink consumption. The $30 color cartridge ate up about 54 cents per page in ink in our tests. By comparison, the Canon S900 uses only 38 cents per page, and other printers use even less. Black ink costs for the 7550 fared a bit better; the $18 black cartridge costs about 4.6 cents per page, comparable to the competition's costs.
You won't have to shell out for tech support. HP offers free Web support, complete with FAQs, troubleshooting guidance, setup and installation assistance, software and driver updates, and online manuals. You also get a standard one-year limited warranty. For an extra $69.99, you can extend the coverage with a three-year, next-day-exchange plan. The warranty includes free telephone support, though it's a toll call in the United States.
As in the past, we had a positive experience with our test call to HP's tech-support line. After listening to a short automated phone menu, we waited mere minutes before being transferred to a live person. The friendly service rep doled out some excellent advice and didn't get frustrated with our ignorance.
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