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Product summary
The good: Low price; dead easy to use; easily portable; cute.
The bad: Fewer onboard features than the competition; requires a PC connection for image editing and enhancement; slow; photo quality needs some improvement.
The bottom line: The HP Photosmart A526 snapshot printer is meant to be simple and easy to use, but we found it simplified to a fault. There aren't enough options in standalone mode, and it's not as fast as the competition.
Specifications: Printer Type: Compact photo printer - Ink-jet - Color; Connectivity technology: Wired; Max speed: 0.6 min/page=1.3 min/page; See full specs
Price range: $99.99 - $105.99
CNET editors' review
- Reviewed on: 09/26/2007
- Released on: 08/27/2007
The HP Photosmart A526 is the entry-level model in the company's new line of snapshot printers. As we loved the Photosmart A826, we were looking forward to this one, as we figured it to be a scaled-down version of that printer. Unfortunately, HP scaled back too far and its price of $100 is too high; the printer offers fewer functions than its similarly priced competition. It's also slower and produces lower quality photos than the Canon Selphy CP740. It's clear that HP intends this for "light" users who simply want to print a photo without enhancing it, but we find it difficult to recommend the Photosmart A526 since other printers offer more for the same price, which gives users more options.
Design
The HP Photosmart A526 is adorably tiny, standing just 8.9 inches wide at its base, 4.6 inches deep, and 5.4 inches tall. It weighs a feather-light 2.7 pounds and a flip-up carrying handle makes it easy to tote around. The printer's blue front panel opens to serve as an output tray and reveals memory card slots and a USB PictBridge port. Opening the front panel also causes the paper input panel--located in the rear--to pop open. The input area holds up to 20 sheets of photo paper. It can handle paper up to only 4 inches wide, but in various lengths, including 4x6, 4x8, and 4x12 for panorama prints.
The A526's control panel is exceedingly spare and simple. The centerpiece is a 2.4-inch color LCD for previewing photos. Left and right arrow keys flank the print/OK button and let you scroll through the contents of your memory card. A cancel button and a red-eye removal button are the only other features.
The A526 uses a single color ink cartridge that costs $20 to replace. HP also offers a combined ink-and-paper value pack that can produce 120 prints for $35. The per-print cost, based on the value pack, is 29 cents per 4x6 print.
Features
The HP Photosmart A526 is meant to be used mainly in standalone mode, but a USB port on the back lets you connect it to and print from a PC. HP also offers an optional Bluetooth adapter that you can connect to print wirelessly from a Bluetooth device such as a smart phone.
The four memory card readers can read most major types of cards, though some may require an adapter (not included). The PictBridge port can be used to connect cameras, camera phones, and videocams, but not USB storage devices such as thumbdrives.
When printing in standalone mode, you get minimal options on the A526: Basically, you can step through the photos and print. You can't even instruct the printer to make multiple prints on the same photo--you have to press the Print button once for each copy. The only option offered is red-eye removal and that's limited to turning red-eye removal on or off for a particular image. You can change the quality of prints or turn on a general Photo Fix option by accessing the printer's menu via the left or right arrow buttons (you'll have to remove any memory cards first). But the quality changes for all prints, not an individual photo. (Of course, you can access the menu between prints to change the quality.)
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Where to buy
HP PhotoSmart A526:
$99.99 - $105.99
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$99.99 | Yes |
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$99.99 | Yes |
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Amazon.com
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$105.99 | Yes |
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