HP PhotoSmart 245 Compact Photo Printer

Rating:
Summary: HP 245 photosmart printer
Review: ........ I chose the HP 245 as it was compact and doesn't take up much space, light weight, quality pictures(demo at store), picture screen to edit your pictures, and portability. It took me less than 3 minutes to set-up. So far i have printed 50 pictures and they look good. I would recommend that you set your digicam to the highest pixel setting as sometimes the print may look a bit blurred if you have it at mid range(i used a casio EZ-3 digital camera)and you use the zoom function). If you compute the cost of the materials per print it comes out about $0.63 per print ($24/60 photo 4x6 sheets and 150 prints/cartridge). It seems more costly than having it developed in the store, but the convenience of printing whenever and wherever you want is a plus, as well as being able to see what you want to print on the small screen(about 1.5 to 2 in screen) and trim the picture/zoom/add effects and borders/and dictate the number of copies. It takes about 80-90 seconds to print per picture, but you'll be amazed how such a small device can print clear pictures, i forgot i was able to increase brightness and contrast on some of my darker picture shots with the printer features. I have enjoyed printing with this item, and i used my SD card with ease to transfer data(it comes with about 4 multi-media slots). If your sole focus is to print photos only then this is a good item. You can also hook it up to your computer, but the features the printer has in it really does not warrant you to hook it up to your computer, by the time you have gone through the menus of yopur computer you probably could have printed 2-3 photos. ..... I only gave it 4 stars due to the limitation on the print size, as you are limited to sizes close to the 4x6 range. I would recommend if you are not as photo/computer literate as the other fellow, and if you only want photo printing as your printer function- otherwise buy the other photo printers... i think it is the most compact photo printer out there right now...

Rating:
Summary: Printer Fan in the Northwest
Review: AWESOME! This printer is so easy and it prints such great pictures that I have switched completely over to digital. You will be printing in minutes from getting it out of the box and not be stuck next to your PC. I have it set up in the kitchen were most of the action seems to take place and we are always printing the latest set of photo's. It is even more fun when I take it to a party and print photo's out on the spot. People are really awestruck over the picture quality. Since it works with virtually all digital cameras you can't go wrong with this printer.

Rating:
Summary: False Paper Jam
Review: Bad .... this is the second HP PhotoSmart printer I've owned and I had to return it the store for a new one. When they work ... they work great. But like my first PhotoSmart, this one had to be returned for a replacement due to an inherent design flaw (firmware). The printer works fine for a while. In this case, two days. Then it started giving an erroneous 'print jam' error when in fact there was nothing causing the jam. HP said to return to store for new or refund. I keep wondering when HP is going to fix this problem?

Rating:
Summary: So neat, I bought a second one!
Review: Even though it's portable, I wanted a second for my office. Prints pictures every bit as beautiful as my HP Photosmart 1215.
I love it! Whatever will they think of next?

Rating:
Summary: Much cheaper (and better) at your local drug store
Review: Follow-up to my earlier review (not on Amazon yet): at my local Rite Aid drug store chain, I can give them my flash memory card and it's only 21 cents per print for the whole card. If I select pictures at the photo counter, it's only 29 cents per print. At other drug stores (Walgreens, Duane Reade) it's only slightly cheaper, and they often offer rebates. All these stores offer quality guarantee, plus they use real professional paper.

So basically if you get the PhotoSmart 245 (or the cheaper 145 model withou the color LCD preview) you are paying a huge premium for convenience -- and if my experience is any guide, you won't actually get any conveninece because the printer jams too easily. Plus there's the question how long the print will last before fading.

For my hard-earned money (I'm probably far less paid than most of you guys who shop on Amazon.com) I'll stick with my local drug stores.

Of course, I'm talking from an urban-centric point of view. If you live in rural areas where getting to a digital-ready photo shop is not easy, this may make sense. Just beware of the printer jam and possible fading problems. Amen.

Rating:
Summary: Much cheaper (and better) at your local drug store
Review: Follow-up to my earlier review (not on Amazon yet): at my local Rite Aid drug store chain, I can give them my flash memory card and it's only 21 cents per print for the whole card. If I select pictures at the photo counter, it's only 29 cents per print. At other drug stores (Walgreens, Duane Reade) it's only slightly cheaper, and they often offer rebates. All these stores offer quality guarantee, plus they use real professional paper.

So basically if you get the PhotoSmart 245 (or the cheaper 145 model withou the color LCD preview) you are paying a huge premium for convenience -- and if my experience is any guide, you won't actually get any conveninece because the printer jams too easily. Plus there's the question how long the print will last before fading.

For my hard-earned money (I'm probably far less paid than most of you guys who shop on Amazon.com) I'll stick with my local drug stores.

Of course, I'm talking from an urban-centric point of view. If you live in rural areas where getting to a digital-ready photo shop is not easy, this may make sense. Just beware of the printer jam and possible fading problems. Amen.

Rating:
Summary: HP PhotoSmart 245 Compact Photo Printer
Review: Got the printer and within minutes I was printing quality photographs!!
I had been looking for a printer like this for some time now. I photograph small items in macro conditions that are used for insurance appraisals and this printer fits the bill.
Set-up is fast and easy and printing time (in color - hi-res) is plenty fast for my tastes. The included software for the PC allows you to print out anything from wallet to 4x6" prints with just the click of a button. If you don't want to use a PC, loading pictures directly from you media card or from the camera directly is a breeze. Excellent printer for someone on the go!!

Rating:
Summary: Great detail and convenience. I love it!
Review: I bought this printer to use with a Nikon Coolpix 4300 digital camera in a medical work envioronment. We print pictures of before and after surgical procedures and we keep a copy in the record and send one home with the client. The details are fantastic and always leave quite an impression! The printer takes up very little space and is very easy to use. We don't even have it connected to a computer. We leave it chairside in the procedure room, though it's easy to pick up and move if we need to. I have not had any problems with paper jamming, and I love being able to put 1,2 or 4 pictures on one sheet of paper. I've tried to keep track of how often we will be replacing the ink cartridge and have found that I can get about 100 prints out of a cartridge (which are about $35 apiece) and we use the matte HP paper. Very well worth the money and prints beautiful pictures in a short amount of time.

Rating:
Summary: Great detail and convenience. I love it!
Review: I bought this printer to use with a Nikon Coolpix 4300 digital camera in a medical work envioronment. We print pictures of before and after surgical procedures and we keep a copy in the record and send one home with the client. The details are fantastic and always leave quite an impression! The printer takes up very little space and is very easy to use. We don't even have it connected to a computer. We leave it chairside in the procedure room, though it's easy to pick up and move if we need to. I have not had any problems with paper jamming, and I love being able to put 1,2 or 4 pictures on one sheet of paper. I've tried to keep track of how often we will be replacing the ink cartridge and have found that I can get about 100 prints out of a cartridge (which are about $35 apiece) and we use the matte HP paper. Very well worth the money and prints beautiful pictures in a short amount of time.

Rating:
Summary: Struggle with Mac OS X 10.3: Panther
Review: I don't have very much desk space for a printer and wanted something small for printing photos. I originally bought a Canon i560 but returned it because it was too big. This printer is nice and small. Doesn't come with a USB cable and I forgot to order it when I ordered the printer (Doh!) so I had to buy one at CompUSA for $25.

Prints beautiful photos from the memory stick, and when the USB cable is attached to your computer, you can use the memory stick reader on the printer to transfer photos into your computer.

I had to reinstall the OS before I could get it to print with Mac OS 10.3: Panther. I tried loading the latest drivers from the HP website (2.3.7) and it didn't work. Finally did a clean install of the OS and was able to get the printer to work with my Mac.