Rating: Summary: All the pieces come together in this top of the line printer Review: I have owned several HP and Epson photo quality printers. Each has been pretty good, but had one or two annoyances that grew more bothersome over time. Particularly as consumer digital cameras have improved to the 3 and 4 megapixel level, it was necessary to do something about the quality of home photo printers. I think HP had the farthest to go and they have closed the gap and taken a wide lead with the 7550. The move to seven inks (from HP's usual 4)in this model and the ability to go as high as 4800 X 1200 dpi, has answered my concerns about larger prints from my 4 megapixel Canon camera. This printer also has a simple loading mechanism for 4x6 snapshots and I really like the new print cartridge access (to the right of the paper trays), which means I no longer have to drag the printer out from under the shelf to open its top and change a cartiridge. This, plus the front paper loading mechanism, makes the 7550 a real low profile machine. The LCD and controls allow you to print pictures without the computer, though that is not a big deal to me. The printer is quiet and fast and I haven't given it a picture yet that it hasn't handled with beautiful results. HP claims the new inks and papers it is releasing with these new model printers will last 65 years. I'll get back to you about that claim in 2067.
Rating: Summary: Outstanding! Review: I bought this HP 7550 Photosmart as an upgrade to my previous HP 1315 Photosmart printer. The print quality of the 7550, quite frankly -- is phenomenal!When compared to the 1315 (and the previous generation of Photosmart and 990 series printers), the colors are brighter and more accurate (particularly in the purples and pinks). The images are sharper and the flesh tones are dead-on. Four-by-six snapshot printing is now borderless (which was something the 1315 wouldn't do) -- and, most importantly, PC World magazine (in their November 2002 issue) verified in accelerated age testing HP's claim of a 73 year photo life when using HP Premium Plus photo glossy paper, which I use. The results from the 7550 are so lifelike -- in either 8 x 10's or 4 x 6's -- you may never use a photo-finishing lab ever again! The 7550, like the 1315 before it, has a LCD window for precise photo selection and some special effects when printing directly from a memory card. The 7550 uses HP's new six color printing system, which is also available in HP's new 5550 DeskJet, PSC 2110 and 2210 all-in-ones, the portable HP 450, and the lesser-featured 7350 and 7150 Photosmart printers. In each of these models, six color printing is accomplished by trading out the black (#56) cartridge for another three-color (#58) unit. (The original #57 three-color cartridge remains untouched.) The 7550, however, has an extra-wide chassis -- to accommodate all three cartridges simultaneously -- so switching inks isn't necessary, which I thought was great. Brighter, truer color, borderless printing, and archival quality -- what more could someone ask for? If you're in the market for a new printer, these new models from HP are definitely the one's to consider.
Rating: Summary: Great printer, but¿ Review: I highly recommend this printer due to its incredible quality and vivid colors in any type of paper. The previewing screen is a bit "smallish", but then again you can preview and change anything on your computer. If you're in a hurry to print some pictures the multiple card slots (compact flash, memory stick, etc) are very handy. The only thing I was upset about was that once I got the printer I thought that all the necessary stuff was included to install it and run it the same day, unfortunately someone at HP (in all their immense wisdom!) decided NOT to include the USB cable to connect the printer to your computer. Now... how do you like that? Of course, since I came home from work with my brand new printer - and I get home after the stores are closed, I had to wait an additional day in order to go to the local Radio Shack and buy the "stupid" cable, so I could finally use my printer!!! All in all, it's still an awesome printer, so if you're in the market for a new one - buy this one - you won't regret it! (but you have to buy an A-B USB Cable separately!).
Rating: Summary: Top-quality photos and easy to use Review: The good: These are the best quality prints I've seen from a photo printer, period. Using the HP Premium Plus paper, the prints are better than our local film processing place (my wife and I tested this by taking the same pictures with both our film camera and our digital camera). And of course with the printer you have the added advantage of being able to zoom, crop, enlarge, and print as many as you want. This printer is so easy to use, I was able to take it out of the box and print 4x6's almost immediately, even before connecting it to my computer. But once you do have it connected to your computer, you can read your memory cards. It comes with more software than you'll probably use, as some of the many utilities bundled with it have overlapping functionality. But I find the program useful that lets you lay out 8.5x11 sheets like a photo studio would. The bad: It reads my SmartMedia cards rather slowly. Some of the parts seem rather flimsy. Every time I handle the paper tray, I think something's going to break. The top flexes every time I push a button. Also, it seems that sometimes it doesn't respond to my button presses but that may be due to the slow card reading, as the menu navigation seems fine.
Rating: Summary: The BEST Home Photo Printer Review: When I bought a 3 megapixel Olympus Digital Camera, I knew right away that I'd need to be able to print these pictures out. I've always used HP printers, and been happy with them, but there are a few to choose from. I considered the 7150, the 7350, and this, the 7550. The print quality remained the same on all three (especially the 7350 and the 7550) but there were a couple things that put the 7550 over the top. First, the digital color LCD viewing screen and multiple card readers in most noticable. You'll probably NEVER preview pictures on this screen if you have a decent computer, but the bottom line is this printer doesnt NEED a computer to print pictures. Even then, the LCD screen will tell you if theres a paper jam, and you can cancel prints with a button on the printer instead of messing with the "cancel print" screen that usually prints 2 more pages before stopping. The 2nd major difference is the ink cartridge holders. In the 7350, only two cartridges are held at once. Therefore if you wanna print pictures, you have to change to the photo cartridge by opening it up and physically removing it. The 7550 holds ALL 3 at once, which would seem much more convenient, and it is. The bottom line is that this is HP's premier photo printer. It's thier top of the line, and it should be. It's got all the gadgets and features you probably don't need, but will like to show off to your freinds! (Looks sweet next to a loaded Dell 8200, trinitron monitor and klipsch 5.1 speakers!) Hope this helps, good luck.
Rating: Summary: Photosmart Owner Review: I want to add on to some of the previous positive reviews. A couple of the negative reviews state the printer still pixelates and does not reflect the colors correctly. I would beg to differ. My wife and I went to Maine this Fall, and after showing our pictures to friends...NOBODY could tell the pictures were printed, not developed professionally. I think some of the other complaints regarding this printer may have more to do with the digital camera. Combine a decent digital camera with this spectacular printer, and you will be very happy. Again, the people we showed the pictures too could NOT tell they were printed. Excellent printer!
Rating: Summary: Not Good Enough Review: It will be a great day when the consumer can perform all of their digital photography functions, at a high level of quality from the comfort of their own home. As much as I would have liked to praise this printer, it fell well short of my expectations - and hence, a two out of five rating. I bought this printer at a great price from Amazon. Installation was a breeze, setup was easy, and I was impressed that HP included a few sample pieces of the glossy 4x6 photo paper. I had one photo in mind that I wanted to use to test this printer... a digital picture of my wife and I on a beach, in front of a vivid sunset. If the printer could reproduce this, it can do anything. I was disappointed in the results. The colors were dark, the waves lacked detail, and our faces were "pixely." The output from the HP 7550 did not compare to that of the same image professionally developed. I would highly recommend taking a test before buying this printer. 1) Find a treasured digital picture and have it developed professionally. 2) Then take this same image to your local retailer, and test it out on the HP 7550. The results of this test should tell you whether or not this printer would be a good choice for you. Good luck!
Rating: Summary: Special tabbed paper required for 4x6 borderless printing Review: I was so disappointed after spending 3 hours trying to figure out how to print borderless on a 4x6 photo paper. It turns out that I needed special tabbed paper. See this article from HP. http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?lc=en&cc=us&docname=bpy21061&product=72891&dlc=en&lang=en
Rating: Summary: Super pictures, easy set up, flawless prints Review: I bought this printer, refurbished, after a lot of hemming back and forth between several other HP models. The photo quality is wonderful, but I will admit, I use the premium plus quality paper. If you want the quality prints, you need to use quality paper. It prints a bit slow, (the only reason for four stars), but not excessively so. I imagine it has to be set that slow in order to get the wonderful photo quality pictures I have been printing. As far as the ink content that comes with the printer, I have printed out 20 8 x10's and still have yet to run out. This printer is relatively quiet compared to a lot of printers I have heard. It does take up a bit of desk space though, so if you're trying to squeeze a lot into a little space, this may not be the printer for you. The set up was easy, printing pictures five minutes out of the box. I haven't used the print from card feature yet, but it's nice to see it takes all types. As a result, I haven't utilized the LCD screen. But those two features are not what I bought this printer for. One thing I have found, the picture quality is best when printed thru the HP software. I tried printing thru Corel photo and colors weren't quite right. When I switched to the software that came with the printer, not only was I astounded by the quality, I found the software program very easy to use and a nice photo set up. I will still use the other software for any altering of pictures, but use the HP software for actual printing. A great printer for a great price!
Rating: Summary: Best Printer ever! Review: I bought this printer on a fluke. I happened by an office supply store, and stopped to see what I could find for a cheap replacement printer. This one was a clearance table as a floor model selling at 90 bucks, so I jumped on it, not even knowing anything other than it was color. I had no book for it. I took it home and had it print off a picture of my son shaking hands with Donald Rumsfeld. WOW! It was better quality than if I had gone to a professional studio! I AM VERY IMPRESSED! I used glossy paper and a high resolution .jpg, so that is obviously what makes it or breaks it. If you give it poor quality to work with, that is what you will probably get. I am looking into buying a digital camera to go with it, as I can see how simple you can use the photo cards it it!. It would rate 10 stars if I could give it that!
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