Rating: 
Summary: Bad, bad, bad
Review: I bought both the HP Photosmart 230 and the Sony DPP-EX5 and both produced a high quality picture. About 98% as good as developed from a service on kodak paper. The 2% represents the finish (which is a bit sticky till it dries) and some pictures come out a hair light (which is actually a good thing if your pics come out dark). Either printer would do the job, I settled on the HP for the name and choices of paper and easy access to many accessories. You won't be disappointed with the results of the printer. It is worth the money.
Rating: 
Summary: Does the job as described.
Review: I bought both the HP Photosmart 230 and the Sony DPP-EX5 and both produced a high quality picture. About 98% as good as developed from a service on kodak paper. The 2% represents the finish (which is a bit sticky till it dries) and some pictures come out a hair light (which is actually a good thing if your pics come out dark). Either printer would do the job, I settled on the HP for the name and choices of paper and easy access to many accessories. You won't be disappointed with the results of the printer. It is worth the money.
Rating:
Summary: Sad to return it
Review: I bought this little printer so I can print my 4X6 photos from my Compact flash card. The LCD was a little grainy, but worked ok. I had so many problems with the printer itself. 1/8 of an inch on side is totally white, not boarderless printing. The lady at HP tech support told me that was normal and that I can just "cut" that off. I can understand tearing the tap off of the top of the page, but get real. She said I should go out and buy a paper cutter! :-? And some of the photos were not even printing straight. Very UNIMPRESSED with their technical support. I feel using Ofoto.com or Snapfish is more economical than this. Plus you dont have to cut the pictures when you get them. :-( Really wanted this to work.
Rating:
Summary: Sad to return it
Review: I bought this little printer so I can print my 4X6 photos from my Compact flash card. The LCD was a little grainy, but worked ok. I had so many problems with the printer itself. 1/8 of an inch on side is totally white, not boarderless printing. The lady at HP tech support told me that was normal and that I can just "cut" that off. I can understand tearing the tap off of the top of the page, but get real. She said I should go out and buy a paper cutter! :-? And some of the photos were not even printing straight. Very UNIMPRESSED with their technical support. I feel using Ofoto.com or Snapfish is more economical than this. Plus you dont have to cut the pictures when you get them. :-( Really wanted this to work.
Rating: 
Summary: Great portable printer
Review: I have been very happy with this printer and have used it often since purchasing it. The photos produced are sharp and clear, there is minimal set-up to begin using it right away, and no computer interface is needed, though there is software included if you like to do digital editing before printing. The photo preview screen makes printing without the computer practical and easy. The 230 stores in a bag roughly the size of the average camera bag which makes it easy to take to parties and family gatherings. For print quality, ease of use, and portablity, I haven't found a better 4 x 6 printer out there.
Rating:
Summary: Great portable printer
Review: I have been very happy with this printer and have used it often since purchasing it. The photos produced are sharp and clear, there is minimal set-up to begin using it right away, and no computer interface is needed, though there is software included if you like to do digital editing before printing. The photo preview screen makes printing without the computer practical and easy. The 230 stores in a bag roughly the size of the average camera bag which makes it easy to take to parties and family gatherings. For print quality, ease of use, and portablity, I haven't found a better 4 x 6 printer out there.
Rating:
Summary: Great little printer that's BIG on performance and value!!
Review: I just got this printer ... wow, am I pleased it it. Since recently entering the "digital age" with my new Sony DSC-P72 digital camera, I've been searching for a decent photo printer - wanting to get not only a LOW PRICE but also GREAT COLOR PRINTS from my "new toy". I then asked myself, "why do I REALLY want [need?] a color photo printer?"....and then, after I thought about it for a while, my answer surprised me: I want [need!] a decent photo printer for quick and convenient printing of 4x6 or 3x5 shots to either tack up somewhere, put in an album, or to give to friends and family. I DO NOT need one for the 8x10's or 5x&s (I can get them at the drug store if I really need them, as I hardly ever do this anyway). Besides, I have a text printer that works just fine....why blow extra bucks on something I don�t need? The HP PhotoSmart 230 is THE color printer for people like me looking for value and complete portability!!The HP PhotoSmart 230 is compact, portable, easy-to-use, and DOES NOT need to be hooked up to a computer in order to use it. I was actually printing my first photo 15 minutes after opening the box! The HP 230 has a convenient LCD screen that allows me to see what I am printing when reading from my Sony Memory Stick. Even though I have a Sony Digital Camera, and a Sony Clie PDA (both use Memory Sticks), I opted NOT to go with the Sony color printer (accepts only memory Stick media and does not have the LCD screen) because hey, who knows...someday, I or one one my friends MAY have the need to print from a Compact Flash card (or someother type of card, like an SD card) in the future -- the HP 230 easily accepts the four major memory cards out there (including Memory Stick media)! The prints are clear and the color is decent. Remember - these are 4x6 prints. Some people have complained that this does not print "photo quality" -- my response to them is: "quit your whining, go buy some film and get it developed" (really!). For MY money, this HP 230 is pretty darn near-perfect to 'photo quality' for 'digital camera' shots - if anything, the convenience factor is well worth every penny spent!!! Here's something that may interest some people "on the fence" about buying a color photo printer: YOU DON'T NEED A COMPUTER to use this photo printer (although, it is a nice feature to be able to do this). I am SO happy I bought this color photo printer - you will be very happy after getting it! With mostly everything about this printer being so GREAT, I have only a few "cons": 1) loading up the computer software (not necessary, really) and printing from a computer is a little bit cumbersome at first, but gets easy soon thereafter -- 2) printing from a media card produces some great looking photos, but they are not as sharp as when printing from the computer (note: this only applies to lower pixel VGA (640KB) shots; BUT, the printer produces AWESOME higher-pixel shots when printing directly from the
media card! this is great!! GET THIS PRINTER - IT'S GREAT!!!
Rating:
Summary: Great little printer that's BIG on performance and value!!
Review: I just got this printer ... wow, am I pleased it it. Since recently entering the "digital age" with my new Sony DSC-P72 digital camera, I've been searching for a decent photo printer - wanting to get not only a LOW PRICE but also GREAT COLOR PRINTS from my "new toy". I then asked myself, "why do I REALLY want [need?] a color photo printer?"....and then, after I thought about it for a while, my answer surprised me: I want [need!] a decent photo printer for quick and convenient printing of 4x6 or 3x5 shots to either tack up somewhere, put in an album, or to give to friends and family. I DO NOT need one for the 8x10's or 5x&s (I can get them at the drug store if I really need them, as I hardly ever do this anyway). Besides, I have a text printer that works just fine....why blow extra bucks on something I don't need? The HP PhotoSmart 230 is THE color printer for people like me looking for value and complete portability!! The HP PhotoSmart 230 is compact, portable, easy-to-use, and DOES NOT need to be hooked up to a computer in order to use it. I was actually printing my first photo 15 minutes after opening the box! The HP 230 has a convenient LCD screen that allows me to see what I am printing when reading from my Sony Memory Stick. Even though I have a Sony Digital Camera, and a Sony Clie PDA (both use Memory Sticks), I opted NOT to go with the Sony color printer (accepts only memory Stick media and does not have the LCD screen) because hey, who knows...someday, I or one one my friends MAY have the need to print from a Compact Flash card (or someother type of card, like an SD card) in the future -- the HP 230 easily accepts the four major memory cards out there (including Memory Stick media)! The prints are clear and the color is decent. Remember - these are 4x6 prints. Some people have complained that this does not print "photo quality" -- my response to them is: "quit your whining, go buy some film and get it developed" (really!). For MY money, this HP 230 is pretty darn near-perfect to 'photo quality' for 'digital camera' shots - if anything, the convenience factor is well worth every penny spent!!! Here's something that may interest some people "on the fence" about buying a color photo printer: YOU DON'T NEED A COMPUTER to use this photo printer (although, it is a nice feature to be able to do this). I am SO happy I bought this color photo printer - you will be very happy after getting it! With mostly everything about this printer being so GREAT, I have only a few "cons": 1) loading up the computer software (not necessary, really) and printing from a computer is a little bit cumbersome at first, but gets easy soon thereafter -- 2) printing from a media card produces some great looking photos, but they are not as sharp as when printing from the computer (note: this only applies to lower pixel VGA (640KB) shots; BUT, the printer produces AWESOME higher-pixel shots when printing directly from the
media card! this is great!! GET THIS PRINTER - IT'S GREAT!!!
Rating:
Summary: perfect little printer
Review: I purchased an earlier version of this printer last year along with my first digital camera. It is identical to this with one less port for memory cards. My camera was a 2 megapixel Olympus D510 so I did not intend to enlarge my photos beyond 4x6. This printer offered small size and ease of use, which appealed to me at the time. The printer does not need to be connected to a computer to produce high quality 4x6 images - as close to photos from film as you can get with 2 megapixels. I now have a three megapixel camera and the prints are even better. This printer is so easy to use. Just plug it in, add paper, insert the smartmedia, compact flash, or memory stick into the appropriate slot, select the number of the photo you want to print, press the print button and watch a beautiful photo emerge from the printer. It weighs only 3 pounds and can be easily transported anywhere. I take it on vacation with me (in a soft sided, padded lunch box) and surprise my friends with instant copies of photos. The are only a few drawbacks for this printer. First, photo paper and ink cartridges cost a lot so your photos will not be cheaper than outside processing. I try to purchase in larger quantities to reduce the cost and I use cheaper paper for less important prints. The second drawback is the inability to view the photo on the printer prior to printing. You'll have to jot down the photo's number from your camera screen. And, of course you can't crop or modify your prints on this printer, but that's not really different from developing photos at the store. As for durability, as I said, I've had this printer for almost a year, have taken it everywhere, printed hundreds of photos and never had the slightest problem. It's a great little printer!
Rating:
Summary: A little GEM
Review: I purchased this printer along with a 3MP Sony camera. I needed to make the transition from digital camera to printed picture as simple as possible and without the use of a computer. The preview screen is a must!! It allows you to preview the picture before you print which will save money in the long run. It is a snap to use right out of the box. It also has many useful features such as borders and the ability to lighten and darken those not-so-perfect photographs. It is even small enough to pack in the camera bag for instant photos while visiting friends or family. This is a MUST for the recreational digital photographer.
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