The Right Printer, The Right Price

I don’t know about you, but for me shopping for a new printer can be a stressful, confusing experience. I found myself standing among several rows of counters filled with printers of nearly every size and conceivable function. Hewlett-Packard printers have proven to be good printers for me, so that is where I started my search.

HP PSC 1510 All-In-One

One printer with a very attractive appearance stood out from the rest: The HP PSC 1510 All-In-One. Actually, it should be called the Almost-All-In-One; the 1510 lacks fax capability. For me, that wasn’t a problem since I rarely use a fax anymore. The 1510 has a number of features that I found very nice:

++Letter size flatbed scanner.
++Photocopy function with ability to select between black/white or full color copies.
++The small footprint takes up minimal real estate on my already crowded desk.
++The front panel PictBridge compliant USB port.
++The HP Vivera in cartridges—which are a bit lower in cost. (Uses cartridge 92, 93, and 99 for photo printing).

When In Doubt Read The Manual

After carefully reading the manual for installation instructions, I selected the CD-ROM for MAC OS X . It was a simple and flawless installation of the required printer drivers and HP Image Zone software. Later, I repeated the process for my Windows box running XP-Pro…again, a flawless and simple installation. (The Windows installation takes a lot longer than the MAC OS X).

Some other things to note from the manual:

++ Odd size paper (anything other than letter, A4, 4X6, Hagaki, or L) is not recommended for this printer.
++Paper with perforations or cut-outs should not be used.
++Multiple part forms are a no-no.
++Envelopes … not recommended…but, here’s the good part: LATER IN THE MANUAL they give you instructions for how to load envelopes into the printer!
++Coated paper not designed for HP All-In-One can jam the printer.

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

The paper tray will hold about 100 sheets of paper…anymore than that and the paper jams in the printer. The manual also says that the “output” tray holds fifty sheets. Evidently, they are counting all the floor space below the printer as the output tray…because that is where most of the output lands.

This is a somewhat noisy printer…not a terrible noise…but enough to be a bit annoying on occasion. It requires the use of a USB cable … which isn’t included with the printer, and that adds a bit to the cost if you don’t have one just laying about somewhere. The print quality is very good for an “under hundred buck” printer. The print resolution is (maximum) 1200X4800 optimized dpi for color and 1200X1200 rendered dpi for black and white…very good for my typical home office application.

The scan facility works in a very straight forward manner. The copy facility works very well…I have especially enjoyed the quality of the color copier.

Bottom Line

I wasn’t all that impressed with the bundled photo software, but the printer/scanner works really great. I love the design and the appearance and I would recommend the HP PSC 1510 as a good work-at-home printer.