Skylarking: The Tech Tip Blog

Here’s a revised and updated version of my Nov. 18, 2008 post on Hewlett Packard Photo Printers. They make great gifts for the holidays.

Despite the economic downturn the holiday shopping season is approaching, and while some of us are wondering how its going to be this year, many of us acknowledge that we’re still going to need gifts for our families and closest friends. I was able to find them online for about $80 each.

Photosmart A516

In 2007, I gave several as gifts to my sister and my parents Hewlett Packard digital photo printers as gifts, specifically the HP Photosmart A516 (at right). The Photosmart printers are very small, compact, and lightweight. It measures roughtly 10 inches wide, 5 inches tall, and less than 6 inches deep. That’s about the size of a small loaf of bread. It weighs less than 6 pounds. (A slightly heavy loaf of bread).

The Photosmart printers print on 4×6 inch and 5×7 inch photo paper, and can hold about 20 sheets at a time. Me, my family and friends agree that the picture and color quality is fantastic. (We still use them nearly 3 years later! So they last! –RFS, 12/2010)

The other great thing about the Photosmart printers is that you don’t have to connect them to a computer to print your photos. They will accept most of the popular media memory cards (Memory Stick, Memory STick Duo, SD, xD, and MMC). Some printer models have an optional Bluetooth adapter so you can print wirelessly from your Bluetooth enabled cellphone. If your camera uses PictBridge technology you can plug your camera directly into the printer via a USB cable. Some models even allow printing from your iPod.

If I were to buy HP Photosmart printers this year, budget-minded as I am, I still give serious consideration to:

HP Photosmart A536 (New, TigerDirect.com, $70)The Photosmart A530 series prints on sheets up to 5×7 inches in size, and accepts MemoryStick, MS Duo, SD, xD, and MMC media cards. So it will work with most Sony and Olympus cameras quite well. It doesn’t accept CompactFlash cards. The unit is light and small enough that you can consider it portable. I often take it with me when I go to parties at the homes of friends and relations. It accepts an HP 110 Tri Color printer cartridge. The print cartirdge sells for about $22. HP also packages the cartridge with 140 sheets of 4×6 paper for $42. Supported operating systems: Windows 2000; Windows XP Home; Windows XP Professional; Windows XP Professional x64; Certified for Windows Vista(TM), Windows 7; Mac OS X v 10.3.9 or higher.

HP Photosmart A616 Photo Printer $195 from Buy.com Buy.com has the A616 selling for $195 with a one year warranty. In prints in as little as 39 seconds, accepts paper up to 5 x 7 inches. For media cards it accepts CompactFlash, Memory Stick, Memory Stick Duo, Secure Digital/MultiMediaCard and xD-Picture Card. It also supports Mini SD with an adapter. It has a 20-sheet input tray and wireless capability with an optional HP bt450 Bluetooth Wireless Printer adapter. Weight: 3.46 lbs. Supported operating systems: Windows 2000; Windows XP Home; Windows XP Professional; Windows XP Professional x64; Certified for Windows Vista(TM), Windows 7; Mac OS X v 10.3.9 or higher. Compatible cartridges: HP 110 Tri-color Ink Cartridge.