THE NEWS IN PRINT

I wonder if HP engineers and researchers are not paid enough. It could be either payment problems or HP's ploy to introduce multi-function printers specialising in a single function; so users can purchase multiple printers for different functions. Let's consider Photosmart C5280 All-in-One. It produces decent photo output and scanner is above par as well. But, the text printing is lacking the quality and finesse displayed by most printers in the market including other HP models. No business would opt for a printer that can print photos only, everybody needs text printing.

The C5280 works on thermal inkjet technology. Like most inkjets, it can print in 4 different colours. It's photo printing can be enhanced by replacing the black cartridge with a photo cartridge which enables it to print in 6 colours. The quality of photo prints is decent and fast enough as well. The print speed is 32ppm for black and 24ppm for colour.

HP claims that the durability of the prints from C5280 lasts at least 30 years if exposed to air and light and 200 years if stored in darkness.

I would rate the C5280 as avoidable. There are much better and cheaper printers in the market. Talking about price, it is priced at £75 and cartridges are expensive as always.

I have consistently maintained that Canon photo printers have been the best that I have seen and they have never failed to deliver quality durable prints. This time round, they are bringing their creative minds together to come with a photo printer in a vertical model. They have introduced Selphy ES2 and its sister model ES20 which are bound with several features. The ES2 replaces the TIPA award winner ES1.

"Digital cameras are more popular than ever, but many users have yet to invest in a dedicated photo printer," said Mogens Jensen, Head of Canon Consumer Imaging Europe. "With the SELPHY ES2 and ES20, we are able to offer two convenient, high-quality products that will allow digital photographers to share and store their photos for years to come."

Features

* Integrated Ink and Media cassette
* Compact, vertical design with handle
* 3.0" LCD (2.5" for ES20)
* Wireless printing(Bluetooth optional)
* Optional battery pack (for ES2 only)
* Red-Eye Correction
* Automatic image optimisation
* Creative Print button
* Image trim, My Colors
* 100-year prints

The ES2 and ES20 have a tilting LCD for easy viewing. The ES2 has a scroll wheel for rapid viewing of images and easy access of menu options. Different features could be accessed by various buttons casted on the printer which could affect the looks of the printer. Maybe Canon could take a leaf from HP's book by opting for touchscreen LCDs.

Both the printers act as a standalone as well. Features like red eye correction and image optimisation helps users alter images without the need of a computer. It even provides album, calendar designs along with special features like faded edges and star lights.

The pricing information of these printers is not available to us yet.

With the age of compactness setting in, HP doesn't want to left out much behind. It has introduced the latest member to the compact photo printer market, the A626. Consumers are presently convinced and hooked onto to the likes of Canon Pixma mini320 and Epson PictureMate Snap.

The A626 can print photos up to 5" X 7". There aren't many compact photo printers that are capable of printing at that size. It uses HP patented Vivera inks bottled in a single cartridge(110) with three colours - magenta, cyan and yellow.

Just like its predecessor A826, the A626 has a sturdy casing and a 4.8" touchscreen LCD which enables browsing through the menu options using a stylus. As all the functions are bundled up in the touchscreen LCD, the printer features only the power button.

HP claims that A626 has a print speed of 39 seconds but reports are pouring in that suggests that the speed could be in the range of 85 seconds, which puts this as one of the slowest in the market today. Being a new entrant, one would expect the printing speeds to be competitive at least.

Quality of prints is poor and not comparable to those of Canon and Epson. If the output is bad, HP might as well forget making a name for itself in the photo printer market.

The A626 is priced at £100 which is alright for a printer that doesn't produce exceptional quality. The integrated cartridge 110 is fairly reasonable at £10. I don't see a bright future for this printer. If the quality isn't in place, there is no place for it with consumers.

Sans PC printers are the ones for the future and HP doesn't want to be left out in the lurch. They have shot back with a printer to remember not just for mere performance but for the looks and feel as well. It doesn't follow the rest when it comes to its shape and size and is no way close to being portable.

The HP Photosmart A826 works as a standalone and I can assure you that it stands alone when it comes to mobility features. It resembles a kiosk with a 7"� touch screen display. The A826's closest competitors are none other than Canon Selphy CP740 and the Epson PictureMate Pal. It beats both of them with features that puts it way ahead of the rest.

This HP printer comes with all the bells and whistles that a class photo printer would have. The navigation guided by the touch screen is simple to use and easy to learn. It offers plenty of photo editing tools like red eye reduction, cropping and adjusting the brightness. It also lets users be creative with frames, captions, albums and much more. It is enabled with an optional Bluetooth adapter for wireless printing. It takes around 25 seconds to print a 4"� X 6"� photograph which is the fastest in the market today.

Priced at around £125, the A826 might sound expensive but for the looks and features it offers, it's worth keeping one at homes. HP blogs targets the A826 towards busy moms, huh! I just think the targetted audience is lame and might not work in their favour. One thing is for sure, there is nothing motherly about the A826. On the other hand, this kiosky printer is a perfect aide for studio professionals to display the photographs before taking prints.

Would you buy a printer if it offers you the same pricing for both colour and black? Of course, as long as the colour printing prices are that of black. It is no dream but a reality, thanks to Xerox Corporation for their Phaser 8860. The cost model is different from other printers; the initial printer cost is doubly expensive in exchange for a low colour printing cost.

The breakthrough pricing is possible due to a Xerox patented technology of solid inks which leaves behind nothing as it gets fully consumed. In layman terms, it works like a crayon. Extracting full ink sticks reduces print costs. It is claimed to reduce ink wastage by 90%.

It is no mug with other features. It prints at a speed 30ppm in colour and black and white. It is integrated with a 750 MHz processor and true Adobe PostScript3. It also encourages green printing with automatic two-sided printing and N-up printing which prints multiple pages onto one.

This solution is aimed at offices that print anywhere between 1000 and 10,000 pages. The basic model of Phaser 8860 is priced at £1250 and the multi-function brother 8860MFP at £2000. Black ink sticks are priced at £108 and can print a whopping 14,000 pages. The three colour sticks RGB are each priced at £36 and each can print 14,000 pages as well.

Xerox will hope to conquer the business market with Phaser 8860. The pricing model is different and brilliant. The printing costs will eventually even out with the high cost printer in a short period of time. Every business should be able to afford colour prints for its employees at no extra cost; great! isn't it?

via News Release