HP Photosmart C4780 review

This summer, HP announced the release of three new printers just in time for the Back to School season.  We featured the Photosmart C4780 All-in-One printer in our Back to School Guide because of a bevy of great features - think fast print speeds, built-in Wi-Fi and laser quality text output - along with a low initial price tag. 

But is the Photosmart C4780 reliable?  Will the ink cartridges give you enough quality prints for your money?  Find out now by reading our full review!

PHOTOSMART C4780 SPECIFICATIONS

• Print speeds: up to 29 ppm in black, 23 ppm in color
• Print resolution: up to 4800 x 1200 optimized dpi
• Maximum duty cycle: 1,000 pages
• 1.45 inch LCD with TouchSmart frame
• 80-sheet paper tray
• Built-in memory card reader
• Connectivity: Wi-Fi, USB 2.0
• Energy Star qualified

BUILD AND DESIGN

The Photosmart C4780 All-in-One printer is a relatively small printer, weighing in at just over 10 lbs.  The design is pretty modern; the casing is done in a mixture of matte and glossy blacks with HP logos on the outside of the flip up tray and the top of the scanner lid.

The scanner is a 48-bit flatbed scanner with an optical resolution up to 1200 dpi.   The maximum scan size is 8.5 x 11.7 inches.

To the left of the scanner, you’ll find the control panel featuring the 1.45 inch LCD wit color graphics surrounded by a HP TouchSmart Frame.  The built-in memory card reader and power button are located below the TouchSmart panel.  The C4780 is compatible with the following media: Memory Stick, Memory Stick Duo, SD, MultimediaCard, SD High Capacity Card and the xD-Picture Card.

The Photosmart C4780 uses a HP 60 black ink cartridge and a HP 60 tricolor ink cartridge; original HP 60 cartridges contain 50% recycled materials.  Installing the cartridges was relatively simple, just pull down the center panel and insert the cartridge into the color coordinated print head.

The flip up tray serves as both the paper tray and the output tray.  The Photosmart C4780 will print on a variety of paper sizes ranging from legal sized documents to index cards.  The C4780 also features borderless printing up to 8.5 x 11 inches.

Built-in wireless is standard with the C4780 but users can also use the printer over a USB 2.0 connection.  All connection ports are found on the back of the machine.