HP Photosmart Premium review

HP may have introduced the HP Photosmart Premium Fax first, but in terms of features and price, the Photosmart Premium All-in-One is considered the base model in the Premium lineup.

Don't let that fool you though; at $199.99, the Photosmart Premium offers HP's 3.45 inch touch screen surrounded by the TouchSmart control panel, standard print speeds up to 12 ppm, built-in duplexing, HP Auto Sense, a monthly duty cycle up to 2500 pages, and wireless connectivity to name just a few features.

Today, we have our full review of the HP Photosmart Premium All-in-One.  Will it live up to the Premium line (we gave the Photosmart Premium Fax All-in-One an Editor's Choice Award) or just end up being average?  Read on to find out!

PHOTOSMART PREMIUM SPECIFICATIONS:

• 3-in-1 device: print, scan, copy
• Print speeds: up to 32 ppm in draft, 12 ppm in normal
• Print resolution: up to 9600 x 2400 optimized dpi
• 4x6 photo in as fast as 16 seconds
• Built-in memory card reader (compatible with USB)
• Built-in duplexing
• Paper capacity: 125 sheet cassette, 20 sheet photo tray
• Monthly duty cycle: up to 2500 pages
• Connectivity: Wireless, USB 2.0, Ethernet
• Energy Star qualified

BUILD AND DESIGN
The HP Photosmart Premium All-in-On looks more like the flagship Photosmart Premium TouchSmart Web than the Photosmart Premium Fax model.  The outer casing is done in a mixture of glossy and matte black with a small HP logo on top of the scanner lid.

It's also more compact than its fellow Premium printers with the approximate dimensions of 18 x 19 x 8 inches and weighing in at 16.4 lbs.  With the output tray extended and scanner lid up, the approximate dimensions of 18 x 23 x 18 inches.

The 48-bit flatbed scanner features an automatic paper sensor so the machine will know if there is a document or photo on scanner.  The maximum optical scan resolution 4800 dpi and the Photosmart Premium can handle scanning documents or photos up to 8.5 x 11.7 inches.

The TouchSmart control panel is centered on the front of the Photosmart Premium with the 3.45 inch touch screen being the main feature.

Pull open the middle of unit to access the print head and ink cartridges.  The Photosmart Premium uses five individual ink cartridges: HP 564 Black, HP 564 Cyan, HP 564 Magenta, HP 564 Yellow, and HP 564 Photo Black.  For users with a heavy printing flow, HP does offer the HP 564XL high capacity cartridges.

The Photosmart Premium offers two paper trays: the standard paper cassette with 125-sheet capacity and 20-sheet photo tray.  The standard tray can print on media from 3 x 5 inches to 8.5 x 14 inches while the photo tray can print on media from 3 x 5 inches to 5 x 7 inches.  The output tray has a capacity of 50 sheets.

To the left of the paper trays, you'll find the built-in memory card reader.  The Photosmart Premium is compatible with Memory Stick, Memory Stick Duo, SD, MultimediaCard, SDHC, xD-Picture Card as well as PictBridge and USB flash drives.

The connectivity ports are found on the back of the Photosmart Premium along with a removable panel that allows users access to the paper path.  The Photosmart Premium offers wireless, USB 2.0 and Ethernet connectivity.