Customer Reviews

HP PSC 1210 Multifunction

5 star:		(31)
4 star:		(23)
3 star:		(15)
2 star:		(14)
1 star:		(23)

 

 

Okay, so this is HP's newest all-in-one.
As expected of these All-in-one's not all features are equally good, so I'll review each of them separately.

Printer: A+
This is real Photo-printer. I printed 3 4"x6" photos captured by my digital camera at 1600x1200 resolution, on the FREE sample Premium Plus Photo Glossy provided. Result? Absolute TOP notch. There's simply no way anyone can tell that the photos were not developed at a Kodak studio.

Copier: A-
You can use the copier without having to turn on your computer. I copied a color photo (of a face) in black and white mode, and it looked pretty decent. Document copy was excellent. Copying great photos (sunset) is not so good because of the scanner... see next item.

Scanner: B-
I tried scanning a stunning sunset photo taken from my SLR film camera. The result was disappointing. There are noticeable scan lines in the scanned image. It looked bad when "Set as desktop background". Didnt even try printing it. Text scanning was ok though...

Package: A-
Contents include: Printer, Power-cord, Free Glossy paper samples, good imaging software. All you need after getting your printer is a USB cable (why can't they bundle it??). I picked up a $7 USB2 6ft cable at local [store].

Overall Verdict: A
For the price, it beats HP's own photo printers hands down. (and they don't even copy/scan). So if you need a photo printer, with a decent copier and ok scanner, PSC1210 is the way to go. Not to mention that its the smallest All-in-one available. However, if you're looking to scan top-notch images to burn on a CD, invest in a standalone scanner. My friend has a epson perfection which scanned the sunset shot just fine.

It is hard to believe that this printer is about $100. I have been using the printer for a few months now.

Pros:
-----
1. Photo-printer, scanner, color and B & W copier -- all in one.
2. Amazing performance for all of the above functions.
3. Photo printing quality amazing (on HP photo-paper).
4. More silent than my previous Lexmark Z52 printer.
5. Never had a paper jam even once (so far).
6. Approx $100!!! This is worth $300 of money spent on Lexmark!
7. Unlike Lexmark, cartridges do not go bad every now and then.

Cons:
-----
Ink is costly, but then so is for every printer.

No option to choose greyscale printout. I do 'not' see this as a problem because I have almost always dried up color ink than using it completely (with Lexmark).

Software is a resource hog. Computer takes longer to start. In the Task-Manager (Windows 2000), I see several HP executables and services running all the time. I see this as the one and only weakness in this printer.

Photo-quality:
--------------
Use HP photo-paper only. (No I am do not work for HP.) I tried photo-paper from Staples. Black looks real black only on HP photo-paper. This HP paper is costly by the way (~ $1 per Letter sheet)!

On ordinary paper too, photo looks better than many other printers.

(I tried several printers on display. Canon photo-quality is good but smears extra ink on the paper. Agreed that the printers on display are often abused (!), but still this is what your printer will most likely do! Confirmed from reviews on Canon i560 etc.)

Caution:
--------
1. Follow all the steps of the installation process as listed on the included chart. They are all important as mentioned! Printer will not work otherwise. Following these steps by itself was easy and printer was up and running in 10 minutes.

After purchasing a lexmark all-in-one unit about a year ago, I got very skeptical that all-in-one printers could be of comparable quality to dedicated printers. HP has blown me away with the 1210. This unit is superb at printing quality quickly, has an excellent scanner that can scan at multiple resolutions. I tried scanning in a photo at 600 dpi and was very pleased with the sharpness and color accuracy. The last feature, and definitely not the least of them, is the copying feature. I can copy documents in black & white or in color very quickly, and it doesn't even involve the computer. I just hit copy on the printer, and instantly, the document is scanned and a copy is printed. On top of all this quality, this unit is extremely compact, and just looking at it, you might not realize that there's a scanner/copier in that machine capable of scanning quality scans of full size documents.

Overall this HP multifunction is a fantastic deal. Most regular printers will cost this much, and half of them won't do as good a job.

Pros:
-EXCELLENT photo printing on photo paper - looks like a professional print, and no need for a different photo cartridge.
-Easy copying - one button, very fast
-Fast text printing
-Quick hi-res scans
-Fairly efficient with ink usage.

Cons:
-I found the HP scanning software to be a little slow and clunky
-Doesn't allow you to reverse-print documents, so you have to reshuffle them
-Photo printing a little bit slow, though that depends on the size

None of the cons were deal-breakers for me. For a hundred bucks, you get the same resolution as HP's dedicated photo printers, plus a nice scanner and copier. Also, I like the fact that my desk doesn't look like it has a Xerox machine sitting on it - the PSC 1210 is much smaller and "hipper" looking than a lot of huge multi-function machines. I would definitely recommend!

I bought this printer a week ago from Fry's. I read most of
the reviews posted here and feel that i should contribute
to the discussion. I feel this is a great bargain for $90.

Installation on my Windows XP box was easy.

Pros
----
Good quality printing.
Cheap cartridge ( $30 for color, $24 for b/w)
Fast print/copy output in draft mode.
Good copier

Cons
----
Installs 400MB of software
Very noisy and shaky at the time of printing
No power saving mode
Scanning is slow

Generates 300MB files for 8x10 photos at 1200 dpi

In summary....if you intend to use this at home for occasional printing/copying this is a great printer. It has sufficient
quality for most print/copy jobs.

If you scan/copy a lot, I would reccommend a higher end model.

hp PSC-1210

Pro's,
1. Small & good looking.
2. Printer & copier work well.
3. Uses same ink as many other hp printers, so finding correct one at local store is easy.
4. Lots of controls on the panel.
5. Works fine without color ink cartridge (in something hp calls "reserve mode") for B&W prints & copies.
6. Black ink is reasonably priced for occasional users.

Con's,
1. Ink pricing is a rip off, but so is the case with Lexmark, Epson, etc.
2. Paper tray holds very few sheets.

3. Build quality is below average (for example Epson C84 is much better).
4. Even after paying high price, hp black #56 ink isn't really black. Epson C84 with durabrite ink has much better & blacker prints.
5. Prints slowly.
6. Uses a smart chip on ink tanks, so generic ink can't be used.

I paid a low price for a refurbished one and plan to use it as an occasional copier. If you need a copier & printer go for 1210. If only a printer is needed go for Epson C84 or Canon i450 or Samsung ML-1710 laser.

(For technical information, see the "editorial review" above)

For a little more than $100, you definitely get more than you pay for with the HP PSC 1210. The copying, printing and scanning functions are all serviceable, and that alone should be worth the purchase price. If you plan on using this product for personal use or a home office that doesn't require too much printing, this printer is a quantum leap from the ho-hum world of desk jets.

However, you do get what you pay for in some respects. While all the functions of the printer are at least adequate, there are no areas (aside from sheer flexibility) where it really shines. The HP 1210 prints with about average clarity and acceptable (though hardly lightening) speed. The printer is also subject to periodic paper jams. The scanning function and affiliated software work realy well in terms of quality, but it's slow and not always the most user-friendly. The copier function is limited in that the copier is extremely slow and there is little room surrounding the copying area, making copying out of a hardbound book, for example, very difficult. However, the copier is a wonderful time-saver when you need to make one or two quick copies, and it can operate when your computer is off or busy with something else.

So, if you don't have a lot of money and you're looking for a multifunction printer, this is a great way to get in the game. It will enable you to do a lot of things, but you'll probably still have some of those hair-pulling "stupid printer" moments. If you're willing to spend a little more, or you're going to ask for a lot from your printer, it's probably worth your while to spend a little more on something better.

After installing the software it works great with the iMac. However, be advised that you are getting what you pay for here. It's a great price for a all-in-one printer, but the scanner resolution is only fair. But, you can't beat the price for a quality product like this from HP. As long as you don't need to scan or print photographs in high resolution, this is a great way to go. Don't get me wrong here though, it's good enough for the casual user, it's just not professional grade - but for [the price]there is no better deal around that I was able to find, especially for the iMac!

Found that the 1210 ink milage to be surprisingly good for the starter ink cartridges. Printed about 40 pictures and lots of letters and its and still going strong. As others wrote, it does jam up more than other HP's and it is sure noisier than the one I saw in the store. Could hardly hear that one. Funny how that works..!! You can only print in black only if you take out the color ink tank but you keep getting an annoying message that you are printing in "reserve" mode. Not really a problem.

The real problem I had was I could not print any CD labels or any other kind of label with this thing. Wasted a whole lot of paper and labels trying to get it to "line up" my projects. Don't try to print any Avery business cards from their web site.

Also, if you have less that a killer PC, this thing will be like
the tail wagging the dog. It eats up so much system resources that you will wait and wait for your computer to set up after start up. The 1210 will eat up about 500 megabytes of space. Not a problem if you have a new PC, but if you have an old piece of junk, like mine, 500 megabytes is a lot of real estate.

It does print pictures quickly and had no complaints about the pictures printed and the copier function is really convenient. You can leave the PC off and make copies in B&W and/or color.

Have not had chance to scan anything yet. The 1210 seemed like a good idea on the shelf at the store, but in the execution of projects, it is lacking ease of use. I am already thinking of bring back my old Canon. Live and learn...

I don't usually comment on products with this many reviews, but this little all-in-one is so good that I'll risk redundancy. You see, I've been using my PSC 1210 fairly heavily for well over a year, and I just replaced the black ink cartridge for the first time yesterday!

On to the product details. The 1210 is a small and stylish Printer-Scanner-Copier; female friends have called it "cute" more than once. Although not technically a part of HP's PhotoSmart line, the flatbed scanner and color printing are good enough for most projects to call them "photo quality". It's also an excellent light duty copier, perfect for quick duplication of receipts and other odds and ends. As for compatibility, I've used mine with XP, OS X, and Red Hat, on USB 1.1 and USB 2, all without the slightest difficulty (although networking it was a bit of a chore). And did I mention ink economy?

No product is perfect, but my complaints are relatively few. The unit makes a scary-sounding "grinding click" when feeding paper, the bundled software is feature light (no grayscale printing option, no dry time adjustment, etc.), and the USB cable was not included. But all things considered, this reliable little multifunction machine is a great value and should be a perfect fit for most home users. Four and one-half stars, happily rounded up.