Customer Reviews

HP PhotoSmart 145 4" x 6" Photo Printer

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

HP did a great job on this printer. It was less than $200 and it makes printing small pics to pass around so simple and easy. I take pics with my Kodak camera, insert the memory card into the printer, press print, and away it goes. No need to use a computer - that's the best part. Kodak software or the free HP software both work with this printer. Both are fine.

Photo quality is almost on par with regular grocery store prints from film. The printing itself takes a while and you have to wait for the ink to dry; however, compared to dropping film off and waiting to pick it up, this picture making system is far faster and more convenient.

Bottom line, if you have time & want the best picture quality possible, use film or print digitally with an online service. This device gives 90% of grocery store quality, but much faster and more convenient. It makes taking digital pictures and sharing pictures more fun.

As Robert Redford said in the film "Out of Africa" (speaking of a phonograph) "they've finally come up with something useful!" That is my opinion of the HP Photosmart 145. This is a dandy little workhourse that will generate countless 4 x 6 photographs from your digital camera with no hassle or fuss. The HP 145 is a small, tight little package that you can easily pack away and take along on trips.

The HP 145 really helps make the "digital darkroom" a reality, even during trips. I take mine on my boat together with a small laptop computer, and can generate high-quality 4 x 6 photos right on the spot, after taking shots with various digital cameras. The HP 145 has a built-in CF card reader and also reads various other popular media and you can easily print directly from the CF card or other media even without the laptop too--the printer will print out a nice little thumbnail "index" showing little minatures of the photos each bearing an index number. You can then select and print the full photo. This also means that you don't need to bring a card reader along if you have your HP 145 since it functions as a digital media reader. Typically I will download my digital photos to my notebook computer's hard disk using my HP 145, view the photos on the notebook screen for printing, and then print selected photos with the HP 145. Great fun!

My HP 145 installed effortlessly on my IBM Thinkpad notebook computer (IBM TP 600E) running Windows XP, and is now my main printer for 4 x 6 photos and of course is the only printer I take along on trips. It is great fun to go on trips, take photos, and then give friends nicely framed photos the next day, or later the same day. Frankly, I never realized how much fun it was to have a printer along on trips. Most printers nowadays are big and bulky. This one is not.

I went with the 145 rather than the 245, the latter being the same printer but with an LCD color display. I decided that I wouldn't get 50 bucks worth of value out of the LCD display since a) I always bring my laptop along anyway since that is where I always download my CF card pictures to for storage on trips (that way you can re-use the CF card the next day); and b) the 145 has that neat index printing feature anyway, if you want to print without a computer. You decide. Either way, these are dandy little printers and I will likely never take another trip without bringing my HP 145 along. That is the hallmark of a truly useful product!

I can't believe how easy it is to print a photo now. I used to dread printing my photos from the PC. This little thing makes it so easy....no PC needed -- that's the best part. It only takes seconds to get a photo out. I love it. I love having printed copies again; I now have them hanging on the refrig. Also, my Mom is happy again...I can give her pictures of the kids.

It's easy to use and produces nice looking prints. Its small size makes it easy to take to parties along with a digital camera for nearly instant prints. Cons: Costly supplies (ink and paper) and the paper feed mechanism can be a bit fussy sometimes.

It's a nice little unit, but not all that great. It does, however do a better job than most regular printers. By far, to my experience (current owner of 3 HP printers) HP mfg some of the best, if not THE BEST printers.
Now, back to the photosmart 145...the major plus is the ease of use (extremely easy) the ergonomics are well laid out and as a 1st timer on photo printers, I didn't have to read the manual. The photosmart 145 will not earn 5 stars due to the limited features/functions that was incorporated...like: only 4X6 photo size and no option for wallet size prints; can't do "portrait" prints to my option but only landscape, maybe can do on computer with bundled software and having to "rotate" pictures to coincide. Prints resulted in "cropped" pictures leaving the edges cutoff or "deleted" by 1/4" on top and bottom (border or borderless). You do have more options when operating prints from a computer and you can select many various features like print quality, tweaking colors and so forth. The print qualities are acceptable, even at "Best" mode, I can still comb through some tiny, tiny pixelated dithering effects on prints with the naked eye. I've printed better quality pictures from my other non-photo HP printer. Also, it is not wise to stick a media card full of pictures into the unit itself for direct printing unless you want to take wild guesses for what to print and not to print of certain pictures. The monochrome lcd screen tells you how many pictures and I.D. them by numbers only, so if you want to print ONLY that picture of your cute little niece in the middle of the pile somewhere, well, good luck...unless you have an Intel chip-equipt brain or alot of $$ to waste on photo papers. Overall, this is a nice little unit. I would only use for quick prints to distribute photos of my cars to my insurance companies, share photos with friends/colleagues and for municipal purposes. For the photo albums, I will either take my shots to Rite-Aid for quality prints or maybe invest some $$ for a more advance printer in the near future - perhaps the 245 or 325...but wait, what am I complaining about? I got the photosmart 145 for FREE when I purchased my Leica D-LUX digital camera. Leica UPS'd it to me 3 weeks later...I guess I have nothing to lose but to share the experience with you before you fork out the $$.

Overall: 3 & 1/2 Stars!

PROS:
HP design (always good print quality)
Print photos without computer.
Bundled software.
Compact size with a "good grip" to handle.
Easy to use.
PC & Mac compatible

CONS:
Cropped pictures printed (loss or deleted from top & bottom portions)
Limited onboard features.
No LCD picture screen.
Only 4X6 size option.
USB cable not included.
Flimsy plastic Ink Cartridge Door (very fragile & will break someday).
Loud "clicking" and "clunking" noise when operating or opening Ink Cartridge Door...(thought it was breaking).
Overall "Cheap" housing.

This printer is so easy to use. We had the printer set up within 10 minutes and printed photos using the few pieces of photo paper included with the printer. We're so excited we need to order more photo paper so we can print more family photos! The printer easily accepts the memory card from our HP camera. This is so much fun!!!!!!!!!!!

Help!! I can't get to bed and it's 4AM! Too busy playing with my new HP 145. Best Christmas present I've ever gotten myself. As much fun as I had with it the first two hours - after I hooked it up to the computer with a USB cable; it got even more fun. By hooking up to the computer, you can use the edit features and get even better pictures. The HP 145 is so simple to use and the results are amazing - perhaps just a touch lighter (like washed out) than when I order my fotos from Ofoto - but more than acceptable considering ease, fun, speed, and the ability to share photos immediately. And talk about transportable. It's light, small and seems sturdy (although it IS an electonic device). I plan to take it with us on our visit with family in another state over the holiday week. What a kick we'll have!!!!!

I just got this printer today for Christmas, and I must say that it prints excellent pictures! The pictures are great quality.

I really enjoy this printer. I purchased it about 2 years ago and take it when I go on vacation. It's fun to print your pictures out right away and give them to people. When I visit family they really enjoy the instant pictures. It's not super fast and it only prints 4X6, but that's what you pay for and the 4X6 pictures are excellent. Since you only print pictures from it I think it continues to print pictures clear longer than your everyday printer. 2 years later and the pictures look just as nice as the first picture.

I was shocked at how well my digital photos came out with this printer. I will use my digital camera more now because of this printer. These photos look as good as regular photos do from a rolled filmed camera. can't say enough about the awsome quality of the photos. I'm using hp high gloss photo paper.