|
Photos with polish
Despite its odd design, H-P printer produces beautiful work 01/30/2003
You'll either love or hate the unusual design of the
Hewlett-Packard Deskjet 5550, but it's hard to ignore its
efficiency and photo printing. This $149 silver-and-black device looks like a squished
Oakland Raiders helmet, but it's no loser. The 5550 spits out stunning photos at up to 4800x1200 dpi
using its optional photo print cartridge. An 8-by-10-inch
photo might take a little longer (4 minutes) than the
similarly priced Canon S520. But the resulting depth of color
and clean matting is far superior. Photo prints look
positively professional. Regular old printing chores sparkle, too, even in the draft
mode used by most home computer owners. In grayscale mode, it
can churn out 17 pages per minute; color jobs max out about 12
pages per minute. It's a little slow to start up, but that's because
Hewlett-Packard has built in a cool blue-light paper sensor
that automatically adjusts for the paper stock. This is a nice
feature that makes production of labels, envelopes and photos
a no-brainer. There is no need for elaborate Print Preview
gyrations within the computer's printer setup. At 11.6 pounds and 17.7 inches wide, the H-P 5550 takes up
more desktop real estate than its older, boxier beige H-P
predecessors. And it can get even bulkier if you add the
optional two-side printing hardware. Like many printers these days, the H-P 5550 doesn't ship
with the necessary cables. You have to purchase either a USB
or parallel port cord separately. Ink cartridges are in the
low to moderate price range ($20 black, $35 color, $25 photo).
H-P printers have always integrated well with Windows and
Mac computers, and this model is no different. Drivers are
already available online for the most advanced Microsoft and
Apple operating systems. For more information, call 1-888-999-4747 or visit hpshopping.com.
|
