Product Review: Hewlett Packard Photosmart 3210 All-In-One Printer

It’s very convenient to have printers that can do the work of three or four different components by itself. Having a printer that not only prints, but can copy documents, scan documents onto your computer, and read memory cards from your digital camera is a luxury that many more of us are able to have with the new lines of multifunction printers on the market. After doing my own research, I finally decided on purchasing the Hewlett Packard Photosmart 3210 All-in-One printer. Many original facotrs played into my purchase, but my need for all of those functions to be performed by one machine was a determining factor. In comparison, I have always been pleased with the quality of HP printers and was happy with the price it was being offer for, as it was lower than some other ones that I had seen in my searches.

The Basics

The HP 3210 isn’t a bulky printer that will take up a lot of space. I have a small space for the computer in my home, so I have only a small computer desk and little room for a printer. Although the HP 3210 is a bit larger than some other multifunction printers, it is still small enough to fit snugly into my printer space without stretching the cords or having the printer completely separate from the rest of my computer. The HP 3210 has a sleek design, much mor modern looking than some other printers. It usually isn’t important for a printer to look good as long as it gets the job done, however, and that was the main tesf for the 3210 as it is definitely a stylish printer.

The HP 3210 has a flatbed scanner that is on the top of the unit, and the paper feeds in from the front of the printer and comes back out at the same place. The front control panel is easy to navigate and doesn’t take much time to learn and become accustomed to even though it looks intimidating with all the buttons. The screen on the front of the printer allows you to accurately print your pictures from your memory cards without the need of the computer and is easy to see as well, right on the front of the unit. It’s 2.5″ square size is bigger than some other screens that I have seen on computers, which adds to the accessiblity of the screen.

Performance

One thing I noticed right away was it’s printing speed. Being a college student, I often needed to print out articles from the internet for research or lengthy research papers for a class, and the HP 3210 was upto the task. The box and manual said that the printing speed is 32 pages per minute for black and white pages, and 31 pages per minute for color printing. I have to say that I thought it was much faster than that, because the unit seemingly churned out pages at speeds I was not used to. I also observed that it took just as much time for a color page as it did a black and white, holding true to the claims on the box of a similar speed for printing. That is great because it’s hard to find printers that print at the same speeds for both black and white and color print jobs.

When printing the quality of the pages were awesome. No smudges at all from the ink, it is always very precise and sharp, whether it’s merely printing words or pictures. Whenever I have a copy job, it is over superior quality than other home machines I have had in the past and could only be rivaled by professional machines used in offices and libraries. The flatbed scanner is convenient because it allows me to copy books, which I sometimes need to do for reference purposes.

Another feature I love is the HP 3210’s versatility. It can take your memory cards and print the pictures on photo paper, having them come out in top quality. Or you can go basic and print a paper for a class on regular paper and still get the same quality. It prints envelopes, different sizes of paper, and labels with little difficulty. It feeds perfectly from the tray regardless of the paper used. Something that is also rare for printers is the ability to print on both sides of a sheet of paper, something that the HP 3210 does seamlessly with a optional attatchment.

The ability to fix photos is also amazing. You can do touch ups and adjustments right on the printer, not having to upload pictures to a computer to print. The HP 3210 has a red-eye removal tool and also strengthen the quality of photos when there are dark shadows or areas in the pictures. The photos print in amazing quality as well because of the separate ink tanks for the different colors make for precision printing.

There are some things I think could be improved, but they are all minor and do not affect the overall quality of the product. For instance, the paper tray seems to be a bit out of place and it doesn’t hold incredibly large stacks of paper. I find myself adding paper with regularity as it will sometimes feed more than one sheet with a print job and cause you to run out of paper faster. Also, when you leave the unit turned off only turn it on for printing, it tends to make a loud noise due to the printer performing a recalibration on itself.

Overall

I’m left with a very positive feeling for my printer. It prints pages very fast and does quality jobs without a long wait time or error. It’s very cnovenient to use for the tasks that I have it for. The picture quality is excellent and goes well with the quality of regular, everyday printing. It’s very simple to use and a lot easier to udnerstand than most units. This is helpful cause if you are like me you don’t have time to read lengthy manuals to learn how to use a machine A true plue-ang-play type of component. Overall, I am extremely happy with the HP 3210’s performance and value.