HP PSC 1215 Print-Scan-Copy OK but not the greatest printer (HP psc 1210)

Member Name: susancarter

Product:	HP psc 1210
Date:	02/03/06 (4132 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Prints, scans and photocopies . Saves a fortune on photocopying

Disadvantages: Often mis - feeds paper . Doesn't hold large number of printed sheets .

N.B. This is a review of the 1215 rather than the 1210 but I believe it is virtually the same. The instruction manual says it is for the "1200 series" and makes no distinction between the different models.

Introduction
==========
I'd wanted to have a printer-scanner for a long time but as nobody had written drivers for them on RISC OS (the operating system I prefer to use) I had been unable to get one. However, one day we got a phone call from a friend who worked in Somerfield. They had a special computer deal which provided the complete package (computer, monitor, keyboard, mouse, all-in-one printer, and software) and it would only cost £400. I imagine the reason for the deal was probably the fact that it wasn't the latest hardware and that Somerfield had bought them as an end of range from somewhere else. However as the only computer we had that operated Windows was my husband's computer operating on Windows 95 (he'd advanced to it from an electronic typewriter in 2004) and we had been planning to buy a new printer anyway we thought it was worth it. As we got it in a pack, it is difficult to comment on the price of the printer individually although we did get a good deal overall. I had a look on Amazon and they say it has now been superseded by the "HP PSC 1510 All in One Colour Printer, Scanner and Copier" however apparently the average second hand price is £49.99

The Package
===========
Along with the printer, the box contained:
- Quick set up poster
- Installation CD (Windows and Macintosh)
- USB cable
- Instruction Manual
- Power lead
- Black and Colour cartridges
- Front panel overlay (see "Setting up" stage 5)

I have noticed from some of the other reviews that there is not always a USB cable provided. The quick start guide says "See your box for exact contents" so I guess the thing to do with HP printers is to always read the outside of the box to see what *exactly* is provided. If you buy it over the internet, I would expect there to be a description of box contents. If not, you could always contact the supplier to check before you buy.

Size and Weight
=============
The printer measures approximately 42.6 x 17.0 x 25.9 cm (width x height x depth). As it has a horizontal paper feed, the depth is an additional 12cm when the paper tray is out and loaded. Obviously because it is a flatbed scanner, it has to have a certain size "footprint". Although it does take up a larger area than our other DeskJet printer (which is just a printer), it is more rectangular in shape so in practice takes up a similar portion of the desk.

It weighs 4.31kg according to the instruction manual (which I presume is without printer cartridges). I don't know what the typical weight of a printer would be but it is lighter than my other one. In addition, the fact that it is a cuboid when the paper tray is shut makes it relatively easy to move.

Setting up
========
Set up is so incredibly simple that I forgot it had required setting up until I looked at the setup poster. It takes you through the following stages:
1. Choose either Mac or Windows instructions (I am giving Windows version as that is what I used.
2. Unpack the printer.
3. Turn on computer.
4. Begin software installation (insert Installation CD and instructions come up automatically).
5. Attach front panel overlay if not already attached. (This goes next to the buttons and has little windows for indicator lights.) I don't know why they can't stick it on in the factory but it's a fairly simple task so not a problem.
6. Load plain white paper. N.B. There are sometimes problems with paper loading (see "Negatives" below).
7. Connect the USB cable and the power cord.
8. Turn on your HP PSC. (I've just realised that the "PSC" bit stands for "Printer-Scanner-Copier"!)
9. Open print cartridge access door.
10. Insert the print cartridges.
11. Align the print cartridges. This sounds complicated but isn't. When you insert the cartridges, it automatically spews out a printed page. You just place this in the scanner, press "Scan" and Hey Presto: the cartridges are aligned. If you're concerned about the environment, you'll be pleased to note it suggests recycling the paper once this is done.
12. Finish the software setup: This is done using the "Wizard" (which came up automatically in stage 4) so is straight forward.
13. Try it out! You should now have an icon called "HP Director". If you double click on this, you can then do whatever you want with the printer.

Controls on the printer
=================
There are a number of buttons on the printer:
- On/Resume
- Cancel
- Copies (a numerical display lets you choose up to 9 copies)
- Size (two lights indicate whether you are on "100%" or "Fit to Page")
- Paper Type (two lights indicate whether you are on "Plain" or "Photo" paper)
- Start Copy, Black
- Start Copy, Colour
- Scan

There are also two error indicators. These are:
- Check Paper
- Check Print Cartridge

Technical specifications
===================
Not a lot of detail is provided with the printer but I found this information on the HP website:
- "Best" resolution 600 x 600 dpi (black) or 1200 x 1200dpi (colour)
- "Normal" is 600 x 600 dpi
- "Fast" is 300 x 300 dpi
- An "enhanced" mode of 2400 dpi is available when using photo quality paper.
- Print speed ranges from 1.1 pages per minute for "Best" (colour) to 12 pages per minute for "Fast" (black).

I'm not an expert so for more technical information, I would recommend looking on the HP website at http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/genericDocument ?
cc=us&docname=bpu00691&lc=en&jumpid=r eg_R1002_USEN

Printing
======
Once you have finished setup, printing works in the same way as with any other printer. As I said, I'm not an expert on the technical details but the quality of printing seems to be good. I printed out a number of our wedding photos four to a page on ordinary paper so that we could choose which to have printed properly and we were amazed at how good they were. Maybe I'm not the most discerning/demanding customer but I am now considering the value of buying some photo paper and printing my own photos.

Scanning
========
The scanner is a flatbed colour image scanner and can scan up to A4 with resolution of 600 x 2400 dpi (figure from HP website). I scanned a pre-digital camera photo we had for our Christmas newsletter and was surprised to find it printed out almost as well as our digital photos. Again, maybe I'm not the most discerning person when it comes to printing/scanning quality but I think that for anyone who wants a general purpose product and isn't worried about having the latest super-duper technology, it is a pretty good standard.

Photocopying
===========
This has probably been one of the biggest benefits of this printer for us. (Now we have a digital camera, scanning is not such an important feature.) We have had to photocopy numerous sheets of paper for various reasons and in the past this would have cost us 10p per sheet in the public library (not to mention the time and cost in getting there). Aside from the fortune we have saved, it has saved us a huge amount of time and effort in photocopying. We usually photocopy in black as generally colour is not necessary but it is nice to have it available as an option which is something I don't believe you would get with a laser all-in-one printer.

Instruction Manual
===============
I have not had call to use the instruction manual as the setup guide was enough for installation and the controls both on the printer and via the software are fairly self explanatory. There is the odd feature however (such as "fast" photocopying) which have only just found out about reading the manual today. I think that unless you are unfamiliar with this kind of hardware or would like to make sure you know about some of the less obvious features, you will not have need for the instruction manual (or "reference guide" as it calls itself). Having said that, after a short time spent looking at it, I would say that it is fairly clear and not too long so it would not be a waste of time to read through it.

Ease of Use
==========
After following the setup guide, I have found that everything has been fairly self explanatory so it has been easy to use. I thought that the scanner might be difficult but the software is clear and simple to use.

Cartridges
==========
I have not yet had to replace the cartridges but I would assume it is just as easy as the installation of the original cartridges and therefore nothing to worry about. Personally, I would use HP replacement cartridges:
- Black #56 £10.40 from Amazon
- Colour #57 £13.99 from Amazon

The prices are just a guide as they are what I could find on Amazon today (21/2/06). You can probably get alternative brands at a much lower price but I prefer to get the branded ones as my parents had an HP a number of years ago which became gunged up and eventually broke after they used alternative brand cartridges. This was about ten years ago however so things may have changed and anyway, it is down to personal choice.

Negatives
========
There are three problems I have had with this:

1. It can be difficult to load the paper. Often it doesn't take the paper in or it takes it crooked so the printing isn't straight. Also sometimes it will take a number of sheets but fan them out slightly so that you get a little bit printed on each page and then the remainder on the last sheet. This does waste paper rather and can be frustrating when you have to reprint things more than once.

2. The printed sheets are supposed to be held just above the input tray. Unfortunately, I find that if I am printing more than half a dozen pages, it is common for the top pages to fall out onto the floor. This means that when printing a large number of pages I have to stay with the printer and periodically remove the outputted sheets to stop them falling out.

3. The printer has no off switch. I don't know whether this is normal these days but it seems bizarre to me. This means the only way to switch the printer off is to switch it off at the socket. If you do not then it will be using power for its display/indicator lights. The lack of an off switch is made all the more puzzling by the presence of an on switch. When I switch the socket on, the printer comes on automatically. It is not possible to switch it off so why is there an on switch?

Conclusion
=========
I would say this is a reasonable value machine. I would recommend it on print quality and on the scanning and photocopying functions. However, the problems with paper feed and output mean that as a printer it does have limitations. I would therefore not recommend it overall as a three-in-one printer. I am content to keep mine but would not feel right in suggesting others buy it. I hope that the model which has superseded it has rectified the two main problems and if I was replacing mine, I would probably first look at the most recent version before I looked at other brands.

Summary: All-in-one is the one for me.