A good bargain! (HP psc 1410 All-in-One)

Member Name: ice_pink

Product:	HP psc 1410 All-in-One
Date:	06/10/08 (219 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Cheap, easy to use, quite attractive little printer

Disadvantages: Not as quick or good quality as more expensive brands, has been updated...

HP PSC 1410

After much heartache, I finally decided, a good year ago now actually, that it was time to replace my old printer, which was less of a printer and more of an ornament, as it printed very rarely (it was temperamental, you see) and embarked on my journey to find a new printer!

What did I want in a printer? Well of course, the main objective (as I am pretty much a cheapskate, especially when it comes to all things technical) was a good price - I can't see the point of paying hundreds of pounds for a printer that's going to sit under your computer desk. It's not as if you're going to take it out partying with you, and people aren't going to think any less of you if you don't have a 'designer' printer - save the extra money for shoes, that's what I say. Saying this though, I wanted a fairly OK looking printer that was small enough to fit on my small computer desk, but not complicated enough to confuse me.

After much umming and ahhing, the lovely and extremely patient Office World employee helped me to narrow it down to two choices; the HP PSC 1410, which was at the time just over £40, and, for ten pounds less a standard printer which didn't also act as a scanner and copier. We (and yes the staff member did play an unusually large part in my decision) eventually decided that we would go with the product I am reviewing, which is just as well as I would otherwise be very off topic, and the rest is history!


Installation

Installation of most hardware these days is so easy, which is brilliant because how annoying is it when you've got your new toy sitting there staring at you, but you can't work out how to plug in the bloody thing?! The printer comes with full instructions, the book looked very dull so I attempted it without trying and succeeded surprisingly well; pressing next, next, next.... I had a slight problem placing the ink cartridges in but that was purely because it was the first time I had done it before, ever, as sad as that may be! This problem was soon overcome though and I haven't had a problem since.


The Printing

Compared to my old printer, the printing quality of this printer is exquisite! The first couple of prints out were a bit dull looking, but this is normal, and after that I found the quality spot on. When printing photographs on photo-paper (although I must admit this is a rarity for me), the quality of the pictures is brilliant - you can hardly tell that they are not real photographs - very impressive, and good for economising.

The speed of the printing is also good, obviously it depends on what quality you choose to print at, the photographs take longer than say a page of black text printed in 'draft' mode. This printer can print a maximum of eighteen pages per minute in black and white, or thirteen per minute in colour, which is pretty good going.


The scanning

Scanning is very easy, just stick your document in the top flap, press the scan button (the blue one at the bottom, it's very easy to find because they have given you a little picture next to it as well) and wait. It typically takes about twenty to thirty seconds to scan each item which doesn't seem like a long time but it does when you have fifty photographs you want on your computer! I can't really complain at this though


The copying

Copying documents is something I thought I would not have to use very often; oh how wrong I was! Just months after purchasing my new printer, I realised instead of popping down to the college to photocopy important course work, I could do it all at home! So I gave it a go, and I was so impressed! To copy a document, you put the item in the top of the printer, where you put items you want to scan. Then, press the 'copy' button. You can choose if you want to photocopy the item in black and white or in colour which is also very good, perhaps for example if you have handouts to make but don't want to waste all your precious coloured ink.

The speed in which the documents copy is very impressive (same as the printing speed) although perhaps I am just easily impressed. I couldn't really believe how easy it was to work this feature of the printer, as this is one feature I had had problems using on others in the past.


Specifications

This printer is an inkjet, which is the slowest printer type (but come on, would you really pay hundreds of pounds extra for a few extra seconds?).

Maximum printing resolution is 4800 x 1200 dots per inch (dpi) when printing in colour, or 1200 x 1200 in black and white. I've had a look round, and this is pretty good quality for an inkjet. Personally, I have never had any problems with the printing quality so I would feel no need to upgrade to a better printer purely for this purpose.

Maximum printing size: A4

Sizes (all are approximations)
Height: 17cm
Width: 42.5cm
Depth: 26cm
For this printer to work on your computer, you need an operating system of Windows 98 or higher


The bad bits

The HP PSC 1410 doesn't come with the USB cable needed to connect it up to your computer, why I don't know, but this could be very annoying if you got it home to realise this. Luckily (after selecting the printer, mind you) the staff member at Office World told me of this fact quite soon on, I did however already have the cable required so this wasn't a problem for me. The USB cable required is about ten pounds in shops, but you can pick them up for under a fiver on ebay at the moment.

Another some may see as a negative for this printer is the speed. I found the speed of printing actually very good but those used to laser printers will not. However, if you are looking for a good little home printer that you wont be printing reams from, it is fine.


The cartridges

I have used this printer regularly since purchase, at some times more than others, and have only had to replace cartridges twice which is pretty good going. To state the obvious, the more you use the printer the more regularly you will have to replace but the ink has certainly lasted more than my last printer's ink did.
You can currently purchase two cartridges (one black, one colour) on ebay for £22.00 including postage.


The Price

As I mentioned before, I paid just over £40 for mine about a year ago.

Ebay are currently selling this printer for bargain prices - one currently buy it now for £15, not including postage. Argos recently had it on offer for just under £30, which is a brilliant price for such a good little printer!


The verdict....

I have not had any problems at all with this printer, and I am not the most careful of people so it has been through a lot more than your typical house hold printer. I found this printer very easy to install and maintenance of it is simple - I usually just disconnect the USB after use and then reconnect when I need to use it again, which makes for easy storage.

The printer has a good professional look to it and whilst it is not the smallest around, it is quite a good size so that it won't take up the whole of your shelf. Whilst I didn't initially think I would use the scanning/copying features, I have been surprised at the amount of times they have actually been put to good use.

Once installed, the printers use is pretty self explanatory, with each of the buttons having pictures next to them to show their functions just in case you get them mixed up. If you still have problems, the manual explains the buttons in full.
The prices of the replacement cartridges is relatively expensive but they last well, and if you shop around a bit you can pick up some good bargains and save yourself quite a bit of money, so don't purchase at the first place you find them.

The quality of print outs is good, and whilst the time it takes to print isn't extraordinary, it is average and good for an inkjet printer. I would recommend this printer to your typical personal user looking to do the occasional print outs, perhaps photographs and the odd documents here and there. It would also make a good printer for students looking to print out their coursework, or people needing to bring their work home from time to time. If however, you will be needing to print out hundreds of copies of documents at a time, I would suggest a laser printer instead.

If you can get this printer for the price it is currently selling for at argos, then you are laughing!

Overall, big thumbs up from me!

Summary: A good quality lower priced printer