12/18/2005 05:57:34 PM|||dalegaspi|||

Last week I got myself a new HP 8450 for a mere $117 + tax from Staples.

In the past I have raved about how good HP Photosmart printers are. I am happy to report that this printer is no exception.

In the past year or so, I have been quite satisfied with the 7660 which I regularly use for proofing my images. The problem I have with the 7660 is its production of shadows and deep colors. Given that it's just a 6-color printer without a dedicated black/gray ink (you need to swap out one of the heads to get black or gray), its shadows aren't as smooth as I'd like it to be; even the transition from highlights to shadows is posterized most of the time.

Enter the 8450. I have been eyeing to get one of these since it came out last year, but during its release, I thought that the price was still prohibitive for me (about $300 at the time). It is STILL cheaper than its Epson or Canon counterparts, though.

The 8450 is an 8-ink color printer with a dedicated gray ink. Given that, comparing the prints with the 7660 is just no contest: the 8450 is A WHOLE lot better when it comes to shadows and dark color reproduction--resulting in a more contrasty but at the same time more dynamic range for a photo print.

In addition, the driver NOW natively supports printer profiles. While I still think HPs already print well out of the box, it's nice to know that this option is available.

I think one of the advantages of the 8450 over its Epson/Canon competitors is being network ready. It might not be a big deal to a casual user, but it is to me. I purchased a USB network printer server for the 7660 because I use the printer on both Windows and OSX boxes, and I am just too lazy to unplug USB cables from one box to another just to print. And besides, I have a powerbook which is on wireless network 95% of the time; it sort of defeats the concept of wireless connectivity when I have to plug in a USB cable just to print.

Anything wrong with the printer? Since I have this printer for a few days, the only thing I can complain about is its SOFTWARE driver. It is still unnecessarily BLOATED. I guess they're targetting the idiot Windows user, but I just wished they created a back door for the seasoned Windows user. COME ON, HP, I just need a friggin' .INF and the corresponding .DLLs for the printer driver!

Reading through some reviews and forum posts, one of the main gripes with this printer is that it consumes the gray ink like gas on a V8 SUV. Most of them recommend to use the optional BLACK ink when printing lots of text. But seriously, folks, if you print a lot text, buy a cheap laser printer.

Please note that the printer is not the latest and greatest (it has been superseded by the 9-ink 8750) in the HPs photo printer product line. And also, don't confuse this model with the more expensive 6-ink 8250. I am a little confused as to why the 8250 is more expensive; 6-ink system, and it's not even network-enabled.

All in all, despite its bloated software, I still highly recommend the 8450. Your local Staples might still have a whole bunch of them.

As a side note, I would like to commend Staples for this printer puchase. I originally purchased this online (with free shipping!) for around $130 + tax. Now, that's already the cheapest price I could find from a reputable dealer. Today when I went to my local Staples, I saw a bunch of them on sale for $117. Since I was a cheap bastard, I called customer service of Staples.com to pricematch the local Staples price. As soon as the verified the price, I was given credit for the price difference. "Easy" indeed.

|||113494665427908257|||HP Photosmart 8450