In the not-so-very recent past, an average home user had decidedly modest digital imaging requirements. These included: an occasional text printout, a once-in-a-while color page and sometimes, in rare circumstances, a scan job which meant running to a friend's house, who owns a scanner. Or. Cough up a sizeable amount of money at the local Browsing centre. While many users owned inkjet printers, not too many liked the idea of coughing up extra dough for a decent flatbed scanner. This scenario changed after printer manufacturers introduced M.F.Ds (Multi-Function Devices). These are devices that combined: (1) A printer, (2) A Scanner, (3) Printer + Scanner = A Photocopier, and (4) A Fax machine (in some, but not all models). M.F.Ds were significantly cheaper that buying each of these devices separately. Now, what more could a cost-conscious Home, Home/Small Office user want.
Enter the HP PSC 1315.
Hewlett Packard is the industry leader in Printers. It was only natural for them to keep ahead of the rest of the industry, in terms of launching new products.
Enough history!!!...For a lowdown on the product: I purchased this printer a couple of weeks back, The PSC 1315 is a Color Inkjet Printer + Color Flatbed Scanner + Color Photocopier, all rolled into one cute package that looks like a shoe box. It has a column of neat looking colorful buttons on its front control panel that allow you to select the various functions that it can perform. e.g.: It photocopies standalone, if you hit the copy button. Connected to the PC, one- touch scanning is possible; again remember to hit the scan button. Also remember, not to do it with oily/greasy fingers.
It is shipped with all the stuff you require to set it up:
The printer unit,
One Black and one Color Ink Cartridge.
Power cable,
Power Adapter,
USB 2.0 Cable,
Installation CDs for PC and Mac,
Setup poster,
User manual,
Bonus: HP Photo paper samples (This li'l cutie is photo capable too, but we'll arrive to that later during the review).
Plus lots of cards for registering your product and other nitty gritty.
It is extremely easy to setup this product, with the setup poster graphically detailing the procedure; it's a no-brainer. It's the software setup that tests your patience. If you want to install this MFD, Be prepared to hand over a sizeable chunk of storage on your Hard Drive. The HP Director software (Basically the user interface of the device) takes up 1000MB for a full function install. And took about 38 mins on my Athlon XP 2500+, 512MB DDR RAM, 80GB 7200RPM Hard drive system. Maan! Windows XP installs in my PC, in that much time with a few minutes to spare. Well, if you want, you could skip installing HP Director and install the bare driver, but you'll miss out on some cool features.
Build quality, especially of the plastics, the scanner top cover is decidedly flimsy. This unit is meant for light duty work, as is evident from its 50 sheet paper tray capacity.
The unit starts its day with a good deal of mechanical noises, as it performs a power on self test, ditto when it’s pulling in a sheet of paper. This noise can be distracting at times. Scanning is fast and printing is faster. The outputs are pretty good, black text is crisp and color images are well toned. With an optional photo cartridge and HP photo paper, be prepared to run a mini-photo lab at home.
Ink Cartridges: Traditionally, Printer manufacturers sell the printer unit at a loss, that's because Ink is where the real money is.
The PSC 1315 accepts the following ink cartridges
Black (K):
HP 27 (10ml), Costs Rs 730 + tax,
HP 56 (19ml), Costs Rs 1,000 + tax.
Color (CYM):
HP 28 (8ml), Costs Rs 1,010 + tax,
HP 57 (17ml), Costs Rs 1,560 + tax.
Photo (Replaces Black, for photo printing): HP 58 (17ml), Costs Rs 1,160 + tax.
(All prices, HP Authorized dealers in Bangalore)
You can make do with the Black and Color cartridges for normal printing, however for exceptional photo quality printouts, the black cartridge can be replaced by the HP58 cartridge (sold separately). This combined with the Tri-color cartridge, gives you a six-ink system. Use HP photo paper (read expensive) for best results.
The unit is priced at Rs 4,999 MRP. However street prices are in the range of Rs 4500 - 4800. Considering the features it offers, this price is mouthwatering. However it is the ink cartridge replacements that would eventually lighten your wallet. Some notes about refilling cartridges: Various cartridge refill kits are available in the market, with varying results, you could go ahead and try out a few of them, but it's quality that they would never be able to match. Most HP cartridges have the print head built into them, this way even if you screw up a print head after a refill, all you need to do is buy a new cartridge and you are ok. Epson printers are not quite as forgiving.
Final notes: This unit offers excellent value for money, if you could live with the expensive replacement cartridges. An All-In-One solution for the price home user. Service and support is on the better side with a wide dealer network. Also, HP Dial-a-cartridge (Dial 1600 444-999 toll free, to have the ink cartridge delivered to your doorstep) is a nice service in tight situations. Overall I recommend it for everything-but-the-kitchen sink types who are looking for excellent value too. :-)
If you would like to view Technical Specifications for this product, visit: https://h50025.www5.hp.com/hpcom/in_en/10_38_77_2707_Q5765A.html
Call HP India Sales, Toll-Free @ 1600 444-999, for purchase enquiries, dealership location information, ink and media supplies etc.
