written by Reaction on 06/12/2005
Good Points
Stunning print quality.
Speed.
Separate ink cartridges.
Bad Points
Paper tray a bit flimsy.
Non-standard (and large) power supply.
General Comments
For normal everyday business letter printing duties, the HP PhotoSmart 8250 is very fast. For photo printing it is also very fast, but most importantly produces exceptionally high quality prints. The six separate ink cartridges, with extra large black, mean that running costs are kept to a minimum. For a mid-range printer, it seems a bit silly that they included the expense of a multi card-reader on the front (CF, SD, XD, MemoryStick), since I'm sure most people spending this much on their printer will also be "processing" their photos on a PC before printing the good ones?
The driver/utility software is bloated but installs cleanly. Sending photos from CorelPHOTOPAINT 12, I found that that colour management was pretty much unnecessary. Sending pictures with Corel's colour management systems turned off allowed the printer driver to do the RGB > CMYK conversion on its own - with remarkably accurate results. Still, if you are mad on super accurate colour reproduction, then the driver includes three ICM files for different HP photo papers.
This printer is an extraordinarily capable device. After all the fuss about colour inkjet printers being a rip-off, this one actually seems to be good value for money, based simply on its speed and the amazing quality of its prints.