- Chinese man gets 30 months for fake Cisco sales
- 9-year-old plots his fifth Microsoft certification
- Patent office to review VoIP patent
- Blackberry spyware source code released
- Cisco to unleash data center extensions
Among snapshot printers, HP's Photosmart A536 Compact Photo Printer is tempting on many counts: It's inexpensive, easy to use, and light enough to take anywhere. Even though it's slow, a lot of budget-minded users will find it well worth considering.
You can use the Photosmart A536 as a stand-alone printer or connect it to a PC. Even the PC installation is amazingly simple: You just power on the printer and connect it to the PC via a standard USB cable (not included). The driver downloads itself automatically from the printer to the PC. HP doesn't provide a photo management application as part of the installation, but you do get an electronic help guide and links to support and to registration on HP's site.
To start printing, you unlatch the plastic front panel, which also acts as the output tray. The rear, 20-sheet input tray pops open automatically. When you plug a media card or PictBridge-connected device into one of the three slots on the front panel of the A536, the printer scans the device for photos. A 2.4-inch, adjustable LCD and a small, self-explanatory array of buttons help you scroll through photos and select printing and editing options.
The options available may be sparse (red-eye removal, date/time stamp, and the like), but the Photosmart A536 does have a bonus: It can print on both 4-by-6-inch and 5-by-7-inch photo paper. Its cousin, the Photosmart A636 Compact Photo Printer, shares this feature; the pricier Epson PictureMate Dash does not.
Considering the low price, the Photosmart A536's lackluster performance in our Test Center tests (it produced photos at a sluggish speed of 0.7 page per minute) is tolerable. Though it did an adequate job of reproducing most of our photo samples, some flesh tones looked unnaturally ruddy.
The Photosmart A536 ships with five sheets of 5-by-7-inch photo paper and a starter tricolor cartridge that yields 10 to 20 prints, so you'll need to buy new supplies almost immediately. HP's pack of 120 sheets of 4-by-6-inch paper and ink costs US$38, or 29 cents per photo--a much better deal than the 55-sheet pack, which costs $20 (36 cents per photo).
The HP Photosmart A536 is basic, but also affordable and easy to operate. For many home users, it offers just enough snapshot printing for the price.
The Leader in Network Knowledge
Partner Content
www.bmc.com
Gartner 2009 Magic Quadrant for Job Scheduling
Gartner has positioned BMC CONTROL-M in the Leaders Quadrant of their "2009 Magic Quadrant for Job Scheduling." The report assesses the ability to execute and completeness of vision of key vendors in the marketplace. Read a full copy today, courtesy of BMC Software.
Download whitepaper
Dell's SMART Approach to Workload Automation
Read a compelling case study by EMA, Inc. to learn how Dell uses BMC CONTROL-M to cut cost and increase productivity with workload automation.
Download whitepaper
Workload Automation Cost Savings 2 Minute Video
A major computer manufacturer uses BMC CONTROL-M and just four people to schedule and run over 85,000 jobs every month. By switching to BMC CONTROL-M, they more than quadrupled the workload without adding a single staff member. See how in this 2-minute video overview.
Go to video