With many major printer companies offering portable photo printers, finding the right one can be difficult and time consuming. Before purchasing a photo printer, make sure you know what the cost per print will be, the quality of the photos it does, and that it has the features you want and/or need. Thankfully, the HP Photosmart 335 Go-Go Printer is good in all these areas and at a very reasonable price.
Software:
Printer comes with HP Image Zone software for both Windows and Mac systems. If you have anything older than Windows XP you can only download version 1.1 of Image Zone, which limits you very much in what you can do, but does provide basic editing features and stores pictures by folders. Image Zone 4.5 is for XP users, and gives you more editing power, like panorama pictures, as well as the basic editing features. Setup takes a while and requires a computer restart, but is simple otherwise.
Printing Photos:
Printing photos from your digital camera is very simple with this little printer. It accepts most digital camera memory cards that are on the market right now (CompactFlash Type I and II, SmartMedia, Secure Digital/MultiMedia Card, Memory Stick, and xD memory cards. It also supports Memory Stick Dou and mini SD if you have an adapter). It is also PictBridge enabled, providing a USB slot for such.
Basic photo-editing can be done without a computer using the tiny 1.5 inch viewing screen. Editing features include, auto or manual red-eye removal, zoom/crop, black and white photos, antique looking photos, add a frame around the picture, and a few others such as adjust contrast and adjust picture quality. Photos printed with my 5 megapixel camera came out nice and clear on most, but a few had some noticeable grain. Skin tones were accurate as was overall color and shading.
HP Vivera inks are used with this printer are are supposed to be fade resistant for 80+ years and are water resistant and smudge resistant (though not proof). Cost per photo will be between 24 cents to 29 cents with the HP Ink/Paper Combo packs, or around 40 cents without. The HP Ink/Paper Combo packs contain both the color ink cartridge and 4x6 photo paper for a much lower price than you would pay buying them individually. These packs will give you the lowest cost per photo. An ink cartridge will last anywhere from 100 to 200 photos, depending on the color distribution for each photo. This printer uses 1 tri-color ink cartridge.
Compared to Other Portable Printers:
Epson Picturemate: the Epson Picturemate uses a 6-ink cartridge which allows for better color variations than the HP 335, which uses only 3. What I don't like about the Epson Picturemate is that very rarely will the cartridge last as long as the paper that comes in the pack. You cannot buy the ink seperate from the paper and thus you're stuck with extra paper. Epson does refund you 29 cents per extra paper you don't use, but it's too much of a hastle. Also, there seems to be a very light-white film of gloss over the photos printer on the Picturemate. Other than that, it is comparable to the HP 335.
Canon Selphy: another decent photo printer, however it's not as easy to carry around as the HP 335. It seems to be designed more as a stationary 4x6 photo printer. Prints are good, but controls are not as easy as the HP 335.
Kodak Easyshare: Prints are decent. This printer can only be used with Kodak cameras.
Exterior Design/ Portability:
This little printer is light grey and is by no means bulky. It folds up nicely and you won't be embarassed if your friends see it sitting on your desk. There is no carrying handle on the printer but there is an optional case with a handle for around $30. Dimensions are (w/d/h)/weight) 8.7/4.6/4.6in, 2.59 lbs., or 8.7/8.74/4.6in when printing. The printer has a 1.5 inch viewing display and a control panel with zoom, power, print, cancel, and menu buttons. The printer comes with a power cord, but to print photos on the go you have to have the optional $80 rechargeable battery which will print about 75 photos per charge.
Service and Support/ Advertised Reliability:
HP offers a 24/7/365 toll free number for customers service, though likely you'll still talk to a rep in India. However, HP also offers free online chat with a technician and 1-hour e-mail response. HP.com offers software and drivers, FAQ's about the printer and cartridges, and several links that will help you to learn about and use your new printer. Perhaps these are the reasons PC Magazine has given HP the Editor's Choice award 14 years in a row for service and reliability in the printers catagory.
Some Other Printer Specs:
Some Printer Specs:
Print Technology: HP Thermal Inkjet
Print Resolution: (best) 1200x1200 black, 4800x1200 color
Print Speed: about 60 seconds
Media Handling: 20 sheet input tray, accepts media 4x6, 4x6.5, 4x8, or 4x12
Operating System for computer printing: Windows 98 or better, Mac OS X v. 10.1.5, 10.2, 10.3
Uses HP bt450 Bluetooth Wireless Printer Adapter
Ink Cartridges:
7ml 95 Tri-Color cartridge ($25)
optional:
14ml 97 Large Tri-Color cartridge ($35)
100 Grey cartridge for best black and white photos
The ink cartridges are a little high in cost compared to a few other brands, however, HP builds the printheads onto the cartridges so every time you buy new ink, you get new printheads. This should add some time to the life off your printer.
What Comes in the Box?
HP 335 Go-Go Printer
7ml 95 tri-color cartridge
power module with cord
TV video cable
Index card kit
User's guide
Setup poster
Registration card
photo and imaging software
HP Share-To-Web software
Box does not include the USB cord
What I like about this printer:
Better than going to Wal-Mart, and quality is just as good or better. It has all the same features as other photo printers, but cheaper. No paper jams so far. You can print photos from videos you made on your digital camera and it has Bluetooth.
What I do not like about it:
It has a small 1.5 inch viewing display on top that does not flip up for easier viewing. Also it has no carrying handle and pictures are sometimes grainy.
In a nutshell:
If you are serious about the portability then this would be a good printer to go for. However, you can spend a little more and get a stationary printer that does great photos and also can do regular printing, scanning, copying-just not portable (take a look at the HP 2575). Otherwise, you'll be happy with the HP 335. The only difference between this and most other portable photo printers is the small viewing screen. It has most all other features that the other printers contain.
Read My Other Reviews on Photo Printers at These Links:
HP 475: The Portable Photo Printer Deluxe
http://www.epinions.com/content_222218260100 HP 2575: A Stationary All-in-One Photo Printer
http://www.epinions.com/content_220347010692 HP 3210: Most Versatile Photo All-in-One Around
http://www.epinions.com/content_226013515396 HP 8250: PC Mag's Editor's Choice Photo Printer
http://www.epinions.com/content_224366595716
