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The HP Photosmart 8450 has been a very popular choice for digital photographers—especially
for those who do landscape or black and white work. With their Vivera inks,
the Photosmart printers offer the color saturation, range of dye inks, and display
life that is more like a pigment printer than an inkjet. Black and white prints
also benefit from a total of three shades of black ink for a wider tonal range
and more neutral prints, especially on HP’s own papers.
HP recently raised the bar with the new $499 Photosmart 8750. This new model
includes most of the features found in the 8450 and adds a few more to improve
your prints. You get the same Vivera inks as before, but the 8750 now includes
nine colors with the addition of a dedicated blue ink. Photos with blue sky
or other blues seem to jump off the page with an intensity I haven’t seen
before. When compared side by side with a traditional inkjet printer, the difference
is striking.
The Good Stuff
The 8750 is a wide-format model supporting paper sizes up to 13x19” (Super
B) as compared to the earlier 8450’s letter-size maximum. Although it
does take up more desk space than a standard size printer, the large footprint
is well worth it—especially if you currently pay a photo lab to output
your 11x14” prints.
I was surprised to see that the 8750 includes Ethernet connectivity in addition
to the standard USB 2.0 port common on printers today. This comes in handy for
users with multiple computers, and for those who have all their USB ports filled
and don’t want to add another hub. It also enables you to set up the printer
farther from the computer, thereby alleviating the desk space problem inherent
to wide-format models.
Also included are card slots for CompactFlash, SD, XD, and Memory Stick (standard
and Pro). The printer uses PictBridge for direct printing with compatible cameras.
The card slots can also be used as standard readers for your computer, making
them that much more useful.
One feature missing from the 8750, however, is the color LCD found on the 8450.
While not needed for most operations, selecting images from a memory card is
much easier with the LCD.
Black and white output is among the best I’ve seen from a inkjet printer,
with good neutral prints easily handled by the included drivers. When printing
on HP papers, the display life is estimated at 108 years—much longer than
a traditional print would last! If you’re a fan of fine-art paper the
8750 can handle these through a manual feed slot. The paper tray holds up to
50 sheets of photo or plain paper.
What’s Not To Like?
Print speed isn’t the fastest, with high quality 11x14” prints taking
about 15 minutes on my system. I’m not a fan of multicolor ink cartridges,
and the 8750 uses three cartridges for its nine colors of ink. If you run out
of one color, the whole cartridge needs to be changed.
The Bottom Line
HP has a serious contender with the 8750. The competition is stiff, though,
with Canon’s highly regarded i9900 and Epson’s new R1800 has other
options. HP wins on features for the price and holds its own in print quality.
For more information, contact HP at www.hp.com
or call 800/752-0900.
System Requirements
Macintosh OS X 10.1.5 or greater, Windows 98, 2000, XP. Available USB port for
direct printing, Ethernet for networked printing.
Specifications
Color Photo Print Speed: 4x6 Photo in best mode 2.2 Minutes
Print Resolution: 4800x1200 dpi, PhotoRET Pro
Inkset: 9 Color Vivera inks with 3 blacks paper sizes: 4x6
to 13x19
Interface: USB 2.0, Ethernet (optional Bluetooth wireless)
Built-in Card Reader: CF, SD, xD, Memory Stick, PictBridge
compatible
Distributor: Hewlett Packard, 1-800-752-0900, www.hp.com
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