HP Photosmart C7180

Features
One of the surprising features of the HP Photosmart C7180 is the inclusion of fax capability, which is normally reserved for office-oriented printers. The included user guide helps you set up the fax according to your equipment type--DSL, regular phone line, and so forth--and the way you want to handle incoming faxes with regard to answering machines and the like. Using the fax menu, you can change the resolution of your faxes, send a broadcast fax to multiple numbers, and set up a delayed fax. One feature we didn't see was the ability to hold and print incoming faxes at a later time, though this feature is more common on office-oriented All-in-Ones.

The scan menu shows all the features we'd expect to see on an All-in-One in this price range. When scanning photos, you can scan to print or to storage, either to the PC or a media card. When scanning to a media card, you can save the file only as a JPEG. When scanning photos or documents to your computer, you can save it as a file; scan it to a number of different programs, including Word, PowerPoint, and Paint; or scan it into a viewer, such as HP's own Document Viewer or Photosmart Express (for manipulating photos). One feature we didn't find on the C7180 that we like is the ability to automatically scan the document into a number of formats, including JPEG, TIFF, or PDF. (The Pixma MP950 has this ability.) Aside from documents and photos, you can scan up to four slides or six negatives at once. The included negative scanner attachment makes it easy to know how to line up the negatives and slides correctly.

The copy features are typical and straightforward. You can make up to 50 copies at once, either by keying in the numbers directly on the keypad or by using the direction keys. You can also adjust the copy quality, reduce or enlarge, optimize for the type of original, and designate paper type and size.

Befitting the name, the Photosmart C7180 offers the most options when dealing with photos. As mentioned before, you can print directly from a PictBridge camera or memory cards, bypassing the PC. When previewing images on a memory card, you have the option of scrolling through them individually or zooming out to see a photo index view. You can scroll through the photos on the preview LCD and click OK for the ones you want to print; you can indicate how many prints you want of each image. When you're done selecting, you can select the size and the type of paper and verify your selections before printing.

What this printer is missing is a feature like Canon's photo index print, which allows you to print an index of all the images on a card, bubble in the prints you want, make adjustments such as red-eye reduction, and choose the type and size of the paper. When you're through, you simply scan the index and the printer takes care of the rest. This is a much faster and less painful way to deal with memory cards that hold a lot of photos. That said, with a touch of a button on the C7180, you can attach photos to e-mail, make reprints, and enhance photos (red-eye reduction and enhanced lighting), so it's not without its charms.

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