3110

HP Photosmart 3110 Review

Although some all-in-ones provide great quality, several give attention to speed while others pack in the options; a small group are successful in incorporating all three with minimal compromise and HP's Photosmart 3110 is one such example.

As the engine recirculates ink whenever executing cleaning and also maintenance cycles, it is actually a good deal more efficient compared to others using permanent print heads. This proved accurate in this intermittent testing, with the 3110 producing as many prints with intermittent use as it did with the continuous rundown test

In tests the 3110's text is black yet a bit feathered around the edges plus the monochrome test picture took on a weak green cast. Besides that, however, we failed to observe any kind of flaws throughout our photograph tests.

The five 6 x 4in images were fantastically reproduced at precisely the right saturation and tone, plus the degree of fine detail was excellent, without any visible grain or banding. The latter qualities are only noticeable on the A4 photomontage if you look up close.

Although it relies on a CIS sensor, both the copying and scanning tests were the very best on test. The 3110 produced three copies of the 6 x 4in photo in just a little in excess of six minutes and, even though this is actually in no way the swiftest, all the reproductions were really similar to the original and the degree of fine detail was amazing.

This was further emphasised with our scan tests. The scan of our 10 x 8in picture at 600ppi turned up tiny defects which every other scanner had missed completely. If there is one criticism, it was that a few scans were a little bit overexposed, and that is a simple matter to correct.

Scans are quick too, requiring only 40 seconds to scan at 600ppi. The 12 x 10in picture scanned at 300ppi in just 21 seconds, plus copies of text documents were reproduced at a good rate of 4ppm. Draft quality is not a huge step down as compared to Normal, and so the impressive rate of 15ppm plus copy speed of 10ppm could prove useful whenever top quality is not important. The ensuing image fine detail was decent.

You can even share pictures as well as videos from media cards or even an attached camera while using EasyShare function. Remember that there is no support for SmartMedia. Nevertheless, we really really like the user-friendly 2.5in colour LCD, which makes it simple to use the 3110's standalone functions. In fact, the only option absent is fax functionality.

A helpful button labelled Photo Tray is used to change between paper sources: the 3110 has a 100-sheet A4 cassette as well as a separate 6 x 4in photo tray which means you won't need to take out A4 paper when you wish to print borderless photos. One more helpful option is HP's duplex printing unit.

With that said the 3110 is an effective printer that uses six individual HP Photosmart 3110 ink cartridges. Yet this is really a multifunction device, and the scanner as well as copier functions are every bit as important. In this regard, the 3110 is streets in front of the rivals.

By itself or on a network, whether you're scanning, copying or printing, the HP Photosmart 3110 is a superb all-in-one.