HP Photosmart 375

When it comes to printing photos from your digital camera, you've got three options. You can take them to a kiosk in places like Boots or Jessops, upload them to a website and get them sent to you, or you can use a dedicated photo printer, such as the HP Photosmart 375.

Unlike traditional inkjet printers that can accommodate paper sizes up to A4, the Photosmart 375, being a photo printer, can only print photos at a size of 10 x 15cm (roughly equivalent to 6 x 4in). The paper feed snaps open at the back of the printer, while the paper tray opens up at the front.

You can print directly from most memory cards (bar MicroDrive) or connect it to a computer to print in the usual way. A flip-up colour LCD screen on the top allows you to scan through images on your memory card before selecting which photos you want to print. Here you can perform basic editing tasks such as removing red-eye, rotating the image, adding a frame, altering brightness or implementing a colour effect: black and white, sepia or antique.

The Photosmart 375 is also compatible with PictBridge cameras, and comes with a USB-Bluetooth adapter, allowing you to wirelessly print from Bluetooth-compatible devices such as mobile phones or handheld computers.

When connected to a computer, you can print photos at a 4,800dpi resolution, which produces some truly excellent results, especially when using the recommended Premium Plus Photo Paper Glossy.

Unfortunately, printing from a memory card means that you are limited to 1,200dpi, which makes no sense in our books. What's more, using lower grade paper can result in some odd 'track lines' on the print and a marked difference in quality.

Because the Photosmart 375 is an ink-based printer, you might find that photos will 'stick' to each other if left too long on top of each other in the paper tray. This can remove ink, lowering the quality of the photo.

Nevertheless, printing is quite fast for a device of this type, taking just 95 seconds per photo. Also, if you opt for HP's £31 pack combining a high-yield ink cartridge and 130 sheets of paper, the cost per print works out to around 24p, which is excellent value for money and cheaper than most photo kiosks.

It doesn't come with a USB cable and you only get a sample pack of paper included in the box. But you do get a full ink cartridge and some good software for organising, printing and sharing your photos.

Contact: HP 0800 038 8889
www.hp.com/uk

Also consider:
Epson Picturemate Personal Photo Lab
Cheaper but no colour screen or Bluetooth.