HP C5180

This printer is a fast machine. It prints and copies photos in as less as 12 seconds. It churns out prints /copies documents when printed in black at a speed of 32 pages per minute and 31 pages per minute when printed in color. The printer can be connected via Ethernet networking, and also has a USB port which can be used to print without going through the computer. HP Photosmart C5180 uses 6 separate HP Vivera Ink cartridges. The print quality of the photos is good, so much so that they maintain their color and quality for generations. HP Photosmart C5180 has an in built image display screen of about 6.1 cm with which you can access menu and preview photos before printing. It even has a slot for memory card. HP Photosmart C5180 is borderless in an array of regular and custom size. The printer has an automated paper tray for photos of dimensions 10 x 15 cm. The printer also has four media card slots. Its best scan resolution is 2400 x 4800 dpi. The printer comes with a HP Photosmart Software.

The printer's control panel is located at front edge. In case of multiple tasks, you can also start printing tasks directly from the printer. The printer has separate menus for printing, and scanning etc. these menus are very easy to use. HP Photosmart C5180 doesn't have in built wireless. However it can be connected to wireless router. It supports both Windows and Mac PCs. You can edit photo size and quality, crop image and even print up to 99 copies of a single photo. However, the printer does not have a duplexer. Double sided prints have to be taken manually.

Although a good printer, HP Photosmart C5180 has its share of cons too. One of them being the absence of PictBridge port, this allows one to print directly from a digital camera. Thus, one has to go through the computer in order to print photos. Also, this printer does not have fax function and has only a few paper handling options. This printer does not have room for thick books or documents. Another major limitation of the Photosmart C5180's limited paper handling options. The printer has only one tray for input and output of paper. The front mounted tray can hold 100 sheets of paper. It also has a smaller tray to hold 4x6 photo paper. The printer does not have a rear output required for printing on heavy paper.

The printer has different scanning menus for documents and photos. Documents can be scanned in many HP utilities like the HP Document Viewer or Photosmart Express. Documents can also be saved as a file, e mailed, opened for editing in paint, saved to a memory card. The Photosmart C5180 has six individual cartridges, used for documents printing and photo printing. These separate cartages can be replaced at a very low cost. The printer has a photo fix option by which you can automatically optimize photo size, eliminate red eye, and improve photo zoom, contrast etc by reducing red-eye, and enhancing lighting, contrast, and sharpness. Also, the memory card allows viewing multiple photos at one time.