Hewlett Packard Photosmart C3180 AIO All-in-One Printer Review

My youngest daughter has been after me to get her own printer for almost a year now; heretofore she has been sharing my HP Officejet 7130. I limit what she can print and she doesn't like that one bit.  So when I purchase my new HP dv9000z notebook computer, the company was offering up a Photosmart C3180 All-In-One Inkjet Printer for a mere $20.00 after mail-in rebate, so I took the plunge and bought it. 

My Viewpoint

The Photosmart C3180 All-In-One Inkjet is a small unit, but it packs in a lot of features.  HP advertises this printer as an All-in-One, but it lacks the ability to fax, which is fine with me, my daughter does not need that functionality.  The unit does print, scan, (flatbed scanner only), and copy in color and black & white.  Setup was easy, but the software will take a while to complete, however you can customize the installation.

The Photosmart C3180 All-In-One Inkjet ships with two inkjet cartridges: tricolor and black.  The paper tray folds down so that one can insert up to 25 sheets of paper; there is no output tray, but a small arm unfolds from the unit to catch printed sheets.  The output is respectable and in keeping with other HP inkjet printer at this price point.  One can print (4x4) images from the tray as well as 8x10 prints.  Images can be input from the computer via the USB port, or from a variety of memory cards that can be inserted directly into the printer on the bottom left-hand side of the unit; nice touch. 

The printer display is a step way above other HP printer in that it is backlit.  This is a welcome new feature given that earlier HP printers at this price point have lack such displays, making them had to read in most lighting conditions. 

Scans and copies can be made via the flatbed scanner; up to 99 copies can be made, and scans of varying resolutions can be accomplished.     

Conclusion

If you or your family is in need of a solid, reasonably priced, small footprint personal All-In-One color printer with a lot of built-in flexibility, look no further then the HP Photosmart C3180 All-In-One Inkjet printer.  For my money HP is still the best; something about raising the performance bar.  Now perhaps they can work on their service arm...