( 6 reviews )
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Posted: 08-14-2007
I purchased this HP 145 Photosmart printer from an Amazon vendor in March 2006. Due to various business activities/travel I did not attempt to use the printer until last July 2007. I studied the instruction manual first;fired up the printer and printed out a thumbnail print. During this process I noticed that there was no information appearing on the LCD display. Can anyone tell me if this unit is defective or if there is something I am doing wrong in using the printer? I contacted the vendor for advice, but due to the length of time that has elapsed since my purchase I did not expect any help. The vendor was unable to help me.... In spite of my problem I really like the convenience of this printer! I can print individual photos, BUT have no idea which photo I am printing due to the missing information on the LCD screen. If there is any HP compact photo printer guru out there who could help me with advice I would appreciate it. I use SmartMedia (Olympus) memory cards and they are HP compatible according to manual. Otherwise I will scrap this printer and purchase a newer used/refurb model (HP 335) from Amazon. I have always had great results purchasing from Amazon or its vendors - this is my first purchase glitch! Other than the expensive cartridge (HP 57) this compact little printer does a great job. If I purchase another HP compact photo printer from Amazon I will check it out immediately upon receipt. Lesson learned!
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( 2 of 2 found this review helpful ) Posted: 11-05-2005
I really enjoy this printer. I purchased it about 2 years ago and take it when I go on vacation. It's fun to print your pictures out right away and give them to people. When I visit family they really enjoy the instant pictures. It's not super fast and it only prints 4X6, but that's what you pay for and the 4X6 pictures are excellent. Since you only print pictures from it I think it continues to print pictures clear longer than your everyday printer. 2 years later and the pictures look just as nice as the first picture.
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( 4 of 4 found this review helpful ) Posted: 08-17-2005
It's a nice little unit, but not all that great. It does, however do a better job than most regular printers. By far, to my experience (current owner of 3 HP printers) HP mfg some of the best, if not THE BEST printers. Now, back to the photosmart 145...the major plus is the ease of use (extremely easy) the ergonomics are well laid out and as a 1st timer on photo printers, I didn't have to read the manual. The photosmart 145 will not earn 5 stars due to the limited features/functions that was incorporated...like: only 4X6 photo size and no option for wallet size prints; can't do "portrait" prints to my option but only landscape, maybe can do on computer with bundled software and having to "rotate" pictures to coincide. Prints resulted in "cropped" pictures leaving the edges cutoff or "deleted" by 1/4" on top and bottom (border or borderless). You do have more options when operating prints from a computer and you can select many various features like print quality, tweaking colors and so forth. The print qualities are acceptable, even at "Best" mode, I can still comb through some tiny, tiny pixelated dithering effects on prints with the naked eye. I've printed better quality pictures from my other non-photo HP printer. Also, it is not wise to stick a media card full of pictures into the unit itself for direct printing unless you want to take wild guesses for what to print and not to print of certain pictures. The monochrome lcd screen tells you how many pictures and I.D. them by numbers only, so if you want to print ONLY that picture of your cute little neice in the middle of the pile somewhere, well, good luck...unless you have an Intel chip equipt brain or alot of $$ to waste on photo papers. Overall, this is a nice little unit. I would only use for quick prints to distribute photos of my cars to my insurance companies, share photos with friends/colleagues and for municipal purposes. For the photo albums, I will either take my shots to Rite-Aid for quality prints or maybe invest some $$ for a more advance printer in the near future - perhaps the 245 or 325...but wait, what am I complaining about? I got the photosmart 145 for FREE when I purchased my Leica D-LUX digital camera. Leica UPS'd it to me 3 weeks later...I guess I have nothing to lose but to share the experience with you before you fork out the $$. Overall: 3 & 1/2 Stars! PROS: HP design (always good print quality) Print photos without computer. Bundled software. Compact size with a "good grip" to handle. Easy to use. PC & Mac compatible CONS: Cropped pictures printed (loss or deleted from top & bottom portions) Limited onboard features. No LCD picture screen. Only 4X6 size option. USB cable not included. Flimsy plastic Ink Cartridge Door (very fragile & will break someday). Loud "clicking" and "clunking" noise when operating or opening Ink Cartridge Door...(thought it was breaking). Overall "Cheap" housing.
