subject: HP Photosmart C7180 All-in-One – packed with features [print this page] HP Photosmart C7180 All-in-One packed with features
With the print, scan, copy and fax options, the Photosmart C7180 is an all-in-one that has it all. The C7180 features an Ethernet card, provides wireless connectivity, a PictBridge port, a media card reader and built-in Bluetooth, but fails to deliver the final punch. In short the printer has a lot of features but lacks the performance.
Features
With a pretty bulky built the HP Photosmart C7180 occupies quite an amount of space. The printer dimensions are as follows - 18.3" in width, 15.4" in depth and 8.5" in height. In terms of weight, it's pretty heavy - weighing around 26 pounds. The scanner can scan documents to size of an A4-size original. In spite of all these features, the C7180 comes without an automatic document feeder, eliminating the option of batch copies and scans.
The front of the printer hosts the four media card slots and the USB Pictbridge port - enabling PC-free printing. The other connectivity feature is the built-in Bluetooth - allowing wireless printing from Bluetooth-enabled PDAs, phones or cameras.
A six-tank ink system is the design of the C7180 and uses the HP 363 ink cartridges. The ink tank is easily accessible, right below the scanner portion lift the scanner portion and you will notice the six front-mounted tanks.
However, the most interesting feature of the C7180 is the addition of the fax. Well, that's the only thing to say about the fax. It has all the features like any other Photosmart printer with a fax. Similarly, the scan menu has nothing new to talk about, the same as any all-in-one. The C7180 is on the back foot with the inability to automatically scan the document into a number of formats JPEG, TIFF or PDF.
The copy feature enables the user to take up to 50 copies at one go. The copy feature has a lot of options like the copies can be reduced or enlarged in size and make adjustments to the quality to ensure better quality output.
Performance
The performance of the HP Photosmart C7180 lets it down, completely - an average performance when it comes to printing text. With a print speed of just 5.28 pages per minute, the C7180 is definitely on the slower side. It only gets worse with the print speed of 4x6" photos being 0.89ppm, while the scans were 3.94ppm for black-and-white and 3.97ppm for color.
The print quality of the photo prints and the scan quality were good, however the text and graphics prints were average.
Service and support
Hp backs the Photosmart C7180 with a one year standard warranty.
