HP Photosmart C3180 All-in-One Printer
See it at Amazon.co.uk for £49.99Average Customer Rating
(3.5 out of 5)
Amazon Customer Reviews
Most Helpful First | Newest First
(4 out of 5)Great value for money
I've only had this machine for a week so read this review with that in mind.
Read the reviews here on Amazon and decided to go ahead despite the software installation problems experienced by some. Bought this to replace a 2 year old Epson 6600 multi-function that had a small piece of paper jammed in that I couldn't remove. It was one quarter of the price of the Epson and cheaper than taking the Epson for repair!
I have a desk-top and a lap-top. The software installed on the desk top without a murmur but the lap-top reported that the software could not install because it could not access the registry. Frustrating! Had to go out so turned machine off. When I returned I tried again and the software installed without a hesitation.
Quality of print is fine. I ran a trial photo through which has a large expanse of clear, blue sky. This is a real trial for a printer as the minute, gradual change of hue needs very sensitive handling. On some expensive printers this sky can still appear pixellated or banded. On this machine there is some very slight banding but it's more than acceptable for a machine of this price. (Incidently I have ordered twin packs of black and colour cartridges and a single photocolour cartridge - the total cost was more than the machine!)
My main concern with Hewlett-Packard machines is that the inks are not waterproof. This is just as true of this machine even when using HPs best quality photo paper. This was my main reason for choosing two Epson machines before this one. However, the colour profile of this machine, the saturation and richness of the prints is superior although you can obviously tweak the final results through photo software or the printer driver. Just make sure your prints don't come anywhere near moisture. Even handling them with wet hands or getting a raindrop on them will cause the inks to smear. I suspect that even being stored in damp conditions will eventually cause bleeding and remove fine detail.
It's early days yet so I can't comment on
- logevity and durablity
- scan quality
- ink useage
- improvements to colour photo prints when using the photo-cartridge (it's not arrived yet!)
So, if you're looking for a machine to do light everyday printing, to print off you holiday snaps and to have basic scan potential this one is going to do the trick.
(4 out of 5)Extremely reliable and value for money
Having had several Epson printers which had to be thrown away after simple events like paper-jamming, this HP is a delight to use. My first test of a digital camera photo onto A4 was simply stunning, and I haven't had one single case of streaking in any colour (and I use quite a lot of solid blacks). Comment about the lack of USB cable only really applies to first-timers, as we must all have a stock of the things by now, don't we? A search of Amazon will quickly reveal good offers on print cartridges too, and in the end the HP works out cheaper because you don't have to do tricks like re-installing the cartridges (as on Epson) to eliminate streaking, which uses oodles of ink.
My only grip is the low number (9) of photocopies you can turn out without re-setting,but for £37.99 (today's lowest price!), can you really complain?
By the way, I use a Mac, and the installation was meteoric - absolutely no problem and like greased lightning (and the instructions occupy half the space of those for PCs).
All in all, I'm a very happy bunny, and have bought one for my son, and recommended it to loads of friends and colleagues.
(5 out of 5)HP Photosmart C3180 All-in-One Printer
What a great little printer, photocopier, scanner all in one for such a good price. Fast enough for home use, easily set up (on laptop), colour is great and quite compact. Only down side is cartridges are not that cheap but still definitely worth it. Buy it!
(5 out of 5)Amazingly good value
At Amazon's current price of less than £40, this is easily a bargain for a multifunction device. It tops PC Advisor's list of recommendations and I'm not surprised: the unit is fairly compact and well-built, the instructions are simple to follow and the set-up process is painless. I installed using the custom setting thus avoiding some of the unnecessary programmes bundled with the unit. Inclusion of Vista drivers on a separate CD was a nice touch. I've had experience of previous HP deskjet models and found them fiddly and clunky - not so with the Photosmart C3180. The cartridges slotted in with a satisfying click and the printer settled down quickly with none of those inexplicable delays and blinking lights. The card reader is useful and printing out contact sheets is a doddle; similarly, copying A4 documents with the standard settings is a breeze. The HP photo editing software is adequate rather than innovative but for beginners the inclusion of a "solution center" is a boon, making every day tasks a far less daunting task. Worth every penny. Oh, and it looks smart too.
(3 out of 5)Bare bones system. Good for the money but be prepared
It's hard to criticise a printer that costs around £40 and does so much.. however you need to know the truth about what you are getting or rather not getting for your money.
Straight out of the box you will find you do not have a USB cable, the printer does not have a parallel port so order one at the same time. You get one 5ml black ink cartridge and one tri-colour which will take a hit If you follow the demo instructions on printing out various test sheets. The printer has the ability to use 6 colour printing but you have to get your hand back in your pocket to buy the additional cartridge If you want to do photo quality printing so again be prepared. You have to do some serious digging to find out how and why/when to use the 2nd tri colour cartridge (you remove the black cartridge and insert the photo cartridge).
HP and others do bigger sized cartridges which helps as you could in theory get through a colour one in a weekend and a 5ml black will do about 250 sheets at 5% coverage (or about 50 full print pages).
The documentation is non existant except to help you setup the system. After that it's hidden in help files (where I found the photo cartridge hint!)
Enough of the negative. For the money it's a pritty good (bare bones) all-in-one. Be prepared to fork out the extra £28-30 for the USB and the photo cartridge and don't get enthusiastic with photo printing until you have a spare cartridge and you'll be amazed at the value.
Odd that it doesn't print on CDs in this day and age...
VFM 4/5
Documentation 2/5
Completeness 3/5
Print quality 4/5