Your Mama Loves the HP Photosmart Premium TouchSmart Web All-in-One Printer (and wow that’s a mouth full)

While I’d love to say that I’m a scrapbooker or that I spend a lot of time concocting fun crafts for my preschooler, it’s just not true. Last year the printer I bought in 2001 broke. We never got around to replacing it and when I needed things printed, I had to email my husband or my mom to print them and bring them to the house. I work from home, and as you can imagine, that got pretty tedious.

It got even more tedious when I began heading our efforts to keep our home out of foreclosure by doing a short sale. Suddenly we had oodles of papers to print and sign and fax. (We no longer live in the city where we’re trying to sell our home.)

When HP offered to give me a HP Photosmart Premium TouchSmart Web All-in-One Printer to review, I absolutely jumped at the chance. When it arrived via FedEx I seriously almost made out with the delivery guy.

My husband installed the printer. It took him less than five minutes. When he turned it on, he bellowed “IT HAS SPEAKERS!!!” (It seriously chimes happily when things happen.) It also has an amazing little color touch screen that makes it look sort of like an iPhone is attached to the front. Dude.

We have a lot of connectivity issues with our other wireless gear. In fact, the Xbox and Tivo are connected to my husband’s computer via ugly cables across our living room. I was super shocked to find that both our computers (I’m on a Mac and he’s on a PC) connected to the printer with no problems.

I seriously felt like I was in some sort of magical Willy Wonka land when I printed my first document (THROUGH THE AIR!!) over to the printer.

The documents I’ve printed print very quickly. The printer also has the option to print both sides of a page, saving paper.

I absolutely love taking pictures (of my kids) and I haven’t been able to print them in over a year since our old photo printer bit the dust. The pictures I’ve printed with the HP Touchsmart look gorgeous. I’m pretty discerning, especially because we shoot with a fairly nice camera. Even when I accidentally printed a photo on regular letter-sized paper, it looked good. I’ve finally been able to update my corkboard and photo frames with new pictures of my kids.

HP has come up with all sorts of great apps (in the printer) and web apps (on the web) to make the most of the printer’s magical goodness. I do graphic design, and I usually end up making things myself. But the one-page calendar designs were so cute I immediately threw one together and printed up a great calendar with photos of my kids.

So far I’ve printed maps, the calendar, about 50 pages of short-sale-related paperwork, about six coupons and a bunch of beautiful photos. I printed each item wirelessly (across a large room) from my home office desk to my husband’s home office.

I’m sure a lot of the tasks we need a printer for could be accomplished with a cheaper printer, but I am absolutely blown away by the wireless ease and the amount of fun apps this printer has. I look forward to being able to devote more time to having fun with it and less time using it to get through the mind-bending task of dealing with a bank. That might sound like a downer, but trust me, it’s awesome having something to look forward to. Like printing out coloring book pages for my son or printing pictures of my kids’ smiling faces to make a collage.

Highlights:

• Doesn’t take up much space.
• It’s black and shiny and doesn’t look like a printer.
• Very quick scanning—though I’ve had to do some troubleshooting to scan to my Mac.
• Prints gorgeous photos.
• Easy to load paper.
• The apps allow you to print things without turning your computer on.
• Smooth wireless connectivity.
• Very cool software.
• Great option if you have more than one computer or wireless device.
• You can print directly from your Bluetooth-enabled phone.

Lowlights:

• It’s expensive. Absolutely worth it if you need the features, pricey if you don’t.
• The ink runs out somewhat quickly, but only if you’re printing a lot of photos.

Good news!  You can offset the cost in a couple of ways:

• Instant $60 discount – available via HP Direct and several retailers.
• Trade in and Save $50 – trade in your current printer for recycling and get $50 toward the purchase of the HP Photosmart Premium with Touchsmart Web (good at HP Direct and several retailers).  Call your local store to see!
• Save 25% on any HP Photo Value Pack through Nov 21st – this is a mail in rebate, but it’s a good deal: http://ow.ly/yGAA
• Amazon.com has it for a low price, but you can’t see the price unless you stick it in your shopping cart.  Do a search to see.

Overall, I have to say that this is pretty much the mackdaddy of all printers. If you have room in your budget for a printer upgrade or you have someone who’s looking to get you a fancy gift, this printer is the way to go. It’s especially useful if you have kids, dig photography, print a lot of coupons, print recipes, or need to print wirelessly.

About the author:  Maria is surrounded by boys. She gets all aflutter when she finds good deals, new episodes of Gossip Girl, and big bold bottles of red wine. Read more from this author.