HP's Latest Multifunction Device Bypasses PC

The PSC 950 is a scanner, copier, printer, and fax machine in one $399 package.

Tom Mainelli, PCWorld.com

With its new PSC 950 all-in-one, Hewlett-Packard is targeting budding digital photographers who want a printer that does more than just print.

Available now for $399, the 950 packs not only a four-color ink jet printer, but a high-quality scanner that lets you scan, copy, and even fax documents (via a built-in modem). Special slots also accept CompactFlash, SmartMedia, or a Sony Memory stick, so you can move images straight from your camera to the printer, bypassing your PC altogether.

Traditionally, all-in-one products have been geared toward home offices, but HP aims its PSC directly at consumers, says George Brasher, HP's all-in-one product manager. He says this device doesn't force those customers to compromise quality for convenience and space savings--a longstanding criticism of multifunction devices.

HP: Serious Printing

The device builds on HP standard technology, Brasher says.

"The 950 has our best-quality [ink jet] printing engine," he says. It's the same engine HP uses in its DeskJet 970 ink jet printer and its PhotoSmart P1000, he says. That means it can print images at 2400 by 1200 dots per inch, which makes it great for regular print jobs as well as photos. The unit has two paper trays: one for standard 8.5-by-11-inch office paper, and one for 4-by-6-inch photo paper.

According to HP, the 950 prints black and white pages at 12 pages per minute and full-color pages at 10 pages per minute. (However PC World's lab tests show that rated speeds generally surpass real-world printing speeds.)

The 950's scanner offers 600 by 1200 dpi optical scanning resolution, with 9600-dpi enhanced resolution and 36-bit color. HP includes optical character recognition software with the package.

While HP didn't design the 950 for a heavy faxing load, it's fine for limited faxing, Brasher says. Because it's a flat-bed scanner, it is really only practical to send short faxes of two or three pages, since you have to load in a single page at a time. However, the unit can receive an unlimited number of fax pages without hassle, he notes.

Easy Photo Printing

In addition to its 4-by-6-inch photo-paper tray, the 950 offers several other niceties for digital camera aficionados. Most noticeable: the three slots for digital media.

All you have to do is take your digital media out of your camera--regardless of whether its CompactFlash, SmartMedia, or Sony's Memory stick--and insert it into the right slot, he says. The 950 then prints a proof sheet of thumbnail-sized photos residing on the media.

You take that sheet and fill in the spots next to the photos you want to print. On the same piece of paper, you fill in the paper type, size, and number of copies you want. Place that sheet on the 950's scanner, press a button, and the device reads the sheet and gets to work. You never have to touch your PC during the process, he says.