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HP DeskJet 5440
Colour Inkjet Printer
£45.99 from Amazon

With the growing demand for ever-increasing amounts of hard disk storage space for digital photographs, so more and more printers arrive offering to turn these memories into tangible hard copy. It doesn't seem to matter that we can share these images via CDs or web-based albums, the ability to touch and feel a physical photograph remains a strong inducement to many. HP has recently introduced its Deskjet 5440 printer aimed at the home user who wants to print photographs and other types of documents.

With its pleasant two-tone grey livery, the Deskjet 5440 will hardly win any awards for innovative design concepts although I do like the idea of having both the input (100-sheet capacity) and output paper trays on the front of the unit in order to save of work space. The printer's dimensions are 459 x 220 x 169mm (W x D x H) when the paper trays are in the upright position. When you lower these trays the depth is increased by 280mm rather than the 400mm if the trays had been positioned on opposite sides. Power and USB connections are located at the rear while the front houses a three-button control panel (power, cancel, resume) and a PictBridge port enabling digital cameras to be connected to the printer without the need of a computer.

See also: Photo printers

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Setting up the printer is straightforward as you connect power and USB leads plus slide in the tri-colour and black cartridges. Installing the software, however, is a slightly more demanding operation. After deciding whether you want the Full (340MB) or Express (200MB) install, you have to click through a number of confirmation options at various stages in the operation. As a result there is no nipping off for a cup of coffee while the computer gets on with the task. At the conclusion of the installation you should be informed that you are using genuine HP cartridges - I'm not sure what would happen if your cartridges were from a third party.

The software places two icons on your desktop. The first gives you access to the HP Solution Centre. This deals with help regarding various printing tasks and providing links to product supply options and HP software. The second icon is for the HP Image Zone which covers aspects of image management, basic editing, printing and sharing options. Many will find the Image Zone adequate for their digital image needs as they create online albums; send thumbnail images by email; use various print template layouts; and make basic adjustments to their images.

The Deskjet 5440 turned in some impressive print performances especially when using plain paper. Printing a full colour A4 image took one minute in normal mode. The quality was perfectly acceptable for general purpose use with accurate colours and reasonable contrast. Of course if you require full photographic quality on glossy paper then you can switch to maximum dpi mode. A full A4 image would require 5 minutes 10 seconds for printing to be completed.

Greyscale images took 46 seconds using the black cartridge. An additional second was required when printing the same image using the best greyscale mode which makes use of the tri-colour cartridge. A 220-word monochrome document was churned out at 18ppm in fast draft mode. Print quality was excellent.

As standard this printer comes with a black and tri-colour cartridge with yields estimated at 210 and 175 pages respectively. Replacement cartridges will cost £12 for the black and £14 for the tri-colour. This works out at approximately 5.7p for black and 7.9p for tri-colour per page. There is also an option to use the HP 348 Photo Inkjet cartridge (£17) in place of the black cartridge.

With its price point of £58 and excellent print quality, especially when using standard plain paper, the Deskjet 5440 certainly has several plus points. However you do need to consider running costs. The estimated yields are based on coverage of 5% for black and 15% for colour, so printing full A4 images will have a dramatic effect on these figures. Those with less demanding printing needs and looking for good quality text and graphics should consider this product.

Available from Amazon for £45.99

http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/uk/en/ho/WF05a/5043-5047-5287-5287-5271-11598897.html