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The HP PhotoSmart 2575 is 44x28x17cm and is light enough at 5.5Kg to move around if required.

The front of the unit slopes inwards at the base is the paper store (100 sheets?) and paper is stored flat face down. The printed sheets are delivered face up just above this. To the left of this are four card slots for SD/MMC, Compact Flash/Micro Drive, Memory Stick and XD there is also a standard USB connector for Pict Bridge or Flash/Stick drives.

See also: Multifunction printers

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The sides have no connections while the rear has power connector as well as both USB and Network connectors. This leaves the top, the main part is taken by the lid of the flatbed scanner while the right side has no less than 18 buttons and above this a large TFT display close to 5x4cm that can be tilted to neat vertical to enable clear viewing for almost any angle and light condition.

The buttons mentioned above give excellent control to print direct from cameras either to 15x10cm or A4 sheets as well as it performing as an excellent copy machine for both black and colour copies.

It still - to me - seems a little strange to talk about an inkjet network machine but you do the same software installation until you select USB or Network. Total time for the USB install for me was around 20 minutes.

I was perfectly happy with anything I scanned and the software provided by HP can provide hand-holding for those who need it while still allowing the more experienced to get the results they require quickly.

From first switch on to being able to work is only around 20 seconds and this compares favourably to some of these devices. I found the first colour copy took 75seconds while subsequent copies took 40seconds. With black the timings were 30 and 20. The only way I knew the copies from the originals were by the paper being used they were that good.

Printing from the PC is something that most will spend most of their time on, as a text printer there are some fancy speed claims that I could not achieve. I managed 7PPM in normal mode printing the 200 word document. In fast draft I got 14PPM, also using fast draft I got 14PPM printing a more normal 1500 word document spread over 4 pages. For the claimed figures view the link at the end of this document. The printing in normal mode was excellent very black and perfectly acceptable for letters. The fast draft was almost as good with just the very slightest tinge of grey but still good quality.

I was perfectly happy with the photo images I printed on this machine both at 15x10cm and at A4 both full page borderless and 4x9x13cm stretched to print borderless so only the thin + white line divided them from a full page. I am not that concerned by printing speeds only quality and this 4 ink printer was perfectly acceptable for printing images. However I know speed matters for some so I printed A4 images using the best mode in 4minutes.

Doing my searches found Amazon to be the cheapest at £73.80.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B000ANH03M

http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/uk/en/sm/WF05a/5043-5527-7369133-7369133-7369155-12209612.html