HP Photosmart C6280

The all in one HP Photosmart C6280 uses the same design as single function Photo smarts. It sits 17.6 inches wide, 17.4 inches deep, and 7.4 inches tall, and a weight 22.6 pounds. The scanner lid opens to reveal an A4 size flatbed scanner. You get four memory card slots, but oddly, no PictBridge USB port, a major omission on a photo oriented printer in this price range.

The PictBridge port would let you print directly from PictBridge cameras, videocams, and camera phones. The control panel is well organized and easy to understand. The 2.4 inch LCD is mounted on a swiveling panel, which lets you optimize your viewing angle. The standard four way rocker button, an OK button, and back button let you peruse menus and photos.

Copy and Scan tasks get their own dedicated menu and task start buttons. The photo dedicated buttons include menu and start, as well as red eye removal and photo reprints.

The paper handling system is also standard for HP. The cassette comprises three layers at the bottom is the main input tray, capable of holding up to 100 sheets of plain paper.

Above that sits the dedicated 4x6 photo paper tray up to 20 sheets, which engages automatically when you direct the printer to print on 4x6 paper. And at the top sits the output tray, which flips up so you can load photo paper.

Both input trays also pull out for easy loading. The Photo smart C6280 employs six color printing and uses individual ink tanks, which is ideal for reducing ink waste. Despite the fact that HP now offers a multi tier ink program with different tank capacities for different kinds of users, the C6280 tanks only come in one capacity. The black tank costs $18 to replace, while the color tanks cost $10 each it will cost $68 to replace the whole lot.

Based on HP's estimated yields for each cartridge, we calculated that a black only page will cost approximately 2.5 cents, while a full color (six color) print will cost approximately 10 cents. The recommended monthly print volume is 3,000 pages, so it's best suited for users with light print needs.