HP PhotoSmart 325 review

Simple to use and excellent value for money

TechRadar Verdict

The 325's results are astounding. It offers great colour and good sharpness

Pros

  • +

    Print time of less than two minutes

    Great value for money

Cons

  • -

    Some graininess to the photos

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When you look at the quality of prints coming out from what is a three-ink printer without a black cartridge, the 325's results are astounding. It offers great colour and good sharpness.

Pedants will point out that there is quite a bit of grain in some of the photos, but the prints are not grainy in an unpleasant way.

The HP is one of the few models on the market to offer the option of battery power, although the battery does cost extra.

Using the Photosmart 323 is a dream. Slot the memory card in one of the front-mounted slots and wait for the images to appear on the LCD screen. Then all you need to do is browse through the images and press select for the ones you want to print out.

The beauty of the HP system is that you get a brand new printhead with every cartridge you buy. HP now offer ink and paper with a guaranteed cost per print of around 29p.

The ink is expensive but the chemistry of HP's new Generation II inks and HP's special Premium Plus paper offers prints with a lightfast guide of around 100 years. Maybe your great grandchildren can claim on the guarantee if the pictures fade before then.

With a print time of less than two minutes, the 325 is fast enough but the price is spectacular and great value for money. Mark Sparrow

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