New HP, Epson Peripherals Go Cross-Platform

SAN FRANCISCO--PC users can find products at the Macworld Conference & Expo here this week, as long as they look for hardware. Many software vendors are showing only Mac versions of their wares, even when these offer cross-platform support, but both Hewlett-Packard and Epson have unveiled new products that can be used with either Macs or PCs.

Of course, they also work with the new PowerBooks unveiled at the show's opening. The event runs through Friday.

HP's Color Ink Jets

HP demonstrated two new printers and a scanner, all geared toward working with photos. The $249 HP Photosmart 230 printer, a successor to the HP Photosmart 130, prints borderless 4-by-6-inch photos at up to 4800-by-1200 dots per inch on plain or photo paper. Unlike the HP 130, the new model provides a color LCD screen for previewing photos.

HP's other new printer is a seven-ink unit capable of printing on legal-size (8.5 by 14 inches) paper. The $299 HP Photosmart 7550 prints black-and-white pages at 17 pages per minute and color pages at 13 ppm. Because it uses seven colors, it can produce fully saturated images. And because it supports a wide range of paper types and sizes--envelopes, transparencies, photos, banners, labels, cards, and iron-on transfers--it can serve as a standard all-purpose printer. The Photosmart 7550 can connect directly to a PC via USB or across a network using HP's Jetdirect 175x or 310x external print server. It supports wireless printing via the HP Jetdirect 380x wireless print server.

Both printers support a full complement of compact media, including CompactFlash Types I and II, SmartMedia, Sony Memory Stick, Secure Digital, and MultiMediaCard. Users can plug these cards directly into the printer to print images they've created on digital cameras or handheld devices, without having to fire up the computer.

Scanner Selection

HP's new color flatbed scanner targets buyers who want to capture photos digitally. The $299 HP Scanjet 5500c functions like the older Scanjet 4750c, except that it has an automatic photo feeder for reading in a series of 3-by-5 or 4-by-6 prints. Like its predecessor, it has an adaptor for reading in slides and negatives. It has a maximum hardware resolution of 1200 by 1200 and an enhanced resolution of 999,999 dpi. The flatbed portion can handle documents up to 8.5 by 11.7 inches. It ships with HP PrecisionScan Pro, HP Photo Imaging software, HP Memories Disk Creator, integrated Iris OCR, HP Share to Web, and HP Scanjet Copy utility software.

For its part, Epson America quietly introduced two configurations of one basic scanner. The Epson Perfection 3200 Photo and 3200 Pro replace the Epson Perfection 2450 Photo scanner, offering the same resolution as most 35mm slide scanners. The $399 Epson Perfection 3200 Photo and the $599 3200 Pro have a maximum hardware resolution of 3200 by 6400 dpi and 48-bit color depth. Both offer USB and Firewire connectivity.

The difference between the two models is not in the hardware, but in the bundled software. The 3200 Photo includes LaserSoft SilverFast SE 6, Adobe Photoshop Elements 2.0, Epson Smart Panel, and Epson Scan scanning software. The higher-end bundle includes LaserSoft SilverFast Ai 6, MonacoEZcolor 2.5, ArcSoft PhotoStudio, ArcSoft PhotoBase, ArcSoft Panorama Maker, Adobe Photoshop Elements 2.0, Epson Smart Panel, and Epson Scan scanning software.