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Reviews

HP Photosmart C5280

B&W Pages per Min.: 32 • Color Pages per Min.: 24 • Max. B&W dpi: 4800-by-1200 • Max. Color dpi: 4800-by-1200 • Max. Scanning dpi: 4800 by 4800 • Tray Capacity, pages: 125 • Price When Reviewed: $130
HP PhotoSmart C5280 (Front)
HP PhotoSmart C5280 (Front)
82.3 Very Good
Last updated
January 03, 2008
Test Center Reviewed by
Melissa Riofrio
Pros
  • Prints CDs and DVDs; easy control panel
  • Lots of useful software and utilities
Cons
  • Text looks feathery on plain paper
  • Onscreen manual thorough but disjointed
  • Pricing:Inexpensive: $130 (6/6/2008)
  • Performance:Good: 77
  • Features:Good: 71
  • Design:Superior: 95
Find out how these four scores, and their relative weights, combine to produce the PC World Rating.

Pricing Inexpensive: $130

Inexpensive: $130
Standard-Capacity Black Cartridge - $30
Standard-Capacity Color Cartridge - $35

Performance Good: 77

Good: 77
Text Printing (Plain Paper, Normal Settings)
Tested Text Speed (ppm) 7.3 
Three-Page Word Document (secs) 47.07 
Ten-Page Word Document (secs) 106.66 
Text Output Quality Good 
Color Printing (Plain Paper, Normal Settings)
Tested Color Speed (ppm) 2.4 
Two-Page Excel Document (secs) 52.23 
One-Page Webpage (secs) 27.71 
4 by 6 Color Photo (secs) 21.64 
Color Output Quality Very Good 
Color Photo Printing (Glossy Paper, Best Settings)
Tested Glossy Photo Speed (ppm) 0.7 
Sports Action Shot (secs) 80.01 
Color Photo Quality Superior 
Grayscale Printing (Plain Paper, Normal Settings)
Tested Grayscale Speed (ppm) 2.7 
4 by 6 Grayscale Photo (secs) 21.99 
Grayscale Output Quality Very Good 
Lineart Printing (Plain Paper, Best Settings)
Tested Lineart Speed (ppm) 2.3 
300dpi Line Art Image (secs) 26.65 
Line Art Output Quality Good 
Scan Tests (in seconds)
Preview Scan, 2-by-2-Inch Document, 600 dpi 7.62 
Preview Scan, One-Page Word Document, 300 dpi 7.32 
Final Scan Time, 2-by-2-Inch Document, 600 dpi 16.8 
Preview Scan, 4-by-5-Inch Document, 100 dpi 7.43 
Final Scan Time, 4-by-5-Inch Document, 100 dpi 6.88 
Preview Scan, One-Page Word Document, 300 dpi 7.32 
Final Scan Time, One-Page Word Document, 300 dpi 18.88 
Overall Scan Quality Very Good 
Copy Tests
One-Page Copy (secs) 23.91 
Copy Output Quality Good 

Features Good: 71

Good: 71
Memory (in MB)
RAM Installed 64 
Maximum Amount of RAM 64 
Dimensions
Dimensions 17.8 by 15.24 by 8.03 
Weight (pounds) 15.71 
Vendor Rated Speeds
B&W Pages per Min. 32 
Color Pages per Min. 24 
Resolutions
Max. B&W dpi 4800-by-1200 
Max. Color dpi 4800-by-1200 
Language & Emulation
Printer Emulation Type Host-based 
PCL Emulation PCL3 GUI 
Interfaces
Parallel Port No 
Serial Port No 
USB 1.1 Yes 
USB 2.0 Yes 
Ethernet No 
Media Card Readers CompactFlash, Memory Stick, SD Card, xD-Picture Card 
PictBridge No 
Other Interfaces wireless possible with optional accessory (purchased separately) 
Drivers
Macintosh Yes 
Windows 98 No 
Windows NT No 
Windows 2000 Yes 
Windows XP Yes 
Linux No 
Power
Maximum Power Draw (watts) 28.3 
Standby Power Draw (watts) 2.9 
Multifunction Printer Specs
Scan Area (inches) 8.5 by 11.7 
Max. Scanning dpi 4800 by 4800 
Maximum Enhanced Scan Resolution (dpi) 19200 
Scanning Image Sensor Type CIS 
Scanner Type Flatbed 
Maximum Scan Color Depth 48 
Maximum Scan Grayscale Depth 16 
Fax Memory (pages) 0 
LCD Type Color 
Paper Handling
Number of Input Trays, Standard 2 
Number of Input Trays, Maximum 2 
Tray Capacity, pages 125 
Maximum Sheets With Optional Paper Trays 125 
Manual Feed Slot No 
Maximum Paper Size Legal 
Output Tray Capacity 50 
Auto Duplexer No 
Warranty & Support
Labor Warranty (years) One 
Parts Warranty (years) One 
Weekday Support Hours 24 
Saturday Support Hours 24 
Sunday Support Hours 24 
Toll-Free Support Yes 
Vendor-Supplied Data (in Pages)
Monthly Duty Cycle 3000 
Monochrome Ink/Toner Yields 200 
Color Ink/Toner Yields 170 
Bundled Items
Included Hardware Power Supply, Power Cord 
Included Software CD Win/MAC 
Reliability & Service
Summary of results for all of brand's products in this category More bad news for HP: below-average grades for out-of-box problems and significant problems with its printers. Readers aren’t thrilled with HP’s phone support either. 
Reliability of brand's products in this category
Reports of products arriving with problems Worse than Average 
Reports of products with any significant problems Worse than Average 
Reports of problems that render a product unusable Average 
Buyers' rating of products ease-of-use Average 
Overall satisfaction with reliability of brand's products in category Average 
Service & Support Quality
Time spent holding for phone support Average 
Overall quality of vendor's phone support Worse than Average 
Reports of problems unresolved after contacting service Average 
Overall quality of service Average 

Design Superior: 95

Superior: 95
About the Test Center

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