HP Photosmart A536

The options available may be sparse (red-eye removal, date/time stamp, and the like), but the Photosmart A536 does have a bonus: It can print on both 4-by-6-inch and 5-by-7-inch photo paper. Its cousin, the Photosmart A636 Compact Photo Printer, shares this feature; the pricier Epson PictureMate Dash does not.

Considering the low price, the Photosmart A536's lackluster performance in our Test Center tests (it produced photos at a sluggish speed of 0.7 page per minute) is tolerable. Though it did an adequate job of reproducing most of our photo samples, some flesh tones looked unnaturally ruddy.

The Photosmart A536 ships with five sheets of 5-by-7-inch photo paper and a starter tricolor cartridge that yields 10 to 20 prints, so you'll need to buy new supplies almost immediately. HP's pack of 120 sheets of 4-by-6-inch paper and ink costs $38, or 29 cents per photo--a much better deal than the 55-sheet pack, which costs $20 (36 cents per photo).

The HP Photosmart A536 is basic, but also affordable and easy to operate. For many home users, it offers just enough snapshot printing for the price.