HP PhotoSmart 2610 review

Combining a printer and scanner into one unit doesn't just save space - working together, the two elements offer a host of extra functions, such as photocopying and faxing.

HP's PhotoSmart 2610 does all this, and you can also connect it directly to your network.

The 2610 is nicely designed. Its LCD screen tilts upwards, making it easier to read. The printer is also easy to setup and install, and its menu system is simple to follow. If you have a digital camera you can print directly from your memory card using the integrated card reader.

Our current Best Buy multifunction device, HP's PSC 1315, printed our five-page test document at a speed of just over six pages per minute (ppm) in Draft mode - the 2610 manages 11.5ppm. With the quality settings turned up to Normal, this dropped to, a still impressive, 5.8ppm. At the very highest quality setting, the page rate dropped to a slow 1.4ppm. Fortunately, the 2610 rewards your patience with text that's flawlessly crisp.

At the Normal quality setting text suffered slight blurring at the edges, indicating that ink had 'bled' into the page. In Draft mode, curved letters also suffered from a slight blue 'halo' effect on downward strokes. This was, however, only visible with an eyepiece, a level of scrutiny it's unlikely your letters will have to withstand. When viewed at a normal distance, text appeared beautifully crisp. The graphics in our report and newsletter were also reproduced flawlessly, with clear, bright colours and perfectly drawn diagrams.

Using the special photo cartridge, the details in our test photo were sharp and accurate - even on things that are hard to print well, such as reflections on water. Colours, in particular skin tones, were vibrant and natural.

Scan times were also quick. While the PSC 1315, scanned a 600dpi A4 image in 112 seconds, the 2610 managed it in 51. Colours were natural and accurate, though the 2610's scanner had difficulty picking out detail in highly saturated areas of very light colour. When we used the HP's imaging software to correct this it managed to pick out the details, but added an extra shade of grey in where it shouldn't have been.

The 2610 produces excellent prints, has lots of useful features and comes with some good software. At this price, however, we expected it to be very good and to offer flawless scan quality.