HP Photosmart 1218 review

HP's original Photosmart P1100 (see Labs, issue 67, p132) dominated our A-List until it was discontinued. It impressed us with its strong feature set and superb all-round print quality. Since then, it's been brought in for a makeover using the improved 990Cxi print engine (reviewed issue 74, p176) and adding some new goodies, like automatic paper detection, along the way. You'll be pleased to know that the attractive black and grey styling has been retained for the new range and with its translucent hood and flashing alignment and paper-detection lights, it's certainly the KnightRider of modern inkjets.

With a moniker like Photosmart and armed with SmartMedia and CompactFlash slots, the 1218 is aimed primarily at the digital photography enthusiast and we were just as eager to see the photo results for ourselves. The first noticeable improvement over the P1100 is photo-print speed - the 1218 managed to produce a full-size A4 photo at its highest setting on HP's Premium Plus Photo Paper in just four minutes and, seconds, which is a great improvement over the P1100, but still just behind the Epson Stylus Photo 875DC (reviewed issue 71, p169) at four minutes, 31 seconds. With its 16Mb of RAM, the 1218 also prints quickly from CompactFlash and SmartMedia and an 8 x 10in photograph was completed in just four minutes, seven seconds, independently from the PC.

In terms of photo quality, the 1218 produces some great results, although like the P1100 there's an apparent graininess at a closer look. Surprisingly, there's a noticeable difference between the 1218 and P1100's photo reproduction, where the 1218 has a slightly duller and varied colour balance and also suffered from occasional thin banding. These are only minor complaints and it requires a thorough, close-up look to see the difference. However, with this in mind, if you're looking for the best photo quality and nothing else you might be better off going for the Epson Stylus Photo 875DC, which also has SmartMedia or CompactFlash compatibility with a PC Card adaptor and offers superior photo results.

On the other hand, if you're looking for great photo functionality coupled with great all-round printing, the 1218 is the way to go. The black text printing was superb and actually improved on the great results from the P1100, remaining clear and sharp with less scratchiness. Averaging out at 5.18ppm on its standard plain paper setting, it's also fast as well as high quality.

The image quality is also impressive and even on plain paper the colours are bright and clear, with minimal banding. Similarly, the DTP tests were well handled with the 1218 printing a five-page colour document at its highest setting on coated paper in 11 minutes, 37 seconds, producing sharp text and graphics.

The only disappointment concerned the colour and resolution tests, especially when compared with the original P1100's printsr. The 1218's colour fades had a smooth transition with virtually no stepping, but the grain was visible. Solid colour blocks also proved problematic and while the P1100 managed to produce solid colours and greyscales, the 1218 struggled to conceal the colours' composite make-up and again had noticeable grain.

That said, the greyscales were produced accurately, without the brown tinge found on the Epson 875DC's prints. Pantones were also satisfactorily accurate, although they tended to drift in cyan and purple hues. The 1218's high resolution of 2,400 x 1,200dpi is reserved only for photo paper and while the 150dpi and 200dpi patterns were printed with clear, straight lines, the higher-resolution patterns were distorted in comparison with the Epson.