Why You Can Trust CNET HP Photosmart 5510 e-All-in-One review: HP Photosmart 5510 e-All-in-One
HP Photosmart 5510 e-All-in-One
The $99 HP Photosmart 5510 e-All-in-One registers competitive performance in print speed and overall image quality, but I prefer the Epson Stylus NX430 because it offers more features like manual two-sided printing and a higher sheet capacity that means you won't find yourself refilling paper as often. For homes and offices that take printing seriously, the $99 Epson NX430 offers similar performance to the HP with more-versatile features that earn it a higher score.
HP Photosmart 5510 e-All-in-One
The Good
The Bad
The Bottom Line
Design and features
The Photosmart 5510 combines the functionality of a printer, scanner, and copier into a low-profile chassis finished in matte black that jells with HP's current design aesthetic. It measures 17.2 inches long by 5.8 inches tall and 12.8 inches wide, so it won't occupy your entire desktop like more full-fledged multifunctions. The Epson Stylus NX430 is still the smallest all-in-one printer, though, coming in a full 2 inches shorter.
HP extends its touch-compatible display trend to the 5510 with a 2.4-inch color LCD positioned on the left of the device. Most of the controls reside on the display itself, with virtual buttons on the right side that help with navigation and making onscreen selections. Additionally, HP makes choosing the right buttons a little easier by only illuminating the necessary options for each feature, as opposed to other panels that ask you to pick through a list of every available icon.
It's no surprise that this $100 device doesn't include the extra flair of its pricier linemates, so you won't see features like an auto-document feeder or a duplexer on the back for double-sided printing. In fact, the driver included on the installation disc doesn't even include an option for manual double-sided printing -- a must-have for anyone interested in saving money on consumables or environmental conservation.
The paper input and output trays both sit on the bottom of the device, though the minimal 80-sheet paper capacity may frustrate you if you're a high-frequency printer. Anyone not relegated to printing the occasional e-mail or plane ticket will likely prefer the extra 20 sheets you can fit in the Epson Stylus NX430.
In addition to a direct USB connection (like most vendors, HP does not include a USB cable with the printer), you can set up the Photosmart 5510 on your network via Wi-Fi, which also lets Apple users make an easy connection through AirPrint on a compatible iOS device. Using AirPrint, you can print out a photo from your iPhoto library by simply choosing the connected printer and hitting Print.
I tested the Wi-Fi connection process and found it simple to navigate through the initial setup screens with help from the instructions on the driver disc. All it takes is a quick input of your network username and password details on the virtual QWERTY keyboard and the printer should immediately connect. Macs and PCs alike on CNET's lab network were able to see the printer without the need to install any additional software.
In addition to Apple AirPrint, the 5510 also features HP's ePrint technology that lets you send jobs from any connected device to the printer using the uniquely assigned e-mail address. You can even navigate through the settings and change the e-mail address to an easier designation to give out to friends and family that you deem responsible enough to take control of your printer -- you can take ownership of that in the control panel (Wireless > Web Services > Display Email) and it's supereasy to set up, but it comes with a few restrictions. For one, the printer must be on and also connected to your network. For another, it can't print Web pages, although you can simply copy and paste the text into a document as a workaround.
Since this is a $99 model, HP omits the ability to register the printer with the company's ePrintCenter app store online. Units higher up in the Photosmart and Officejet line include the ability to download a suite of apps designed to increase workflow and offer bite-size entertainment for easy printing directly through the display, but the use of such apps would require more screen real estate that would bump up the price well over the $100 mark.
The standard flatbed scanner/copier measures 8.5 inches by 11.7 inches, but I was disappointed to find that the hardware omits a hinge that some may find necessary to scan thicker media such as books and multipage documents. Regardless, its 2,400-dpi resolution scanned and copied documents that looked crisp and sharp, and this model can also send scans directly to a PC or a memory card.
Performance
In lab testing, the HP Photosmart 5510 printer registered scores slightly faster than the average for multifunction devices at the $100 price point. It churned out just over five pages of monochrome text, two pages of color graphics, and about two and a half PowerPoint slides per minute. Those speeds trailed the performance of the Epson Stylus NX430, a top performer in this category, but outpaced similarly priced MFPs like the Canon Pixma MX410. It also clearly outclassed an entry-level, two-tank MFP, the HP Deskjet 3050, which shows the performance you gain as you scale up HP Photosmart line.
(Longer bars indicate better performance)
 | Presentation Speed (PPM) | | Photo Speed (1 Sheet) | | Color Graphics Speed (PPM) | | Text Speed (PPM) |
The Photosmart 5510's speed doesn't sacrifice quality. It produced crisp, dark black text, which was clearly superior to the NX430's text quality. Color graphics and photos exhibited accurate colors, though I found that copies of photos came out slightly blurry. That said, I recommend simply reprinting a photo from its digital source if you need another copy.
Service and support
HP backs the Photosmart 5510 with a standard one-year warranty that includes 24-7 toll-free phone support and live Web chat during weekdays. HP's Web site also contains downloadable drivers, software, and manuals; e-mail tech support; FAQs; and a troubleshooting guide. You can return the product within 21 days of delivery.
Conclusion
The HP Photosmart 5510 is a worthwhile purchase if you can acquire it for less than the $100 retail tag. Among HP's competition at its list price, the Epson Stylus NX430 is a better option that gets pages out faster with the added benefits of manual double-sided printing and a larger paper input capacity tray. If you have your choice between both at the same price, your money is better spent on the Epson Stylus NX430.
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