Review: Photosmart 7520 e-All-in-One Printer by HP
I’ve been on the hunt for a printer wonder machine for a while now. I finally found it: the Photosmart 7520 e-All-in-One Printer by HP. I have to tell you, I couldn’t be any happier! This printer (really) has it all! And the best part? Wi-Fi!
Features: Print, copy, scan to e-mail, fax. Wi-fi enabled with USB port, SD slot and HP ePrint functionality—print from your smartphone or tablet from virtually anywhere. 4.3” touchscreen display. Prints high-quality, everyday documents and photos.
My printer arrived via the postman and since I’m a relatively small person, I was happy the box came with a nifty handle; albeit, the printer wasn’t very heavy at all. I was able to maneuver it on my own. Unboxing was a breeze.
Inside the box I didn’t find a thick manual. I found a simple setup flyer which walked me through 5 or so easy steps to get my printer plugged in an running (see image at the bottom). I have to tell you, I like illustrations –they’re way easier than trying to read through a bunch of text. By following a few simple photos, I was able to get the ink installed. The ink on this machine is pretty awesome –it comes with 5 individual ink cartridges so you can replace only the individual cartridge that has run out (the display will notify you). Pretty thoughtful; I was impressed!
Photosmart 7520 Review –Continued.
Once the ink was in, the printer went through a 6-minute setup process. The touchscreen display kept me up to speed on where I was at in the process. Sometimes printers can go on the fritz so for the less tech-savvy, HP’s thoughtful software and touchscreen display will definitely be helpful. I’m pretty technical, and even I found it helpful when I was trying figure out how to load paper.
Next I decided to try printing via Wi-Fi. Using my laptop, I searched for nearby connections and there it was: “HP-Setup.” With a simple click and a bit of setup (the driver’s were self-installing), I was able to print from my MacBook to my Photosmart 7520 in a matter of minutes. Pretty sweet if I have a guest over that needs to print something –they can simply establish their own connection to the printers Wi-Fi.
I hadn’t yet added the printer to my home network, so when I connected my laptop to the printer, I wasn’t connected to my home Wi-Fi and I lost internet connectivity. My next order of business was to add the printer to my home network so I can print and still remain connected to the Internet. With a bit of setup, the printer was added to my home network.
Once the printer was connected to the Internet, I decided to give HP e-Print a try. To get me going, the HP printed an instruction sheet for me with the URL and confirmation code. Once you register an account at the HP ePrint center, you then assign your printer an @hpeprint.com email address. Anything you send to this inbox will now print to the HP printer you’ve assigned it to. I decided to take a screenshot using my iPhone and print from mobile. Within a few seconds of sending the photo to my @hpeprint.com address, my printer was spitting out the photo on glossy photograph paper –it was incredible! What’s more, with the individual 5 ink system, the lab-quality of the image was impressive!
The nice thing about having your own @hpeprint.com account is that you can share it with guests who need to print something on the fly without going through all the steps of having them establish a connection to your printer. It’s also great if you have many devices and you want to print quickly. But since you don’t want strangers sending print jobs to your printer in the middle of the night (should they get a hold of your @hpeprint.com address), you can specify which email addresses the ePrint account will honor print jobs from. Aside from that, you can also change your printer’s email handle at any time.
Once logged in to HP ePrint, you can conveniently re-order printer supplies without research (you’ll be served only products relevant to your device). You’ll also have an apps panel that allows you to select from a wide range of free apps that can appear on your touchscreen. I noticed a 7-day Menu app. If you set it as a default app, it’ll be one of the first things you see when you use your printer. With a click, you can print your weekly food menu on the fly and stick it on your fridge.
With a memory card slot, a USB port, and Wi-Fi capabilities (for use both on and off the Internet), as well as print from e-mail capability, this HP printer gives you many options for getting a document printed. So what’s my review of the Photosmart 7520 e-All-in-One Printer by HP? In every sense, this printers all-in-one claim is spot on; this HP is made for printing! And with a respectable ISO speed of up to 14 pages per minute (ppm) black and 10 ppm color, you’ll be sure to get your job done quickly.
Photosmart 7520 Review —Concluded
I’ve finally found my printer wonder machine! The best part, it’s only $199. You can get yours here via HP (due out in early to mid-September). Or buy from Amazon, below.
