By Ian Burley
1st October - 2001
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Just over a week ago we had a sneak peek at HP’s new Photosmart printer, the P1315, during the launch of HP’s new digital cameras (click here). Significantly, the new 1315 supports Sony’s Memory Stick memory card users as well as Compact Flash (including IBM Microdrives) and SmartMedia. Today is the official launch of the P1315 and a second Photosmart model, the P1115 and we have full details, pricing and availability.
This week HP is also following the recent trend initiated by Canon and Olympus and is launching a compact postcard print size printer. We’ll be posting full details once we have them.
To recap, the P1315 will replace the existing P1218, adds a Sony Memory Stick card slot and comes with a 6cm colour LCD screen for printer function menu display and image previewing so it is easier than ever to print photos without the need for a host PC to be attached. Performance is slightly improved too, with a claimed mono speed of 17 pages per minute (ppm) and 13ppm printing colour documents (though photo printing, as with all ink-jet printers, requires a great deal more ink to be laid down and is much slower).
The P1115 is a simpler and cheaper version of the P1315, so it doesn’t have the colour preview screen, it’s smaller and there is no Memory Stick support. But both printers are equipped with HP’s Photoret III system for optmising 4 ink photo printing.
Phil Hall, hp UK Digital Imaging Category Manager, commented: “By incorporating hp’s advanced printing technology with intuitive features such as the colour LCD control panel, the new hp photosmart printers allow any digital photographer to print the very highest quality photos themselves.”
Prices and availability:
(estimated street prices are inclusive of VAT)
HP photosmart 1315: £299, available 1st November 2001
HP photosmart 1115: £179, available 1st November 2001
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