HP PSC 500

All-in-one printer/scanner/copier

Introduction
Small business owners typically don't have enough need, money or desk space for dedicated scanning station and many have only occasional need for printing, copying and fax functions. But, when these tasks are required, it's important that the quality is there. Hence, HP is just one of several peripheral manufacturers tailoring all-in-one multifunction devices to the needs of these small business owners.

Compatibility
The PSC (printer/scanner/copier) 500 is designed for PC users. The unit is supplied with drivers for Windows 95/98, NT and Windows 2000. (This latter driver is, at this writing, in a "print only" state and does not support scanning.) We tested the unit under Windows 98, Windows NT, Windows 2000 and the new Windows Millennium Edition. Happily, it worked well in all four cases. Note, however, that it requires a bi-directional parallel port connection. If you already have a device connected to your printer port, you'll need to add another one -- HP cautions that you should not use a switch box or a pass-through connection of some sort.

HP says the PSC 500 works best with the port configured in "ECP" mode. This Enhanced Control Port function can be enabled in your computer's BIOS, typically accessible by pressing Delete (etc.) when the computer is first powered on.

Printer
At the heart of the HP PSC 500 is an inkjet printer, using the same colour inkjet cartridges as no less than 28 other HP products, including a reliable workhorse here at PC Buyer's Guide: the popular 722C printer. Having spent the greater part of a month looking in vain for a local supplier of ink supplies for another brand of printer here at the test labs, we consider the use of such widely available consumables a definite plus for consumers.

The unit uses a two-cartridge system. This is also a Good Thing -- single-cartridge printers are a hassle, as you have to swap cartridges every time you want to switch from colour to black printing, or suffer "muddy brown" pseudo-blacks, excessive ink use and poor print speeds.

While it's safe to say that all inkjet printers end up costing far more than laser printers in the long run, we have found the page-count capacity of the huge 30 millilitre colour cartridge to surpass that of any other printer of inkjet-based multifunction peripheral we've tested. The 25 ml black cartridge, compatible with HP DeskJet 810, 812. 840 and 842 models, is similarly prodigious in its output.

The printer uses HP's PhotoREt resolution enhancement technology to deliver 600 x 600 dpi black output, and 1200 dpi colour with PhotoRetII, the latter resolution achievable only when using photo paper.

The ink is deposited on the paper using a "drop-on-demand thermal inkjet" technology. Although the documentation supplied by HP doesn't specify the drop size, the company's website says the drop size of PhotoREtII printers is in the range of 8-10 picolitres -- not as good as today's best "photo quality" printers, but more than enough for professional looking business documents. HP says PhotoREtII makes use of a new ink cartridge which fires ink drops that are 70% smaller than previous HP DeskJet/HP OfficeJet print cartridges and claims they are "the smallest drops of ink in the inkjet printing industry." As a result, up to 16 drops of ink can be layered on top of one another to create one dot of color on an image.

The unit communicates with a PC via a bi-directional parallel port connection and HP's de facto standard PCL Level 3 language. Although it's difficult to test duty cycle claims, HP says the printer is suitable for duty cycles of up to 2000 printed pages per month, on average.

Print speeds vary according to the complexity of the document, but range from 9 pages per minute (ppm) in "Econofast" black to 4.3 ppm in "best" mode.  Colour speeds range from 6.5 ppm to 1 ppm in best mode.

Scanner
The scanning functions of the PSC 500 are also well-realized, as you might expect from one of the leaders in the desktop scanner market. The package includes software that allows the unit to optically recognize text, making it possible to place printed pages on the scanner's flatbed, scan them in and have the character shapes on the page recognized and automatically translated into your word processor. Although this seldom produces a page that is 100% error free, it can be an enormous time saver -- and it sure beats retyping pages by hand!

The flatbed is able to scan a maximum A/A4 paper size, more than enough for an 8.5 x 11" page. Images can be scanned in colour or grayscale. In colour mode, the unit captures 30 bits of color (which it then reduces down to 8 bits each of red, green and blue data). Eight bits (256 shades) of grayscale data are captured. There's also a one-bit (black-and-white) mode. In each case, the maximum optical resolution of the scanner is 600 x 2400 dpi. HP, like virtually all other scanner manufacturers, uses a software trick called "interpolation" to algorithmically increase the unit's maximum resolution to 9600 dpi. This may be useful for B&W scans on occasion, but the optical resolution is ultimately more important.

The unit communicates with imaging programs running on your computer by a method called TWAIN (apparently, standing for "Technology Without An Interesting Name). HP includes a couple of TWAIN-complaint imaging apps with the unit. One is a straightforward image editor; the other is called Creative Photo Projects and is an easy-to-use "fun photo enhancement" utility. Virtually all other photo editors on the market (Corel Photo-Paint, Adobe Photoshop, PhotoDeluxe, etc.) are also TWAIN compliant. This means that you'll be able to use the scanning functions in almost any program you want, not just the ones HP supplies.

Copier
The copier features of the PSC 500 are perhaps its strongest feature -- and an area where this unit begins to demonstrate significant advantages over three separate peripherals. After all, you can pick up a fairly decent printer and scanner for about $150 each these days and produce results roughly comparable to those achievable here. This unit's copier can make up to 50 copies with the press of a button, enlarge/reduce copies from 25 to 400% and can even copy in colour (it automatically senses whether your original is colour or black & white). There are several other cool features, too: "Auto Fit," "Poster Maker," "2 on 1" and "Clone for wallet size photos." The unit is also capable of these copying functions even when the computer is not turned on -- another plus in our book. If advanced copier functions are important to you, this unit really delivers the goods.

All-in-one Integration
The unit is actually quite quiet in operation, with an operating noise level of 42dB, on average. It is, of course, much quieter when idle. :-)
Francophones will be pleased to note that, not only does HP Canada ship bilingual manuals, but the unit even comes with a French-language faceplate, with "Imprimante/Numériseur/Copieur" labels. The company provides a one-year warranty on the unit. (Actually, Canadians get a bonus here, too: units sold in the U.S. after July 31st, 2000 provide a one-year parts warranty, but a mere 90 days on labour.). Another nice touch is the way the unit's power connector on the back glows with the light of a small LED, even when the unit is turned off, to indicate that external power is working correctly.

We always try to find something to complain about in our product reviews, but, honestly, there isn't much to mention here. A mysterious round port resembling a now-obsolete Macintosh serial port is undocumented in the manual but is, we suspect, intended for some as-yet-unavailable attachment option -- perhaps a transparency adapter. The unit's parallel port connection, which terminates in an odd little connector (technically known as a 1284C connection) on the PSC, could be, we suppose, a liability for those seeking a longer cable. The manuals (which are generally quite good) discuss how to share the PSC 500 on a network at some length, but HP's website says it's not supported. The website has a few other errors, too, including discrepancies in pricing. One page says US$299; another estimates US$399.

For More Information
Information about this and other HP products can be found on the World Wide Web at http://www.hp.com or by calling 1-800-387-3867 in Canada.
See www.pandi.hp.com/pandi-db/prodinfo.product_specs?product=psc500 for detailed specs.

Dot-com-plaints
Sidebar: ever wondered how companies get their web pages to show up at the top of search engine listings? Ask the developers of Epinions.com, who managed to get a "review" of the PSC 500 into number one spot on AltaVista by including the text "HP PSC 500" no less than 21 times in the source code of a web page that didn't mention one word about the product. That's right: when we first checked the page in Sept. 2000, there was no review at all. Things may have changed by the time you read this. The Web has a way of evolving to address questions deserving of answers.