The bloggers in the second half of this campaign have been just as thrilled with the products as the bloggers in the first half. As before, their photo editing and printing skills and experience range from novice to expert, so their feedback is varied. But all in all, the HP Photosmart A626 and the accompanying Photo Books have been a grand success.

In this final round-up, the blogger feedback will be grouped into the same three components as in the mid-campaign post: 1) Printer functionality; 2) Printer-based photo editing; and 3) the Photo Books and their associated photo editing software.

Printer functionality

Setting up the printer is unbelievably easy, whether you’re shaking in your boots at the sight of new technology or ready to plug-and-play:

• “Setup on the photo printer was pretty darn simple. Plug it in, follow the few steps offered in the instructions, and you’re off and running. Actually, I’m not sure I’d have even needed to worry about the instructions, it prompts you as each step goes along.“
• “The printer is exceptionally easy to set up. It is completely self-contained and portable…The setup guide is a single sheet of paper that clearly explains what to do, although it is pretty intuitive. The screen of the printer prompts with directions as well.“
• “It’s idiot-proof. Plug it in. Slide ink cartridge into place. Then insert your camera’s memory card and you’re in business. The large color touch-screen is as intuitive as any photo kiosk’s. I haven’t cracked open the manual yet.“
• “The printer was super easy to set up. It’s designed to work directly with your memory card. Just pop it in and then edit or print your photos.“

A few bloggers even quoted how many minutes it took to set up and print a photo:

• “I have to stress here how unbelievably easy to set up and use this device is. I’m not big on reading manuals, so I was relieved to see it came with a cheat sheet, one of those posters that has basic instructions (and diagrams) for doing a quick set-up on a product. I timed myself, and it took me exactly eight minutes to set up the Photosmart and print my first photo.“
• “…no one was more surprised than I was when I had this printer up and running in less than 10 minutes. You have no idea how spectacular that made me feel and we can all be assured it was due to HP and not to me. This was the easiest installation of technology that I have ever done in my life.“
• “…imagine my surprise when I set up and printed a picture in less than 15 minutes, with nary a phone call to an HP representative…“

The bloggers had very individual preferences as to how they chose to print their photos. While many were disappointed that the USB cable wasn’t included (but was provided separately by HP for review purposes) - “I would say the only downside is that the required USB cable doesn’t come with it. Just my opinion, but include the cable, HP. It makes the consumer like you more when you can buy something and everything is in the box.” - one blogger is going to use the USB cable to tie back her curtains, because she “…used the printer without hooking it up to my computer. For me, this is the way to go, as it makes the printer truly portable as a stand-alone device…I did try using the printer in tandem with my computer, but I have to say that for me it defeated the whole purpose of having a photo printer. It took the novelty and fun out of being able to point and print out an image directly from my memory card…”

One blogger explained her need for the USB cable quite well: “…if you’re making a photo book of your child’s first year of life (as I was) and that child is now 4.5 years old, you’re going to need the USB cable to get those photos off of your computer.” But another blogger, who also agrees that the USB cable should be included with the printer, reported: “…while USB cord-less I came up with an easy work-around. I saved photos I’d edited with iPhoto to a memory stick and printed directly from it.”

The touch screen and stylus were winners with this group too:

• “The touch-screen on the Photosmart works beautifully…I have to say it’s one of my favorite features. It makes navigating through the thumbnails of your images incredibly easy, and gives my hands a nice break from using a mouse or a keyboard.“
• “I couldn’t believe how responsive the touch screen was. Touch screens in the past have left me wanting to hit something but this actually responded to my prompt every single time.“
• “Its screen is large for such a compact printer and allows you to not only preview your image but also edit, crop, or even select graphic borders for printing…[and] even allows others to view the images as a slideshow, completely portable if you are using the rechargeable battery for operation.“
• “…because the handy dandy little stylus is so easy to nab and pop all over the touch screen, negotiating through various screens is quick and easy.“
• “You can navigate your photos using the included stylus or your finger. I found both work equally well.“

Although the touch screen is surprisingly large (since the printer is so small), one blogger admitted: “My one gripe with the touch screen is that I’d prefer to view the pictures on the large screen of my computer to determine how they’re going to look before I print them.”

And the size of the printer was also cause for much comment. A blogger who owns a HP PSC commented: “It’s so compact, as I had it sitting next to my HP PSC, I thought, if my PSC had somehow mated and had a preemie, this would be the result.” Another agreed: “The coolest thing about the HP printer is how small and portable it is. It only weighs a little over 3 lbs and is about 10″ wide. Perfect for mobility and small spaces…” In fact, that same blogger “took it over to one of our shelters and offered to take pictures for folks who wanted them and was able to print them right then and there for some people, many of whom hadn’t had a photo taken of themselves in years.”

Another blogger also took her printer out for a spin: “To test out the HP we took it with us to a friend’s wedding. I happened to be the 2nd photographer for the event so I had opportunity to take many pictures of her beautiful day.” And yet another one plans to do so, thanks to the printer’s size: “I love how light and portable the printer is and I plan on bringing it to my daughter’s next dance competition so we can print photos on the spot.”

But with the compact nature comes some limitations. One blogger admitted: “Secretly I wish that the HP Photosmart A626 printer could accommodate up to a full-sized sheet, but I realize this would cut down on its portability factor.”

Still, the bloggers were greatly impressed by the printer - its ease of use: “As I tested this printer I never found cause to refer to the troubleshooting and support section of the user’s guide, but I read it anyway and found it to be very simple to understand, which can’t be said about many tech products these days.” - the recycling forethought: “One aspect of my test of the HP Photosmart A626 that really made me smile was that when I switched my introductory cartridge to the full cartridge, I noticed that the new print cartridge came with a postage-paid envelope in which to return the used cartridge - instant recycling. I love it!” - and its [ahem] durability: “…would the HP Photosmart A626 Compact Photo Printer throw itself off a desk at the sight of me?…After I plugged in this clock/radio-sized handy and resilient [cough] little photo printer and inserted the memory card from my camera, my six-year old son grabbed the reins. Let me do this, mom.”

Still not enough information here to convince you? Check out this tutorial video made by one of our bloggers:

Printer-based photo editing

A wide array of photo editing features are available using only the touch screen, such that photos can be “…edited in a myriad of ways: red-eye reduction, brightness control, cropping, addition of decorative frames, captioning, or freehand drawing. Of course I tried everything.”

The basic features passed the tests of both novice and expert photo editors:

• “The cropping and red-eye reduction were easy to use and worked well…“
• “Their red-eye feature works great - my results were just as good as those I get in iPhoto.“
• “I was able to edit them easily - cropping, removing the red eye…Erasing your mistakes is an easy thing too.“
• “I’m a very novice Photoshop user and I can tell you that taking a photo and doing even just the one task of red-eye removal would require more steps to complete and print than it would on the HP printer…For accomplishing something in an efficient manner, this little printer will help in leaps and bounds.“

The more elaborate features, such as framing and captioning, were definitely a lot of fun:

• “…there’s a feature called Get Creative that allows you to draw, write captions, add pictures frames and a variety of other cool things that I insisted using all at once with tacky results…Only bummer is that the screen is kind of small so it’s a bit harder to see than if you used a computer-based program like Photoshop, but it’s much, much easier for a photo-editing amateur.“
• “…he personalized the photo of his choice with a border, a caption, and his very own illustrated additions.“
• “Freehand Drawing is a blast for a non-artist such as myself…This function can be useful for filling in the midriff (or plumber-behind) of your teenaged niece or erasing out a house number on a photo you will post on the internet.“
• “…use the onscreen keyboard to type in a caption in one of five different fonts and several different colors. You’ll never have to scrawl Loser with a Sharpie over your ex-boyfriend’s picture again!“

But as before, the bloggers lamented: “The only drawback is that you can’t save the edited pictures…” Likewise, one blogger commented: “As fun as the on-the-printer editing features are, I do enjoy looking carefully at my enlarged photographs to tweak them. Also, as the editing on the printer isn’t saved, anything I hope to post online (or share through email) will be edited first on my computer.” However, many agreed that: “The editing software is perfect for the novice scrapbooker…”

Photo Books and software

The Photo Books “…are a scrapbooker’s dream, literally allowing you to create a beautiful digital scrapbook layout, add personalized items or journaling, and pop together into a very well made hard backed cover. I was surprised at how nicely the books work…The formatting of the photo book allows you to not only create a fun and unique gift idea, but a keepsake that you can continue to update and change in time up to 25 pages.”

The novices loved them: “It was a breeze. A snap. Easy as pie. The photos snap right into these attractive, fabric-covered books and - hallelujah! - will make an excellent gift for the grandparents this year.” - and so did the experts: “The HP Photo Books are incredibly easy to use…Once the cover and back are in the proper position, the pages do not slide out: they are secure…The software includes photo gifts, calendars, prints, CD labels, greeting cards, and other projects in addition to the layouts for the HP Photo Books. I could definitely spend a lot of time making funthings for my family out of pictures of my boys.”

Once again, one of the bloggers timed herself: “Start your stopwatch. I got the software added. Worked around in the software to familiarize myself with the options, finding picture folders to add to the Library. Then, literally TWENTY MINUTES LATER, I had a completed 5×7 photo book, with theme pages, printed, ready and popped into the binder. Officially, this is the quickest photo project I’ve ever done on my computer (because I can never manage to keep anything simple) and also, this is a gift that will receive the most rave reviews when I give it to the recipient at Christmas.”

The bloggers did voice some dissatisfaction where it came to the associated software - ranging from system compatibility: “I did experience a minor snafu when attempting to install the software CD, but this I attribute to the fact that my computer is OLD and lacking in RAM. I was therefore unable to fully experience the many additional photo editing features and designs available through HP.” to design and layout issues: “Another aspect of the Photo Book that I found a bit puzzling was that there is no added left margin to the page to accommodate for the binding. For full-size photographs, this means part of the photo is cut off. Similarly, a centered picture isn’t really centered anymore once the binding is taken into consideration.” One seasoned photo editor prefers to stick with her usual design programs, commenting that: “…the software is far too limiting for even the modestly creative type.”

However, another designer really liked how all of the components fit together, noting that it “…made me marvel at how ingenious the whole HP photo system is.”

Summary

As we noted in the mid-campaign post, the HP Photosmart A626 printer and Photo Books are a simple and relatively inexpensive way to finally get those pictures out of your computer and onto photo paper, whether they’re printed as individual photos or gathered in a Photo Book as a gift. The printer is exceptionally user-friendly, and its size makes it even more attractive.

But most importantly, these products are about having fun with photography. One of our reviewers described a perfect example of just how much fun she and her family have had with them:

“My two daughters, ages 9 and 11, couldn’t get enough of the Photosmart and turned into photo-printing maniacs; I had to put my foot down when I realized they were going through all of my paper printing pictures of my daughter’s stuffed rabbit in various forms of inebriation while holding a wine bottle Christmas tree ornament.”

While those shots probably won’t make it into the Photo Book for the grandparents, our blogger is now “…considering purchasing them a Photosmart of their very own…”

Why not? At less than $150 (check circulars for sales and rebates!), the HP Photosmart A626 makes a fabulous gift, not to mention an entertaining holiday activity in itself!