HP Photosmart Premium All-in-One Printer (CD055A#ABA)

When I bought this printer, it was priced at $[...] from the big box retailers, and $[...] directly from HP, (HP had a instant rebate if you purchased it from their website). Pretty bad when retailers charge more than the manufacturer. I found it at Amazon for less than any of those, so I bought it here.I bought this printer as I am switching over to everything WiFi. And I liked the idea that I could free up some counter space by replacing both scanner and printer.When I received it, I noticed that a few things looked a bit cheap; like the power connector. Oh well, considering the price, I figured they had to skimp somewhere.I setup the printer with a Win 7 laptop, and went off without a hitch. The wireless connection set itself up easily, and I was amazed at the test photo print - they even give you a "sampler" pack of 3 4x6 photo paper to test the printer.The scanner function uses the built-in Microsoft Fax and Scanner utility, so there is no scanner software per-se. I tested it and it worked as expected.The only thing I dislike is print drivers seem to have become major apps with 100Mb driver files! So far there is an annoying pop-up each time I start the PC that I need to figure out how to get rid of.So next, I installed the driver in my Win XP computer. "File not Found". I look at the installation CD... it says XP/Vista/Windows 7. So off to HP's website and download a new driver, which worked on my Win XP machine. OK, so perhaps XP is a bit old, but my netbook came with XP when I purchased it last year, and I am not going to pay Microsoft a dime more than necessary to upgrade to Win 7.So then I fired up both of my Ubuntu systems. Went to the print manager, and both Ubuntu machines found the printer without the need to install a driver, without the extra garbage (print coupons, photo web site), and without the annoying pop-up messages each time I boot the machine. Oh how I wish for Ubuntu to become the desktop OS of choice.But I digress...The printer even has bluetooth, and I was able to print photos from my cell phone and iPod Touch. That was pretty slick.All in all, a pretty decent printer.

After the fiancee's old printer ink became unavailable I decided to replace both her photo printer and desktop printer with this all-in-one. I have been regretting it ever since. The print speed and quality of this printer are excellent. Wireless connectivity works pretty good as well. Setup in Vista was not too difficult, however Windows 7 64 bit required a driver download.Ink usage is borderline poor to average. I also hate the way HP has the ink cartridges setup. This printer requires "564" replacements and requires two different black cartridges. This ends up being confusing at times and I've ended up going to the store and obtaining the wrong black ink on more than one occasion. The shapes on the ink cartridge itself (and touch screen and software) do not matter at all when buying replacement ink because HP doesn't use the shapes on the outside of the box of the replacement cartridges! To add insult to injury, HP also carries two versions - the "standard" and the "XL" (extra capacity). The XL is supposed to double the yield of the standard cartridge for a mere 50% higher price. Due to the frustration of ink cartridge shopping I now buy only XL, try and find the "combo pack" and always end up getting both black ink cartridges even if one doesn't need to be replaced.Another note regarding ink: since I guess the ink settles while sitting on the shelf, I've had to shake the cartridge vigorously prior to installation because the printer has reported errors that brand new ink cartridges were empty. This has become standard prior to installing any replacement cartridge.Also, due to the printer having issues with DHCP reservation and flaky wireless, I've had to manually assign it's IP address. Coupled with WSD issues, I've had to manually configure TCP/IP ports on my Windows computers to resolve frequent connectivity issues with the printer. I have to troubleshoot the fiancee's printer queue every other week due to random issues. This printer truly has been the bane of my existence since purchase.Pros: Good touch screen, excellent b&w/photo print quality. Good scanning capability. Scan document or picture to file (PDF, TIFF)/web/email works great. Built-in USB and flash capability.Cons: WSD installation is terrible -- highly suggest using TCP/IP port. Intermittent wireless connectivity issues. Mediocre ink usage - if you print often, be prepared to replace cartridges regularly. Finding cartridge replacements are a hassle.