Crave

(Credit: HP)

We've been hearing a lot of hype surrounding HP's new touch screen printer, the Photosmart Premium TouchSmart Web, and finally got a unit into the CNET Labs for a full set of tests. It's HP's flagship printer and the first of its kind to allow wireless Web connectivity directly from the printer itself, courtesy of a large 4.33-inch LCD display. To kick off the launch, HP also debuted an App Studio for users to browse and download custom shortcuts and widgets for the printer.

Now that we've had a week to thoroughly review the HP Photosmart Premium TouchSmart Web, we're feeling underwhelmed by the lack of overall features and usability. We ran into several snags during the testing process, on top of our disappointment at the lack of an autodocument feeder and the letter-size scanner bay. For example, the display feels dull to the touch and lacks the responsiveness that we've come to expect out of an interactive screen. We found ourselves struggling to firmly select an icon, which often resulted in misguided navigation. On top of that, many of the applications had a tendency to freeze up during our tests, requiring a sluggish restart time.

Our main issue with the printer is that the touch screen and app studio just don't offset the $400 price tag, especially when you can purchase a perfectly capable HP multifunction Photosmart for $270 that actually has physical buttons--as long as you're willing to sacrifice the gimmicky touch screen and app store. As it stands, the App Studio doesn't quite offer the functionality and ease of use that we expected. Each app, like Google Maps or USA Today, has its own submenu...with sub-submenus...with sub-sub-submenus, to the point where we started wondering why anyone would bother tapping 15 times on a 4-inch screen when an actual computer (with novel hardware like a keyboard, mouse, and large monitor) can't be too far away.

We even performed an anecdotal timed test to further prove how the app store and a touch screen without any hard buttons can overcomplicate an otherwise easy-to-use machine, but you'll have to read the review for the unsurprising results. One final note: HP has informed us that an SDK will soon be available for developers to make their own apps for the printer, which we hope will add more exciting and useful apps to the line-up, but judging from the poor reception to its desktop TouchSmart SDK, we're not holding our breath.

Check out our full review and video for the HP Photosmart Premium TouchSmart Web.

Why have a separate printer, scanner, copier, and fax machine when you can get all of those devices in one machine? The multifunction printer is the next evolution of desktop companions that can do everything but say "you're welcome."

A solid all-in-one printer gives you the functionality of each part without sacrificing individual quality, and most of them actually seamlessly integrate with your work environment thanks to front-loading media card readers, built in 802.11 b/g print servers, and easy-to-use driver software. Take a look at a list of our favorite AIOs and decide for yourself, but whether you spend a little or a lot, a multifunctional printer is the most practical solution to organize your home office.

Check out our round-up of our favorite multifunctional printers.

I have a love/hate relationship with the Epson Artisan 800 multifunctional printer. Let's start on the positive end: after doing a thorough test of the features, I have no problem saying that the Artisan 800 produces some of the highest-quality photo and graphic prints I've ever seen, even on regular 20-pound white paper. Our standard sheet of colored text also looked very pleasing. On top of that, I have to applaud Epson for the 800's chart-topping print speed. The printer delivered a 4-inch-by-6-inch color photo in 18 seconds, almost double the speed of our comparison printers.

Unfortunately, the fun stops there. The testing process, although tedious and time consuming, has never given me a headache...until now. A combination of mechanical and software errors made the printer borderline unusable; I almost spent more time fixing paper jams and restarting the printer than actually testing it. Toward the end of the testing, images of a certain scene from the movie Office Space danced in my head. Luckily for this printer, the CNET office is currently suffering from a severe shortage of baseball bats.

Kodak ESP 7

(Credit: Kodak)

After our mediocre experience with Kodak's last offerings, the ESP 3 and ESP 5, we're happy to see Kodak fixing some of its old mistakes.

On Monday, the company announced two new products in the ESP line of desktop All-in-One printers. The ESP 7 and ESP 9 both feature secure Wi-Fi print servers for wireless connectivity and Kodak's newest intelligent paper tray system. The printers can approximate the amount of paper in the tray and automatically adjust print settings to increase productivity in the office or home. Both printers are available now and will be tested and reviewed by the CNET team soon.

The $200 ESP 7 is a step above its cousins and has integrated Wi-Fi as well as an autoduplexer for printing on both sides of a sheet of paper. The front panel hosts a 3-inch LCD and the buttons feature a visually appealing blue backlight similar to the stylish Samsung's SCX-4500.

Kodak ESP 9

(Credit: Kodak)

The printer also ships with Kodak's Home Center Software with the highly regarded facial autoretouch software. We used the desktop client with both the ESP 3 and ESP 5, with satisfying results. Professional Photoshoppers will definitely notice disparities in the retouch algorithm, but overall the software will appeal to consumers as an effortless way to touch up blemishes and enhance facial features with a single mouse click.

The $300 ESP 9 takes the printing experience a bit further with additional features such as a dedicated fax machine with autodial buttons on the front of the machine, Wi-Fi and Ethernet capabilities, an autodocument feeder for larger-size media, a duplexer, and a larger 10-inch front control panel with the aforementioned blue backlit buttons.

We are also happy to report that Kodak fixed the strange plastic arm that plagued the older ESPs; an industry standard hinge now holds the hood open on both models, so kudos to Kodak for taking user critique into consideration.

Color lasers, black and white multifunctions, color inkjets, compact photo printers--with a handful of options available to shoppers, the all-in-one (AIO) color inkjet printer is arguably the most functional. The ability to perform multiple functions within the same machine is a useful and convenient feature for the home-office entrepreneur, poor college student, or the everyday home user. Prices for these high-performance machines are affordable across the board. Today, Epson introduced three new AIO printers under $100. Let's take a closer look at the new offerings:

• Printer, scanner, and fax machine
• Two ink-cartridge bays with four total colors
• Uses DURABrite Ultra Ink for smudge, fade, water and highlighter resistance
• One-touch color copying
• Maximum 5760 x 1440 dpi print resolution
• $69.99

• Printer, scanner, and fax machine
• Prints up to 32 pages per minute (reportedly)
• Built-in memory-card slots and PictBridge port
• 48-bit color, 1200 x 2400 dpi scanning
• Auto-Photo Correction preloaded into driver
• $79.99

• Printer, scanner, and fax machine
• 30 page auto-document feeder (ADF)
• Enlarge images up to 400 percent
• Optical Character Recognition software included with scanner
• Prints up to 31 pages per minute of black text
• $89.99

All three printers in the NX series are available for purchase now on Epson's Web site. Check back for in-depth reviews coming soon.

Convergence is the key to staying ahead in the technology game, so it's no surprise that printer vendors are offering more and more printers that do quadruple duty as scanner, copier, and fax machine. Today, Lexmark caters to the back-to-school shoppers with a handful of new All-in-Ones that are competitively priced but include all the features you'd find in their larger counterparts.

The $99 X5650 AiO is a printer, scanner, copier, and fax machine with an auto-document feeder for scanning/copying stacks of paper. It can reportedly print up to 25 black pages per minute and 18 color. Unique to this model is a port that sits on the front of the printer, making it easy to quickly connect and print through a laptop.

The $129.99 X6650 is also four machines in one and adds a wireless printer server built into the device. It also has a 2-inch OLED screen, an auto-document feeder, and the same reported print speed as the X5650.

Finally, the $149.99 X4950 only has three capabilities (print, scan, and copy), but also has wireless, two-sided printing (duplexing), a 2.4-inch color LCD, and an auto-document feeder.
All three models in the Home and Student series will be available in September.

Brother's newest inkjet multifunction printer, the MFC-6490CW is a milestone for the company--it's their first color inkjet that can print, copy, scan, and fax on 11 inch by 17-inch tabloid sized paper. This is also the first in a new line of "Professional Series" printers that accommodate the creative and innovative consumer.

The printer will have ports for direct printing from USB flash drives, PictBridge compatible ports, and external multimedia cards. In addition, the MFC-6490CW is also wireless and includes a built in auto-document feeder, dual paper input trays, and a four ink cartridge bay. We're also excited to see that it has a beautiful 3.3-inch color LCD that acts as a control center for the device.

The printer will be available next month for $299; look for an in depth review from CNET soon.

(Credit: NEC)

It seems hard to believe that, well into the 21st century, so many offices still must keep fax machines to do business. But at least some manufacturers are trying to evolve their Paleolithic technology, whether by going mobile or making lattes. (A little perfume never hurts either.)

NEC is taking an even more ambitious route that, surprisingly, involves the most analog form of communication of all: handwriting. The SP-NA640 will scan the worst of your chicken scratchings or doodlings and send them to any mobile phone as an image document, even in color, according to Akihabara News. With such great minds at work, we wonder if someone will invent some software that will make doctors' writing legible.

(Credit: SlashGear)

Can you remember the last time you saw a new fax machine that didn't look like every other model on the shelf? For that matter, what about a new fax machine at all? Same here. That's why it was easy to notice the Canon FAX-JX200. (OK, so they still need to apply some of those creative juices to their nomenclature.) We agree with SlashGear that faxing still has a place in the world, and we hope that Canon's redesign indicates that it thinks so too. And we're even happier to see that it's only $80.