The HP 7280 is an entry level printer that is packed with features for a low price from $350 (AUD). When you unpack it from the box its clean lines and compact shape immediately strike you. Moreover, the 2.5 inch LCD give the HP 7280 appeal which was once only available in high end office style printers.

The HP 7280 has several functions which include document printing, photo printing, scanning, copying and faxing which make it ideal for a small office set up. For fax users perhaps the best function in the new home HP printers is they contain a stand alone fax which means no more turning on the pc to receive or send faxes.

The scanner is standard fair with a resolution of 4800 dpi which is more than enough for the average home office. The added document feeder will come in handy for those of you handling multiple page scanning or faxing jobs. Printing is offered at up to 33 pages per minute although in reality the actual speed is around 10 pages per minute when printing in normal mode.

Connectivity is an area that has been greatly improved in recent years with wireless access filtering down into lower range printers. This allows you to print from a wireless device such as a notebook or PDA straight through your wireless network without the need to turn on your PC or to buy a print server. A real plus!

In addition direct photo printing is also offered straight through Bluetooth, PictBridge and memory card slots.

On the down side this printer, like so many HP printers, falls down in the area of total cost of ownership. The HP psc 7280 contains 6 ink cartridges (5 color and 1 black) and while that offers advantages for those of you who tend to use more of one particular color it unfortunately increases printing costs for most. Although the #2 cartridges are cheap individually (around $13 AUD) buying 5 at a time can soon equal lots of $$ when the yield (the amount of pages printed per cartridge) is only 350. With the black cartridge a little more expensive but also printing slightly more pages (480). This puts the cost per page at between 23-27 cents per page making volume printing uneconomical.

In summary, the HP psc7280 provides great value for money for occasional printers who print less than 20 pages per week. However, for printers who print more than this amount should carefully think about the cost per page to print. Particularly color photos which can be printed for 10 - 15 cents per photo (including photo paper) at the local store. Making the HP 7280 unviable for this purpose.

Total score 6.5/10