HP Photosmart 385 Digital Photo Inkjet Printer

The print quality on these newer HP printers almost had me running out to buy one. They truly do make some beautiful prints. However, I got looking further and now I would say run far away. Not just from this one, but from all newer HP printers. Why? The ink cartridges. A few years ago there was a big uproar when HP started dropping the amount of ink in their cartridges. They dropped it so there was only about 17ml of ink in a cartridge with the last generation of printers.
This new generation of inks, the Vivera inks, now only have 5-7ml of ink in a cartridge!!! That is about 1/3 the ink of the previous, yet the cartridges cost about the same.
What this means to you as the consumer is that you end up spending a LOT more per print, especially if you are printing darker prints or ones with a lot of color.
When all is said and done, it is MUCH cheaper to take your card from your digital camera (or load images onto a card after editing on your computer) and run down to the photo shop to hav ethem printed. The major photo shop by me charges 19 cents per 4x6 print. They are on real photo paper, not ink-jet, so they last longer. Costco charges just 15 cents, and they are also photo paper. These printers will cost you about 50 cents per print by the time you pay for the ink and the paper. It will actually be from 38 - 60 cents, depending on how dark it is.
You are better off to get a basic printer for printing any pages, documents, homework projects, etc, and leave the photo printing to the photo shops.
I have a very nice camera (see my other reviews) and do all my printing now at the photo shop.

Printer is small, portable and has a nice look. Prints photos in under a minute. Photos come out dry and colors are pretty vibrant. However, what you see in the viewfinder is not always what outputs as a picture. For what ever reason the finished photo gets slightly cropped. It does not print 5X7 Photos. It uses an a/c adapter or a special battery that must be purchased separately. Memory cards are instantly read and total amount of pictures is shown. Comes with ink and photo paper. Overall, good printer but not as versatile as the All-In-One printers available nowadays. Recommend as a second printer for people who want a quick and easy way to print. This printer is also fantastic for using at social events such as parties, weddings, etc... since it can easily be set up in minutes.

This has to be one of the worst digital photo inkjet printers on the market today.
The first day I received this printer was a nightmare.
First of all, I was not aware of the fact that if you use any plain paper to feed into this printer the paper gets jammed frequently. Thus, you are out-of-luck. The manual does state however, to use photo paper which I had planned to purchase. But, the manual also said you can use any size paper that will fit into the printer's paper feed. I tried with all my sense of reasoning to free the jammed paper but was unable to do so because this stupid printer does not give you any other solution to remove the jammed paper except by reversing the printer's roller. That did not work for me at all. So, the next step was to take it apart so that I can free the paper that was jammed inside the printer. By doing so, I damaged the complete rear of the printer and this led to my frustration and discouragement and a final decision to just throw it in the garbage.
The printer is very light and breakable so I urge anyone who wants a good printer to select one that is more solid and one that gives you a more decent solution to free a paper jam more efficiently without any needless effort.
A waste of money.

Love this little printer. Was purchased for my 6 year old budding photographer. Is Super EASY to use and prints quickly! Perfect for on the go or everyday. Compact and Lightweight. LCD Screen makes chosing pictures to print easy. Just pop in a memory card, select the photos you want to print and with the press of a button your photos are on their way. Cannot say enough about this fantastic little printer!

I first saw one of these being used by my sister and was very impressed with he print quality and capabilities of this little printer. I soon had one for myself and then bought one for our daughter for her scrapbooking hobby. Being able to attend events and then leave pictures for the host or participants is both fun and appreciated. As part of one of our RV clubs, I am the historian and document our rallys during the event and even give out pictures to those who would like copies . The cropping and composing ability turns ordinary shots into real "keepers", and everyone loves the frames available. Of course having a good digital camera or two helps, and I just love our new Sony W50 for all it can do and the quality of the images ! If you buy your paper right, you get better pictures than commercially processed (Walmart), a bit cheaper, and you make them look just the way you want. Although the 385 may not be the current model, nor necessarily top of the line, being able to find them for about $50 new on Ebay makes them a "slam-dunk" winner in picture printing.

Krfourov