HP PSC 950

Ideally suited for the home-office environment, the PSC 950 is a stand-alone Multifunction Printer that can print, scan, copy and fax according to your needs. With a compact and functional design, the HP product is one of the best solutions for those who have little available space and yet need several devices.
One of its most interesting features is that it does not necessarily have to be connected to a computer in order to operate, so it is absolutely independent from the working environment and therefore easily integrated into any situation.
The PSC 950 can work as a photocopier (max letter size), faithfully reproducing B/W or colour documents at a speed truly acceptable for a multifunction printer. As with any normal photocopier, one can specify the number of copies, copy ratio and quality.
The possibility to make good quality colour copies, even if at a markedly slower speed than with B/W, noticeably increases the effective worth of the PSC 950, especially for a small home-office solution.
The scanner option, like in most consumer scanners, allows many variables to be controlled, e.g. size, resolution, colour and more. The descreen control is the only non-modifiable option, thus making newspaper reproduction very difficult. The flatbed scanner's specs are really good, considering 36-bit colour and 600 by 1,200 optical resolution. The OCR software to scan text is a plus.
The faxing solution, despite the problems caused by the lack of a sheet feeder, can store up to 50 pages, and transmission speed envies nothing to standard stand-alone fax devices. If you only need to fax a few pages, the PSC 950 is undoubtedly a good choice.
Last but not least, printing. Image quality is rather good, both on standard and photo paper. Well-saturated colours and crisp and sharp text are this HP product's calling card. The PSC 950 even gives the possibility to print directly from digital cameras, bypassing computers, thanks to the three slots on its case that can accept SmartMedia cards, CompactFlash cards, and Sony Memory Stick media.
The printer is compatible both with PCs and Macs, but the drivers that come with it are possibly the worst trait. Even after downloading the update from the HP Website (20 MB), the results on a spanking new G4 were disappointing, causing repeated system crashes. On the PC side the situation is definitely less problematic.
The PSC 950 is a good solution (unless your computer sports an apple) for a home-office environment, at a price ($599 CDN) that is affordable, although not cheap.
For more information visit: www.hp.com

Publication Date: 2002-03-24
Story Location: http://tandemnews.com/viewstory.php?storyid=1105