HP DeskJet 5440 Photo Inkjet Printer

The HP DeskJet 5440 Photo Printer is a solid sub-$100 inkjet printer. PC and MAC compatible, the DeskJet 5440 prints at a max optimized 4,800 x 1,200 dpi and provides relatively sharp and crisp texts and graphics, but mediocre photos with moderate banding and pronounced graininess. It can however print these photos up to a surprising 8.5 x 24 panorama mode and has a Pictbridge port for direct printing from your digital camera. The printer uses higher quality HP Vivera ink in two cartridge, four color mode (HP 92 Black ink cartridge and HP 93 Tricolor ink cartridge) or replace the black ink with a photo ink cartridge (HP 99) for higher quality 6 ink color printing. Of course all these extra inks are expensive and since they aren’t individual they may not be as efficient and cost effective. Speed wise, text and graphic printing is a decent max speed of 20 pages per minute while a 5 x 7 photo on high prints at a swift 45 seconds. Overall, the DeskJet 5440 provides high quality text and graphics but is merely average in its photo abilities, however the price and performance is hard to resist for a budget minded student or causal user.