UnPacking the HP Officejet Pro 8500 Wireless All-in-One Printer

Last week I received a very unusual package – guess what? It was a brand new HP Officejet Pro 8500 Wireless All-in-One printer courtesy HP Imaging and Printing Group as well as their consultants Genesis Burson-Marsteller.

I received the unit to do my very own hands on assessment on how this printer performs and also answer the burning question “Is an Office Inkjet better than a Laser?”. I will be sharing with you folks a series of reviews over the coming weeks on each of it’s vast features. But even before that, I would like to clearly state that all my reviews on this product are entirely my OWN and are in NO way influenced by HP or it’s partners.

Having said that, lets begin unpacking the unit. I have created a small video of the entire unpacking exercise. Have a look at it below.

Some of the brief specs about the HP Officejet Pro 8500 are:

• Print capability of A4 duplex colour prints using inkjet features.
• High resolution 4800 x 2400ppi scanner.
• Integrated plain paper Fax.
• Print DPI quality of an amazing 4,800 x 2,400 dpi.
• Supports Wireless operation using WiFi.
• USB 2.0 connectivity.
• Computer-less copy/print operation both in B/W and color.
• Supports direct use of multiple data cards like SD, MMC, etc.
• Supports PictBridge operations.
• Sports a very large 250-sheet paper tray.

During the coming days I will be posting on how I set up the printer and how well it performs in my SOHO (Small Office Home Office) setup. Stay tuned.

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Winner of the HP PhotoSmart Printer Giveaway

Well, folks - it wasn't that easy to choose a winner. There were 340 correct / qualifying entries to the contest. That was a bit too less than what I expected it to be, anyways - looks like the word didn't spread around much. So, how do you pick 1 winner from 340? There were many folks who had consistently answered on all 7 days - many correct, some wrong.

I just got an idea this morning to be completely neutral and use a Random Number Generator. And this was the lucky number which won it.


So, at position 112 we have.....

Anuradha from Namma Bengaluru

Congrats Anuradha on winning the contest - we've already dispatched a mail to you. The details on when the printer will reach you will be shared separately in a few moments.

Oh boy! that was pretty exciting. Thanks to the HP IPG team (especially Seema) and also folks from Burson-Marsteller (especially Soumya) for making this happen. Thanks again folks!!

Special thanks to all the participants and also for all those of you who helped spread the word about the contest.

Please await for a complete review from me on the HP PhotoSmart Premium 309G in a few days.

Cheers!!
Jason

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All set to cover the HP Photosmart debut in India live tomorrow

The HP Photosmart Free Printer Giveaway contest will conclude tomorrow (Nov 19, 2009) at 11 am IST and thereafter the winner will be announced. So, to catch all this action live - I have been invited by HP to Delhi for the exclusive launch.

All you bloggers out there who are based out of Delhi can get an invite for the tomorrow event(check the invite above). If any of you are planning to attend do give me a buzz - we can catch up.

BTW, the mean Black machine has arrived a few minutes ago and you can be rest assured about a review soon.

Cheers!!
Jason

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HP PhotoSmart Free Printer Giveaway contest - Day 6/7 of 7

We are less than 24 hrs away from the Free HP Photosmart Printer Giveaway results - and we have 2 more questions to go. So I'll go ahead and post both the Day 6 and Day 7 questions here - double bonanza you may call!! Two correct entries from you today - you get two chances more to winning the Black Beast!!

Well, well - sorry that I couldn't do a detailed review of the HP PhotoSmart Premium C309G printer since the review unit seems to have just vapourised into thin air. The courier agency seems to claim that it has delivered the unit but I am here still waiting to get it :( - so it may take somemore time untill the logistics get sorted off and I get to do an in-depth review of the unit.

Here are thre words to describe the HP PhotoSmart Premium C309G - Simple, Natural and Compelling and here's the reason why?

Simple: Breakthrough ease of use through direct manipulation
See it. touch it, print it

Natural: Directly manipulate objects and pages, naturally
Push it. pull it, flick it

Compelling: Warm colors, photo realistic graphics, and quality sound deliver a premium, engaging experience
Hear it, see it, love it

TheQuick Form is one hell of an innovation I can call.

Touch the Quick Form icon. Then you have several quick forms to choose - eg. Calendar . You can choose between monthly and weekly calendar monthly - select year you want to see - OK - then select the month - touch the arrows to move - May 2010 OK - printing. You're done - You now have a lovely customised calendar printer right at te comfort of your desk!! You can also get it priter in studio quality online at HP Snapfish all this even without connecting to a PC.

Another example for fun: games choice - Sudoku, mazes, dots, tic-tac-to Let's go for Sudoku - touch Sudoku then you can even select the 4 different levels of the Sudoku - from "very easy" to "difficult". Let's go for the difficult one - touch done then you are asked for the number of printouts.

Easily drag and drop photos to a desktop icon from virtually anywhere – folders, applications, e-mail and websites – for printing with the HP Photo Print Gadget.

Easily print web pages with HP Smart Web Printing and save both ink and paper by combining multiple web pages onto one printed page.

So here's Day 6 question below :

The HP Photosmart Premium All-in-One allows users to view, edit and print lab-quality photos without connecting to a PC from your online album at?

Click here to give your answer to the above question and also enter the contest. Rules of the contest are available at the following link.

P.S: Answer Day 6 and Day 7 questions individually on the contest entry page.

And.... here's the easy of the lot question for Day 7.

Why do you love the new HP PhotoSmart Premium 309G? In case of a tie, the best answer to this question wins!!

Click here to give your answer to the above question and also enter the contest. Rules of the contest are available at the following link.

P.S: Answer Day 6 and Day 7 questions individually on the contest form.

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HP PhotoSmart Free Printer Giveaway contest - Day 5 of 7

The response has been good thus far though we had a few glitches with the Techolic Blog where the contest had to be dis-continued for some un-avoidable reasons. But we're going strong on The Most Authoritative Technology Blog though. The final 3 days are here - so gear up folks and let others know of the contest too - so that we can have more fun and you can also find your friends and family try their luck on winning a brand new printer - courtesy HP.

PRINTING IS FUN!

Well, you may ask how? With the HP PhotoSmart Premium C309G the convenience and simplicity of a TouchSmart control panel with a large 3.45-inch touchscreen, the HP Photosmart Premium All-in-One allows users to view, edit and print lab-quality photos from their online albums on HP Snapfish without connecting to a PC.

The new HP PhotoSmart Premium C309G take “touch” several steps ahead with a breakthrough TouchSmart user interface called the “Magic Frame”. This patented dynamic panel provides consistency, value, and ease-of-use across the product lineup. The screen maximizes the size of the touch area by including contextual buttons that light up when relevant to the user. To simplify the user experience, HP has removed all clutter from the touch panels and minimized unnecessary features. This strengthens the visual focus and makes it really intuitive.

Now looking into the Quick Forms. Touch the Quick Form icon Then you have several quick forms to choose - eg. Calendar, etc. You also have fun options: games choice - Sudoku, mazes, dots, tic-tac-to Let's go for Sudoku - touch Sudoku then you can even select the 4 different levels of the Sudoku - from "very easy" to "difficult". One touch has your Sudoku game ready. Easily drag and drop photos to a desktop icon from virtually anywhere – folders, applications, e-mail and websites – for printing with the HP Photo Print Gadget.

And here's the Day 5 easy as usual question coming your way.

What’s the size of the HP PhotoSmart Premium C309G touchscreen?
Answers : 2 inch | 3.45 inch | 5 inch

Click here to give your answer to the above question and also enter the contest. Rules of the contest are available at the following link.

P.S: You need to copy paste the answer only at the contest entry page. E.g: 2 inch

For those of you who find it hard to track the questions daily or have the website blocked at their office premises - here's a simple solution. Enter your mail ID in the form below and get subscribed to the mailing list - the questions will be delivered right in your inbox - ain't that simple?

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HP PhotoSmart Free Printer Giveaway contest - Day 4 of 7

More on TOUCH.PRINT.GO

Ever-since HP first started incorporating touch into it's Photosmart range of printers way back in 2006 - things have evolved so much. There have been lots of evolutions to make the new touch experience that you experience in the latest range of printers to make it that much more user friendly and intuitive. It's not just the hardware and the touch responsiveness that has evolved but also the UI and the underlying software that powers up all these. The new features incorporated into the dynamic graphical interfaces strive to improve the overall user-experience and also makes printing directly right off the printer a far more instinctive approach than never before.

Did you know that the new HP PhotoSmart C309G makes touch-based processes that much more satisfying with the all new multi-touch capable hardware(much like your iPod Touch or iPhone) and also the software is tweaked to react to the very lightest touch of a finger, thereby making the experience that much more fun and easy.

The HP PhotoSmart Premium C309G also features a very smart one-touch wireless set-up. Best of all the new HP PhotoSmart Premium C309G comes in a sleek new black design with piano finish that'll compliment any desk and it's sure gonna grab a few eye-balls.

So, here's the Day 4 question coming your way.

Day 4: When did HP first incorporate touch technology in the Photosmart line?
Answers : 2009 | 2006 | 2004

Click here to give your answer to the above question and also enter the contest. Rules of the contest are available at the following link.

P.S: You need to copy paste the answer only at the contest entry page. E.g: 2009

For those of you who find it hard to track the questions daily or have the website blocked at their office premises - here's a simple solution. Enter your mail ID in the form below and get subscribed to the mailing list - the questions will be delivered right in your inbox - ain't that simple?

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HP PhotoSmart Free Printer Giveaway contest - Day 3 of 7

Well, well - Here we have the day 3 of the contest for you. There was a barrage of e-mails yesterday as to what happened to the contest question - well, we were slightly off track as the questions were coming out only at around 15:00hrs on Day 1 and Day2 - Inorder to correct this off-set, yesterday was intentionally left and lo - we now have questions in the morning itself from today onwards.

Also, for those who find it hard to track the questions daily or for those who have the website blocked at their office premises - here's a simple solution. Enter your mail ID in the form below and get subscribed to the mailing list - the questions will be delivered right in your inbox - ain't that simple?

So here's the fun reading for today and also the question.

A printer for everyone in the household

As I had mentioned in the earlier article - the brand new HP PhotoSmart Premium C309G printer is touted as the world's first Web-Connected printer. Now what this really means is that the printer can work very individually without the need for a PC and when I say this - it's not the simple Copy-Scan features I am talking about but a whole host of other things.

The HP PhotoSmart Premium C309G is all about convenience and simplicity - It features a really nice and large 3.45-inch touchscreen which is called the TouchSmart control panel. This allows users to easily view, edit and print studio quality photos from their online web albums located at HP Snapfish - All this even without switching ON your PC. Not just that, the superb Touchscreen helps you to do much more on Snapfish like archive, share, and even create projects or print photos from the site. Isn't it a true Web-Connected printer?

Day 3: HP PhotoSmart Premium C309G printer is touted as the XXX-Connected printer. What's the XXX?

Click here to give your answer to the above question and also enter the contest. Rules of the contest are available at the following link.

P.S: You need to answer only the XXX at the contest entry page.

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HP PhotoSmart Free Printer Giveaway contest - Day 2 of 7

First of all, thank you folks for the out-standing response we have had on Day 1 of the contest. Hope you all enjoyed the contest yesterday and many said it was very simple - yes that's exactly how it's going to be for the next 6 days too. Now lets dive into today's topic and also the question.

Simple steps to Save Energy when using Your Computer and Printer

Always look out to buy Energy Star certified computer accessories like monitor, printer, or All-In-One (AIO) scan-copy-print-fax machines. They can easily help you save around 50% or more on your energy consumption. All of HP's current printer range are ENERGY STAR® qualified which means that they are more than 10% energy-efficient than other similar models which are non-ENERGY STAR® qualified.

One may wonder how the modern Energy Star computers / printers work and how they can save power? It's very simple, these equipment can use 70% less energy than other non-Enery Star equipment due to the low power mode that can operate when the computer/printer is inactive. As we all know, inactive period of computer periperals like printers and scanners is very high than the time they are active. So having an energy star efficient equipment really helps. There are also other benefits of the Energy Star qualified equipment like reduced noise and heat output as well as less electromagnetic field emissions in case of certain type of monitors.

Hope that made an interesting read, so here's the question for day 2.

Day 2: ENERGY STAR® qualified printer are more energy-efficient than other models by?
Answers : More than 10% | Less than 5% | Less than 2%

Click here to give your answer to the above question and also enter the contest. Rules of the contest are available at the following link.

P.S: You need to copy paste the answer only at the contest entry page. E.g: Less than 2%

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HP PhotoSmart Free Printer Giveaway contest - Day 1 of 7

After the initial announcement of the HP PhotoSmart Free Printer Giveaway contest this morning - I have been virtually flooded with mails. Most of them asking why the contest is open for Indian residents only. Sorry about that but we were constrained by the Logistics and hence wanted to restrict the contest only to Indian residents.

So, lets get started off with the contest for today.

The Power of Touch

HP started talking about something called as Print 2.0 way back at the Web 2.0 Summit held during October 2007. At that time the Print 2.0 concept looked more like a strange paper initiative that many company's talked about. At that time it merely looked like what many other company's were doing by adding a 2.0 tag to their businesses. But through the years, we have witnessed HP going through a conceptual shift which is very well captured by this very cool video placed on YouTube.

Way back when HP started the InkJet Revolution by introducing the HP ThinkJet which was the first mass-marketed personal inkjet printer. Inkjet technology very much spelled the end for the noisy dot-matrix printer. Those were the days when the web was at it's infancy. The printer very much evolved from the clunky, noisy boxes to integrate personalized features that can make printing more intuitive and simple. And “touch” became an important step forward.

The new HP PhotoSmart Premium C309G takes the “touch” evolution several steps ahead with a breakthrough TouchSmart user interface which is called as the “Magic Frame”. HP wants to make the printing experience seamless with the concept of TOUCH.PRINT.GO . The HP PhotoSmart Premium C309G printer is also the first-ever web-connected printer - what this essentially means is that you can very easily view, edit and print lab-quality photos from their online albums on HP Snapfish without even connecting your printer to a PC. Now ain't that cool.

Coming to the question of the day :

Day 1 : Fill in the blank - HP Enables Consumers to Simply XXXXX, Print and Go?
(Hint: Check out HP’s FaceBook Page or read the article above again carefully )

Click here to give your answer to the above question and also enter the contest. Rules of the contest are available at the following link.

P.S: You need to answer only the XXXXX at the contest entry page.

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Free Giveaway Contest :: Chance to win an all new HP PhotoSmart here

Hello Folks,

I'll be starting off with a Free Giveaway contest on the Jason S The Most Authoritative Technology Blog shortly (a few hours from now to a day at max). The contest will entitle you to win a Free HP PhotoSmart printer on the day of it's launch!! Yes - you can win the very first unit when it is launched in India on 19th November. How much cooler can it get - thanks to HP for all this.

So, that's got you all excited - here's how you can win the printer easily. All you need to do is visit this blog daily (as you've always done) and for the next 7 days - everyday you'll find an article related to one very exciting (when I say exciting I really mean it) feature of the HP PhotoSmart printer and based on that article you'll need to answer a very simple question and lo you can win yourself a brand new HP PhotoSmart printer. Can it get any simple than this?

Hint : Even before the contest opens up I'll pass on some hints to you folks. Each day's answer will be a SINGLE WORD. So no large sentences to remember. Now that makes it so much more easy.

Hope this has got you all excited. Do let me know if you have any queries - will be happy to answer.

Here are the contest rules :

• The contest is open only to Indian residents.
• The contest will end on Nov 19, 2009 at 11 am IST.
• Only one entry allowed per user per day.
• The contest winner will be decided by Jason S along with the HP co-ordinates.
• Employees of HP and Jason S (The Most Authoritative Technology Blog), their respective affiliates, subsidiaries, retailers, agencies and their respective officers, directors, employees and agents, and members of their immediate families and households, whether or not related, are not eligible to enter or win.
• The decisions of the judges are final and binding. HP and Jason S (The Most Authoritative Technology Blog) reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to reject entries, if any, that are not qualified as eligible.
  
• The contest will also be run jointly on Techolic Blog which is also authored by Jason S. The winner will be jointly chosen from all the entries received from Techolic and The Most Authoritative Technology Blog.
  Update : The contest will run exclusively only on this blog.
• The rules can be modified without prior intimation - the same will be displayed on this blog as well as the contest page.

Do let all your friends and contacts also know about this contest - together you can WIN. Click the e-mail icon below to mail this to your friends.

Here are the direct links to all the Questions and the Contest Entry page.
Contest Day 1 Question
Contest Day 2 Question
Contest Day 3 Question
Contest Day 4 Question
Contest Day 5 Question
Contest Day 6 Question
Contest Day 7 Question

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