HP's Photosmart eStation is drool-worthy, but do iPad users really want a chunky, slow Android tablet?

My first stop when looking at AirPrint printers was HP’s line of all-in-one Photosmart inkjet printers. There are some great offerings there, ranging from the inexpensive D110A to the office-capable C410A. But home users like cool gadgets, and HP has delivered two sexier printer options: The Envy 100 transforms from a glossy black monolith to a compact and functional printer when needed, while the Photosmart eStation does double-duty as a docking station for HP’s first “Zeen” Android tablet computer!

“Photosmart e” Common Features

The “Photosmart e” is the latest in a series of Photosmart printers from HP. These have historically combined document and photo printing in an affordable package, with all-in-one models including scanning, copying, and fax capabilities.

The “e” signifies HP’s “e-print” feature, which assigns an email address to each registered and compatible printer. Any device with email can then send a document to the printer and, assuming it is correctly configured, the printer will spit out a hard copy. These printers also offer built-in Apple AirPrint support for iPad use sans email as well as the use of a variety of “Print Apps” that encourage you to print everything from coloring pages to airline boarding passes directly from the printer.

Both of these printers fall in the “Photosmart e” line, though they differ in naming from the basic all-in-one models. They include document and photo printing, scanning and copying, duplex (2-sided) printing, and wireless networking built-in. Neither model includes a sheet feeder for fax and scanning.

HP Envy 100

The HP Envy 100 is a pretty face on a pretty basic printer

The Envy 100 (officially called the HP Envy 100 e-All-in-One D410a Printer, CN517A) is designed for buyers who dislike the ugly “box with lots of buttons” look of most modern printers. When sitting in standby mode, the Envy 100 is an attractive slab of glossy plastic with a patterned top. But press the power button (or send a document via WiFi or email) and it transforms, with a motorized screen and paper tray rising and expanding.

It’s all very cool to look at, but the Envy 100 isn’t my cup of tea. It is woefully limited, with a low-end 2-ink (HP 60) printing system and 80-sheet paper tray. I was surprised to see duplex printing included, but a scanner sheet feeder was cut in the name of fashion. Examining the specs reveals that the Envy 100 is little more than a fancied-up D110A: The specs are almost identical, though the list and street prices are almost 2.5 times higher! I guess that’s why both model numbers start with “D”.

Unless you’re desperate for a better-looking printer, steer clear of the Envy 100. It’s not much of a printer for a lot of money. Yes, it features duplex printing and a large touch screen, but the Photosmart Premium C310A has all that along with better inks yet is still cheaper! How much is a pretty face worth to you?

HP Photosmart eStation

The HP Photosmart eStation features an Android tablet for less than the cost of an iPad

The Photosmart eStation (officially the HP Photosmart eStation All-in-One C510A Printer, CQ140A) is an intriguing beast. It’s large, fairly expensive, and includes many features, but that’s not why it earns a sweet in-store “endcap” display, nor why most buyers will stop and gawk. No, the eStation’s true differentiating feature is HP’s walk-around “Zeen” screen, which serves as both the eStation’s display and control mechanism and a basic Android tablet computer!

The Zeen isn’t a great tablet (it’s definitely not an iPad killer) but the “cool factor” will dazzle consumers and tempt them towards the checkout line. Although it features a Barnes & Noble-compatible e-book reader and other HP apps, the Zeen isn’t a full-featured tablet. It lacks pretty much every Google service (including Gmail!) opting instead for Yahoo. The capacitive touch screen is slow to respond, perhaps due to the down-spec 800 MHz CPU. Although it’s a name-brand device, the caveats in my “Do Not Buy Weird, Cheap, Off-Brand Android Tablets” discussion definitely apply to the Zeen as well.

But the eStation is a printer at heart, and a reasonably good one at that. Its specs are very similar to the Photosmart Premium C310A, including duplex printing, flatbed scanning, and HP’s multi-cartridge 564 ink system. It’s likely to print well, but the $150 price premium for the eStation isn’t money well spent. The tablet isn’t worth much after the initial excitement wears off.

Stephen’s Stance

Although they tempt buyers with sexy features, the Envy 100 and Photosmart eStation aren’t good values. Save your money by buying a pedestrian D110A or C310A instead: You’ll get an equal or better printer/scanner at half the cost. And after all, weren’t we shopping for a printer, not a cool new toy?

Folks looking for AirPrint capability like me already have an Apple iPad. The chunky, heavy, and slow Zeen tablet is only going to annoy anyone who has used an iPad in the past month. I suppose fashion-conscious Apple buyers might like the Envy for its looks, but they’ll never go for the eStation.

I decided on the Photosmart Premium Fax C410A. It’s the most utilitarian offering in HP’s lineup, but it’s priced right and has every feature I wanted, including duplexing, a sheet feeder, and integrated fax. I feel so relieved to have been able to resist the temptation of HP’s “gadget printers”!

One final aside: Was HP trying to alienate consumers with their web site? The eStation and Envy 100 web pages don’t do any favors to these “fashion forward” devices. They’re really awfully-designed, with ugly layout and anti-enticing writing. The proliferation of superscript nonsense further detracts from readability. (8 footnotes? Seriously?) Apple’s online store does a much better job of selling the Envy 100 than HP does! Maybe there’s a better product page, but the site gave me a headache so I gave up looking.

© sfoskett for Stephen Foskett, Pack Rat, 2010. | AirPrint-Compatible: HP’s Sexy Envy 100 and Photosmart eStation Printers
This post was categorized as Apple, Personal, Terabyte home. Each of my categories has its own feed if you'd like to filter out or focus on posts like this.

Off-brand tablets like this Maylong M-150 aren't even worth $99!

I’ve already said it a few times, but let’s just make it absolutely clear: Do not buy weird, cheap, off-brand Android tablets! Until a real iPad competitor comes along, it makes little sense to spend money on any Android tablet, and zero sense to buy a cheap, junky one from Walgreens, eBay, or anywhere else. Especially if you plan to give it away as a gift!

Quality and Value Basics

Electronic devices, from smartphones to e-readers to game systems to tablets to computers, must meet two criteria:

1. They must be functional, built to stand up to use and designed to meet user needs
2. They must also be a useful part of an ecosystem of software and communication

Look around at the current crop of tablets and ask yourself which meet these criteria. There’s precious little that comes anywhere close to Apple’s iPad and lots of junk that fails both tests miserably.

Minimum Tablet Specs

See my post, The Tablet Wasteland and the iPad Oasis, for more on this topic!

I recently examined dozens of tablets and came up empty looking for a credible iPad competitor. Even the basic specs are lagging: Far from being premium-priced luxury goods, Apple’s iPad and iPhone set standards of quality and value no competitor can match.

Let’s use the now year-old iPad’s specs as a baseline:

• The CPU should be in the 1 GHz class
• It should have a quality high-resolution screen: 1024×768 for a 10″ device or 1024×600 for an 8″ one with good off-angle brightness
• It must have a capacitive touchscreen – resistive just doesn’t work
• It should have at least 16 GB of capacity or a card slot
• The battery should last for hours of usage and days of standby time
• The operating system should be integrated with the hardware for a seamless experience

Every current Android tablet lags way behind the iPad in basic specs and build quality. Those like (the Samsung Galaxy Tab) that are reasonably well-designed still use cheap, hollow plastic cases and smaller screens and yet cost more than an iPad!

Cheap off-brand devices meet few or none of these tests. Every one I looked at had a slow CPU, minimal storage capacity, and wore an ill-fitting and out-dated version of Android. With flimsy cases, low-res resistive screens, and pathetic batteries, they didn’t even come close to meeting these basic needs.

Note that the iPad does fall short in some areas: The lack of a camera is puzzling and frustrating; it has too little RAM; it may be too large for some uses; many folks actually do want Flash support; and the locked-down software environment isn’t everyone’s cup of tea and Apple was very late updating it.

Where’s The Ecosystem?

Just as a game system is worthless with no games to play (ask an Atart Jaguar owner like me), a tablet does not exist in a vacuum. Users expect to be able to perform basic tasks, such as email, web surfing, and games. But they have come to expect an Apple-like app store so they can expand the functionality to meet other needs.

The lack of an application ecosystem is the biggest drawback for all Android (and Windows) tablets, and an absolute deal-breaker for off-brand devices. Even Google freely admits that no current version of the Android operating system is optimized for Tablet use, and the Android Market app store is just now gaining tablet-friendly features. The next version of Android will likely be a better tablet OS, but it’s not available yet.

But cut-priced tablets don’t even have the Android Market, let alone anything to compete with Apple’s iOS App Store! Some allow side-loaded apps via USB or SD cards, but this isn’t really a mainstream option.

Stephen’s Stance

Do not buy weird, cheap, off-brand Android tablets! As the awesome Jacqui Cheng says over at Ars Technica, cheap-tablet poster-child Maylong M-150 is the “worst gadget ever!” It’s even too light and slippery to use as a doorstop!

Quality Android devices should start appearing soon, complete with OS 2.3 “Gingerbread” and a functional version of Android Market. Wait to see how they fare against the current iPad, and look for an updated Apple tablet with a camera in early 2011 as well. But don’t be surprised if a decent Android tablet doesn’t substantially undercut the iPad’s pricing – Apple is playing a whole new game in this space, and they’re in it to win.

© sfoskett for Stephen Foskett, Pack Rat, 2010. | Do Not Buy Weird, Cheap, Off-Brand Android Tablets!
This post was categorized as Apple, Personal, Terabyte home. Each of my categories has its own feed if you'd like to filter out or focus on posts like this.

First, consider whether to store records as atoms or bits. You can convert paper to data or vice versa, and there are pros and cons to both:

• Properly handled physical (paper or film) records should last for hundreds of years and can remain readable without software or devices. But they’re hard to search (you need an index), and paper is bulky, heavy, and difficult to work with.
• Digital records can either be stored offline or kept “alive,” but questions remain about their long-term reliability and readability. Living records can be easy to search and use, and digital storage can be very space-efficient, but data tends to pile up “out of sight.”

Long-term storage of records on physical media is proven – think about papyrus, tablets, gold or nickel discs, film, and paper. But will digital media fare as well? Data tapes and disks can degrade over time, and manufacturer reliability specs are based on accelerated testing, not actual experience. Regardless of media type, careful handling can extend media life.

But will you still be able to read it? Tapes and optical disks require additional hardware to read, while disk drives are paired with their read heads. Software applications are needed to read and interpret data (backup, archiving, compression, encryption, deduplication, database) as well. What about content format? Should you use ASCII, XML, PDF/A?

I’ll be presenting a webinar on this topic tomorrow, Wednesday, December 3, at 2:00 PM Eastern time. Register on-line at the AIIM web site and join me for the discussion!

© sfoskett for Stephen Foskett, Pack Rat, 2008. | Long-Term Versus Longer-Term Archiving
This post was categorized as Enterprise storage, Personal. Each of my categories has its own feed if you'd like to filter out or focus on posts like this.