HP Photosmart D5368

Full Review

HP’s entry-level standalone photo printer produces photos as well as brings in some flexibility as well, thanks to a choice of cartridges. We conducted our review on the default 4-ink setup, but the printer can take in a 3-tank cartridge in place of the standard black, to give a total of six colors. Our test photos printed with the maximum dpi setting, showed overall good reproduction, with slightly higher color saturation (that we found common with its elder sibling, the Photosmart D7268). There were faint gaps in print though, but noticeable only under close observation.

A noteworthy feature of the Photosmart D5368 is its auto duplexer feature (the user does not need to manually moves papers from the output to the input tray to print on both sides) — certainly impressive at this price range.

When it comes to text printing, the Photosmart D5368 did a better job than the more expensive D7268. We fired our text prints at normal quality, and the printout showed clean edges and a nice solid black. The print quality at normal mode is good enough to be presented anywhere. Highest text speed (draft mode) is rated at 32ppm for black and 24ppm for color text. In our real world test (A4 paper filled with text), time to print was 9 seconds per page (about 6.6ppm) except for the first page which was out 21 seconds after the print command. Full page photo printing at maximum dpi setting was the slowest amongst the lot here, at six minutes and 21 seconds.

A noteworthy feature of the Photosmart D5368 is its auto duplexer feature (the user does not need to manually moves papers from the output to the input tray to print on both sides) — certainly impressive at this price range. There is another nifty feature – a CD / DVD printing tray on which you can place printable CDs or DVDs and make labels. Memory card reader for all standard formats, a separate photo tray and a small 1.5-inch LCD for preview are other highlights on the feature list. The software bundle includes a web printing application (to select text only and leave out images from a webpage), and a layout tool for photo printing.

Bottom Line

At its price range, the print quality and feature combination makes the HP Photosmart D5368 a well put together package, but printing costs with the standard black cartridge is on the higher side.