The HP 145 really helps make the "digital darkroom" a reality, even during trips. I take mine on my boat together with a small laptop computer, and can generate high-quality 4 x 6 photos right on the spot, after taking shots with various digital cameras. The HP 145 has a built-in CF card reader and also reads various other popular media and you can easily print directly from the CF card or other media even without the laptop too--the printer will print out a nice little thumbnail "index" showing little minatures of the photos each bearing an index number. You can then select and print the full photo. This also means that you don't need to bring a card reader along if you have your HP 145 since it functions as a digital media reader. Typically I will download my digital photos to my notebook computer's hard disk using my HP 145, view the photos on the notebook screen for printing, and then print selected photos with the HP 145. Great fun!

My HP 145 installed effortlessly on my IBM Thinkpad notebook computer (IBM TP 600E) running Windows XP, and is now my main printer for 4 x 6 photos and of course is the only printer I take along on trips. It is great fun to go on trips, take photos, and then give friends nicely framed photos the next day, or later the same day. Frankly, I never realized how much fun it was to have a printer along on trips. Most printers nowadays are big and bulky. This one is not.

I went with the 145 rather than the 245, the latter being the same printer but with an LCD color display. I decided that I wouldn't get 50 bucks worth of value out of the LCD display since a) I always bring my laptop along anyway since that is where I always download my CF card pictures to for storage on trips (that way you can re-use the CF card the next day); and b) the 145 has that neat index printing feature anyway, if you want to print without a computer. You decide. Either way, these are dandy little printers and I will likely never take another trip without bringing my HP 145 along. That is the hallmark of a truly useful product!

This is a great gadget (Rating: 4.00)
Review : It's easy to use and produces nice looking prints. Its small size makes it easy to take to parties along with a digital camera for nearly instant prints. Cons: Costly supplies (ink and paper) and the paper feed mechanism can be a bit fussy sometimes.

Owner / Printer which to blame? (Rating: 5.00)
Review : The printer is supposed to pull the paper out the back end then it feeds it back through while it's printing. I give this printer 5 stars, sounds like the person who wrote the review who said the item had problems straight out of the box needs to realize the only problem with the HP printer is the person who purchased it!!!!

the whole family is printing photos at home!!!!!! (Rating: 5.00)
Review : This printer is so easy to use. We had the printer set up within 10 minutes and printed photos using the few pieces of photo paper included with the printer. We're so excited we need to order more photo paper so we can print more family photos! The printer easily accepts the memory card from our HP camera. This is so much fun!!!!!!!!!!!

Makes it simple!! (Rating: 5.00)
Review : HP did a great job on this printer. It was less than $200 and it makes printing small pics to pass around so simple and easy. I take pics with my Kodak camera, insert the memory card into the printer, press print, and away it goes. No need to use a computer - that's the best part. Kodak software or the free HP software both work with this printer. Both are fine.

Photo quality is almost on par with regular grocery store prints from film. The printing itself takes a while and you have to wait for the ink to dry; however, compared to dropping film off and waiting to pick it up, this picture making system is far faster and more convenient.

Bottom line, if you have time & want the best picture quality possible, use film or print digitally with an online service. This device gives 90% of grocery store quality, but much faster and more convenient. It makes taking digital pictures and sharing pictures more fun.