Experts rate this printer as 6/10 for design, 6.0 for features, 7.0 for performance and 8.0 for service and support. The printer has an online job monitor and a Zeen tablet with great ePrint features that give you the option of printing directly from an e-mail. Better yet, the printer is wireless, so you have no hassles of wired products.

Negative Issues

Though it’s great with ePrint, the printer suffers a great deal in its performance. It does not have the much needed print progress tools in its onscreen menu. Other than that, the Zeen touch screen makes it vulnerable to touch mistakes and along with that you also have problems of system freeze, errors, browser processing issues and other required setup guidelines.

Overview

The HP Photosmart eStation C510 is an effort for smart computing and smart printing because it enables web connectivity amongst its similar printers. It comes along with a detachable Android based tablet that lets you connect with the internet and perform all regular task of browsing, social networking, book reading/buying from eBook stores and other similar functions. It is considered as a home based printer that gives you instant printing right from the website. Email printing, RSS feeds, online photos etc can be printed instantly with the eStation.  However, the printer comes at an expensive price tag of $399 which is not much appreciated keeping in mind its performance flaws. If professional printing is your need, then you should wait for Google’s cloud based printing solutions using a standalone printer rather than a printer cum tablet which has supposedly ended up being a disappointment.

Design

The design is sleek with the Zeen touch screen acting as the main attraction. It is a control panel from where you will find all the required printing features.  The printer also has a scanner on its top part with a five ink cartridge bay. It has a dual paper tray at the bottom and also small drawers for storing paper and photo paper. There is also a SD card reader provided that can help users to scan straight to the Zeen tablet. However, digital photographers would not find the eStation to be helpful because it does not have a PictBridge, which means you would not be able to connect your camera to the printer for direct printing. You also are devoid of instructional documents which mean you just have to figure out a few things yourself.

Zeen Feature

The Zeen can be used independently, provided you have the computer, the printer and the tablet connected to the same network. It is Google’s Android power based which means you can download a number of apps for some fun during the printing work. You will find a number of already installed apps on the tablet, such as Yahoo, Barnes and Noble eBook store, Snapfish, MSNBC, Disney and Facebook. However, beware of the fact that the more apps you download the more performance constraints you would have to endure.

Bottom Line

The printer can only be best for some professional use if HP fixes some of the major glitches and brings down the price, as the flaws certainly make the device “not so recommended”.