June 2007
First Look: HP A10 Printing Mailbox
Odds are that someone in your life does not own a computer. And it's equally likely that you've wanted to send that person
e-mail with photos of the kids, party invitations, and the latest family gossip. Now you can. HP's new A10 Printing Mailbox
($150) acts as a simple electronic In box for the technology impaired.
It works like this: Your computerless recipient connects the A10 to any standard phone line and subscribes to the Presto service for $10 a month. You set up the service over the phone or by Web-accessible computer, specifying the Internet addresses allowed to send e-mail to that account. Presto allows for an unlimited number of addresses, but only those on the list can actually send mail to the specified account, so you won't receive spam. You can also schedule when and how often the A10 should connect to the Presto service for new messages.
HIGHS
Prints text and photos. In addition to text-only e-mail, the A10 can print embedded and attached photos. Text looks good, even though the printer uses only a tricolor HP ink cartridge and must mix cyan, yellow, and magenta to make black. The photos we printed on plain paper looked good, although not of the quality you'd get using glossy paper. (You can use photo paper if you like, but you never know when a photo is coming and you might end up wasting a lot of expensive paper on plain-text e-mail.)
Easy setup. The A10 plugs into a standard phone jack. Once you've done that and configured the Presto service, turn it on, add paper, and wait for your first delivery.
Included services. Presto offers subscriptions to several of them at no extra charge. You can sign up to receive news stories, daily puzzles, recipes, and other items, which are sent once a day. You can get your subscriptions (and all your e-mail) in larger print for easy reading.
LOWS
You can't send e-mail. Of course, the A10 is only a printer, so recipients can't send any e-mail of their own or respond to e-mail they receive.
Slow printing, high ink costs. The A10 is not a speedy printer. It took about 30 seconds to print a page, with pauses of 1 to 2 minutes between pages. We printed 150 pages of mixed text and pictures before the ink ran out of the HP cartridge. At $20 per cartridge, that comes to 13 cents per page--somewhat expensive when compared with the cost of plain text on a regular inkjet. But as long as the e-mail is less than three pages long, the A10 is less expensive and quicker than regular mail.
Beware of excessive ink use. During setup with the Presto service, you can add borders or other designs to your e-mail, but you might end up using more ink than you want to if you use that feature too much. And a thin colored border and the Presto logo print on every page by default.
Limited file compatibility. The A10 will support only GIF, JPEG, and BMP files attached to messages. If you send a Word document or attachment, it won't print out.
THE BOTTOM LINE
If you or someone you know doesn't have a computer but wants to keep up with the family e-mail, the A10 could be useful. But being unable to e-mail back could be a serious limitation.
It works like this: Your computerless recipient connects the A10 to any standard phone line and subscribes to the Presto service for $10 a month. You set up the service over the phone or by Web-accessible computer, specifying the Internet addresses allowed to send e-mail to that account. Presto allows for an unlimited number of addresses, but only those on the list can actually send mail to the specified account, so you won't receive spam. You can also schedule when and how often the A10 should connect to the Presto service for new messages.
HIGHS
Prints text and photos. In addition to text-only e-mail, the A10 can print embedded and attached photos. Text looks good, even though the printer uses only a tricolor HP ink cartridge and must mix cyan, yellow, and magenta to make black. The photos we printed on plain paper looked good, although not of the quality you'd get using glossy paper. (You can use photo paper if you like, but you never know when a photo is coming and you might end up wasting a lot of expensive paper on plain-text e-mail.)
Easy setup. The A10 plugs into a standard phone jack. Once you've done that and configured the Presto service, turn it on, add paper, and wait for your first delivery.
Included services. Presto offers subscriptions to several of them at no extra charge. You can sign up to receive news stories, daily puzzles, recipes, and other items, which are sent once a day. You can get your subscriptions (and all your e-mail) in larger print for easy reading.
LOWS
You can't send e-mail. Of course, the A10 is only a printer, so recipients can't send any e-mail of their own or respond to e-mail they receive.
Slow printing, high ink costs. The A10 is not a speedy printer. It took about 30 seconds to print a page, with pauses of 1 to 2 minutes between pages. We printed 150 pages of mixed text and pictures before the ink ran out of the HP cartridge. At $20 per cartridge, that comes to 13 cents per page--somewhat expensive when compared with the cost of plain text on a regular inkjet. But as long as the e-mail is less than three pages long, the A10 is less expensive and quicker than regular mail.
Beware of excessive ink use. During setup with the Presto service, you can add borders or other designs to your e-mail, but you might end up using more ink than you want to if you use that feature too much. And a thin colored border and the Presto logo print on every page by default.
Limited file compatibility. The A10 will support only GIF, JPEG, and BMP files attached to messages. If you send a Word document or attachment, it won't print out.
THE BOTTOM LINE
If you or someone you know doesn't have a computer but wants to keep up with the family e-mail, the A10 could be useful. But being unable to e-mail back could be a serious limitation.
