Dell XPS 27 Touch review: Looks are everything

When it comes to its high-end all-in-one PC lineup, Dell seems to be operating on the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” principle. The XPS 27 Touch packs a speedy new Haswell CPU under its hood, but that’s the only significant departure from earlier models.

Our review unit, which costs $2100 as of July 17, 2013, sports a quad-core Intel Core i7-4770S processor; 8GB of DDR3/1600 memory; a discrete video card (Nvidia’s GeForce GT 750M); and a roomy 2TB, 7200 rpm hard drive augmented by a 32GB mSATA SSD cache. That’s impressive for any all-in-one, and it helped the XPS 27 Touch deliver a Desktop Worldbench 8.1 score of 262, which means it’s more than two and a half times faster than our reference PC, Acer’s Aspire U. It’s also significantly faster than Vizio’s CA27T-B1. The displays on both of those models are limited to 1920 by 1080 pixels, but they’re also considerably less expensive (selling for $1000 and $1550 respectively).

The Dell XPS 27 Touch produced a high Desktop Worldbench 8.1 score (for an all-in-one, that is).

Nevertheless, the Dell’s score places the XPS 27 Touch solidly in the upper half of all the desktop systems we’ve tested so far, although it’s nowhere near the custom-built gaming rigs we’ve evaluated (Primordial Computer’s over-the-top, quad-Titan Medusa hit 385, while Micro Express’s single-GPU MicroFlex 47B scored 421). Unlike most all-in-ones, however, the XPS 27 will satisfy the gamers in your family—as long as their expectations aren’t too hardcore. In our Dirt Showdown, with the game’s resolution at 1024 by 768 pixels and image quality set to low, the XPS 27 delivered a strong 125.7 frames per second. Compare that to our reference PC, which relies on the integrated GPU in its Intel Core i5 3230M processor: It delivered Dirt Showdown at just 47.5 fps.

The XPS 27 Touch is a very reasonable gaming PC, provided you’re willing to compromise on resolution and image quality.

As befits a new AIO of the Windows 8 era, the XPS 27 is outfitted with a 10-point touchscreen display (this was an optional feature on previous models). Dell boasts that it’s the company’s “brightest and most versatile touch display” to date. I agree, it’s the best touchscreen I’ve seen from Dell. It’s extremely bright, and images and text look fantastically crisp and clear thanks to its 2560-by-1440 resolution. Multitouch gestures are smooth and easy to perform, and the bezel-less design makes using Windows 8 a breeze. But the display is not perfect. I have the same minor complaint about this screen as I had about Dell’s earlier XPS One 2710: Colors, especially skin tones, have a tendency to look oversaturated.

ROBERT CARDINThe dual-articulated hinge enables you to adjust the display’s height as well as its angle.

Dell’s XPS 27 Touch is a nice, attractive system, but I do wish the company had paid a little less attention to looks and a little more to usability. This AIO is super pretty, and the changes I want would probably make it a little less so. While the media card reader and two USB 3.0 ports are conveniently located on the left side of the bezel, the HDMI ports (in and out), Thunderbolt/Mini DisplayPort, gigabit ethernet, and four additional USB 3.0 ports on the back of the display are obscured by the stand and are difficult to reach.

ROBERT CARDINMany of the XPS 27 Touch’s I/O ports are obscured by the double-articulated stand (which enables you to adjust the height as well as the angle of the display).

I’m also not a fan of the four touch-sensitive buttons on the lower left corner on the front of the display. A proximity sensor causes these unlabeled buttons to light up when you hover your finger over them, although the only one you might use on a regular basis is the Eject button for the DVD burner. And speaking of optical drives, if you want a Blu-ray/DVD combo, you’ll need to move up to the $2600 model, which also comes with 16GB of memory and Windows 8 Pro. But if you get your movie fix via Internet streaming, you won’t care.

Aside from those quibbles, the Dell XPS 27 Touch is an exquisite all-in-one.

Sarah is a freelance writer and editor based in Silicon Valley. She has a love/hate relationship with social media and a bad habit of describing technology as "sexy."
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Review: Microsoft Flight looks beautiful, might as well stay grounded

Microsoft Flight Despite its beautiful looks and impressive lineage, Microsoft Flight fails to offer a truly compelling gameplay experience.

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Microsoft Flight is the current incarnation of a long and illustrious franchise of games, dating back to 1977. Unlike SimCity, you can start playing Microsoft Flight for free: Simply download the game and embark on a series of missions planned to both teach you the basics of flight, and hook you into buying later missions and additional aircraft. Microsoft Flight is the last of its kind: Microsoft permanently stopped work on the game in July 2012, just a few short months after releasing it.

The futuristic Icon A5 Deluxe is not yet in production, but you can fly it in Microsoft Flight.

Microsoft Flight's graphics are gorgeous, and the scenery feels realistic. Hawaii serves as the backdrop for the first introductory missions, in which you get to fly two aircraft bundled with the free download: A thoroughly modern Icon Deluxe light aircraft and a WWII-era Boeing PT-17 Stearman biplane. These missions run you through the rudiments of taking off, controlling the craft in the air, and landing.

Microsoft Flight lets you play several missions in Hawaii for free.

You can fly Microsoft Flight with nothing but a game controller. There are realistic touches like preflight checklists, but in the early stages, the game runs through them on its own, checking items off as you look on.

The Icon A5 cockpit feels almost like a car's—and the GPS works.

While the introductory missions are interesting and fun to play (especially the landing tutorial) and the graphics were strikingly beautiful, gameplay is marred by having to navigate using landmarks, rather than traditional waypoints. In particular, one of the challenges starts out midflight, and you're supposed to land the plane. The trouble is, it's not clear where the airstrip is. No heading is provided, and there's no clear way to figure out which way to go. The careful narration that leads you through many of the other missions is utterly lacking on this one. Manually switching on the aircraft's GPS map does reveal an airstrip, but after navigating all the way to it and executing a landing, I discovered it wasn't the right airfield and failed the challenge after all.

Another point of frustration is the low number of available missions. Microsoft Flight starts you off with less than ten missions and once you want to make progress, you have to pay up.

Microsoft Flight lets you switch between several cameras to get a better look at the action.

In other words, the game suffers from the same issues plaguing many other "pay to play" titles, and even its fancy graphics were not able to redeem it. It is easy to understand why Microsoft ceased developing the game.

Note: The Download button takes you to the vendor's site, where you can download the latest version of the software.

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Review: Futuremark looks beyond the PC with new 3DMark

Futuremark is busy these days shaking up their benchmarking business, and the new 3DMark is proof that nothing is off the table. PC, WinRT, Android and iOS support are all planned, although the Windows and Android versions are currently the only ones available.

Visuals are a real improvement over 3DMark 11.

3DMark's version numbers have been ditched from the product name in an attempt to emphasize the new cross-platform nature of the release. This ill-advised gesture is ignored by the faithful and the press alike, including me.

Naming gaffes aside, Futuremark has undertaken the long-overdue rework of their flagship product and emerged with a slick package that sheds the weight of past releases and restores the luxurious visuals and sense of style that have been absent from the last few versions.

Installation isn't complicated and remains free of add-on traps and other bloatware, although the gigabyte-sized download isn't petite. Make sure you read the latest instructions: In the case of the AMD 7950 in my test system, beta drivers were actually recommended over certified ones. Once installed, it presents you with a window where the three test environments that comprise the suite can be selected for a benchmarking pass. Advanced options let you select custom visual settings, enable demo modes, loop benchmarks for stress testing and view past results.

GPU and CPU temperature charts add a new twist to the results display.

Ice Storm depicts a low-count polygon world suitable for mobile devices and legacy or entry-level PCs. This is the benchmark destined to run on smartphones, tablets, WinRT devices and similar. The level of detail is roughly equivalent to DirectX 9. The demo mode for this world space is particularly well conceived and despite the lower level of detail, may be the most visually dynamic of the three.

Cloud Gate is the middle child, designed to test laptops and office PCs. The stately flybys of massive spacecraft and jump gates are a touch hazy here, but impressive nevertheless. This one is for PCs only, which is a shame, since data on high-end tablets would be of interest. The physics test is particularly tough here, producing FPS numbers lower than Fire Strike, which indicates a CPU bias at play.

On the high end is Fire Strike, a fantasy-flavored virtual buffet of advanced effects and massive polygon counts that's designed with tomorrow's hardware in mind, although it will run on today's more muscular PCs with reasonable speed. The gaming system used in my labs managed 30-35 FPS with a single top-shelf videocard and mid-range quad core processor. Laptop usage is euphemistic at best, unless you're packing a specialty road-gaming rig. Needless to say, it'll be a long time before anything like a tablet will have electrics dreams like these.

Even the low-end Ice World settings produce impressive results.

Glitches are few and largely attributable to the 1.00 status of the release. Information fields for processors and video cards yielded blank space on some runs and correct data on others. Users reported partially functional SLI and Crossfire support, which is sadly nothing new to PC gaming, benchmark software or otherwise. Also, OpenGL ES 3.0 support would have been nice.

Nevertheless, the scope here is greater than previous 3DMark updates, and the overhaul is mostly successful and complete. Longtime 3DMark users will notice that some details available in previous versions are missing from the more streamlined results available here.

Custom settings let hardware geeks get close to their precious.

While this is sure to spark forum wars, the appearance of other long-awaited features such as temperature monitoring seem more relevant to gamers today and a better expenditure of the limited programming resources available to the Futuremark team.

Besides, this leaves room for improvement for the next version. Whatever they eventually decide to call it.

Note: The Download button takes you to the vendor's site, where you can download the latest version of the software.

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HP Envy x2 looks great and lasts a long time, but speed is just adequate

Will the HP Envy x2 evoke jealous thoughts in the coffee shop? Given its sleek, brushed-silver looks and thin clamshell design, probably. Will it stir the deeper emotions that other, faster convertible Windows 8 tablet/laptops do? Sorry HP, no. Still, this thoughtfully designed portable delivers enough battery life and performance to more than adequately fill the roles of both tablet and small laptop.

The Envy x2 sports a 1366 by 768 (16:9), 11.6-inch display that shows off video well and delivers more than enough usable brightness. The tablet portion weighs a comfortable (given its wide nature) 1.54 pounds, with the 1.56-pound keyboard/port dock bringing that up to 3.1 pounds. All told, toting the package is no great feat. The tablet portion locks into the keyboard dock, and is released via a slide switch.

Most of the EnvyxX2's ports reside on the dock, including a headset jack, HDMI video output, and two USB 2.0 ports. The lack of USB 3.0 or any other high-speed interface for backing up is a minor quibble given the light-use nature of the product. There's also a SDHC car reader, and a large power connector jack. Connectivity (all on the tablet) includes 802.11 a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, as well as Near-Field Communication, though there are few applications for the latter at the moment.

The tablet portion sports the usual features: a 1080 display-side Webcam, an 8-megapixel back camera, plus an ambient light sensor. There are only two ports--the power jack and the headset jack. With no USB or card reader, you'll need to load or offload data docked or via Wi-Fi. The tablet also has a power button and rocker-volume switch which are placed handily on the back, just a short reach from where your fingers fall when holding the tablet with both hands.

Managing performance expectations with a docked tablet that emulates a small laptop as well as the Envy x2 can be tricky. It simply looks fast. However, the Envy x2's Intel Atom Z2760 1.8GHz CPU, 2GB of low-power DDR2 memory and a 64GB eMMC SSD managed only an 18 on our WorldBench 8 test suite. The number says it's slow, but the Envy x2 feels lively enough that when you're hands-on, few will have complaints. It boots in 13.7 seconds, and there are no long lags.

The Envy x2's integrated Intel GMA GPU is good for rendering movies with bit rates up to about 1.5MBps, but not gaming, at least with any sort of modern game at a decent resolution. Both the aforementioned cameras performed well. The test shots and video were normal for the ilk--fine in good lighting conditions, not so fine when conditions are less than ideal. The Beats audio app provides an emulated surround-sound that gives a nice sense of space for tunes and soundtracks, but there's not even a hint of bass. Again, normal for tablets.

The Envy x2 has a dual-battery design: one 25-watt-hour unit onboard the tablet and another 21-watt-hour unit in the dock. Smart. The arrangement delivers excellent run times: 13 hours, and 22 minutes when docked and 8 hours and 31 minutes untethered as a tablet.

The brushed-metal finish of the Envy x2 feels good in the hand, and the unit's input ergonomics are excellent. The keyboard is short-travel, but has enough feedback so that you can set up a nice typing rhythm. The volume, screen brightness, media transport, etc. functions take precedence on the top row of keys, so you must hold the fn key to invoke F1, F2, etc. That's sensible given the most likely usage scenarios, but you can change it in the BIOS if you wish to swap precedence to the older standard. The touchpad is a rocker type with an exceptionally nice feel. The click function is shorter-travel than many, but silky.

Software-wise, there's not a lot loaded beyond the standard applications. The OS is the 32-bit Windows 8 version (the Z2760 doesn't support 64-bit, but at least this is the full version, not RT), which, considering that you can't upgrade the memory past 2GB, is of no concern.

The only upgrade available for the Envy x2 is a 128GB SSD for $100. The $700 price is a reasonable deal, and as of this writing it was available for even less than that from non-HP online stores, making it a very nice bargain.

The Envy x2 carries a one-year warranty, though you can up it to the three-year variety including for $229. That includes pickup and return. We saw no other option so you might get a better deal in a drop-off, three-year plan from a box store.

The Envy x2 is a looker, and a more than workable Windows 8 tablet. It's also eminently viable as a light-use laptop PC. All in all, a nice job, and yes, I was just a tad envious when I had to turn it back in.

Jon L. Jacobi has worked with computers since you flipped switches and punched cards to program them. He studied music at Julliard, and now he power mods his car for kicks.
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HP Envy Sleekbook 6z-1000 Review: Lust-worthy Looks, So-So Performance

HP's Sleekbooks are a line of higher-end systems based on AMD processors. These notebooks are slim, light, and have a cool, ultramodern design. But the Envy Sleekbook 6z-1000 isn't super high-end: it has an AMD processor and 4GB of RAM, and it costs just $600. In other words, it's the perfect notebook for people who care more about looks and price than processor speed. The looks are even a notch above the slim and similar-looking Acer Aspire TimelineUltra M5.

Our review model comes equipped with an AMDFusion A6-4455M processor, which has a stock speed of 2.1 GHz and integrated Radeon HD graphics. Other specs include 4GB of RAM, 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi, and a 500GB hard drive spinning at 5400 rpm. Our model runs a 64-bit version of Windows 7 Home Premium.

Performance

The Sleekbook did not perform well in our lab tests. In PCWorld's WorldBench 7 benchmark tests, the Sleekbook scored a very low 55 versus our baseline of 100, which means it's 45 percent slower than our reference test model. The Sleekbook's low score isn't a huge surprise, since AMD processors typically perform worse than do Intel processors in WorldBench 7, but it's lower than we expected to see for a 15.6-inch all-purpose notebook.

The average WorldBench 7 score of the last three all-purpose laptops we've tested—which all had Intel Ivy Bridge processors—is 130.3, or more than twice the score of the Sleekbook.

The Sleekbook performed especially poorly in WorldBench tests that stressed processor speed. In the PCMark 7 office productivity tests, for example, the Sleekbook managed a mark of 972, which is significantly lower than the last three laptops' average mark of 3909.3.

The Sleekbook also takes a long time to boot up (46 seconds to the last three laptops' 24.7 seconds) and compress files (923.8 seconds to the last three laptops' 479.8 seconds). Basically, the Sleekbook is nowhere close to outperforming or matching its similarly-spec'd Intel brethren, but processor speed isn't everything.

Graphics performance on the Sleekbook is good, considering that the computer relies on integrated graphics. Don't get me wrong—the laptop's Radeon HD 7500G graphics are no match for a discrete GPU, but AMD's integrated graphics typically match up well against Intel's. In our Crysis 2 graphics tests, the Sleekbook managed frame rates of between 11.7 frames per second (high-quality settings, 1366 by 768 pixel resolution) and 24.4 fps (low-quality settings, 800 by 600 pixel resolution), which are decent but nowhere near acceptable frame rates for today's gameplay.

The Sleekbook also boasts an acceptable 6 hours, 35 minutes of battery life, which about a half-hour longer than the average battery life of the last three tested laptops.

Design: Chassis, Keyboard, Trackpad

What the Sleekbook lacks in processing power, it makes up for in sexiness. HP's Sleekbook line is sturdily built, with premium components and a modern design.

The Envy 6 has a slim, black brushed-aluminum lid with a small silver HP logo in the lower left corner. Inside, the keyboard deck features the same brushed aluminum finish, with small indents surrounding the keyboard and the trackpad. The 15.6-inch screen is surrounded by a glossy black plastic bezel.

The bottom of the computer is where all the color is. The underside of the Sleekbook is made of a rubbery material colored a bright crimson. This unexpected pop of color is actually a nice touch, in my opinion, and adds to the premium feel of the machine. It's also kind of sexy—like a Christian Louboutin shoe.

The Sleekbook sports a full-sized keyboard with island-style keys. The keys are quiet when you type on them, and they offer good tactile feedback. They're also nicely spaced—not too close together or awkwardly far apart—which makes typing accurately a breeze. Above the keyboard is the Sleekbook's power button and speakers, complete with a small Beats Audio logo. There are no discrete buttons on the keyboard deck, but the keyboard's Fn keys function as media playback buttons and audio and brightness controls by default.

A large, lightly-textured trackpad is located under the keyboard. The trackpad has a small box in the upper left corner, which you can double-tap to turn the trackpad off. A slim line near the bottom of the trackpad denotes the mouse button areas; like Apple's glass trackpads, the entire lower half of the pad depresses when you click a mouse button. The trackpad is comfortable and accurate, and has smooth multitouch functionality.

The Sleekbook's port selection is closer to that of an Ultrabook than an all-purpose machine. Because of its slim design, it has no optical drive. The left side of the notebook has a pop-open ethernet port, an HDMI-out port, two USB3.0 ports, and an SD card reader. The right side holds one USB2.0 port, a Kensington lock slot, and microphone and headphone jacks.

Screen and Speakers

The Envy 6 sports a glossy 15.6-inch screen with a native resolution of 1366 by 768 pixels. While this resolution is pretty typical for a budget-priced laptop, it's still disappointingly low-res for a 15.6-inch screen. Screen resolution aside, the Sleekbook's screen looks pretty good: it's fairly bright, with good contrast and accurate colors. Off-axis viewing angles are also good.

Video looks and sounds good on the Sleekbook. You will see some artifacting and choppiness in HD video clips, but overall it's pretty bearable to watch. The HP's speakers, which are located above the keyboard, are comfortably loud and, thanks to the Beats Audio enhancements, sound fairly full. You won't be able to have a raucous drum-and-bass party with these speakers, but they're well above the category average.

The Bottom Line

The HP Envy Sleekbook 6z-1000 is a nice-looking entry-level laptop, and it costs only $600. The laptop's performance and processing speed may not be up to par, but HP's premium styling and components definitely make this laptop look lust-worthy. If you're not terribly concerned with having the fastest notebook on the market, the Sleekbook is worth a look.

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HP Envy Sleekbook 6z-1000 Review: Lust-worthy Looks, So-So Performance

HP's Sleekbooks are a line of higher-end systems based on AMD processors. These notebooks are slim, light, and have a cool, ultramodern design. But the Envy Sleekbook 6z-1000 isn't super high-end: it has an AMD processor and 4GB of RAM, and it costs just $600. In other words, it's the perfect notebook for people who care more about looks and price than processor speed. The looks are even a notch above the slim and similar-looking Acer Aspire TimelineUltra M5.

Our review model comes equipped with an AMDFusion A6-4455M processor, which has a stock speed of 2.1 GHz and integrated Radeon HD graphics. Other specs include 4GB of RAM, 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi, and a 500GB hard drive spinning at 5400 rpm. Our model runs a 64-bit version of Windows 7 Home Premium.

Performance

The Sleekbook did not perform well in our lab tests. In PCWorld's WorldBench 7 benchmark tests, the Sleekbook scored a very low 55 versus our baseline of 100, which means it's 45 percent slower than our reference test model. The Sleekbook's low score isn't a huge surprise, since AMD processors typically perform worse than do Intel processors in WorldBench 7, but it's lower than we expected to see for a 15.6-inch all-purpose notebook.

The average WorldBench 7 score of the last three all-purpose laptops we've tested—which all had Intel Ivy Bridge processors—is 130.3, or more than twice the score of the Sleekbook.

The Sleekbook performed especially poorly in WorldBench tests that stressed processor speed. In the PCMark 7 office productivity tests, for example, the Sleekbook managed a mark of 972, which is significantly lower than the last three laptops' average mark of 3909.3.

The Sleekbook also takes a long time to boot up (46 seconds to the last three laptops' 24.7 seconds) and compress files (923.8 seconds to the last three laptops' 479.8 seconds). Basically, the Sleekbook is nowhere close to outperforming or matching its similarly-spec'd Intel brethren, but processor speed isn't everything.

Graphics performance on the Sleekbook is good, considering that the computer relies on integrated graphics. Don't get me wrong—the laptop's Radeon HD 7500G graphics are no match for a discrete GPU, but AMD's integrated graphics typically match up well against Intel's. In our Crysis 2 graphics tests, the Sleekbook managed frame rates of between 11.7 frames per second (high-quality settings, 1366 by 768 pixel resolution) and 24.4 fps (low-quality settings, 800 by 600 pixel resolution), which are decent but nowhere near acceptable frame rates for today's gameplay.

The Sleekbook also boasts an acceptable 6 hours, 35 minutes of battery life, which about a half-hour longer than the average battery life of the last three tested laptops.

Design: Chassis, Keyboard, Trackpad

What the Sleekbook lacks in processing power, it makes up for in sexiness. HP's Sleekbook line is sturdily built, with premium components and a modern design.

The Envy 6 has a slim, black brushed-aluminum lid with a small silver HP logo in the lower left corner. Inside, the keyboard deck features the same brushed aluminum finish, with small indents surrounding the keyboard and the trackpad. The 15.6-inch screen is surrounded by a glossy black plastic bezel.

The bottom of the computer is where all the color is. The underside of the Sleekbook is made of a rubbery material colored a bright crimson. This unexpected pop of color is actually a nice touch, in my opinion, and adds to the premium feel of the machine. It's also kind of sexy—like a Christian Louboutin shoe.

The Sleekbook sports a full-sized keyboard with island-style keys. The keys are quiet when you type on them, and they offer good tactile feedback. They're also nicely spaced—not too close together or awkwardly far apart—which makes typing accurately a breeze. Above the keyboard is the Sleekbook's power button and speakers, complete with a small Beats Audio logo. There are no discrete buttons on the keyboard deck, but the keyboard's Fn keys function as media playback buttons and audio and brightness controls by default.

A large, lightly-textured trackpad is located under the keyboard. The trackpad has a small box in the upper left corner, which you can double-tap to turn the trackpad off. A slim line near the bottom of the trackpad denotes the mouse button areas; like Apple's glass trackpads, the entire lower half of the pad depresses when you click a mouse button. The trackpad is comfortable and accurate, and has smooth multitouch functionality.

The Sleekbook's port selection is closer to that of an Ultrabook than an all-purpose machine. Because of its slim design, it has no optical drive. The left side of the notebook has a pop-open ethernet port, an HDMI-out port, two USB3.0 ports, and an SD card reader. The right side holds one USB2.0 port, a Kensington lock slot, and microphone and headphone jacks.

Screen and Speakers

The Envy 6 sports a glossy 15.6-inch screen with a native resolution of 1366 by 768 pixels. While this resolution is pretty typical for a budget-priced laptop, it's still disappointingly low-res for a 15.6-inch screen. Screen resolution aside, the Sleekbook's screen looks pretty good: it's fairly bright, with good contrast and accurate colors. Off-axis viewing angles are also good.

Video looks and sounds good on the Sleekbook. You will see some artifacting and choppiness in HD video clips, but overall it's pretty bearable to watch. The HP's speakers, which are located above the keyboard, are comfortably loud and, thanks to the Beats Audio enhancements, sound fairly full. You won't be able to have a raucous drum-and-bass party with these speakers, but they're well above the category average.

The Bottom Line

The HP Envy Sleekbook 6z-1000 is a nice-looking entry-level laptop, and it costs only $600. The laptop's performance and processing speed may not be up to par, but HP's premium styling and components definitely make this laptop look lust-worthy. If you're not terribly concerned with having the fastest notebook on the market, the Sleekbook is worth a look.

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HP Photosmart 6510 e-All-in-One Review: Good Looks, Good Output

The first thing you'll notice about the $150 (as of February 6, 2012) HP Photosmart 6510 e-All-in-One color inkjet multifunction printer is that it looks better than the competition. But it’s also a good printer, with first-rate output quality and better-than-average print speeds, though ink costs are just average.

The Photosmart 6510's good looks are partly due to its 3.45-inch touchscreen control panel. The screen is large enough to read and tap easily, too, making the unit as a whole very easy to use. Connectivity falls a bit short: You’ll find only SD and Memory Stick card slots behind a front panel, and the machine has no USB/PictBridge port--an unusual omission. The MFP does support USB and Wi-Fi, though, and the installation routine is concise.

HP's bundled software for the Photosmart 6510 is simple to use and supports all of the unit's capabilities, including scanning and copying. It also allows you to scan from the control panel to a PC or a Mac, even if you're using Wi-Fi; some competing models require a USB connection for this function. The Photosmart 6510 supports HP’s Web-based apps and remote Web printing, as well as local printing via Wi-Fi from Android and iOS devices.

Paper-handling features for the Photosmart 6510 are fine for low-volume printing and the occasional scan. The 80-page paper cassette has an integrated 20-sheet photo tray. The output tray holds 50 sheets, and the MFP offers automatic duplexing (two-sided printing). You don't get an automatic document feeder here, but you can find an ADF on a slightly higher-priced cousin, the Photosmart 7510. Unfortunately, HP seems to have abandoned the notion that users will ever scan anything thicker than a letter: None of the Photosmart units we’ve tested have a telescoping lid to facilitate the scanning of pages from magazines or books.

The Photosmart 6510’s ink costs are merely average. The standard black cartridge costs $12 and lasts for 250 pages (4.8 cents per page), while the standard cyan, magenta, and yellow color cartridges cost $10 each and last for 300 pages, or 3.33 cents per page. That's about 15 cents for a four-color page. You can reduce the color ink costs appreciably with the XL cartridges, which are $18 for 750 pages, or 2.4 cents per page--almost a cent per page cheaper per color. However, the $23 XL black lasts for only 550 pages, or 4.2 cents per page, only slightly less than the standard black.

In our tests, the Photosmart 6510 posted average to slightly above-average print and scan speeds. Text and monochrome graphics exited at a sprightly 7.7 pages per minute on the PC and 7.2 ppm on the Mac--nearly a page per minute faster than the median rate. A half-page photo printed at a slightly above-average rate of about 3.16 ppm, while the same image printed at a slightly below-average rate of about 1 ppm to glossy photo paper. Single-page copies came out around the norm at 3 ppm. Full-page photos printed on the Mac arrived at a rate of about 0.4 ppm--a bit slower than average.

Output from the Photosmart 6510 is very good. At standard settings, text appears sharp and black, though color graphics tend to be a little grainy on plain paper. The color palette overall has a slight lean toward yellow, giving graphics a warm and friendly, if not completely accurate, vibe. On glossy photo paper, color graphics show considerable detail in dark areas and are overall quite nice, with the same warm color scale.

There's no doubt that the HP Photosmart 6510 will look better on your desk than most competitors will. Beyond that, the output is quite good, and the MFP is easy to operate. If your scanning needs are minimal--meaning, the lack of an ADF and a telescoping scanner lid won't disturb you--the Photosmart 6510 is a good choice for the price.

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