Epson, Lexmark, Canon, Kodak, even Dell, have launched at least one model this year. Each new printer seems to offer improvements over earlier products. This is true in the case of Hewlett-Packard’s Photosmart 475 printer.

Two new features include a 1.5 GB internal hard drive for storing digital photos and video clips and a remote control and television hookup that allows the user to undertake all of the printer functions while looking at a large television image instead of on the printer’s 2.5-inch display.

The unit’s storage function should be a big attraction for photographers who like to shoot lots of digital images. Suddenly the need for extra memory cards is not as great. With the Photosmart 475 on hand, photographers can store up to 1,000 photos (with an average file size of 1.1 MB). Instead of switching cards and trying to keep track of which ones have new images, photographers can shoot, download the images and digital video files to the printer, then wipe the card clean either via the printer or once they put the card back in their camera. Sure there are dedicated photo storage devices out there, but this combination makes sense because at some point the photographer will want to print at least a few of those stored shots.

With the option of assigning keywords to the photos, the archived images are easy to sort. Batches of photos can be viewed and printed by keyword or date.

When it comes to printing, users have a number of options. First, there’s the choice of whether to use the printer on its own, or hook it up to a PC or Mac computer.

This is cache, read story here