HP Photosmart B8550 Driver for Windows, Mac, and Setup Guide

HP Photosmart B8550 is a photo printer that is designed to print at up to 13×19” or super-tabloid size. This somewhat-less-expensive photo printer is very impressive. Priced at 299.99 dollars, it is aimed at serious amateur photographers & professionals. It belongs too much more of high-end consumer printer.

Ease of Use

Printing job is handled by HP Vivera inks. It uses 4 dye inks (Photo Black, Yellow, Magenta, and Cyan) for photo printing. It also comes with a larger pigment Black for text documents. The manufacturer aims for the general market with only 4 colors. However, the image quality is really impressive.

It has small ink cartridges & you will burn through them too soon. The first low ink warning for the yellow cartridge comes after 3 13×19 prints. You can get another 5 prints before changing the cartridge. After printing 11 13×19 prints, you can replace all the cartridges with the original pigment black.

Inks are less expensive compared to the competitors at 9.99 dollars each. However, that is small consolation when you replace them often. The manufacturer offers an XL version of the inks with 2.5x the capacity for 14.99 dollars and this will be a better option if you want more than occasional printing.

Image Quality

Surprisingly, HP Photosmart B8550 is very good for a 4-color printer. With Printer Managed Color, its output tends a little towards the saturated side. Images are also 1 stop darker compared what you have on screen & what you see when printing with Application Managed Color.

This machine delivers good print speed. To print a 13×19 borderless, it takes less than 6 minutes. Anyway, B8550 is appropriate for general printing as the result is very pleasing.

With the card reader, you can print a set of 30 4×6 prints using the manufacturer’s Real-Life Techs built into the printer. It applies a few auto adjustments to images. It does a good job of adjusting for dark exposures. However, the greens are over-saturated.

Compared to Epson R2880, this model targets to different audience. When you print black and white, the Epson model offers a clear advantage. The HP does not have the range of tones in the prints.

If you are printing text documents, you will be pleased with the speed & quality around 30 ppm. This print speed is impressive enough. When it comes to running costs, HP Photosmart B8550 can print a 4×6 at about 0.23 dollars.