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Connectivity
Software (7.75)
This digital camera comes with HP Photosmart Premier Software that provides all the basic photo browsing and editing features. Across the top of the Premier program are six tabs: View, Edit, Print, Create, Share, and Backup. Users can browse through their images several ways in the View tab. Users can display their pictures as thumbnails, previews, full screen, or slide shows. The size of the thumbnails and previews can be controlled as well. Pictures can be selected and sorted by date or file name.
Users can either double-click the mouse or select the Edit tab to view a large image of the picture and all sorts of editing options. There are Basic and Advanced groupings of editing tools. The Basic tools are Rotate, Flip, Crop, Red Eye, Auto Adjust, and Resize. There are self-explanatory. The Advanced tools include Restore Color, Adjust Image, Color Toolkit, B&W Toolkit, and Special Effects. The Restore Color option is a one-touch button to fix any pictures that may have been taken in black-and-white or with other effects on the camera. Second thoughts about that sepia color? No problem. The Adjust Image tool lets users tweak exposure, adaptive lighting, brightness, contrast, and sharpness. These aren’t controlled by scales or curves or anything. Instead, the software shows nine thumbnails of the selected picture at various levels of exposure, lighting, brightness, contrast, or sharpness, and then users choose what they will. The Color Toolkit has the same nine-thumbnail interface and lets users choose color temperature and saturation. The Black and White Toolkit displays nine versions of the selected image with various contrasts and such. Lastly, the Special Effects tool has many of the same special effects that are including on the camera: Solarize, Ink Dots, Water Color, Posterize, Soft Glow, and Vintage.
Once pictures are touched up nicely, they can be printed with the next tab. Users can choose the printer, quantity of prints, and print size. They can also choose to print index sheets or photo packages. The Create tab lets users browse project types and pictures, then put them together. The following projects are available with simple templates: Photo Gifts, Album Pages, Brochures, Calendars, CD/DVD Labels, Greeting Cards, Panoramas, and Flyers. The Share tab is where users will want to go to modify the camera’s internal email address book. The HP Photosmart R927 cannot email pictures directly from the camera, but will automatically load pictures to online albums and email people in the address book to inform them of the update when connected to the computer. This section of the software also allows users to connect to HP’s Snapfish web site to order gifts and prints, as well as store pictures online. There is also a CD burning program that can be accessed here. The Backup tab has simple buttons to ensure pictures won’t be accidentally erased or otherwise lost.
Throughout the software program, there are basic help aids that can be accessed. For users who want more thorough step-by-step instructions and even videos walking through certain functions, the CD-ROM also has the HP Solution Center program. This is almost like a user guide for the software program. Overall, the included CD-ROM provides good browsing, organizing, and editing software that allows users the freedom to print either at home or through HP. The only downside comes when users don’t want to use HP’s Snapfish web site; they’ll have to manually load their pictures to a separate site.
Jacks, ports, plugs (7.0)
The HP Photosmart R927 is fitted with a single jack on the bottom of the camera. This parks on an included camera dock that also serves as the battery charger. The included dock is fairly basic, with connections to the power adapter and the USB cable. There is no connection to the television, so slide shows on your new big screen aren’t going to happen. HP omitted AV output compatibility completely. Some users may also dislike the camera dock setup because of its inconvenience when traveling. When carting around a laptop and camera, not many users want to also carry a camera dock and a couple cables. Some users love the camera dock though; the HP R927 fits easily into the dock and can transfer pictures while charging the battery at the same time. Talk about efficiency.
Direct Print Options (4.5)
Because of the camera dock setup, direct printing isn’t quite as direct. The HP Photosmart R927 must sit in its dock and the included USB cable must be connected to the PictBridge compatible printer. Print orders can be created on the R927 with the Photosmart Express button atop the camera. That button lets users mark individual photos for printing and select quantities of each print up to 99. Users can also scroll through all the pictures on the memory card or internal memory and select quantities – including 0 if none are wanted. There are options to select all of the pictures at once and to tag pictures for printing online from the Snapfish web site.
Battery (3.75)
The R927 comes with an HP Photosmart R07 lithium-ion battery that costs a pretty penny. The battery sells alone for $50 on the company’s web site. While it’s always a good idea to have a backup, it isn’t entirely necessary. Having the included camera dock and using it frequently will prevent those awful low-battery situations. HP publishes 200 shots per charge on its battery, but I never got close to having a low battery while testing because it became habit to set it in the included camera dock/charger. If the battery is dead, it takes 2-3 hours to fully charge again in the included dock. Overall, the specs on the battery aren’t impressive, but the dock encourages a habit of regularly charging the battery so it shouldn’t be a problem as long as you constantly remain tethered.
Memory (4.0)
 The HP R927 comes with 32 MB of internal memory and a slot for SD cards. The camera is tested to accept SD cards up to 2 GB. This digital camera can fit 9 full-resolution pictures onto its memory; when the camera is initially powered up, its default image size of 8 megapixels with normal compression allows 12 pictures to fit on the on-board memory. The Photosmart R927 saves pictures to the internal memory if nothing else is there, but automatically switches to a memory card if one is loaded into the slot. Users can choose to move pictures from the internal memory to the card within the playback menu. Of note, however, is the enormous amount of time that it takes for the camera to communicate with the card. It takes almost five seconds to record a picture to the memory card after it is shot; after the second picture, that time doubles. After a lengthy burst of two pictures, it takes 13 seconds. Expect to see a lot of the “Processing…” message when those photo opportunities are rolling by.
Other features (4.5)
Cool carrying cases – HP runs its own carrying case web site, CasesOnline.com, to promote its cases. These aren’t the typical plain bags either. Users can personalize their camera’s case to come in several different styles and materials, including everything from suede and microfiber to leather and faux crocodile skin.
HP Marketing – HP includes plenty of plugs for its accessories, services, and other technology. Pressing and holding down the Recording/Playback button atop the camera begins a product demo of the camera itself. If you forget how awesome your camera is, just press this button and it will remind you.
User Manual – The long version is in .pdf form on the included CD-ROM. This is a little obnoxious for users who want to look up a feature or two occasionally and don’t want to boot up the computer for a two-minute reference. There is an on-screen user guide that is slightly truncated, but still pretty elaborate. It offers tips and all kinds of imaging advice. The problem with this is that there’s a ton of text squashed onto a much smaller space. Even though the LCD screen measures 3 inches diagonally, it’s still a strain on the eyes to read hundreds of words from the display. After viewing the CD-ROM, users will wish there was a printed form of the user manual.
Digital Zoom – The HP Photosmart R927 has 8x digital zoom that can be turned on and off in the setup menu. When activated, the camera transitions almost too easily from the optical to digital zoom. Before you realize it, your subject is an impressionist work of art.
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