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HP's exciting new laser printer takes a new look at digital imaging, replacing the flatbed scanner with a digital camera mounted on an arm raised above the scanning tray to take pictures of 3D objects as well as flat pages.
The HP TopShot LaserJet Pro M275's innovative new TopShot technology cuts out glare and shadows, making it easy to take good pictures of small items. But is it a solution looking for a problem?
We liked
The MFD's TopShot technology is definitely innovative, and is a very quick and convenient way of taking digital photographs of small items. By taking six shots and combining them into a composite image, you get a very good photo, with few shadows and reflective glares.
The HP TopShot LaserJet Pro M275's small footprint is welcome, as is the small step up in quality from its predecessor.
We disliked
The TopShot digital camera approach is great for 3D objects, but isn't as good as a traditional flatbed scanner for regular scanning work such as flat pages. Scanning from books can be awkward, because pages tend to arch near the spine.
As a laser printer, it's good, but not great. It's not very cheap to run. Limited paper capacity and slow print speeds make it ill-suited for use as a shared office printer.
Final verdict
For all its innovation, the HP TopShot LaserJet Pro M275 is ultimately a niche product.
If you only rarely scan or photocopy flat pages, but regularly take photos of small items for uploading to eBay or emailing to friends and professional contacts, its original approach to image capture might prove welcome.
But we suspect most users would be better served by a regular MFD with a flatbed scanner, and a handheld digital camera for photography.
