Of course, looks and monikers don't matter if an all-in-one doesn't deliver on the goods. The Photosmart Premium does. It has a black print speed of up to 33 pages per minute (600 x 600 dots-per-inch), a color print speed of up to 32 pages per minute (up to 9600 x 2400 dpi optimized). It can handle a variety of paper types and sizes, and can also print on CDs and DVDs. You can do double-sided printing.

Everything I printed -- from photos to text documents to CD covers -- looked great. Text was crisp and sharp. Using photo paper, photographs were vibrant and lush.

The scanner resolution is up to 4800 dpi (optical) and up to 19,200 dpi enhanced. The scanner -- a flatbed that can handle images up to 8.5 x 14 inches -- has a bit depth of 48-bit. The fax has a resolution of up to 300 x 300 dpi, can transmit at three seconds per page and can can up to 90 pages in its incoming fax memory. (But does anyone really fax anymore? I never do.)

You can transfer photos or print directly off your MS, SD, xD, CF, or USB key using the HP's onboard card reader. The USB port is also PictBridge compatible for one-touch printing with compatible digital cameras.

The all-in-one has an 125-sheet input tray, 20-sheet photo tray and 50-sheet duplex Automatic Document Feeder (ADF). The Photosmart Premium comes with an USB cable and an Ethernet port for more direct networking, but I used the 802.11 wireless connectivity. In fact, this is the easiest all-in-one I've ever used for setting up for wireless use.

I plugged it in, turned the printer on, and choose wireless connectivity from the control panel. It found my wireless network immediately. After that, I simply went to the Systems Preferences app on my Mac and added the Photosmart Premium as a Bonjour printer. (Bonjour is Apple's trade name for its implementation of the IETF Zeroconf protocols, a technology created to dramatically simplify the creation and configuration of wired and wireless networks. Bonjour enables automatic discovery of computers, devices, and services on IP networks. Bonjour uses industry standard IP protocols to allow devices to automatically discover each other without the need to enter IP addresses or configure DNS servers.)

There's also a Bluetooth receiver with which you can connect your cell phone and/or PDA up to the printer for quick photo prints. Considering all its capabilities, the Photosmart Premium is rather svelte at 18.43 x 18.62 x 11.14 inches (and that's with the duplexer) and weighing in at 22.95 pounds.

There are some things to quibble about. There's no transparent materials adapter for the scanner or hinged scanner hood. The cost of the black ink cartridge is also a bit higher than the norm; the cost comes out to about 4.5 cents for a black-and-white page while, strangely, the colored pages come in at about 2.5 cents per page. The printer uses five standard HP model No. 564 ink cartridges for black, photo black, cyan, magenta, and yellow.

Overall, the Photosmart Premium is a great system for home offices, photographers, students, professionals, or anyone wanting a device that can handle a multitude of tasks with aplomb.

You can get the Photosmart Premium for about US$199.99 right now, after a mail-in rebate. It's compatible with Mac OS X 10.4 or higher (and is running fine on my iMac with Snow Leopard installed).