HP TopShot LaserJet Pro M275 Pro Reviews

HP is an endlessly experimental company, and the M275 will certainly prove an interesting prospect for the curious. However, we suspect the 3D feature will remain a short-term fad for many users – with eBay sellers perhaps being an exception. Take out the 3D feature and you have a proficient but not outstanding printer for the business and/or home office. The M275 has plenty of features, but a less gimmicky model will give better performance at a lesser price, and with much more reasonable running costs too.

Hewlett Packard's TopShot LaserJet Pro M275 is a multifunction device with a difference. Instead of a scanner, it captures images using an 8MP digital camera located on a foldaway arm. It takes six quick exposures at various settings, and compiles them into a single composite image.

The TopShot LaserJet Pro M275 is a really interesting MFP and I can't say that too often when it comes to printers, believe me. The 3D scanning angle is new to me and I thought HP did a good job with it, even without being able to capture all sides of 3D objects. What won me over was the idea of an 8 megapixel camera as opposed to the traditional flatbed scanner. The copies and scans were so much more accurate and colorful then what I see with most MFP scanners. The problem then? That I'm not sure how useful the TopShot LaserJet Pro M275 might be in an actual office environment where multiple people are trying to use the device. The black print speeds are good but the color print speeds are not great, the paper capacity is average and HP has left off several business features that I consider fairly standard including: automatic duplexing, a front side USB port, an ADF and stand alone scan functionality. So where does the TopShot LaserJet Pro M275 fall? I'm not sure, to be honest. It would probably be a good fit for a home office, and at $399.99, it's competitively priced with other color laser-class MFPs targeted at this market. I am excited to see what HP does with the TopShot line in the future and if they'll incorporate this technology into an MFP better suited for the SMB space.

The HP TopShot LaserJet Pro M275 MFP is a highly capable all-in-one color laser printer, though the TopShot scan arm and its focus on 3D, rather than 2D, scanning makes it more of a niche product. Truth be told, that niche does seem a bit narrow: It assumes you need a quality-output printer and are looking for a quick-and-easy way to scan small objects for printing or Web posting. If that happens to be you, though, it’s nearly ideal.

An innovative take on the all-in-one, but a mini photo studio on top of a printer is extremely niche

The HP TopShot LaserJet Pro M275 MFP offers high quality output across the board and an unusual scanner (a camera really), designed primarily for scanning 3D objects.

The truly unique imaging technology built into the HP TopShot LaserJet Pro M275 will be compelling for some users, even if there are a few issues to resolve. The printer that sits underneath it is actually pretty good, just pricey to replenish. While ideally I'd love to be able to buy the scanner and pick my own printer to use with it, the package HP offers is satisfactory for single and small-office users.