If the inclusion of an optical drive and the lack of an automatic document feeder in the HP Photosmart C8180 don't quite suit your ideal home office setup, the C7280 might prove to be a better fit.

When it comes to office printers, the boxy C7280 AIO even looks the part. It has the automatic document feeder (capacity of 50 sheets) and the auto duplexer that will pare down the oft tedious task of flipping papers for your printer. Who's working for whom?

In terms of connectivity, the C7280 just isn't as social as the C8180. It supports USB 2.0, PictBridge and Ethernet, but for wireless it's just 802.11g. So if you own older 802.11b routers, do note that data transfer rates will be limited to your 802.11b adapters and you probably won't be able to take advantage of more advanced encryption standards like WPA.

Bluetooth is available only via an optional USB Bluetooth dongle.

But the C7280 does have a color fax feature, which is very useful for home businesses. However, there's only a 90-page memory which, in our experience, is certainly not enough if you are attempting a mass fax marketing broadcast.

The C7280 also has a 2.4-inch LCD for quick photo browsing from inserted memory cards, a dedicated 4R photo paper tray and a 4,800 x 4,800dpi scanning resolution.

The direct media slots supports a plethora of formats such as CompactFlash, xD, Secure Digital, Multimedia Card, SDHC and a few more.

Speed-wise, the C7280 makes the same claims as the C8180: 34ppm (black, draft quality, A4) and 33ppm (color, draft quality, A4) and 10s for every photo (color photo, draft quality). And that's all printed out with the six Vivera ink cartridges with a best color resolution print of 4,800 x 1,200dpi.

At S$499, the C7280 is a good addition to your home setup if an AIO with a built-in fax feature is important to you.