(revised 1/8/07)
I've been using this as a commercial printer now for 6 months doing prototype and production work on HP and MOAB papers in multiple sizes.
This printer tends to recognize only HP paper as photo paper and everything else as plain paper with the auto image sensor so you will have to use manual paper selection. This isn't difficult and if you care about your images is what you really should do anyway. There are also a limited number of paper sizes that it recognizes so you will have an extra step to override paper size selection telling the printer that it is OK to print on the "wrong size paper."
This is built better than the smaller hp printers, feels solid, does not have that ready to break feel common to so many hp printers. It prints with authority, not fast but solidly. Images are very accurate, and I have never seen any banding provided print heads are kept clean. However, the cogs that pull the paper through do leave a faint impression on the paper spaced about 3 inches apart. This is not in the ink. This is more pronounced on the back side of the paper. If you do two sided printing, it WILL be noticeable on paper that has an image already printed on it (ie. The back side if the back is a solid graphic image)
To really get full use of this printer you'll have to put your images on a CF memory card or other memory device. These days HP puts very little memory in their printers and claims you can print at 1200 dpi input resolution. That's BS. You can only really do that if you add memory by putting the image on a memory card and slipping that into the printers memory slot. That said, when you do, you can print hi res uncompressed tiff images that are over a gigabyte (the size of an uncompressed tiff image, 13x19 inches at 1200 dpi)! And they are beautiful. If you try that through the usb port, expect many drivers to turn them into 300dpi images SURPRISE! If the driver doesn't do this, expect the image to hang or never print. You can print through printer drivers but testing we did shows the only real way to get you image through is to put it on a CF card and put it in the printer. You eliminate a whole bunch of needless translation software that way. Try it both ways see for yourself.
The user interface blows. It is just plain bad. But if you supply one image on a CF memory card at a time, or look at the card ahead of time through your PC you'll do just fine. It didn't take long to figure out the interface. It's simple, just not friendly.
This machine creates quite a bit of motion when printing so you definitely don't want it on the same surface as your computer when you print. It is very quiet though. It also finally ships with the normal size ink cartridges. Be aware that ink carts now have region codes and expiration dates (if you are buying them on-line or through eBay) Though this is billed as a 9 ink printer, when the blue or grey cart runs out, the color (95 or 97) car takes over in emulation mode and it runs as a 6 or 3 ink printer. This is a great feature though when running in this mode it SUCKS INK LIKE MAD.
This printer doesn't do the stupid image size manipulation that other hp photo printers do. Other hp photo printers constantly resize your images, this printer doesn't do this to the same extent unless you tell it to print borderless. This seems to be based in hp consumer mentality. Their cameras don't do 4x6 images so their printers "fix" this in all images regardless of size by first enlarging, then cropping. The 8750 engineers didn't seem so obsessed with this thought. Tiff images are the more stable format size wise. For some reason they are resized less than jpg images.
Image enhancement is excellant. The difference between a 600dpi and a 1200dpi image is usually difficult to tell. Image quality is consistant through and through. Printed results often are shown to comments such as "Oh My God" or simply "Wow."
The rear paper feed is problematic. Other reviewers have had good results, I have not. It may just be this unit or the physical setup. When it has worked, the little cog prints on the paper have been reduced, not eliminated. TO be clear though, the cog print issue is VERY faint. You will probably only notice this if you are printing 11x14 or 13x19 images at hi resolution for resale to very picky buyers. Even then you need the right light to notice them.
Dye based printers are getting a bad name these days but check out the reviews and prices on other 13x19 printers. They talk about having to print all the time to avoid constant head cleanings bad news. On for some of them, you'll have to pay several hundred dollars more than you do for the 8750 as is the case with the new canon. This printer runs well, does the job, doesn't hang or waste paper, prints huge images at high detail, prints on any paper, and is inexpensive. I like getting new heads when I buy ink, It's a good idea, then and now. It is still dye though, so don't put your photos unprotected in the sun or in your car with all the windows up. In other words, treat them like you treat anything of value and they will last.
My only con beside the user interface is the out put paper platform extension. Just like every printer in the world, it is plastic and could easily get broken off if someone bumps into it. Also I think the input size guide may break some day. Neither will be a tragedy, but why put these cheap parts on an otherwise stellar machine? Also I've noticed that it sometimes kicks a small stack of paper back out of the input stack after printing a few sheets resulting in an "out of paper" indication.
The 8750 comes with a usb and a network port. The net port works well. If you use a wireless setup with a router it is wonderful. You can put your cameras memory card in the printer. Transfer your images through your wireless connect to your PC. The when you want to print, send them back to the memory card all over the wireless connection. To do this, just plug the printer into your wireless router and install the hp software on your pc or laptop. The software does a good job of locating the printer. The downside is that "the software" means the hp image transfer software so you'll have to get used to yet another folder naming convention.
Some of the conventions recommended here might seem a bit picky but they will produce the best images on this and many other printers.
One fnial note if you are selling prints, spray on some fixative such as winsor and newton fixative. This will seal the image to the paper so that moisture on your hands or from the air won't ruin it. It will also allow people to handle the print without ruining it. With dye based inks this is especially important. It will also keep you out of the embarrasing situation of someone who put your print in a sunny place returning in 6 months with a faded image.
I would buy it again and have no regrets. This is the first hp inkjet printer I can say this about.
0 comments:
Post a Comment