B&W dedicated printer

Nikon Bob said:
I think 5 forum members finding the HP 7960 works well for them pretty telling. I sometimes get the feeling that unless a printer is Epson, a scanner is Nikon and a camera is Leica it is not taken seriously. Anyway there are lots of choices and reviews out there on the net.

Bob
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Um... Epson, Nikon and Leica, eh?

I only own one of those brands (Nikon scanner). I have zero interest in Leica cameras and would not have another Epson printer if you gave me one.

You may find the 5 examples in this thread are giving perfectly sound advice. How many of them have had a problem though? How many of them have used HP's repair/warranty/customer service?

When any half-decently designed device is running smoothly their owners are not the ones you will find with complaints. Go talk to those that have had a problem... ANY electro-mechanical device is subject to failure. It is how those failures are addressed that makes for satisfied or unsatisfied customers.

Tom
 
T_om said:
When any half-decently designed device is running smoothly their owners are not the ones you will find with complaints. Go talk to those that have had a problem... ANY electro-mechanical device is subject to failure. It is how those failures are addressed that makes for satisfied or unsatisfied customers.
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Am I understanding you correctly that good customer service is more important than a dependable product?

Anyhow..... I had a software problem with the HP 7960. I emailed customer service and within 6 hours got a detailed response on how to troubleshoot it and fix it. It turned out to be an incompatibility with my version (the first version) of Windows 98, which was easily fixed.

Perhaps others have had less pleasant experiences with HP's customer service.
 
Tom

I see you woke up. I could not agree more with you that electo-mechanical devices can fail and customer service is very important in that case. I have had mine for 1 year now with no trouble (touch wood) and if it does go south on me I think for what they cost now they are disposable. OTH if I had trouble I would be sure to mention it. Again none of the 5 members has had trouble so that in itself maybe a good sign. On another tack, it is harder to find good customer service and support these days no matter the brand. If you do print at home and would not have another Epson printer, what do you use?

Bob
 
Sounds like a bargain, Gene.

Anyway, a little side question if no one minds: I have never used paper other than HP's. What is everyone's favorite paper? Any need to modify the printer/driver settings as only HP paper options are listed on the pull down menu (aside from the choice that only says: "Other brand?"
 
ray - I assume you're looking for paper recommendations specifically for the HP?

I forget - does the HP use archival inks? If not, that's something to consider, too.

allan
 
kaiyen said:
ray - I assume you're looking for paper recommendations specifically for the HP?
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Yes, that is what I use. I am supposing that results with different papers vary between ink manufacturers. Or is there something that is generally good across the board?
 
Nikon Bob said:
Tom

I see you woke up. I could not agree more with you that electo-mechanical devices can fail and customer service is very important in that case. I have had mine for 1 year now with no trouble (touch wood) and if it does go south on me I think for what they cost now they are disposable. OTH if I had trouble I would be sure to mention it. Again none of the 5 members has had trouble so that in itself maybe a good sign. On another tack, it is harder to find good customer service and support these days no matter the brand. If you do print at home and would not have another Epson printer, what do you use?

Bob
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Before I go back to sleep, I will add that I believe printing at home to be a waste of time and money. This, of course, is MHO only and others disagree (sometimes rabidly).

Although I own a Canon S9000 I do not use ANY inkjet printer to make finished photographic prints at home. I am lucky to have a great pro-level lab within easy reach of my home. The output there on Kodak Endura (B&W and Color) or through Miller's lab (if I want B&W on fiber), so far exceeds what I have seen from inkjets as to not even put them in the competition.

In the past I have owned several Epson printers, every one of which became unusable through printhead clogging. I have also owned HP printers and found them to be mechanically sound, superior to Epson's as a matter of fact... however, they were outrageously expensive to operate and had inferior output.

So, looking for a printer places several variables in your path, not to mention obstacles. If B&W inkjet only printing is what you want to do, have at it. But I would read more reviews, and more in depth reviews, than what has been presented here before making a choice.

So that is what I recommended.

I'll go back to sleep now.

Tom
 
Tom makes a really good point about reading up on the topic a LOT before making a choice. B&W printing is still kind of new, and it's very new as an OEM solution. One thing I will say is that the yahoo group goes way more towards customized, dedicated solutions with third party inks. That means that you won't get as much talk about the HP printers there as you would elsewhere.

Personally, I have had good experiences with both Epson and HP printers for the most part. I have had one issue with my Epson but my results compel me to stick with it. But your priorities and opinions may be different.

allan
 
The point on reading more is a good one and the link that I posted has fairly in depth reviews of several brands and models of printers not just HP. I thought that Tom did not print at home from previous posts and he has a good point in that a good pro labs output should be much better than what you get with home printing, if you have handy access to one at reasonable cost. That would be a good alternative.

Bob
 
ray_g said:
Yes, that is what I use. I am supposing that results with different papers vary between ink manufacturers. Or is there something that is generally good across the board?
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About a year or two ago there was a thread on dpreview in the printer section (i froget the title) where some dude took a bunch of different papers and ran them through a precurser of the 7960. It was called something like the massive paper test.

Anyway: I had been using epson's premium bright gloss for color photos for quite some time, and ended up with a slightly warm picture (which is what I wanted). Not god for b&w, unless you want this brown tone to it. I discovered the "pizza wheel marks" on the epson papers occasionaly, but not everytime. The paper also had a tendency to fade.

Then I switched over to HP's premium plus matte paper (dropped the gloss phase and into the matte next, haha). Wow.. very, very, very nice stuff with this paper and printer combo, both color and b&w. I have some mistreated prints laying about in the sun or open air for over 9 months, don't appear to have faded at all.

I tried some red-river papers: pearl satin, which I'm liking very much, as well as their arista water color paper. Only done color on these two, haven't tried b&w, but the results are great.

-------------

If anyone's looking for "negative" comments on the HP 7960:
- max width is 8.5", wish it would do more. Length can be pretty long, I've taped three pieces together and printed across them :)
- "pizza wheel marks" on certain papers
- inks may be pricey, especially that #59.
- HP papers smudge easy, make sure you don't touch the prints with hands/fingers if they are even a little moist.

That's it!
 
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