HU: Killer deal on killer printer

amateriat

amateriat

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I wouldn't bother bringing this up if I wasn't so happy with this printer over the last two-plus years:

http://tinyurl.com/5dq8dv

When I got mine, I happened to get it online from a legit outfit selling it for slightly lower than this. I'd planned on it being an "interim" printer while I plotted toward my "proper" printer, but it was more than good enough to hang with me all this time, and will likely be printing all but one of my works for an upcoming exhibit in September. Love the thing to death, and if they're planning to phase it out (nothing's forever, right?), they'd better have one hell of a replacement. (Note: the B9180, nice as it is, doesn't replace it.)

Usual disclaimer: no affiliation with HP, other than the proverbial satisfied customer, and former Epson acolyte. 😉


- Barrett
 
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did you ever figure out how much it cost in ink to print a 13x19? I had a similar Canon printer and the cost per print was astronomical. Every couple of prints I was replacing one of the twelve dollar ink tanks. The larger printers (17" wide) may cost more but the inks come in larger tanks and seem to cost less per print...
 
Here's how I figure it: When I had an Epson SP 2200, I factored in head-clogs, issues with metamerism and gloss-differential (and the related need to "profile" prints based on the lighting under which the print would be displayed), et cetera. The HP 8750 hasn't put me through any of this, and it doesn't subject me to nearly the number of ink-sucking head-cleaning cycles which are mandatory on printers with permanent ink-heads (Epson). Note that a number of people I know are getting great results with Epson's 2400 and the like, but I needed to go another way. There's more than one healthy dog in this fight, that's all. 🙂


- Barrett
 
I'll come at this another way... can you give us a link to some of the photos, you have printed. I'm trying to figure out if you are printing BW, colour, landscape, street, journalism, night ... the combinations are overwhelming. I'm just attempting to get a handle on what you have printed. Also what have you printed that you didn't like?

Any info on ink cart prices and images per cart if BW only?
 
Jan: Unlike the Epson 2200 I had (and subsequent Epsons), the HP 8750 uses three multi-channel ink carts (as opposed to individual ink carts). This has been batted back and forth, and I'm beginning to wonder just how much of a difference it makes in terms of economy (just like playing in Vegas of AC, The House Always Wins).

I buy my carts at Staples. At the moment, here's what the costs are:

- HP 99 (Photo) cartridge: $24.99

- HP 102 (Grey) cartridge: $29.99*

- HP 101 (Blue) cartridge: $24.99

(*Larger version of #100 Grey cartridge, and the only one worth getting)

I might note that this printer has coughed up exactly one head-clog in all the time I've used it. And, unlike Epson's offerings, while it gives you a heads-up when an ink cart is low, it's your call as to when to pull the cart and replace it; if you think you can squeeze out just one more 5x7" print from the carts you have, it'll let you do it, because the print heads are in the ink cart, not permanently in the printer, so if you run out in the middle of a print, you've only blown a sheet of paper...the print head gets replaced when you change the ink cart. Ink is a rip-off biz as it is, but I feel less ripped-off now than I did before. So there! ;-)


- Barrett
 
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Additional info:

Like the Epson 2400, the HP 8750 uses three black/grey channels for color and b/w printing (with the option to use just the three black/grey channels for b/w printing, similar to Epson's ABW option with the 2400 and larger printers). B/W prints are essentially neutral under differing lighting conditions. The Vivera dye inks have been favorably reviewed by Wilhelm, the only weakness being waterfastness. (My somewhat-egotistical reply: just treat a print of mine like you'd treat a Monet, and you'll be fine). 🙂

The final analysis is how the damn prints look. This is how I judged this printer. And I liked what I saw. A lot.



- Barrett
 
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Jan: The only way I can show you how this thing prints is to send a print off to you. And, believe it or not, I'd be quite happy to send a 5x7 off to you to have a look. Stuff on the Web means nothing.


- Barrett
 
Johnmcd said:
Barrett,

Are the prints archival? Epson claims 80 years and certainly none of my prints have faded in the couple of years I've had the R1800. Do HP do a similar thing?

Cheers,

John
Click to expand...
Last time I checked out Wilhelm labs' figures, you can expect color prints, under glass, to last in excess of 100 years; for dark storage, over 200 years. Add a few decades for b/w prints made only with the black/grey inks. This is only slightly behind current pigment-ink printers, and without their frequent visual side-effects (metamerism/gloss-differential). These issues affect not only Epson's pigment-ink offereings, BTW, but also HP's otherwise very nice B9180 printer, which offers only two black.grey ink channels to the the 8750's three.

Like I said, if I didn't think my b/w results from the 8750 meant much, I wouldn't be shooting off my mouth about it to others, especially at the factory-direct price (DO NOT buy it from Staples, folks, or you'll wind up paying full-pop for no good reason).


- Barrett
 
"archival" a relative thing, but Barrett answers this above, as much as it can be answered.

I have owned many inkjets and all of them have suffered head-clogs A LOT. That's usually what does then in, when a head clogs and won't come unclogged no matter how many cleanings (and wasted ink..)

So what you say about this machine is impressive.
 
Pablito: Indeed, it's all relative, since we're talking about accelerated tests to tell us what these prints we make will hopefully look like after we're all (likely) dead. And Wilhelm's been slagged from several corners over the years, yet his lab's been the one consistently checking this stuff out, and he alone had the cojones to call Kodak's BS regarding their own system for rating the archival quality of their own inkjet papers.

In addition, while I care a lot about what my prints might look like to, say, my sister's kids (I'm not siring any), I care just as much about what my prints look like right now. I haven't been terribly impressed with pigment-ink printer output, except for the custom-carbon-ink prints from people like Paul Roark and Amadou Diallo (no, not that guy, this guy), and, frankly, I just haven't been into knocking myself silly to reach that bar. This printer has at least gotten me in the ballpark. And, rather than let this "secret" die away for the next product cycle, I thought I'd let people know about this deal while it's hot. And, it's a hell of a lot cheaper than that just-discontinued (is it really?) Noctilux. Right?


- Barrett
 
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