HP Photosmart B8550 Photo Printer
“I got this printer primarily to print my digital artwork in 11×17 and 13×19 size, as I tend to work with a large layout and determined that it would be much more cost-effective to print my own than send it off blindly to a shop and not know if the color would be right. My style involves rich, vivid colors and dark shadows — which is not the easiest style to print well, as I have learned through the years. I was a bit nervous, as the B8550 is a photograph printer more so than an art printer, and not a “professional” one. Thick art papers meant for pigmented inks were not recommended for this printer, which uses dye ink, so I went with the HP Premium Plus satin photo paper.
When my first art print came out, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. The quality is jaw-dropping. Flat, dull black is NOT a problem with this printer thanks to the Photo Black ink cartridge. Skin tones came out great. Subtle highlights and shadows, perfect. It literally looked like the picture on my monitor in this respect. The color isn’t perfect; purples tend to be a little redder in print than they appear onscreen, but this is the only thing that I have noticed. The overall quality is better than anything I’ve gotten from a commercial printing outfit; all of those came out way too dark and way too yellow.
I didn’t notice that the printing seemed especially fast for a 13×19 paper, but for smaller sizes it does seem to run fast. Speed was much less of an issue for me than quality, though.
I got this printer heavily on sale, but even the standard retail price would have been worth it. It’s THAT good.”
HP Officejet 7000 Wide Format Printer NEW
“Overall this is a great product. Setting up the printer was simple, even the network setup. I connected the OJ7000 to my wireless router since I have desktops and a laptop (which is wireless). No more taking my laptop over to the printer and connecting to the USB port to print or having to turn my desktop on to share a printer. The print quality is excellent on black and white, photo quality and all types of printing in-between, and easily prints fast perfect 13×19 print jobs. I did have to get used to the time it takes to begin a print job as the printhead is moving back and forth setting itself up. It’s only seconds more than other std format hp printers I use which is understandable since the carriage the print head travels on is over 13 inches instead of 8.5 inches.When it starts printing It prints very fast even for the highest quality large format photo prints up to 13×19. The reason I gave 4 stars for features is that I would like a straight through feed from the rear for my printing of heavier (thick) cover stock and the heavier glossy photo paper. Perhaps HP will be adding an optional straight thru feeder that connects to the rear of the printer where the rear access panel is located.”