is it good or bad?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Brendan R. Wehrung
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Brendan R. Wehrung

Faced with choosing a new printer when I purchase a new computer around
Christmas I ventured to Office Depot and was shown an HP with a 6-ink
system that seems inexpensive to keep going. The catch is that they join
Epson in having an installed print head. The clerk didn't think this was
much of an issue since the store doesn't stock Canon (my first choice for
individual tank printers) print heads anyway.

Is this trend good or bad?

Brendan
 
Brendan said:
Faced with choosing a new printer when I purchase a new computer around
Christmas I ventured to Office Depot and was shown an HP with a 6-ink
system that seems inexpensive to keep going. The catch is that they join
Epson in having an installed print head. The clerk didn't think this was
much of an issue since the store doesn't stock Canon (my first choice for
individual tank printers) print heads anyway.

Is this trend good or bad?

Brendan
Click to expand...

Printers just get better and better for output quality - that's good.
They are simultaneously getting worser and worser for locking a user
into buying more and more expensive consumables - that's bad.
I expect that the first digit of the printer model number you just
bought is 8. 8 is a very lucky number.
Very lucky for HP.
 
It depends. (Oh, doesn't it always ;-))

HP has toyed with several different technologies over the years. What
technology is this printer using?

The "standard" HP printers have used some form of Thermal head, which
heads and cools to project each drop of ink. They make versions that
last a couple of ink refilling (the one that come on the cartridge) and
ones that are separate, but that also fail, only longer down the road,
perhaps 20-30 ink cartridges or less. Canon's heads are similarly long
term (likely somewhat longer) but they do ultimately fail and require
replacement.

HP has also designed printers using the piezo head form. These are
permanent, like the Epson printers which also use them.

Epson's head claim to be permanent. They are not easy to replace and
calibrate, but are not really designed to be by the end user. The heads
should last the life of the printers other components. Replacement cost
is expensive should it be needed. The advantage of the Epson is the
heads tend to maintain the same quality as new, if properly maintained
and cleaned. The disadvantage is if the head does clog it may need to
be worked on by yourself, since sometimes the built in cleaning function
is not adequate, and you can't just replace the cartridge and get a new
head, as with some versions of HP and Lexmark inkjet printers.

Art
 
Arthur said:
It depends. (Oh, doesn't it always ;-))

HP has toyed with several different technologies over the years. What
technology is this printer using?

The "standard" HP printers have used some form of Thermal head, which
heads and cools to project each drop of ink. They make versions that
last a couple of ink refilling (the one that come on the cartridge) and
ones that are separate, but that also fail, only longer down the road,
perhaps 20-30 ink cartridges or less. Canon's heads are similarly long
term (likely somewhat longer) but they do ultimately fail and require
replacement.

HP has also designed printers using the piezo head form. These are
permanent, like the Epson printers which also use them.
Click to expand...

Recent HP photo printers use thermal heads remote from ink tanks. The
inexpensive ones (8230 etc) have non user-replaceable heads. They
would probably be thrown away on failure - as the cost to repair would
be too high.
The more expensive models - 8190 and now "Z" series wide format printers
have user-replaceable thermal heads. These are two channel heads, so 4
user-replaceable heads (~$60 each?) for the 8 colour models.
As thermal heads still have some inconsistency in output, HP include
closed loop calibration in the better printers, so that they can be
recalibrated by the user after head replacement, or over time to
compensate for colour drift.
 
Hi!
Is this trend good or bad?
Click to expand...

I tend to think that it might be OK, although I like the idea of getting a
new head with the ink. I guess I'm just a little too influenced by Epson
printers in that regard.

I installed an OfficeJet for someone over two (and maybe three) years ago.
It was the first HP printer I saw with separate heads and ink tanks. It is
still going strong today on the original heads and it is used quite often.

I also have an HP OfficeJet 9130. Apart from being what I'd consider an
overall low quality unit (compared to other OfficeJets) the separate head
and ink system seems to work well after about 2,000 copies and at least one
set of cartriges.

William
 
Brendan R. Wehrung said:
Faced with choosing a new printer when I purchase a new computer
around
Christmas I ventured to Office Depot and was shown an HP with a 6-ink
system that seems inexpensive to keep going. The catch is that they
join
Epson in having an installed print head. The clerk didn't think this
was
much of an issue since the store doesn't stock Canon (my first choice
for
individual tank printers) print heads anyway.

Is this trend good or bad?
Click to expand...

What trend? HP offers printers with ink and printhead together,
printers with ink tanks separate from the replaceable printheads, and
printers with ink tanks separate from the permanent printheads. Each
has its advantages and which is best for a particular application
depends on the type of printing.

Whether the printer you saw would meet your needs depends on a number of
factors - particularly, what kind of printing do you intend to do? The
model you looked at is optimized for photo printing, with dye based
black ink. If you will print mostly text a printer
that has pigmented black ink (most of the HP printers *except* the one
with permanent printheads) might be a better match.

Regards,
Bob Headrick, MS MVP Printing/Imaging
 
Arthur Entlich said:
It depends. (Oh, doesn't it always ;-))

HP has toyed with several different technologies over the years. What
technology is this printer using?
Click to expand...

All the consumer ink based (non-laser) HP printers in the last couple of
decades are thermal inkjet.
HP has also designed printers using the piezo head form. These are
permanent, like the Epson printers which also use them.
Click to expand...

HP does not currently have any consumer piezo based printers; they may
have some commercial or inductrial models based on this technology. The
permanent printheads of the recent printers like the Photosmart 3310 are
thermal printheads.

Regards,
Bob Headrick, MS MVP Printing/Imaging
 
Thanks for the information regarding HP not using piezo head designs in
recent consumer level printers.

In the current lineup of permanent thermal head printers, what type of
rating does HP give them in terms of lifespan (dots, pages, ink
cartridges, or whatever)?

Art
 
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