[comp.sys.hp] HP deskjet

aaron@proxftl.UUCP (Aaron Zimmerman) (08/01/88)

I am interested in purchasing the HP deskjet, but first would like to hear
the net.opinions, as I haven't seen it reviewed ANYWHERE yet.

Does TeX have drivers for it?
Is the print quality *really* on par with lasers?
How long does it take to print out a page of graphics?
What's the approximate printing speed for plain text?
How much do the ink cartridges cost (and how long do they last)?
How does one load fonts onto it?
Does it make a lot of noise while it prints?

It seems to be an excellent alternative to a 24pin printer, but I'd like some
more facts than the advertisements offer.

Any help would be much appreciated.... (better to post it than send it by
e-mail; we're having some problems with the mailer here).



-- 

Aaron    |  Proximity Technology  | #include <disclaimer.h>
Charles   |  3511 N-E 22nd Ave.  |  #include <cute_quote.h>
Zimmerman  |  Fort Ladeda, Fla  |   cat flames > /dev/null

rokicki@polya.Stanford.EDU (Tomas G. Rokicki) (08/06/88)

I thought I'd field these questions about the HP DeskJet.

> Does TeX have drivers for it?

Well, AmigaTeX does :-), but I don't know about other machines.
HP LaserJet Plus or Series Two drivers will *not* work; the font
downloading is significantly different, and all but useless for
TeX on the DeskJet.

> Is the print quality *really* on par with lasers?

Absolutely.  I've printed sheets on a QMS PS-810, QMS SmartWriter,
and the HP DeskJet, and people couldn't tell (from the front and
without touching the sheet) which was which.  From the back, well,
a little ink can bleed through with large black areas.

> How long does it take to print out a page of graphics?

Anywhere from 2 to 6 minutes.  Six for true, full-page graphics;
less if you're very smart about resetting the width of the page
whenever you can do a narrower portion of a page.  Average is
probably between 2.5 and 4 minutes a page.

> What's the approximate printing speed for plain text?

It's fast.  Like, two to three pages a minute.  And it looks very
good.

> How much do the ink cartridges cost (and how long do they last)?

Someone else will have to answer this; I never used up a cartridge,
so I didn't need to buy another.  (I had it long enough to develop
a printer driver for it.)

> How does one load fonts onto it?

One doesn't.  Buy a font cartridge.  Or bribe the soft font format
from HP (some people report that HP claims the data is proprietary
and will not make it available; I had no trouble getting the stuff,
though.  I have noticed that some of their technical support people
know quite a bit, but others are totally clueless.)

> Does it make a lot of noise while it prints?

This printer is incredibly quiet; quieter than almost any other
printer I have ever seen.  Loudest noise?  As a mechanism slowly
lowers a printed sheet onto the tray.

> It seems to be an excellent alternative to a 24pin printer, but I'd like some
> more facts than the advertisements offer.

It certainly is.  A 24-pin printer is about five times as fast for TeX,
but they are about the same speed for text, and the quality is out of
this world.  Not for those trying to do any volume at all, though.

Although I must say that I wouldn't buy one, since you can get a LaserJet
clone for a few hundred much more.  But that's just me.

burzio@mmlai.UUCP (Anthony Burzio) (08/07/88)

In article <560@proxftl.UUCP>, aaron@proxftl.UUCP (Aaron Zimmerman) writes:
> 
> I am interested in purchasing the HP deskjet, but first would like to hear
> the net.opinions, as I haven't seen it reviewed ANYWHERE yet.
> 

I carried one around after a demo at our local HP center, and I noticed
the print smudged where my fingers touched the paper.  Seems the ink
dissolves in salt water...

*****************************************************************
Tony Burzio                   * My bosses will never read this, *
Martin Marietta Laboratories  * so it's ok...                   *
*****************************************************************

wunder@hp-sde.SDE.HP.COM (Walter Underwood) (08/09/88)

   > How long does it take to print out a page of graphics?

   Anywhere from 2 to 6 minutes.

Was this with Centronics or serial?  The DeskJet has both, but I
haven't fired it up with Centronics yet.

As someone else pointed out, the ink is water soluable.

wunder

neff@hpvcla.HP.COM (Dave Neff) (08/10/88)

To answer a few questions.

TeX drivers are available (I have seen them mentioned on the net but
I don't know how you could get one), but the general belief
is the DeskJet is too slow for graphics to use
with TeX.  A full page of 300 DPI graphics will take about 5 minutes.
Now if you can live with lower resolutions you gen get better speed.

Granted the graphics speed could be better, but ...
the DeskJet is intended primarily as a text printer with occasional
graphics.  Our studies indicated that corresponded to typical printer
usage.  A page of simple text takes about 30 seconds to print.  It is rated
at 120 CPS letter, 240 CPS draft, and I guarantee you that this is
truly the rate at which the print head moves, however you have to pick
paper, move paper, drop paper, etc. so I find pages per minute to be
more useful. As the complexity of the page increases (many font changes,
enhancement chages, etc) the pages per minute will decrease, just like
on a laser printer.

Is it laser quality?  It is pretty darn good, but there is some variability
in print quality with type of paper used.  Good quality copy paper
works well, but be sure to print on the "right side" of the paper
(the one you are supposed to copy on).  Some people put the "right side"
facing up, like on a copier, but on a DeskJet the "right side" must be
down.  On bond paper, I would say the print quality is laser quality or
even better (its blacker, less print contrast variation over a page).

As for cost of ownership, a print cartridge is about $18 which lasts
for 500 pages of text, giving a cost per page of about 3.5 cents.
There is also a draft mode (key selectable) which uses half the ink
so it is about 1.75 cents per page.  If you use draft mode for throwaway
print outs and rough drafts, you can get an average cost per page of
around 2.5 cents, but that depends how you use the printer.  These
costs are comparable to laser printers.  We suggest using the DeskJet
in applications that have a 25 page per day typical usage, so in this
usage a pen would last about 1 work month.  Typically you buy a new ink
pen everytime you buy a new ream of paper.  Note since a pen costs 
$18 and a ream of good paper is about $5, it makes no sense to get cheap
copy paper to save a few pennies and suffer degraded print quality.

The printer is very quiet, and supports multiple fonts via two slots.
A slot can contain a ROM cartridge for fonts or Epson emulation, or a
RAM cartridge which can be used to download fonts.  At this time
only HP supplied download fonts are available and we offer no tools
to make your own fonts, but many third party LaserJet font design
programs are adding DeskJet support.

I am very biased, having worked on the DeskJet, but I have three
DeskJets on my desk in front of me, one at home, use them daily,
and think they are great.  People are amazed at what I am able to
create on the printer.

I hope I answered your questions.  There has been discussion of the
DeskJet on the net, but under the ibm PC category, rather than the
hp or the printer categories.  I will gladly answer any other questions
you might have.

Dave Neff
ihnp4!hpfcla!hpvcla!neff
(206) 254-8110 x2358

jim@hpiacla.HP.COM (Jim Rogers) (08/11/88)

burzio@mmlai.UUCP (Anthony Burzio)  writes:

>I carried one around after a demo at our local HP center, and I noticed
>the print smudged where my fingers touched the paper.  Seems the ink
>dissolves in salt water...

The ink on the deskjet is indeed water soluble.  This was required by the
need to use plain paper.  Earlier models of HP ink-jet printers
(Thinkjet and Quietjet) use a permanent ink, but also require a special
paper witha high clay content.

Customers clearly stated that special paper was a bad requirement.

----------

**********************************************************************
*    Jim Rogers   at Hewlett-Packard Industrial Applications Center  *
*                                                                    *
*    Don't read it in the rain............                           *
**********************************************************************

dvl@hpcupt1.HP.COM (Doug Larson) (08/16/88)

> I am interested in purchasing the HP deskjet, but first would like to hear
> the net.opinions, as I haven't seen it reviewed ANYWHERE yet.

The DeskJet was reviewed in the July issue of HP Professional, beginning
on page 29.  HP Professional is an independent magazine - they also
publish DEC Professional.  Although the DeskJet review was quite favorable,
the reviewer (Don Person) has sometimes given previous HP products he reviewed 
not such great reviews.

	Doug Larson
	hpda!dvl

alien@hpdml93.HP.COM (tom von alten) (08/26/88)

I've been using a DeskJet on my 9816.  I like it a lot.
It's extremely quiet, making just enough noise that you know it's there.
The quality is on a par with laser printers.
It has a good sized buffer, so the computer is seldom waiting for the
printer, and it prints "fast enough" for us (at home).  I tried graphics
output on a system here at work, and it was very slow, and since the system
also had a 7550 plotter on it, the choice was easy to make.