Customer Reviews

HP Business Inkjet 1200DTN Color Printer

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
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2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is actually the first time I've every filled out a rating on a product. I'm usually too busy to take the time. But my experience with this printer was so poor, I felt it my duty to warn others. I have now purchased and returned 3 of them. So I know it's not me -- it's the printer. It prints visible lines through the pages (probably a misalighnment of the printer heads) and also prints off-center (prints the image too high on the page). I've tested the same files on the same computer with different printers and they all printed fine on the other printers. I desperately wanted the 1200 to work b/c of it's large ink reservoirs -- I print a lot and am tired of changing ink every day. After trying 3 different 1200s, and with the same negative issues with all, I have to assume that the product line overall is defective. STAY AWAY!

and I've been buying epsons and hp's since the early 80's. First of all, this is NOT a photo printer. Once you realize that, there's nothing better out there for what this one does at this cost. I'm still on the 1/2 filled color starter cartridges that came with the printer, and I've printed over 1000 color pages. If I were still using my Epson R300 I would have gone through a few sets of full cartridges at the same usage. The HP just simply doesn't waste a drop of ink.

Get one while you can, as a previous reviewer stated, they aren't made anymore.

The only other reviewer here has had the precise opposite of my experiences with this printer. I have found it to be the best printer I have ever owned, and that is saying something.

It is a large and rugged design, unlike the smaller desktop printers HP makes. Everything about this guy is a testiment to heavy business use. In the year I have owned it I have cranked 11,000 sheets of paper through it, almost half of them two sided. At about seven months use the printer began to jam, but simple preventative maintenance (cleaning the rollers) fixed things very well. Since then I have run thousands more pages through it without incident. The printer has thus been ultra reliable for me.

Probably the most important metric for a printer is the cost of running it. No printer I have owned is as inexpensive to run than the Business Inkjet 1200dtn. It is absolutely stingy on ink. I get, on average, 2,400 pages per black cartridge (69 ml, cost $33.00). I have replaced each of the three color cartridges (28 ml, $33.00 each) once. I have replaced the black cartridge five times. The print heads are still in excellent shape and I see no need to replace them yet. This, in spite of my very heavy use.

The cost of running this printer are probably less than most laser printers. On top of that, it prints color.

Quality is very good. I use the printer 90% in Draft mode. Even with small fonts, the rendering is quite good. In the higher quality modes the printer does proportionally better. Pictures come out sharp and clear (although I would *not* claim that this is an optimum printer with which to print pictures).

The four color ink system is great. The cartridges, which are absolutely huge, supply just ink. The print heads are separate.

Nota bene. HP has stopped making these. Too bad. Pick one up while you can. If you don't need the networking or the twin paper trays, the less expensive Business Inkjet 1200d is the same printer with both parallel and USB connections. Both models can duplex print (print on both sides of the paper).

One more thing. All reams of paper tend to curl one way or the other. This printer seems to prefer the paper loaded so that the edges curl up, not down. This is not documented, but trial and error will lead you to the same conclusion.

A highly recommended printer.