Customer Reviews

HP DesignJet 130nr - printer - color - ink-jet ( C7791D#A2L )

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

If you are just a casual photographer who wants to make a few blown up pictures of friends and family, this probably is not the printer for you. However, if you are starting to get seriously into digital photography and are contemplating making large format prints for resale, this might interest you.

PROs:
1. Roll feed with built in cutter.
2. Built in network card.
3. Print Quality - 2400 x 1200 dpi
4. HP Vivera fade-resistant dye-based inks (can last up to 80 years)
5. Replaceable ink nozzles.
6. Great color out of the box. But if you're serious, buy a color calibration system so your colors are consistent all they way through the system from monitor to printer (should be done with any photo printer).

CONs:
1. Roll paper likes to stay rolled. You'll need to either buy or make a device to uncurl the paper.
2. This printer takes up some real estate. It covers 41.3 x 40.1 inches and weighs in at 50.7 lbs. Make sure you have the space for it. Also costs more to ship.
3. When paper roll is left fed into the printer for long periods (like over night) it will make indentations in the paper that are hard to remove. But it is easily overcome by unloading the paper when left idle (simple as pushing a button).

There are many large format photo printers out there, but many also come with an equally large format price tag. The big advantage for this printer is the roll feed paper with built in cutter. For roll fed printers, this one is the most competitively priced so it better fits the user who is not a professional print shop. This allows you to feasibly make a print of any size up to 24" x 50ft, but that is really going to stretch the resources of your system (and your nerves). I originally researched this printer for a 360-degree panorama I had made that is 11 inches tall by 70 inches wide. It ended up being a piece of cake. However, remember that prints this size have drawbacks when you wish to mount or frame them ($$$).

My over all impression of this printer: I love it. I have never had any regrets after buying it. Even with as many prints as I've pumped through it, it still hasn't used very much ink. And the quality is just great.

The DJ130 prints beautiful photo-quality large-format images. Premium Plus Satin paper is highly recommended.

I have had a couple of problems with the printer, but HP service has been great for the most part. I'm not sure if that's because I paid for an extended service plan. At first set-up the unit had a problem, and I was sent a replacement part after going over my issues on phone support. Then about 6 months later I had another problem, and they sent a tech to come fix the unit. It required ordering the part again, but it was up and working again within 2 days of my call. And I haven't had any problems since.

The prints from the printer have been highly accurate without the use of a color profile (in Photoshop). I've read other people have had to work to get accurate color from their set-ups, but not with mine.

Keep in mind the printer needs some assembly, and it's pretty big, so don't expect to take it out of the box and start printing right away. It took me some time to get the hang of the various paper feeds and the printing interface. But now that I'm familiar with it, it seems fairly straight forward. The more experience you have with computers and large format printers (none, in my case), the easier it will be to figure out.

I don't use this printer for anything other than large format printing, and I have come to only use it with paper rolls (not sheets). So I end up going a month or so without using it, then print a bunch of stuff for a project, then it sits. I was told it is important to keep it plugged in all the time, because it performs maintenance functions to keep the ink from drying in the print heads (or something like that).

There are hard to understand error codes when there is are certain problems. Take the time to wait on hold with tech support if you can't figure out an error code or you if don't understand something. As bad as other people's experience has been, I've been able to have my two issues taken care of within a couple of days. I have had to get through a few bozos, but it didn't take toooo long to get results.

I bought this printer (used) and even though it was very poorly strapped to a wood pallet for shipping and i feared that its delicate alignments and parts would suffer badly, it actually survived the cross-country trip remarkably well. A surprisingly robust printer, to be sure.

After using the Designjet 130nr for over a year, here are my observations:

PROS:
- For a printer that gives prints up to 24" wide, it's surprisingly compact. Believe me, there are 24" printers out there that are HUGE. This one I guess you could call a desktop printer, because it will take up an entire desk. But I have a rolling stand for mine and the printer doesn't seem too big at all. And although not light, I have picked it up and moved it by myself, but I wouldn't recommend that if you can help it...

- The color, just as I had read in other reviews, is outstanding. On HP paper, the blacks are deep and solid, which is really necessary to achieve clean contrasts. Colors are pure and solid as well. Some say that good color calibration is necessary to get good color, and that may be true generally, but I haven't had to do much of anything to mine. Maybe lighten or darken the print overall slightly, but that's about it. No fuss.

- The roll feed is excellent, and a necessity. As I had read, this printer is indeed a bit cranky about the feeding of single sheets, as they often get pulled in at and angle and jam. I sometimes print on standard 8 x 10" paper and it usually works fine, but not always. Roll feed has to be done properly, but you get the hang of it and works well +98% of the time. Also, rolls of paper are MUCH cheaper than an equal amount of single sheets. Use rolls.

- No real issues here insofar as setting up, getting good color, networking, or troubleshooting. This printer has given me very few problems that weren't easily taken care of. Just standard replacement of consumables (inks and printheads, both easily performed).

- Ink seems to last a VERY long time! I am still shocked at how long a cartridge of ink lasts, even though most of my prints are 20 - 24" wide and usually 30-40" long! Having used Epson printers for many years, I feared how much it would cost to keep feeding this thing ink to make big prints, but it is amazingly frugal with ink, even with high coverage. I don't know how it does it, but it does! Because of this, you will not be so afraid to print large and print often, as it won't be as expensive as you thought.

- The printer can sit unused for months, and then still make an excellent print first try without resorting to head/nozzle cleanings, unlike my Epsons. Epson printheads would clog within a week of non-use and I'd waste buckets of ink just performing lots of cleaning cycles to clear them, but this HP never seems to need cleaning cycles! It's amazing. That alone sold me.

- Here is the cool part. The software/print driver that comes with this printer will enlarge (scale up) prints and artwork to make large prints, and it does an incredible job of enlargement! I've taken pictures with a 'cheap' 4MP point-and-shoot camera, then produced a large 20x30 print from the digital file, without any other software, and made unbelievable prints! That's not supposed to be possible with only a 4MP camera to make a good print this size, but the pictures produced by the 130nr printer driver are outstanding!

CONS:
- Paper feeding, as noted, can be a bit of a pain, especially single sheets. But don't let that scare you off, it is manageable. Read the instructions, and use care. Stick with the much cheaper rolls of paper; they load more easily, and will keep your costs down.

- There are small wheels inside the printer that hold the paper as it is fed through, and they sometimes leave slight indentations along photo paper as it feeds through. This is really not acceptable for a decent printer, but it doesn't always happen (I don't know why), and when it does, the 'tracks' will sometimes disappear over time, or with a bit of work with a small hand roller. But it is annoying, and shouldn't be necessary. (My Epson printers made these marks on photo paper as well.)

- The front panel LCD display tells you, roughly, the amount of remaining inks, and the status (good/replace) of the printheads. However, the display is not always accurate, and I have run out of inks and had an occasional printhead reach the end of its useful life when the panel says everthing is good, so it's a good ideal to keep extras inks and printheads on-hand. You can have a printout of all the consumables, and it seems best to go by that than rely on the front panel display.

Overall, this is an excellent printer, does what it is supposed to do and does it very, very well, with the exception of the wheel tracks. This printer is highly recommended.

---Alex

This printer is very frustrating:
1. As mentioned, the roll paper does want to stay rolled. In fact, I have to slide plastic shims into the printer to help the paper out of the printer. One time I was not watching and the paper curled back and jammed the paper cutter (a big mess). Therefore, I end up having to stand around while the printer prints which can be over 20 minutes. This really defeats the networking option. I usually bring my laptop into the printer room when I use the DesignJet.
2. The control panel display on the front of the printer is worthless. The limited information is no help when a problem occurs. The log files are also not very helpful. Often there will be a problem and the log does not show any error. This lead to a lot of trial and error and ends up wasting expensive paper and ink.
3. The software drivers are very buggy for some applications. I have serious problems when using Illustrator, such as artwork only partially printing.
4. I've tried different color profiles, but they all tend to print too bright. The quality is good, but not very accurate.
5. HP tech support is awful. You're better off searching the Internet, because their technicians are clueless. Good luck, if you need to contact them.
6. The manual is not clear and lacks in depth information.
Still, the printer does do a good job when it works. My first job was a 5 foot by 24 inch poster and it looked fantastic.

I have been using this printer for over a year in my office with a 24 inch roll attached to it.
I am not able to print correctly over the network, so i always have to print locally. No problems when printing locally though.
The printer works great. I use if for CAD printing.

I second all the positive comments about this printer. Quality is fantastic, ink usage is surprisingly thrifty, and mine will happily print on just about any media I put through it.

One caveat is that the roller does not always auto reload the paper after it's finished printing. I have had to manually reload the roller every time I go to use it. However my printer is 3+ years old now, and this issue may have been addressed in the more recent models.

The price listed here of $4000+ is about 3-4 times more than you should pay. I'm not sure why this price is so high, but if you search alternate sources you'll find one for closer to $1500.

I received my HP DesignJet 130nr three weeks ago and it has not worked since(LCD cartridge indicator was signaling "empty cartridge"), after 3 cartridges HP technical support still wanted to send another, I told them wrong answer. HP support promised a new printer to be sent out by a technician (Next day), and that was last week, it never happened, not even a courtesy call back. Hours more on hold multiple calls to get in touch with management, management assured me of a swap. UPS tried to pick it up yesterday when I wasn't home, I didn't know they were coming because I wasn't informed, HP told me a Tech was going to replace it? Why didn't they let me know? I Called them back this morning and asked the tech where do I ship it to, does UPS have a shipping label, is it insured? She didn't know and put me on hold and then finally said she would call me back in a couple hours! HP is a great company and one bad printer out of thousands could happen to any company, I find no fault in that as this could happen to any good company. What I do find fault in is the support. HP support needs to just shut down for a few days and do a training stand down; I would recommend streamlining the maintenance flow efforts with customer reconciliation and back order validations, this would save valuable time and assuring customer care.

WARNING!!! This is actually a GREAT printer and I highly recommend it however the main reason I am giving it a negative is to get your attention!!! This is the Designjet 130nr. What the nr stands for is "network ready." If this is what you are looking for I can find nothing wrong with this printer and you should buy it as soon as possible. However, for most buyers they don't really want or need to be able to hook this up to a network. This version costs $1892.00 the SAME EXACT printer in every way except the network ability the Designjet 130 costs $1292.00 We even purchased this version knowing full well what it did and now we regret it because unless you work in an office of completely computer network savvy people you don't want this available to print from to the general office population. We have had repeated trainings and meetings about using this printer and it never fails we get someone once a week who doesn't realize they are printing their office memos on a 2ft by 4ft sheet of paper!!! I am the administrator for this printer and I now have nightmares of hearing this thing start up and knowing I havn't printed anything on it from my computer. I think its best used by one user and people in the office submit "jobs" to that person to print. Besides the page layout and setup can be kind of confusing on the get go. If its worth saving $600.00 and a few gray hairs I think the regular 130 is just fine. Again, there is no change in print quality it is only the LAN unit that comes attatched into the system already.