Customer Reviews

HP DeskJet 990Cse Color Printer

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I was thinking of using this printer only for color work. I've since turned off the LaserJet (which I still use for labels, since HP DeskJet ink will smear upon contact with any moisture).

This printer is great... 3 months and not a complaint.

Great quality photo printing, and really, really, really fast draft printing (17ppm). I noticed that the program that monitors the print cartridge levels is a bit inaccurate (I've been printing in brilliant color for two months despite the warning that I'm about to run out of color ink... when is this going to happen? I don't know, but change your ink when YOU SEE A PROBLEM, or you're going to toss a lot of good ink). I'm sure some guy in marketing is rubbing his tentacles together over that one.

I would have given this 5 stars except for the ink level software, and the somewhat unstable printer . The printer configuration window hangs about 1 out of 20 times you try and switch to landscape.

All, in All... a great printer. Oh, and let those photo's dry, HP ink, while producing the best color in the DeskJet market, runs and smears with the slightest hint of moisture (like your sweaty hands).

THIS PRINTER IS NOT FOR BUSINESS MARKETING HANDOUT MATERIAL. NO DESKJET IS, UNLESS YOU LIKE SMEARS AND SMUDGES TO REPRESENT YOU. The cheapest type of printer acceptable for business marketing printing is the hard-ink class of printers.

I finally made the move to switch from life-long marriage from laser printers to this color ink-jet printer. As a person who often uses the printer to print documents, occasional CV's, plus recreational printing of internet material, the laser printer had served me quite well. But after seeing the print quality of this 990CSe, the switch was rather easy.

The color images are outstanding. Colors are excellent and crisp. It's output is sufficiently quick for an ink-jet, even for a person long used to blazing laser output speed. No disappointment for the color images.

The black and white print quality and speed of documents are mixed in rating. First, the advertised 17 ppm speed is clearly impossible to achieve for all practical purposes. While printing CV's on high quality paper on the highest resolution, the printer was able to print out only 3 pages in 1 minute or so. To be fair, the speed can be improved by degrading the image quality but for any work related documents, that sort of image output would be unacceptable.

The alphabet characters printed on high quality laser/copier paper, even on the best setting was, was like with any other ink-jets rather poor. "Bleed micro-lines" are easily visible. I was pleasantly surprised, however, when the same document was printed on premium quality 25% cotton fiber paper that one may use to print CV's on. The output quality paralleled that of most laser printers! My suggestion is this. If you mostly use the printer for recreational use but only occasionally need to print high quality near-laser type documents (i.e. CV's on premium paper) like me, then I strongly suggest it.

First things first, don't buy any other printer except an HP. They are the best made, quitest and quickest operating printers on the market. The HP 990 is the best printer I've had besides my good old HP LaserJet 4 that is still working great after close to 10 years. But this printer is fast, has a real good photo quality, and is reliable. My favorite features are the double sided printing, and the on screen indicators that warn you when you ink is getting low, which is great! For photo quality and great speed, this is the best printer on the market.

I purchased this printer Dec 29, 2000. It has been used virtually every day since then. I absolutly love the quality and speed. The automatic 2-sided printing saves me tons of paper. The photos that I print on photo paper are second to none. I have several of them framed and hanging in my home. For general use, like printing from the internet or making trip maps, even a lot of work stuff, (I'm in the military) I print using draft mode. It is still pretty darn't good quality and amazingly fast. If the quality really needs to be good, just bump up the print quality setting. The speed will decrease of course, but that makes sense. A tip to try though, if you use the same kind of paper most of the time (I use H.P. bright white) is you can select that paper setting in the setup menu. That way the automatic paper sensor is disabled. Time is saved because the printer doesn't have to anaylize what type of paper it is going to be printing on, it just starts printing. Of course I set it back to automatic when I'm done. I never know what the wife is going to be printing. She just loads whatever she's working on and lets the printer figure it out! All in all, I couldn't be happier. I would definantly buy it again. The main complaints that I have read on this site are 1. use with Mac and 2. use with heavy stock. 1. I really don't know what to tell you Mac users. Ask another Mac user and see if they have the same problems. 2. The heavy stock users, read the specs before you buy this or any printer. This one plainly states not to use anything heavier than 24lb. Don't blame the printer because you can't read.

This was our third HP DeskJet printer for home use in 10 years. The first two lasted a total of 9.5 years but the 990cse has only lasted 5 months. The 990cse worked flawlessly for a couple of months then it began having problems with the first sheet in every print job. After sensing the paper, there would be a loud grinding/clunk and the print head would jamb to one side. Once the initial sheet was cleared, all subsequent sheets would be fine. After trying new ink cartridges, new paper, new drivers the problem persisted. I was about ready to take it back for repairs when the printer died altogether. When the 990cse was working, the print quality and speed were fantastic. The duplex unit, which I thought would be problematic, worked great. It could have been a great printer. I will return it for replacement and hopefully my next 990cse is not built on a Monday.

I recently decided to move over to this line of printer from a long and well used Canon 4300. I've never been in need of a more powerful printer until now. I decided that the HP double-sided automation was attractive and the quality would be needed. I've also never heard of paper jams until I bought this either. The print quality was great, although getting paper jams every third print is ridiculous. I fumbled with paper, different weights, the paper travel through the machine, everything that they didn't feel you should be warned about in the handbook. Well, the printer would've been nice, but I don't have time to fix jams every third page or consectutive page. Something else is better out there and I'm sure I could pay $... for it without dealing with getting jammed! :)

As an advanced amateur photograper I use the 990cse to print out my scanned photos. The results are top quality. I purchased the 990cse in early January and have used it nearly everyday running mostly HP High Quality Gloss Photopaper. I have also used the 2 sided copy and have printed out a 200 page document with ease. My OS is MS Windows XP Home and the interface is flawless. I have to admit I have not put other brand named printers through their paces to compare and some fellow Nikon photographers like the Epson printers equally well. But for me, unless the 99cse disappoints me down the road, I am sold on its quality.

After reading all of the good reviews and even trying one at a local retailer, I had high expectations for this printer! It's true, the print quality and speed are very good. But once I started using it for my intended purpose, business envelopes, cover letters, business cards, postcards, or business letters; I was sorely disappointed! The printing was skewed (off center: angled crooked) on the page NO MATTER what paper medium I used. I went to the HP Support website, and apparently I wasn't the 1st to note this problem! I followed their suggestions for "fixing" the problem, but nothing helped!

Even worse is when I tried to use any paper thicker than 25lb weight. HORRIBLE!!! It cannot handle it! AGAIN I went to the HP website; you guessed it: Others have had the same problem! They "recommend" that you don't use anything heavier than around 24lb weight paper! I thought, "...are you kidding?!" THis is supposed to be a top notch business printer?! I don't think so! This printer doesn't even allow for manual feeding heavier stock paper so it doesn't have to "bend" around the rollers! I couldn't believe it!

Sure the auto-duplexer is nice, but who cares when your prints come out skewed or worse, smudged and skewed, when you use heavier stock paper?! Looking for a for a good printer? Keep looking; I just returned this one.

I absolutely love this printer! It prints very quickly and effectively, and can print a variety of sizes and things such as envelopes and index cards. I'm in college and use it for school and I couldn't be happier. Well worth the money!

I don't usually write reviews for items less than 4 stars, but I feel I have to say something here. I bought an HP 820CSE Professional Series, and it gave me excellent print quality, but several months after I bought it, the ink carriage froze up, and made a loud grinding noise. I called HP tech service (it was under warranty) and after going through a 15 step process, he told me it was defective, and would need to be replaced, with a refurb. I was impressed that they sent a replacement to my door, and requested that the defective one be reboxed, in the one they sent me and returned. They provided a new ink cartridge, with the refurb, so I said all is well with HP. Then 6 months later, the same exact problem came up. Loud grinding. This time I called them, and they told me it was 2 weeks out of warranty, and their was nothing they could do. Hey a one year warranty is a one year warranty agreement, but considering I used it only occassionally, and paid 400 dollars for it, I was more than a little disapointed. HP is now on my (...)list. So take the other reviewers comments seriously. I got burnt.