HP 6988 Deskjet Printer (CB055A#B1H)

by HP

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 5.7 x 14.5 x 17.7 inches ; 16.5 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 20 pounds
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B000UY4XZO
• Item model number: CB055A#B1H
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (79 customer reviews)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: November 15, 2005

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

The HP 6988 Deskjet Printer (CB055A#B1H) lets you print high-quality text and color documents, borderless 4 x 6-inch color and black-and-white photos, and even panoramas (up to 8.5 x 24 inches). Create your own beautiful brochures and spreadsheets, plus print Web pages, labels, and envelopes. The Deskjet 6988 Printer is ready for all your high-volume home office projects.

Use with your small network of PCs via the built-in Wi-Fi wireless 802.11g/b connectivity. Set up wired networking fast with the built-in Ethernet, there's no need for additional hardware or software; you can be connected to a wireless network in as little time as 10 minutes. You can even print from a camera phone or PDA with an optional adapter.

Fast, high-quality printing: Print fast, at speeds of up to 36 pages per minute in black and 27 pages per minute in color. Get laser-quality black and professional-quality photos when using HP Vivera inks and optional six-ink color. Ensure the best results with automatic paper detection and print setting optimization. Resist photo fading for years and retain the clarity of laser-quality text for decades.

Print photos directly from a PictBridge-enabled camera via the front USB port. Automatically print on both sides and stack up extra paper with the optional Auto Two-Sided Print Accessory (ph5712A) and 250-sheet Plain Paper Tray (pt3447A). And get peace of mind with HP's one-year limited warranty.

Note: This printer does not ship with printer-to-computer USB cable.

What's in the Box
Printer, Ethernet cable, Power supply and cord, HP 96/97 Inkjet Print Cartridge Combo Pack, HP Photosmart Premier software, Printer drivers, User guide on CD, Set-up poster, Reference guide, and Network guide.

Product Description

HP 6988 Deskjet Printer. Connect multiple desktops and notebooks throughout your home or office with the freedom, convenience, and ease of built in Wi Fi 802.11g/b. And with SecureEasySetup, you can connect to a wireless network in as little as ten minutes. Built in wired Ethernet networking makes sharing your printer quick and easy, with no additional networking hardware to purchase or software to install. Easily print from your wireless enabled camera phone or PDA, with an optional Bluetooth wireless print adapter. Print black text and color documents at breakthrough speeds of up to 36 ppm black and white and up to 27 ppm color. Quick speeds and flexible paper handling make this printer ideal for fast, high volume printing of a variety of projects and photos. Get impressive results on any type of paper with HPs built in media sensing. Look your best with laser quality black text for your documents, reports, and letters. Print professional quality photos up to 4800 optimized dpi color with HP Vivera inks. Create artistic and vintage style photos in black and white with the optional HP 100 Gray Photo Inkjet Cartridge. When using HP Premium Plus Photo Paper and HP Vivera inks, you can produce photos that resist fading for years and print laser quality text documents on plain paper that retain clarity for decades. Get water and smudge resistant images and documents, with HP Vivera inks and HP Advanced Paper.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

78 of 79 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wireless Printing Is a Miracle, August 2, 2008

By 

Stephen (Harvard, Morocco) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: HP 6988 Deskjet Printer (CB055A#B1H) (Office Product)

Length:: 0:49 Mins

I waited a long time for a wireless printer, and the HP 6988 does not disappoint.
I followed the setup instructions without difficulty, and had the printer running in less than 10 minutes. Installation on my wife's laptop was even faster.
Printing is fast, and the quality of text is good enough for routine document printing. Color printing is also good, though not stunning.
As you can see from the video, print time is within seconds, and on my network, indistinguishable from a wired connection. There's little printer "rocking", and the 6988 is quiet.
As for HP's bundled software, I haven't had any issues with it, as I simply hit the "print" button and the printer works.
Once you have a wireless printer, you'll never go back to a wired connection. Everyone in range of the printer can print a document. The printer can be placed anywhere within the house, with the only cord being the power supply.
Wireless printing has been "in the offing" for a long time, and the 6988 finally makes it practical, affordable, and easy.

68 of 71 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Initially Very Good - But Blindsided By Unrepairable, Fragile Part, January 7, 2009

By 

R. Sprague "mobilvolt" (Solomons, MD) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: HP 6988 Deskjet Printer (CB055A#B1H) (Office Product)

We bought this printer (in its initial iteration as a 6980) almost two years ago and it worked fine for a while - wireless was nice and overall quality seemed good.

As noted in another review, it plays well with Linux and MacOS; we use Mac, Linux in a couple of flavors, as well as Windows at home and had no problems using the printer with any of them. It was not necessary to install the bloated client software in Windows to make the printer work properly.

Recently we began to get an error on the black ink cartridge; I also noticed that it seemed to feel different going in. Changing the cartridge for a new one did not make the error go away. In spite of the error it appeared to print black just fine, so I continued to use it while researching the problem.

I now believe that although it printed black, it was using the color cartridge to mix black and using ink at a great rate. Very expensive!

HP tells me that the black cartridge cradle is defective (a tiny plastic tab that holds the spring has broken and will not allow proper seating of the cartridge) and further says that this is not a repairable item! The only recourse offered was a replacement printer at a $79.95 price. This amounts to selling us a new printer at about Amazon retail price - not an ideal solution.

This printer did not experience heavy use, and cartridges were always changed carefully. It has not been abused. I have examined the plastic tab in question and it looks very fragile to me - a design flaw? Perhaps it should have been made of stronger material or designed to be more substantial.

I would not have purchased the printer had I known of this weakness in the design and the impossibility of repair. Have replaced this printer with another type.

I don't recommend this printer, in spite of an otherwise apparently good design and good print performance. Look elsewhere!

31 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Perfect network printer for Linux & Windows home users, January 1, 2008

By 

Jerone Young (Austin, TX USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: HP 6988 Deskjet Printer (CB055A#B1H) (Office Product)

I'm just not sure what is up with the bad reviews. I don't seem to be seeing these issues. I bought this after much research. You see I primarily use Ubuntu Linux and I needed a wireless network printer that I could setup without the need of Windows or Mac. All you need is a web browser (so you could use wii or iphone if you really wanted). I'm coming from a terrible experience over the years of fighting with a linksys wps54g printer server hooked up to my old Deskjet 932c (it has not been fun).

Way to go HP! You don't need any specific OS with this printer! You just plug it in via ethernet and if you press the "report" button it will print out it's ip (though I just cheated and went to the router DHCP tables). You can then access the web interface of the printer and setup everything. A dream come true, don't have use any wizards or anything. Everything is nicely laid out. Works great on my 802.11g network with WPA2 encryption.

As for printing. Drivers are already in Linux for it (HP 6980). The printing is better then my previous Deskjet 932c. I'm not looking for anything super professional, for me I mainly print out road maps and recipes. But running it through some color test prints it has done pretty awsome.

As for the sticker that leave the residue. I used a damp rag and added some Comet. Make sure to rub the Comet into the cloth so it's not griddy. The wipe off the residue. Clean and beautiful.

Overall it's an awesome buy for the low price. The integrated wireless print server is easy to setup. Also the printer has UPNP so my Ubuntu Linux box just saw it and I just set it up. Same goes for Windows Vista, and Mac should also see it in the same way. It's nice having a printer that is not dependent on a PC and can be place anywhere in the house. I give this printer a thumbs up.