Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Absolutely love it, December 29, 2004
This is an awesome printer for the price I paid. The other reviews that I have seen ignore a few things about this printer. First off, any wide format printer is going to use a lot of ink. Find the ink kits and learn how to refill your cartridges. It'll save you a ton of money. The cartridges may be small, compared to some other printers, but they are quite refillable, much more so than the larger HP cartridges I have used in the past. The printer manufacturers don't want you to know about that. I know as I have been refilling the same cartridges this printer uses for 2 years already. Having had experience with my HP Deskjet 5550, I have only purchased one extra cartridge in the last 2 years. I finally wore out the #57 Tricolor cartridge. This printer comes with all 3 of them. My 5550 only came with 2.
Secondly. if you use the maximum dpi setting, the printer is slow. But I have found that the best setting is excellent, at 600 by 600 dpi, it takes about 5 minutes to do a 12 by 18 inch print. Unless you have a 14 megapixel camera. this print resolution is beyond your 5 megapixel camera to begin with. And, if you have a source that can generate a true 4800 dpi print, I have seen a review that states that it is worth the wait. I believe the claim.
Since I bought the printer, I have only been able to get my hands on 12 by 18 inch plain paper,(an artist's sketch pad at Wal Mart). The results on this paper are stunning. I can't wait to get a hold of some Super B 13 by 19 inch glossy. One of the reasons I prefer this type of printer over the likes of Canon and Epson, which both make printers of this type, is the ability to refill the cartridges. Don't try it with theirs. Once you clog the print head, it'll cost you more than the printers worth to replace it. The HP's have the print head built into the cartridge, so if it ends up bad, you just need a new cartridge.The only reason I can think of not to buy this printer is if you don't want to be bothered with refilling the cartridges. They can be refilled up to 18 or more times.
I picked this unit up as a factory recertified unit that came with the full 1 year warranty, for half the list price of the HP msrp. Just a guess on my part, but I think a lot of these were sent back due to issues with the XP drivers that had some flaws. I can't find a disagreeable issue with this printer and I have had it for a week now and have printed a couple of dozen 12 by 18 inch prints, using both the new and my own refilled cartridges.
By the way, I also use Windows ME, like a reviewer below. But I won't end up with the same issues of the ink warnings, because I know how to fool the printers cartridge memory. It can only remember 2 of the same carts, and it's easy to find the info on how to reset the ink level indicators. As far as the scrapbooker below, he must not have set up this printer properly. The photo results are incredible,on plain paper, even with just the black and tricolor cartridges. I have used an HP 1220c also, and I can say that this printer is better on photos than the 1220c. However, each person has their own views, and also their own ways of trying things out. This printer has a lot of options. Be sure to check them out. The auto settings work very well, but you have to select things like the "Best" setting. You can custom establish your favorite settings as default in the toolbox. Otherwise it might do a fast draft print, which sounds like the corrugated cardboard complaint below.
So far, I highly recommend this one. I've always wanted a printer that I could frame a print and view it from across the room, or from the next room for that matter, and not need to walk over to figure out what it is a picture of. These prints are large enought to satisfy that desire, you won't beleive the difference, compared to an 8.5 by 11.5 inch print.
Now, if I don't run out of wall space and money for more frames a Wal Mart.........?
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25 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Always a fight to get a print out of it., January 30, 2004
By A Customer
I love my HP deskjet 5550 printer for high quality photo prints. The 9650 sounded like the same system with a larger paper size. It's not. HP doesn't make 13x19 photo paper and this printer doesn't want to feed other brands. The ink consumption is high, but the ink cartridges are the same size as for smaller printers - a $60 set of cartridges is good for about 10 pics! When the ink cartridges are low, annoying warning messages pop up on the screen of my WindowsME PC and come back again as soon as I dismiss them (have to find the Task Bar icon, right click and pick EXIT) - this is Bill Gates kind of helpful! Right now I can't print or communicate with the printer because it's busy flashing low-ink error lights (on my 5550 I can get many good 8x10 pics out after the first ink warning). It's a fight to get a print every time I use this printer. If you like Epson colors (I don't - they're too red for me) get one of theirs.
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24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
absolute lemon, March 26, 2004
I probably have as much experience with 11x17 capable color printers as anyone in the world and I've got to say this is easily the most difficult and unsatisfactory printer I have ever dealt with. HP's last 11x17 product (1220c) had amazing print quality, was faster, and lasted me for 3 solid years of heavy use. By contrast, the 9650 is MUCH slower for "best" print setting and MIND BOGGLINLY SLOW for its "maximum DPI" setting...try 35minutes for an 11x17 plot. Unacceptable. Not to mention that my printer is now broken and wont print at all.
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