Printer purchase advice

[jeyges]

I'm looking at two of the new HP OfficeJet Pro models: the 6970/6978 and the 8710.

Although the OfficeJet Pro line in general is supposedly aimed at businesses, the 6970 is really meant for personal use. The 8710 is an entry-level business product. The list prices are equivalent: $179 and $199, respectively.

They're largely similar. The 8710 is a little faster (print speeds: 22 b&w/18 color vs. 20/11 for the 6970), and it comes with some network administration functions in the firmware, which I don't need. Apart from that, the only significant differences are in the processors and memory. The 6970 has a 500MHz processor and 1GB RAM; the 8710 has an incrementally faster processor, 600MHz, but only 128MB RAM.

I assume they did that because they assume the 8710 will be running off of a print server, and it's priced for someone who wants network administration features in a basic printer. However, I'm wondering why, if it has so much less RAM and only a slightly faster processor, it's rated to print so much faster in color.

HP gives a first page out time of 9 sec for the 8710, but they don't give a value for the 6970. I called HP and tried talking to both sales and tech support, but as I'm sure will come as no surprise, they were useless. All they know how to do is to read specs off a screen, and I don't need them for that. (One of them did tell me the 8710 has a first page out time of 5 sec and the 6970 of 9 sec, but it contradicts the website and I don't know if they were even looking at the right pages.)

I'm wondering what the real-time difference in performance will be given these specs, and the fact that I'm not running the device off a print server.

 

[gondo]

The big differences I can see are the monthly page volumes. The 8710 being 1500 compared to 800 for the 6970. The larger RAM of the 6978 may help with printing large Photoshop files. As far as speed goes the differences are negligible. The 8710 is more a business oriented machine with lower quality prints.

What are your printing needs. Unless you need photographic output I am a large supporter of color laser for many reasons.

- No inkjet reliability issues with print heads.
- Laser is instant print in black or color and text is crystal clear
- Color is very good for business use, not quite photographic quality but for business use it's better than inkjet for text/charts/websites, etc...
- Pages are instantly smudge and waterproof on laser
- Plain paper gives top results with Laser, with Inkjet you need expensive photo papers
- Aftermarket toner cartridges are cost effective and work great
- Aftermarket inkjet cartridges are hit or miss and bad ink can ruin a printhead
- A laser printer can easily last 10+ years. WIth inkjet you cross your fingers and hope it works every time you want to print.

I treat inkjet as disposable printers and Lasers as the real deal. With the cost of color laser dropping so much in recent years it's worth considering. If you want to print 4x6" prints then a small dye sub photo printer may be an option.

For large format pro/engineering/architect printing inkjet is good. Also if you want a CIS ink system then inkjet works. But I am not a fan of buying OEM ink which is expensive.

At home I use an HP 451 color laser and on plain paper in 1 second print speed, I printed a large high res 20MB photo of a tiger and hold it back 3feet ang it looks every bit as good as an inkjet. An inkjet would have taken 30 seconds plus expensive photo paper. The inkjet print would have been more glossy due to the paper only, but the laser has a natural gloss to it on plain paper which an inkjet lacks.

If you take the cost of ink, paper, reliablity, print speed, text and overall color quality, and smudge/waterproofness into account laser wins in every category. The only category inkjet wins is with photographic 4x6" prints and 8x11" photo realistic prints on glossy paper. For that I prefer a small dye sub photo printer.

If you absolutely want inkjet look into the Epsons. They are my preference over HP.

 

[jeyges]

Yes, I should have mentioned the page volumes - but they're inconsequential, as I print under 100 pages per month, and I rarely, if ever, print photos.

I don't need a color laser - too big, too expensive, and I'm in an apartment and I need an all-in-one. I have no room for separate devices.

I don't agree about Epson. Their high-end, photographic devices are supposed to be excellent, but their consumer-level stuff gets very negative user reviews. Same with Canon - and apparently, both of their machines tend to go through a lot of ink.

Also, I find them ugly, and I have to have it out where I have to look at it all the time.

It's between the two HP's.

The big differences I can see are the monthly page volumes. The 8710 being 1500 compared to 800 for the 6970. The larger RAM of the 6978 may help with printing large Photoshop files. As far as speed goes the differences are negligible. The 8710 is more a business oriented machine with lower quality prints.

What are your printing needs. Unless you need photographic output I am a large supporter of color laser for many reasons.

- No inkjet reliability issues with print heads.
- Laser is instant print in black or color and text is crystal clear
- Color is very good for business use, not quite photographic quality but for business use it's better than inkjet for text/charts/websites, etc...
- Pages are instantly smudge and waterproof on laser
- Plain paper gives top results with Laser, with Inkjet you need expensive photo papers
- Aftermarket toner cartridges are cost effective and work great
- Aftermarket inkjet cartridges are hit or miss and bad ink can ruin a printhead
- A laser printer can easily last 10+ years. WIth inkjet you cross your fingers and hope it works every time you want to print.

I treat inkjet as disposable printers and Lasers as the real deal. With the cost of color laser dropping so much in recent years it's worth considering. If you want to print 4x6" prints then a small dye sub photo printer may be an option.

For large format pro/engineering/architect printing inkjet is good. Also if you want a CIS ink system then inkjet works. But I am not a fan of buying OEM ink which is expensive.

At home I use an HP 451 color laser and on plain paper in 1 second print speed, I printed a large high res 20MB photo of a tiger and hold it back 3feet ang it looks every bit as good as an inkjet. An inkjet would have taken 30 seconds plus expensive photo paper. The inkjet print would have been more glossy due to the paper only, but the laser has a natural gloss to it on plain paper which an inkjet lacks.

If you take the cost of ink, paper, reliablity, print speed, text and overall color quality, and smudge/waterproofness into account laser wins in every category. The only category inkjet wins is with photographic 4x6" prints and 8x11" photo realistic prints on glossy paper. For that I prefer a small dye sub photo printer.

If you absolutely want inkjet look into the Epsons. They are my preference over HP.