Increasing Printer Speed

[Thomas M.]

I'm not sure this is the best forum for this question, but I wasn't sure
were else to pose the question, and I figure that someone here will probably
have a good answer.

We have an HP InkJet 1700CP (Color) printer. It is used predominately by
one user. The user has reported that the printer is extremely slow. As I
see it, there are two possible explanations for this: 1) The printer is
going as fast as it can, but it's just a slow printer, in which case there's
nothing we can do about it, and 2) There is a setting that we need to change
to make the print jobs come out faster.

In theory, we could sacrifice some quality for speed, but the user wants the
highest quality possible, so that option is out. I noticed that on the
Advanced tab of the printer properties there are two options that look as if
they would have an impact on the speed with which print jobs complete. The
currently selected option is to spool print documents so that the
application finishes printing faster, and under that option the "Start
printing immediately" option is set. But there is also a "Print directly to
the printer" option which is not currently selected. If we select the
"Print directly to the printer" option, would that have a favorable impact,
or a detrimental impact, on the speed with which print jobs complete? Are
there any other options, either in the printer properties or on the client
machine, that might increase the speed of print jobs?

--Tom

 

[Guest]

How is the printer connected to the pc,if you use thru the "printer cable-36
pin"
then switch to a usb connection,the printer will run 3X as fast,you may need
to reinstall software for printer.You could also move the spool folder,read
kb308666

 

[HeyBub]

I'm not sure this is the best forum for this question, but I wasn't
sure were else to pose the question, and I figure that someone here
will probably have a good answer.

We have an HP InkJet 1700CP (Color) printer. It is used
predominately by one user. The user has reported that the printer is
extremely slow. As I see it, there are two possible explanations for
this: 1) The printer is going as fast as it can, but it's just a
slow printer, in which case there's nothing we can do about it, and
2) There is a setting that we need to change to make the print jobs
come out faster.
In theory, we could sacrifice some quality for speed, but the user
wants the highest quality possible, so that option is out. I noticed
that on the Advanced tab of the printer properties there are two
options that look as if they would have an impact on the speed with
which print jobs complete. The currently selected option is to spool
print documents so that the application finishes printing faster, and
under that option the "Start printing immediately" option is set. But
there is also a "Print directly to the printer" option which is
not currently selected. If we select the "Print directly to the
printer" option, would that have a favorable impact, or a detrimental
impact, on the speed with which print jobs complete? Are there any
other options, either in the printer properties or on the client
machine, that might increase the speed of print jobs?

"Print directly to printer" simply slows down the application, it does not
speed up the printer.

The printer is the culprit. The computer can deliver data to the printer
hundreds of times faster than ANY printer can process it.

Ink jet printers are usually slower than the alternatives. Most dot-matrix
printers are faster than ink-jets. Laser printers are WAY faster.

If in doubt, watch the printer. If the head is going back-and-forth at full
speed (the so-called "old maid's delight"), the printer's doing the best it
can.

 

[Patrick Keenan]

I'm not sure this is the best forum for this question, but I wasn't sure
were else to pose the question, and I figure that someone here will
probably have a good answer.

We have an HP InkJet 1700CP (Color) printer. It is used predominately by
one user. The user has reported that the printer is extremely slow. As I
see it, there are two possible explanations for this: 1) The printer is
going as fast as it can, but it's just a slow printer, in which case
there's nothing we can do about it, and 2) There is a setting that we need
to change to make the print jobs come out faster.

In theory, we could sacrifice some quality for speed, but the user wants
the highest quality possible, so that option is out. I noticed that on
the Advanced tab of the printer properties there are two options that look
as if they would have an impact on the speed with which print jobs
complete. The currently selected option is to spool print documents so
that the application finishes printing faster, and under that option the
"Start printing immediately" option is set. But there is also a "Print
directly to the printer" option which is not currently selected. If we
select the "Print directly to the printer" option, would that have a
favorable impact, or a detrimental impact, on the speed with which print
jobs complete? Are there any other options, either in the printer
properties or on the client machine, that might increase the speed of
print jobs?

--Tom

Inkjets are simply slow, for couple of reasons. First, they are
mechanically slow; the print nozzles take time to move back and forth.
Second, they don't have a lot of memory and so must take chunks of data from
the PC. This can slow the PC down, too, particularly if the image is
complex.

There's no real way around this except to replace the printer with a
mechanically faster printer that accepts full page images into memory,
preferably lots of them. These are typically laser printers, and will
release the PC quickly.

Laser printers as B&W are cheap. Colour lasers have been dropping
dramatically in price - I see them new for around CDN$370.

Inkjets can have advantages, but a lot of the time, particularly for
ordinary B&W printing, their limitations simply get in the way.

If the user needs a combination of black & white document printing and
colour image printing, consider just getting them a personal black& white
laser. These are often around CDN$100 now, and will reduce the demands on
your time.

This approach will also reduce the materials cost from that inkjet; I'm sure
you are aware that inkjet cartridges are not cheap. The reduced materials
use could well cover the cost of the new laser in a short time. You may
find a compelling economic argument with this approach.

HTH
-pk

 

[HeyBub]

Inkjets are simply slow, for couple of reasons. First, they are
mechanically slow; the print nozzles take time to move back and forth.
Second, they don't have a lot of memory and so must take chunks of
data from the PC. This can slow the PC down, too, particularly if
the image is complex.

There's no real way around this except to replace the printer with a
mechanically faster printer that accepts full page images into memory,
preferably lots of them. These are typically laser printers, and
will release the PC quickly.

Laser printers as B&W are cheap. Colour lasers have been dropping
dramatically in price - I see them new for around CDN$370.

Inkjets can have advantages, but a lot of the time, particularly for
ordinary B&W printing, their limitations simply get in the way.

If the user needs a combination of black & white document printing and
colour image printing, consider just getting them a personal black&
white laser. These are often around CDN$100 now, and will reduce
the demands on your time.

This approach will also reduce the materials cost from that inkjet;
I'm sure you are aware that inkjet cartridges are not cheap. The
reduced materials use could well cover the cost of the new laser in a
short time. You may find a compelling economic argument with this
approach.

They follow the old Gillette business model: give away the razor and sell
the blades. A newer model is: give away the 'phone and sell the minutes.

 

[HeyBub]

I'm not sure this is the best forum for this question, but I wasn't
sure were else to pose the question, and I figure that someone here
will probably have a good answer.

We have an HP InkJet 1700CP (Color) printer. It is used
predominately by one user. The user has reported that the printer is
extremely slow. As I see it, there are two possible explanations for
this: 1) The printer is going as fast as it can, but it's just a
slow printer, in which case there's nothing we can do about it, and
2) There is a setting that we need to change to make the print jobs
come out faster.

The printer is rated (by an overly-optimistic manufacturer) at 8 ppm
monochrome, and 7 ppm color. You can easily double the monochrome speed for
less than $50 with a used laser printer from Ebay.

 

[Og]

How is the printer connected to the pc,if you use thru the "printer
cable-36
pin"
then switch to a usb connection,the printer will run 3X as fast,you may
need
to reinstall software for printer.You could also move the spool
folder,read
kb308666

Wrong again, Andrew.
Steve

 

[Og]

The printer is rated (by an overly-optimistic manufacturer) at 8 ppm
monochrome, and 7 ppm color. You can easily double the monochrome speed
for less than $50 with a used laser printer from Ebay.

Manufacturers measure the speed of color printing using colored TEXT.
Independent reviewers rate the speed of color printing using a small
graphic.
That is why independent reviews measure the speed of color printing far
below than what the manufacturers claim.
Steve