HP Photosmart 8150 under Linux and from Card

[Matthias]

Hi,

I read on the HP page that the Photosmart 8150 prints "up to" 4800 x
1200 "when printing from a computer". Now my question is: what is the
resolution when printing from a memory card without a computer? How
much worse are the prints?

Also, I'm planning to use the linux drivers most of the time (it's
very inconvenient to boot Windows just to print out a picture). I
read in a magazine that the linux drivers produce not quite as nice
pictures as do the Win or Mac drivers. Has anybody some similar
experience? How much different are the results? (I know, that's
probably hard to quantify.)

Thanks in advance for any responses.

Matthias

 

[Bob Headrick]

Hi,

I read on the HP page that the Photosmart 8150 prints "up to" 4800 x
1200 "when printing from a computer". Now my question is: what is the
resolution when printing from a memory card without a computer? How
much worse are the prints?

There is not a lot of difference. The average user may not see any difference,
a pro would notice some differences, especially in side by side comparisons.

Also, I'm planning to use the linux drivers most of the time (it's
very inconvenient to boot Windows just to print out a picture). I
read in a magazine that the linux drivers produce not quite as nice
pictures as do the Win or Mac drivers. Has anybody some similar
experience? How much different are the results? (I know, that's
probably hard to quantify.)

The later DeskJet and Photosmart devices (all those that use the #56/57/58 or
96/97/99 cartridges or similar) normally do most of the processing in the
printer. (This is called VIP mode). The driver can send jpg data to the
printer and the printer does the rendering. For these printers the host driver
is not nearly as important, as long as it does use the capabilities of the
printers. The high resolution modes are rendered by the host and there would
likely be mode differences. Personally I never use the high resolution modes;
"Best" mode is for most purposes the same quality and prints twice as fast as
the high resolution mode.

Regards,
Bob Headrick, not speaking for my employer HP