Is HP still putting print-heads on the ink cartridge?

[Aloke Prasad]

I have been out-of-touch with inkjet issues for a while (3 years .. I have
ESC720). Back then, Epson had permanent printheads (and cheaper cartridges)
while HP put the heads on their more expensive cartridges (but avoided
permanent clogging problems).

Is that still true for their current mid-priced products?

I am considering Epson R300 vs. HP DJ6450. Any opinions on these?

The Epson has 6 separate cartridges ($10 each), but boy they look tiny!!

 

[Bob Headrick]

I have been out-of-touch with inkjet issues for a while (3 years .. I have
ESC720). Back then, Epson had permanent printheads (and cheaper cartridges)
while HP put the heads on their more expensive cartridges (but avoided
permanent clogging problems).

Is that still true for their current mid-priced products?

I am considering Epson R300 vs. HP DJ6450. Any opinions on these?

Do you mean the DeskJet 6540? I use one at work. It is very quick and prints
nice photos with the optional photo cartridge. The HP cartridges for this
printer have the printhead included.

Regards,
Bob Headrick, not speaking for my employer HP

 

[Aloke Prasad]

Do you mean the DeskJet 6540? I use one at work. It is very quick and
prints nice photos with the optional photo cartridge. The HP cartridges
for this printer have the printhead included.

That's what I meant .. Deskjet 6540.

I am inclined to get the DJ 6540. I still have a soft spot for Epson's. My
first printer was the original Stylus Color (6 years ago?). HP had nothing
that came close to the ESC at that time. I replaced that with ESC740.
However, that is dead now because of clogged printer head.

Avoiding clogged head is superseding any differences in print quality,
although I bet HP is comparable to Epson's in that regard by now.

 

[Stick Stickus]

Have a look at the new Canon iP3000, iP4000 or iP5000 printers. They are
more than a match for Epson or HP

Dave

 

[Arthur Entlich]

Yes, the designs you mention are pretty much still the same. HP makes
some higher end printers with permanent or semi-permanent ink heads and
separate ink cartridges. The only major difference I noticed from your
statement is that Epson ink cartridges are now about the same cost as HP
and others. Epson also added a chip that is read and written to and
keeps track of the approximate amount of ink in the cartridge. If you
wish to refill this cartridge, you need to reprogram the chip either
with a hardware device or via software.

Art

 

[Aloke Prasad]

Where do they put their printheads? In the printer? or on the cartridge?

 

[Aloke Prasad]

Which HP printers use permanent or semi-permanent (what does that mean?)
printheads?

What does DJ6540 do?

 

[Miss Perspicacia Tick]

I have been out-of-touch with inkjet issues for a while (3 years .. I
have ESC720). Back then, Epson had permanent printheads (and cheaper
cartridges) while HP put the heads on their more expensive cartridges
(but avoided permanent clogging problems).

Is that still true for their current mid-priced products?

I am considering Epson R300 vs. HP DJ6450. Any opinions on these?

The Epson has 6 separate cartridges ($10 each), but boy they look
tiny!!

I don't know much about HPs (having never owned one) but if they're still
using the two-cartridge system, then 'larger' is false economy. Say you're
printing a landscape scene, consisting mainly of sky and grass, then you're
going to run out of cyan and yellow before you do magenta. Once the cyan and
yellow have gone, the cartridge will register empty and will need
replacing/refilling. You'll be ditching a third (or whatever) of a cartridge
and throwing money away (literally!). Separate tanks are far less wasteful.
Out of cyan? Just replace the cyan cartridge and carry on printing - no
waste.

 

[Aloke Prasad]

I don't know much about HPs (having never owned one) but if they're still
using the two-cartridge system, then 'larger' is false economy. Say you're
Separate tanks are far less wasteful. Out of cyan? Just replace the cyan
cartridge and carry on printing - no waste.

Very true. I was a die-hard Epson fan (bought 2 of their printers) until a
persistent clog has put my ESC740 to sleep. New printers are too cheap to
make it worthwhile to get this repaired.

The idea of putting printheads on the cartridge is suddenly looking to be a
good one..

 

[Clark W. Griswold, Jr.]

Which HP printers use permanent or semi-permanent (what does that mean?)
printheads?

Among others, the HP2500 series uses separate heads that can be replaced
independently from the ink carts. They still charge an arm & a leg for the ink
though...

 

[Clark W. Griswold, Jr.]

I don't know much about HPs (having never owned one) but if they're still
using the two-cartridge system, then 'larger' is false economy. Say you're
printing a landscape scene, consisting mainly of sky and grass, then you're
going to run out of cyan and yellow before you do magenta. Once the cyan and
yellow have gone, the cartridge will register empty and will need
replacing/refilling. You'll be ditching a third (or whatever) of a cartridge
and throwing money away (literally!). Separate tanks are far less wasteful.
Out of cyan? Just replace the cyan cartridge and carry on printing - no
waste.

While that is certainly true in theory, I'm not convinced it's that big a deal
in the real world. I switched from using HP color combo cart printers to an
Epson with individual tanks. With almost a year's worth of experience, all three
color tanks tend to go out very close to each other.

Now, clearly that is because my color printing tends to be pretty balanced. But
when you combine that with the fact that individual tanks are priced at 1/3 or
more of the combo cart, there just hasn't been that big a savings.

Your mileage may vary, of course.

 

[Aloke Prasad]

While that is certainly true in theory, I'm not convinced it's that big a
deal
in the real world. I switched from using HP color combo cart printers to
an
Epson with individual tanks. With almost a year's worth of experience, all
three
color tanks tend to go out very close to each other.

Now, clearly that is because my color printing tends to be pretty
balanced. But
when you combine that with the fact that individual tanks are priced at
1/3 or
more of the combo cart, there just hasn't been that big a savings.

Your mileage may vary, of course.

I'm not defending HP over Epson, but between Epson R300 (or R200), and HP
DJ6540, the R300 uses 6 cartridges. The 5 color ones add up to approx $50
(@ $10 each at Sams Club). The HP uses a combo color cartridge that costs
$30.

The main Q is: do Epson's clog up frequently? Head cleaning wastes an
enormous amount of ink.

 

[Bob Headrick]

Which HP printers use permanent or semi-permanent (what does that mean?)
printheads?

What does DJ6540 do?

All HP Photosmart, PSC and DeskJet printers (including the DeskJet 6540) have
integrated printehads and ink tanks.

The following have separate user replaceable printheads and ink tanks (see
http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/us/en/sm/WF02a/18972-236251-236261.html):

Business Inkjet 1200 series
Color Inkjet CP 1700
Business Inkjet 2300 series
Business Inkjet 1100 series
Business Inkjet 2600 series

The following are all-in-one units with separate printheads (see
http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/us/en/sm/WF02a/18972-238444-410635.html):

Officejet 9100 series
Officejet 7100 series

The above printers have ink tanks which are replaced when the ink runs out as
well as separate printheads that are user replaceable but typically last much
longer than a single ink tank.

Regards,
Bob Headrick, not speaking for my employer HP

 

[Bob Headrick]

I don't know much about HPs (having never owned one) but if they're still
using the two-cartridge system, then 'larger' is false economy. Say you're
printing a landscape scene, consisting mainly of sky and grass, then you're
going to run out of cyan and yellow before you do magenta. Once the cyan and
yellow have gone, the cartridge will register empty and will need
replacing/refilling. You'll be ditching a third (or whatever) of a cartridge
and throwing money away (literally!). Separate tanks are far less wasteful.
Out of cyan? Just replace the cyan cartridge and carry on printing - no
waste.

Nice theory, but not very accurate for a tri-color CMY ink with separate black
system. Blue is a mixture of cyan and magenta and flesh tones have quite a bit
of magenta as well. In "real life" printing the usage is pretty closely
balanced. I once did a study of returned empty cartridges where the cartridge
was disassembled and the foam sections for cyan, magenta and yellow were
carefully weighed. Typically either cyan or yellow would run out first, but
the second color was typically magenta, then yellow or cyan (whichever had not
run out first). The ink remaining in the most full chamber was typically well
less than 10%.

Regards,
Bob Headrick, not speaking for my employer HP
MS MVP Printing/Imaging

 

[Stick Stickus]

In the printer, but they are removable by the end user.

Regards
Dave

 

[Aloke Prasad]

For better or worse, I went with HP Photosmart 7960. It was available at
Sam's club for $150.

Replacable heads, built-in memory card readers, 2.5" LCD display are nice
features.

I have a feeling that corresponding Epson will still provide better looking
output, but my needs are for general purpose color printing, not ton's of
4x7 photos (Walmart is better for that).

Does HP offer any software to create posters (enlarge a picture over 6 or 8
pages, that can be glued together to make a larhe poster)?

 

[Bob Headrick]

For better or worse, I went with HP Photosmart 7960. It was available at
Sam's club for $150.

I think you will find this a good choice, and with the proper paper you are
unlikely to get better output.

Does HP offer any software to create posters (enlarge a picture over 6 or 8
pages, that can be glued together to make a larhe poster)?

It is built into the driver. Click on the "finishing" tab, then click "poster
printing" where you can select from 2x2 sheets up to 5x5 sheets.

Regards,
Bob Headrick, not speaking for my employer HP

 

[Aloke Prasad]

It is built into the driver. Click on the "finishing" tab, then click
"poster printing" where you can select from 2x2 sheets up to 5x5 sheets.

Thanks for the tip.
I would recommend more documentation on the software and drivers that come
with the printer.

The PDF files on the web and CD refer to help files of installed software.
Help files are difficult to print out and read at leisure. PDF
documentation for the bundled software and driver would be useful..

Thanks for all your help.

 

[Bob Headrick]

Thanks for the tip.
I would recommend more documentation on the software and drivers that come
with the printer.

The PDF files on the web and CD refer to help files of installed software.
Help files are difficult to print out and read at leisure. PDF documentation
for the bundled software and driver would be useful..

I will pass your suggestion on to the development team.

Regards,
Bob Headrick, not speaking for my employer HP

 

[Timothy Lee]

Nice theory, but not very accurate for a tri-color CMY ink with separate black
system. Blue is a mixture of cyan and magenta and flesh tones have
quite a bit
of magenta as well. In "real life" printing the usage is pretty closely
balanced. I once did a study of returned empty cartridges where the cartridge
was disassembled and the foam sections for cyan, magenta and yellow were
carefully weighed. Typically either cyan or yellow would run out first, but
the second color was typically magenta, then yellow or cyan (whichever had not
run out first). The ink remaining in the most full chamber was typically well
less than 10%.

I find that yellow and magenta run out almost in parallel with the cyan
around 10% later, obviously it then depends on your printing volume as
to whether that is an issue.