HP Photosmart 7960 Printer

I bought this printer 2 years ago, thinking that since it was so expensive (almost $400) and I had previously only had good experiences with HP, that it was a safe bet. Boy was I wrong!!

The printer does make great quality photos, but it goes through ink very quickly, and the ink isn't cheap.

Also, every time the drivers need to be updated, the printer causes our computer to freeze up, so in order to use the computer, we have to unplug the printer. This wouldn't be a problem, except that if you want to update the drivers, the PRINTER HAS TO BE PLUGGED IN! Therefore, every time this happens (third time and counting) we have to take it to Best Buy and have the Geek Squad guys upload the new drivers! WHAT A ROYAL PAIN!!

This printer is not worth the money. make your life easier and get the Kodak EasyShare docking printer. I will, and I'll never buy an HP ever again.

I have had this printer since it came out so almost 3 years. It is a great printer. I had a baby 2 years ago and trust me this printer passed it's job... Well done, I have so many photos that look professional. I even printed out a 8 1/2 by 11 soccer team picture and the quality was better than the professional package we had purchased, all parents were in awe. You can not beat this price it is well worth it. A lot cheaper now then when we purchased it. :-) Ink is pricey, and paper, but in the long run it still is cheaper to print your own pictures than have them made for you.

I needed a new photo printer to replace my aging HP 5550. Looking around at newer printers, they seemed pretty speedy and had a lot of grand claims, such as pictures lasting longer than the normal lifespan of most humans and amazing print speeds. However, if you look closely, you'll see that the ink tanks for most of these new printers are amazingly tiny. You'll probably spend quite a bit more money on ink cartridges than the old printer you're replacing.

This is what drove me to the HP 7960. Although it is a discontinued model that was originally introduced in late 2003, it still has amazingly good print quality. It uses the same cartridges as my old 5550 but the quality is significantly better. It's helped partially by the addition of a grey photo cartridge to create millions of additional colors. In addition to its great print quality, the speed is pretty darn good. It is slightly faster than my old 5500 but at over 20ppm on draft mode, it doesn't really matter any more for me, since I don't print large amounts at a single time.

One problem I have had with this printer is that on some text prints, text continues to smudge, despite head cleanings and many test prints. It is bearable, since it is only a small smudge on the left edge but I'm sure its nothing to worry about.

Also, this product is not offered by Amazon but but ant_online. They do have good service and I got my printer only 4 business days after I ordered it. Just be warned that you will be charged a $30 shipping fee for it.

Overall, this is a great printer, despite its age. Sometimes, staying with the old is better than jumping for the new.

First, I want to tell you, as Paul Harvey would say, "The Rest of the Story" regarding Tammy Tenan's (Camano Island, WA USA) review of the HP PhotoSmart 7960 printer. I work for HP and noticed her poor review of this printer while researching which HP printer to purchase for myself. I called an internal HP resource and they contacted Tammy and replaced her printer at no charge. Although there was no excuse for what happened, I hope she is now a satisfied HP customer. I'll probably never know how this experience affected her view of HP.

Second, after doing some through research on this HP printer, I purchased two for my children (18 & 21). They really enjoy them and love the print quality that the HP 7960 provides. This is a very quiet printer and has a lot of features that people would enjoy. Both my kids have HP Digital Cameras (of course) and they can now plug their memory cards into the printer and print direct or copy to their PCs for backup.

I can't believe I only paid $130 for this printer. I just bought a Lexmark for $100 and took it back, it was not much better than my $30 lexmark I use for documents. I wanted something that printed photos that didnt look like spotty or blurred. I ordered this one figuring it would just be one more technical headache. By the time I had the first photo printed I was in love with it. Simple to hook up, easy to use, and so many great features. The quality far exceeds the price! It is the best deal you will find anywhere.