HP DesignJet 130nr - printer - color - ink-jet ( C7791D#A2L )

WARNING!!! This is actually a GREAT printer and I highly recommend it however the main reason I am giving it a negative is to get your attention!!! This is the Designjet 130nr. What the nr stands for is "network ready." If this is what you are looking for I can find nothing wrong with this printer and you should buy it as soon as possible. However, for most buyers they don't really want or need to be able to hook this up to a network. This version costs $1892.00 the SAME EXACT printer in every way except the network ability the Designjet 130 costs $1292.00 We even purchased this version knowing full well what it did and now we regret it because unless you work in an office of completely computer network savvy people you don't want this available to print from to the general office population. We have had repeated trainings and meetings about using this printer and it never fails we get someone once a week who doesn't realize they are printing their office memos on a 2ft by 4ft sheet of paper!!! I am the administrator for this printer and I now have nightmares of hearing this thing start up and knowing I havn't printed anything on it from my computer. I think its best used by one user and people in the office submit "jobs" to that person to print. Besides the page layout and setup can be kind of confusing on the get go. If its worth saving $600.00 and a few gray hairs I think the regular 130 is just fine. Again, there is no change in print quality it is only the LAN unit that comes attatched into the system already.

The DJ130 prints beautiful photo-quality large-format images. Premium Plus Satin paper is highly recommended.

I have had a couple of problems with the printer, but HP service has been great for the most part. I'm not sure if that's because I paid for an extended service plan. At first set-up the unit had a problem, and I was sent a replacement part after going over my issues on phone support. Then about 6 months later I had another problem, and they sent a tech to come fix the unit. It required ordering the part again, but it was up and working again within 2 days of my call. And I haven't had any problems since.

The prints from the printer have been highly accurate without the use of a color profile (in Photoshop). I've read other people have had to work to get accurate color from their set-ups, but not with mine.

Keep in mind the printer needs some assembly, and it's pretty big, so don't expect to take it out of the box and start printing right away. It took me some time to get the hang of the various paper feeds and the printing interface. But now that I'm familiar with it, it seems fairly straight forward. The more experience you have with computers and large format printers (none, in my case), the easier it will be to figure out.

I don't use this printer for anything other than large format printing, and I have come to only use it with paper rolls (not sheets). So I end up going a month or so without using it, then print a bunch of stuff for a project, then it sits. I was told it is important to keep it plugged in all the time, because it performs maintenance functions to keep the ink from drying in the print heads (or something like that).

There are hard to understand error codes when there is are certain problems. Take the time to wait on hold with tech support if you can't figure out an error code or you if don't understand something. As bad as other people's experience has been, I've been able to have my two issues taken care of within a couple of days. I have had to get through a few bozos, but it didn't take toooo long to get results.

I received my HP DesignJet 130nr three weeks ago and it has not worked since(LCD cartridge indicator was signaling "empty cartridge"), after 3 cartridges HP technical support still wanted to send another, I told them wrong answer. HP support promised a new printer to be sent out by a technician (Next day), and that was last week, it never happened, not even a courtesy call back. Hours more on hold multiple calls to get in touch with management, management assured me of a swap. UPS tried to pick it up yesterday when I wasn't home, I didn't know they were coming because I wasn't informed, HP told me a Tech was going to replace it? Why didn't they let me know? I Called them back this morning and asked the tech where do I ship it to, does UPS have a shipping label, is it insured? She didn't know and put me on hold and then finally said she would call me back in a couple hours! HP is a great company and one bad printer out of thousands could happen to any company, I find no fault in that as this could happen to any good company. What I do find fault in is the support. HP support needs to just shut down for a few days and do a training stand down; I would recommend streamlining the maintenance flow efforts with customer reconciliation and back order validations, this would save valuable time and assuring customer care.

If you are just a casual photographer who wants to make a few blown up pictures of friends and family, this probably is not the printer for you. However, if you are starting to get seriously into digital photography and are contemplating making large format prints for resale, this might interest you.

PROs:
1. Roll feed with built in cutter.
2. Built in network card.
3. Print Quality - 2400 x 1200 dpi
4. HP Vivera fade-resistant dye-based inks (can last up to 80 years)
5. Replaceable ink nozzles.
6. Great color out of the box. But if you're serious, buy a color calibration system so your colors are consistent all they way through the system from monitor to printer (should be done with any photo printer).

CONs:
1. Roll paper likes to stay rolled. You'll need to either buy or make a device to uncurl the paper.
2. This printer takes up some real estate. It covers 41.3 x 40.1 inches and weighs in at 50.7 lbs. Make sure you have the space for it. Also costs more to ship.
3. When paper roll is left fed into the printer for long periods (like over night) it will make indentations in the paper that are hard to remove. But it is easily overcome by unloading the paper when left idle (simple as pushing a button).

There are many large format photo printers out there, but many also come with an equally large format price tag. The big advantage for this printer is the roll feed paper with built in cutter. For roll fed printers, this one is the most competitively priced so it better fits the user who is not a professional print shop. This allows you to feasibly make a print of any size up to 24" x 50ft, but that is really going to stretch the resources of your system (and your nerves). I originally researched this printer for a 360-degree panorama I had made that is 11 inches tall by 70 inches wide. It ended up being a piece of cake. However, remember that prints this size have drawbacks when you wish to mount or frame them ($$$).

My over all impression of this printer: I love it. I have never had any regrets after buying it. Even with as many prints as I've pumped through it, it still hasn't used very much ink. And the quality is just great.