Broaden your printing horizons
Written: Nov 18 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: aesthetics, document size, speed, quality
Cons: annoying blank feeds, jams on cheap paper
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| jvanwyhe's Full Review: Hewlett Packard Deskjet 1220cxi InkJet Printer |
I'll start off by saying that the 1220C is not for everyone. Having purchased mine in early May of 2000, it cost nearly $450. While I'm sure the price has dropped significantly, it still is too high for most home users. However, this printer is a must for small business and home office users.
The first thing you notice about the 1220c is that it's not ugly! Unlike most HP printers this unit sports a sleek curved design and 2-tone color scheme. There are only three buttons to operate, so even the most novice of user can figure this one out. A great addition was the cancel button, which allows you to instantly cancel the current print job, which can really save you a lot of headaches. Another thing most users will immediately notice is how quiet it operates. While printing this unit gives off a faint whisper, substantially quieter than other ink jet printers.
For those who do not know, it is a wide format printer, allowing document sizes as large as 13"x19". Some may wonder why you would need such a wide printer? I purchased my 1220c so I could print promotional materials. I print a lot of 2 sided, seamless booklets and brochures, which usually need to be printed on at least 11"x17" (before they are folded and bound.) This printer handles these projects with ease. It also can handle a variety of other paper and document types, including photo paper, glossy brochure paper, matte finishes, label stock, and nearly any sized envelop. It also allows you to feed straight in from the back if you want to print on a hard medium (such as tag board). Finally, the 1220C sports a generous sized paper tray, which will hold up to several hundred sheets, depending upon the paper used.
The printing performance of this machine is also very good. The print quality is exceptional; every time I hand out promotional materials people ask where I had them printed (I use 11"x17" glossy brochure paper to make promotional booklets). The ink cartridge usage is decent, although you will use them up fast printing large sized full color photos and documents. Cartridges run around $35, $55 for double-capacity cartridges, which I highly recommend as they save time and money. Your cartridge usage will depend on the print quality you use. On the fast setting, your cartridges will literally last you months, while on best setting you'll use ink fast. I recommend printing high quality documents on the normal setting, as the ink usage is minimal and you really don't notice any difference in quality compared to the best setting.
The speed of this printer is very good as well. I've used a comparable Epson model, which is faster, but it seemed to have more paper handling troubles than the hp. If you currently have an older ink jet printer, the speed of this unit will blow you away. On fast setting, it will crank out dozens of sheet a minutes. Even on best quality the performance is very respectable.
As far as the software, one word comes to mind: Exceptional. The drivers and software install effortlessly, work flawlessly, and provides any options you could possibly want. The only drawback of the software is that, when you print, two print screens will pop up. At first this is annoying, but after a while you will appreciate this as the second menu (hp menu) that allows cancel the print or change the setting, which I do constantly.
The there are no major drawbacks to this machine, but a few minor quirks do exist. Every time I start my computer, the printer kicks out a blank sheet. Not the end of the world, just slightly annoying. Despite what many of my fellow reviewers say, I have had some minor jams with this printer. They only occur when I use a cheap, light paper (18 pound) on the fast setting. What usually happen is that more than one sheet at a time is fed through. However, I've had absolutely on problems with this unit using quality 20 pound, specialty, or HP brand papers.
Overall, the 1220C is an excellent professional printer. Its superb features and performance far outweigh the minor drawbacks, which is why I gave it a 5 rating.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
jvanwyhe
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Member: Jason Van Wyhe
Location: Wisconsin
Reviews written: 11
Trusted by: 0 members
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