#Inkjet Printer Advice
29 messages in this thread
I'm shopping for an inkjet printer. Does anyone have any thoughts on the Canon
BJ200 vs. the HP500? I'll use it mostly for word processing with Prowrite, and
some limited graphics printing. Thanks!
Arthur,
I have the HP500C which is very similar to the 500 but with colour. I
considered the Canon BJ but I didn't like how the sheet feeder worked
(also, I wanted colour). However, I think Canon supports the Amiga with
their own driver wereas HP goes "Ogega??? is that IBM compatible?". There
are various drivers available PD, however, for the 500.
The BJ has higher resolution (360 vs 300), takes up less real estate, is a
bit cheaper, and I don't think the ink is water soluable (the HP ink can
smudge.) I think the Canon ink is also cheaper. Also, the BJ can be
easily transported.
The HP is nice, however, because it doesn't have any overhanging devices
and it is very stable on the desktop (I believe the BJ has to stand
vertically to print.) The 500 (or at least the 500C) offers either serial
or parallel input and has an easy to load sheetfeeder built in. I had
trouble with the first one (power connector) but my dealer replaced it
without question and it currently works perfectly. The HP also has
CompuGraphic fonts in ROM and can take font cartridges but neither is
accessable by the Amiga. HP does NOT have toll free support, only for
sales or general information. It prints quickly and quietly (about 3-4
ppm although I haven't timed it, slightly faster in draft.)
If you have any other specific questions just ask.
Andrew
Andrew,
The new inks available from HP don't smudge. They have a bright orange
blob with the words "new ink'on the box.
Wolf Faust has produced a very nice series of HP drivers in his STUDIO
application. He also did the Canon drivers. I understand that he was
supported by Canon to produce these drivers in the U.K. for the public
domain, which shows Canon is a little bit more on the ball than HP.
Pete Jones, flying on AutoPilot from Brussels, Belgium
I strongly recommend the BJ200 over the DJ500 or 510 because of the much
higher print quality. The BJ200 print head and ink is much better than the
HP stuff. Also, Canon Europe (and specialy Canon UK) supports the Amiga.
The only reason I see for the DJ is it's printer emulation, wich is
slightly better supported by 3th party vendors. But as Canon does hold a
major ink jet market share, you can be sure to be well supported with
Canon too.
Those who are planning to buy a color ink jet printer should wait some
weeks as several new color printers will show up in the next two months.
— Wolf Faust, Am Dorfgarten 10, 6000 Frankfurt 50, Germany —
Wolf-
Please tell me more about the new Canon color inkjets. Do they have CMY
with it's own black?
–Paul < Motorola Inside >
All current Canon printers have CMYK (ie. with real black). The color
output is far superior to what you get with a DJ550C or DJ500C.
No doubt about this and I never meet someone claiming the DJ to have
better color output. With the new Canon BJC600 (just phoned Canon while
writing this message to make sure I can tell you about that you thing)
Canon also offers a cheap (similar price as the DJ550C) DIN A4/US-Letter
printer. I used the BJC600 during the last weeks/months to write the Canon
driver. So far my impression:
The Canon BJC 600 will be priced simlar to the DJ550. The printer is
superior to the DJ550C every aspect.
The Canon BJC600 is a real CMYK printer. The printer looks very siimlar to
the BJ200, but internals are totaly different. The printer head is
replaceable and a huge ink cartridge comes for each print color. This
makes color prints extremly cheap.
The print head and ink is something totaly new and incredible good. You
can even print color images on normal paper without the usual problem of
bleed. The printer has a real 360 dpi resulution and the output is
extremly sharp and crisp. For print speed, the printer is MUCH faster then
the DJ550 because of the print head (a full sized print head for each
color instead of 16 dots on the DJ). The printer has NO banding problems
because of shinglind an that huge printer head.
The printer allows you to print on various paper media. The paper media is
controlable by software (Canon does provide Amiga drivers).
— Wolf Faust, Am Dorfgarten 10, 6000 Frankfurt 50, Germany —
Wolf-
I knew there was a reason I liked you 🙂
I was going to buy a DJ550C on Saturday but have changed my mind. This is
a pleasant suprise, thanks for all the info.
I don't understand what paper media control via software is. Can you
explain what this is? Is this for choosing a different paper tray/size.
Thanks again for the big news.
–Paul < Motorola Inside >
Well, you may have to wit some weeks until the BJC becomes available
(don't know about shiping/release dates for the US). But if you do have
some time, I would recommend to wait. Also, as said, the BJC600 won't be
the only printer released in the next weeks (though, I do think it's the
best I have seen in this price range).
Both Canon BJC800 and BJC600 offer some kind of print mode similar to the
Deskjets/Paintjets media/shingling/depletion control.
On the BJC printers, the mode defines things like:
– black/color saturation (50, 100 or 200%)
– media thickness (BJC600 only)
– speed (draft, letter, high quality)
– banding: 1 pass, 2 pass, 4 pass and 8 pass (8 pass BJC 600 only)
(banding is similar to the Deskjets "shingling").
On the BJC 800 there are 5 modes. On the BJC 600 you can actually define a
mode by setting the parameters described above (ie. you get all the BJC800
modes and more).
— Wolf Faust, Am Dorfgarten 10, 6000 Frankfurt 50, Germany —
Pete,
I haven't seen the new inks although I had heard they didn't smudge. The
ones that came with my 500C and replacements do, however. When were they
released?
I was encouraged by the apparent support that Canon provides but I needed
colour so I didn't go for their printer. I don't know what driver I'm
using for my HP printer. I had d/led several to see if there were any
differences and I chose the one that had the least problems. As I recall
there was only minimal documentation with it so I don't know who did it.
Thanks for the info.
Andrew
Andrew,
The new HP non-smearing ink has been available for about two years. I
don't think they even sell the old ink in the U.S. anymore. Also, there is
a commercial program called DJ Helper, which is the ultimate printer
driver for the DeskJet series, and gives you access to different fonts.
Finally, there is a major speed difference on my HP DeskJet 500 between
Draft and LQ modes.
Dom Fontana
–> Sent from NY via AP <–
Hi Dom,
Sorry for the delay, I was away for a while.
I did a test of the ink I have an lo-and-behold you are right. It is
smudgeless. I think what I was seeing before was the cheap paper that I
printed on releasing ink filled particles. Perhaps the first cartridge I
had was the old type, as well.
Andrew
Andrew,
I just got ProText and I'm putting it through its paces.
Dom Fontana
–> Sent from NY via AP <–
Dom,
Great! I eagerly await your conclusions. Don't be to kind! 8^)
Andrew
Andrew,
I have version 5.53 of Protext, since version 6 won't be available for
about a month. Arnor will send me the upgrade for free when it's
available. Also, version 5.53 does include a Thesaurus. Version 6 will
support AGA and have a macro editor, glossary, graphics import, ARexx
support, and other features. It sounds real good. If Amiga World wants me
to review it, then I'll just give some brief opinions here. If not, then
I'll upload a full review here.
Dom Fontana
–> Sent from NY via AP <–
That's great, Dom. Either way, I'll look forward to it.
So, after shipping, etc, how much did it cost you? What are your first
impressions, if you don't mind sharing them?
Andrew
Dom,
PMFJI but what version of ProText have you received. According to an ad in
the October edition of Amiga Shopper ( a UK mag ), version 6 has just been
released.
New features include support for scalable fonts, colour printing, Graphics
import, Glossary, Macro editor and ARexx interface.
If you have v5.5, you might want to check on Arnors upgrade offers.
Bob Bolton
Bob,
Thanks for replying and feel free to jump in at any time. You're not
really jumping in, you're just joining the thread. 😎 That's the whole
point of a public message base anyway. The more, the merrier. 😎
Concerning Protext, I just ordered it directly from Arnor last week.
They said version 6 won't be available for about a month. Rather than
wait, they sent me version 5.53 and said they'll upgrade me to version 6
for free as soon as it's available. I'm looking forward to the upgrade.
Thanks again.
Dom Fontana
–> Sent from NY via AP <–
Andrew,
If you bought your printer recently, then it looks like your dealer was
moving old stock. The new inks have been available for well over a year,
to my knowledge. I see that Wolf Faust, the author of Studio, has also
replied to you. He is the guy to talk to about Canon and HP, as you can
see by his reply.
Pete Jones, flying on AutoPilot from Brussels, Belgium
Peter,
I was mistaken, or perhaps the printer came with an old version of the ink
because the current ink is waterproof. The printer came directly from the
HP warehouse but perhaps they were moving old stock. Cheap paper will make
it smudge a little bit if you rub it hard but that's the paper.
Andrew
Andrew,
Canon does built very good color printers. And with the new Canon BJC600,
you get much better/cheaper/faster output than with a DJ550C!
— Wolf Faust, Am Dorfgarten 10, 6000 Frankfurt 50, Germany —
Wolf,
I'm not aware of the BJC600. Unfortunately, when I bought the HP500c last
spring it was the only near-laser quality colour printer that was
available in my price range. Of course, I got it cheap because it was
obsolete already. That's progress.
Andrew
Yep, I know… bought a DJ500C last spring too… two weeks before the
DJ550C became available (well, now that I do the Amiga drivers for HP, I
hopefully don't make that mistake again…).
— Wolf Faust, Am Dorfgarten 10, 6000 Frankfurt 50, Germany —
Wolf,
Don't ya hate it when new technology is introduced just after the ink
dries on the cheque for your new purchase!?
Does HP now support the Amiga or do you do the driver on your own. How
much do you charge (if it's your own product) and, more importantly, would
using your software improve the colour output on a 500C? I find that my
current PD s/w produces a muddy mess on some pictures and unbalanced
colour on others.
Andrew
Arthur,
Ditto what Andrew said about the HP500C… I've had one for about 4
months, purchased after the price dropped because of the HP550C release.
LOVE IT! But it doesn't print too well with ProWrite, probably the PD
driver I'm using…
Graphics are good, if you can tone down the saturation…
TruePrint24 works well with it, as does PPage4.1 with Compugraphic fonts.
Changing ink cartridges is not such a major PITA as HP would have folks
believe, and the composite black generated by a color cartridge is
acceptable for most uses…
I've seen the plain HP500s for about $350, maybe $375…
– Barry Jarrett
careening around CIS on my Amiga!
Barry,
Regarding the poor print quality with ProWrite… it's not the driver,
it's ProWrite. Unless you're outputing postscript, ProWrite's printed
output leaves alot to be desired. You might try getting Post. You can save
ProWite's output as a postscript file and run it through PostBand which
comes with the Post distribution. Or, to avoid the hassle of setting up
post, SoftWood is offering a competitive upgrade to FinalCopy. After four
years of using ProWrite, I took advandage of the upgrade offer and have to
say that although ProWrite's screen display is better, Final Copy's
printer output blows it away.
-Richard
Richard,
PMJI, Can you tell us more about the FC competitive upgrade. Does one
have to give up all rights to your current WP?
Andrew
Arthur, Thought I would add my 2 cents here. I own two HP inkjet printers and
they are OK (I used to think they were great), but the department bought an
Epson Sylus 800 which gives FAR superior output relative to the HP inkjets.
Only drawback with the Epson is the ink is water soluble even after it dries.
Also, for the same price (almost) as a HP inkjet you can get an Okidata laser
printer ($365 vs. $425 retail) Epson is offering a $50 rebate on the 800 so it
can be had for $280 retail. – Rob – P.S. I personally would go for the laser
printer.
Epson Stylus better than a DJ510??? I doubt that….
— Wolf Faust, Am Dorfgarten 10, 6000 Frankfurt 50, Germany —
Output is much better. I have a Deskjet original and just recently acquired a
HPDJ 550C and the output is much better on the Epson Sylus 800 which is being
used at my office. I am using the commericial program Super DJ for my Amiga
Driver as well as the Pagestream Driver. Also, I took my Deskjet into my
office and connected to the MS-DOS machine using a non-windows driver and the
windows driver. No comparison. It is a mute point anyhow, because you can buy
a laser printer (okidata) for the same price as you can these inkjets, which is
what I would certainly do if I was looking at printers in the price range of a
HP inkjet.