Digital BW, The Print

On 20/12/2007 Ernst Dinkla wrote:
> You really let one user experience decide what the quality
> of HP's service is or the quality of the Z3100 ?

No, but it's a significant factor given the rest of the thread, and other 
issues I've read about elsewhere. It hasn't definitively turned me off the 
idea, just made me think 'oh hang on, I need to find out more'.

I have to say my previous experiences with inkjets (and media and inksets 
and profiling) have been serially expensive, time consuming, painful and 
often disappointing, so I am cautious. It has seemed a very immature and 
temperamental technology, at least until very recently. Or maybe not yet. 
I'm vacillating.

My background is unfortunate perhaps, a *lot* of wet darkroom bromide 
printing and some Ciba. I'm used to stuff just working unless it's my own 
stupid fault, not machines conspiring to ruin my life. Of course digital 
ought to completely do as it is told, repeatably. It ought to behave 
predictably. Ha! Dig cameras, scanners, monitors and so on no problem... 
but inkjet has more variables than the stock market and is inhabited by 
poltergeists.

So I would far rather know in advance exactly what the limitations and 
likely problems are before committing what (for me) is a very significant 
amount of money, because I know perfectly well that once the thing is 
sitting there with a deadline looming is not the time to find out. I have 
several of those 5a.m. tee-shirts, that's why I asked the question. I do 
not expect plug n'play appliance carelessness from this technology, but I 
cannot afford the tragic unproductivity of my previous kit, where a truly 
OK print was almost a champagne moment.

If you have stuff to say, especially about B&W on the z3100 (because of 
where we are) then I'd love to hear, to help me form a balanced view.
-- 
Regards

Tony Sleep
http://tonysleep.co.uk