Digital BW, The Print

I am in market for new printer and want to do mainly BW with some
color. I would like a one printer solution if possible. 
The 7660/7960 have been discussed to some extent here. For 8x10 work,
is the most current consensus one of these printers or the new R800 ?
Everything I have read thusfar is not conclusive.


                              Stuart

I think that is should be conclusive that the hp is better for b&w 
work.  The hp tri-tone system is excellent.  I prefer the Epson 
dither pattern, but I have only found one photo to be a real problem 
with the hp woven pattern and that was a poorly exposed T400CN 35mm 
image scanned at a measly 2880dpi.  There have been too many posts 
noting color casts in the R800 to dismiss.

As to color, I printed one 4x6" on my 7660 and it looked good, but 
personally I find the 20 cent prints from the fuji system at 
Walgreens to be cheaper and easier so I don't think I'll be printing 
much color at home.

mark

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "sl91911" 
<SL91911@Y...> wrote:
> I am in market for new printer and want to do mainly BW with some
> color. I would like a one printer solution if possible. 
> The 7660/7960 have been discussed to some extent here. For 8x10 
work,
> is the most current consensus one of these printers or the new 
R800 ?

> Everything I have read thusfar is not conclusive.
> 
> 
>                               Stuart

Hi, Stuart.  I have a 7660 and overall I can't complain.  It's limited
in the kind of papers that can be used.  Since the ink is dye-based
you have to use an encapsulating paper of some kind to get any kind of
longevity fopr the prints.  That pretty much limits you to HP Premium
and Premium Plus Photo in glossy and matter or Ilford Classic Galerie.
     However it's super easy to use and was only $150 US.  The ink is
pricey at $25 each for the gray cartridges, but you never have to deal
with clogs.

Biggest issue with these printers at this point seems to be the dither
pattern.  It looks like extremely fine microbanding, but you have to
either stick your nose in the print or use a loupe to see it.  I
recall reading somewhere that HP intends to fix this issue in the next
driver update, but I cannot confirm that.

Anyway, I'm quite happy with mine.

Rad

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "sl91911"
<SL91911@Y...> wrote:

> I am in market for new printer and want to do mainly BW with some
> color. I would like a one printer solution if possible. 
> The 7660/7960 have been discussed to some extent here. For 8x10 work,
> is the most current consensus one of these printers or the new R800 ?
> Everything I have read thusfar is not conclusive.
> 
> 
>                               Stuart

On 28/2/04 11:24 am, "DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com"
<DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com> wrote:

> Message: 9
>  Date: Sat, 28 Feb 2004 04:24:31 -0000
>  From: "Radimus" <radimus@...>
> Subject: Re: HP 7660/7960

> Biggest issue with these printers at this point seems to be the dither
> pattern.  It looks like extremely fine microbanding, but you have to
> either stick your nose in the print or use a loupe to see it.  I
> recall reading somewhere that HP intends to fix this issue in the next
> driver update, but I cannot confirm that.
> 
> Anyway, I'm quite happy with mine.
> 
> Rad

Can anyone comment if this minor problem is noticeable on prints made both
with the Windows and Mac OSX driver?

Steve Bell

Mark,
    Thanks for the straight talk.
   What paper do you use ?
    What do you estimate your cost per print for an 8x10 to be ?
   Are there any advantages to the 7760 or 7960 ?

               Stuart

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "Mark Hahn"
<markhahn2000@y...> wrote:

> I think that is should be conclusive that the hp is better for b&w 
> work.  The hp tri-tone system is excellent.  I prefer the Epson 
> dither pattern, but I have only found one photo to be a real problem 
> with the hp woven pattern and that was a poorly exposed T400CN 35mm 
> image scanned at a measly 2880dpi.  There have been too many posts 
> noting color casts in the R800 to dismiss.
> 
> As to color, I printed one 4x6" on my 7660 and it looked good, but 
> personally I find the 20 cent prints from the fuji system at 
> Walgreens to be cheaper and easier so I don't think I'll be printing 
> much color at home.
> 
> mark
> 
> --- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "sl91911" 
> <SL91911@Y...> wrote:
> > I am in market for new printer and want to do mainly BW with some
> > color. I would like a one printer solution if possible. 
> > The 7660/7960 have been discussed to some extent here. For 8x10 
> work,
> > is the most current consensus one of these printers or the new 
> R800 ?
> > Everything I have read thusfar is not conclusive.
> > 
> > 
> >                               Stuart

Thanks for the info Rad,
What do you estimate your cost per print, 8x10, with the HP paper ?

                Stuart
   --- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "Radimus"
<radimus@p...> wrote:

> Hi, Stuart.  I have a 7660 and overall I can't complain.  It's limited
> in the kind of papers that can be used.  Since the ink is dye-based
> you have to use an encapsulating paper of some kind to get any kind of
> longevity fopr the prints.  That pretty much limits you to HP Premium
> and Premium Plus Photo in glossy and matter or Ilford Classic Galerie.
>      However it's super easy to use and was only $150 US.  The ink is
> pricey at $25 each for the gray cartridges, but you never have to deal
> with clogs.
> 
> Biggest issue with these printers at this point seems to be the dither
> pattern.  It looks like extremely fine microbanding, but you have to
> either stick your nose in the print or use a loupe to see it.  I
> recall reading somewhere that HP intends to fix this issue in the next
> driver update, but I cannot confirm that.
> 
> Anyway, I'm quite happy with mine.
> 
> Rad
> 
> --- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "sl91911"
> <SL91911@Y...> wrote:
> > I am in market for new printer and want to do mainly BW with some
> > color. I would like a one printer solution if possible. 
> > The 7660/7960 have been discussed to some extent here. For 8x10 work,
> > is the most current consensus one of these printers or the new R800 ?
> > Everything I have read thusfar is not conclusive.
> > 
> > 
> >                               Stuart

Umm, if you are coming from a quadtone and EEM it's a lot, between 
$1.50-3.00, but it is nearly fool-proof and so far it is so close to 
my screen that I have only had to print one to get the "perfect 
print."  With my MIS VM setup it seemed that I would always end up 
printing 3-5 prints before getting it right.  I'm using the HP 
Premium Plus Glossy.  Not trying to save any money here (except that 
#59 carts at Target are only $23.99).  The resuls are excellent and 
so far everyone I have shown them to has been blown away.

There is no benifit to buying the 7760 IMO except for more buttons 
and a monochrome display.  I'm never going to print straight from a 
card, and if I did, I would do it at Walgreens because it would be 
faster and cheaper.

No one has posted anything, but from my reading of the specs it 
sounds like the 7960 would actually allow for toned prints, but no 
one, including hp, will come right out and say so.  I'm happy enough 
with my 7660 so I'm done testing them, but if you take a memory card 
with a toned b&w image on it you should be able to make a print in 
the store... someone should try it out.

mark

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "sl91911" 
<SL91911@Y...> wrote:
> Mark,
>     Thanks for the straight talk.
>    What paper do you use ?
>     What do you estimate your cost per print for an 8x10 to be ?
>    Are there any advantages to the 7760 or 7960 ?
> 
>                Stuart
...

I posted a message to the list to that effect a little while back. 
This was just based on HP's numbers for prints per cartridge.  Run a
search and you should be able to find it.  As to my exact cost, I
don't really know.

Rad

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "sl91911"
<SL91911@Y...> wrote:
> Thanks for the info Rad,
> What do you estimate your cost per print, 8x10, with the HP paper ?
> 
>                 Stuart
>    --- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "Radimus"
> <radimus@p...> wrote:
> > Hi, Stuart.  I have a 7660 and overall I can't complain.  It's limited
> > in the kind of papers that can be used.  Since the ink is dye-based
> > you have to use an encapsulating paper of some kind to get any kind of
> > longevity fopr the prints.  That pretty much limits you to HP Premium
> > and Premium Plus Photo in glossy and matter or Ilford Classic Galerie.
> >      However it's super easy to use and was only $150 US.  The ink is
> > pricey at $25 each for the gray cartridges, but you never have to deal
> > with clogs.
> > 
> > Biggest issue with these printers at this point seems to be the dither
> > pattern.  It looks like extremely fine microbanding, but you have to
> > either stick your nose in the print or use a loupe to see it.  I
> > recall reading somewhere that HP intends to fix this issue in the next
> > driver update, but I cannot confirm that.
> > 
> > Anyway, I'm quite happy with mine.
> > 
> > Rad
> > 
> > --- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "sl91911"
> > <SL91911@Y...> wrote:
> > > I am in market for new printer and want to do mainly BW with some
> > > color. I would like a one printer solution if possible. 
> > > The 7660/7960 have been discussed to some extent here. For 8x10
work,
> > > is the most current consensus one of these printers or the new
R800 ?

> > > Everything I have read thusfar is not conclusive.
> > > 
> > > 
> > >                               Stuart