[Discuss] color laser printer: HP X-series office ink jet printers

[tmetro+blu at gmail.com (Tom Metro)]

For the sake of completeness, I want to add mention of the HP X-series
office ink jet printers to this thread, seeing as no one bought them up.

The innovation they bring to the table is a print head that is a full
page width (almost, 8.17"), so it can achieve speeds comparable to laser
printers. They claim 55 pages-per-minute black and white, and 35 ppm
color. (Top-end model hits 70 ppm in draft mode.)

An overview video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kZl-Uqz93E

Product page at Micro Center:
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.aspx?sku=919126

where I took a look at one. I didn't see it running, but the
construction seemed to use a lot of thin plastic. As with many office
printers, it's big. Probably close to 3' wide and 2' high. And this
wasn't even the multi-function model, which is even taller.

This particular model in the family is $350 ($266 at Amazon), supports
duplexing, holds a full ream of paper, wired Ethernet (no wireless, but
other models have it), but doesn't include a scanner ($350 @ Amazon for
multifunction model).

Amazon reviews:
http://www.amazon.com/HP-Pro-X451dn-Color-Printer/dp/B00AAHMESY/

point out that although it is an ink jet, don't expect photo-quality
prints. It's more comparable to a color laser, which it is the market it
aims to compete with.

HP claims that this printer family can achieve half the page cost
compared to a color laser. Based on that, I figured the ink cartridges -
which are about 8" long - would be fairly inexpensive. But pricing shows
a full set:
 http://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&field-keywords=OfficeJet%20Pro%20X451dn&index=blended&link_code=qs&sourceid=Mozilla-search&tag=wwwcanoniccom-20

runs $450 for HP OEM cartridges (~$110 each), and still $250 for
remanufactured cartridges.

The new printer apparently comes only with "starter" tanks, so plan to
buy a set of ink tanks not long after you buy the printer.

For my light printing use, a set of ink tanks would need to last like 3+
years to be cost effective, and then I'd be concerned with the tanks
drying out or something. (Reportedly the printer's firmware makes you
change the tanks after they've reached a certain age.) So not a good fit
for my use.

 -Tom

-- 
Tom Metro
The Perl Shop, Newton, MA, USA
"Predictable On-demand Perl Consulting."
http://www.theperlshop.com/