11x17 Printer ~ Epson 1400?

11x17 Printer ~ HP OfficeJet 7000

Anyone have any experience with the Epson 1400 printer?

http://www.vistek.ca/store/ProPhotoEpson/230191/epson-stylus-photo-1400-printer.aspx

I need an 11x17 (+) printer for printing the occasional CAD drawing. Previous large format inkjet was an HP 1220C which did me well for 7~8 years but no longer works.

Don't really care about photo printing, but the ability to print on CDs/DVDs could be useful.

I have an HP 1320n (B&W duplex laser) so I'm not worried about text or volume.

Since this will be occasional use, and mostly B&W at that, my concerns revolve around the ink:
- The possibility of ink drying up and clogging the printhead.
- The ability to print even if the printer thinks that one ink cartridge is dry (empty).

It's on sale for another few days ($370 - $120 = CAD$250) so I have time to think about it.

I'd go used but there isn't much on Kijiji that cheap around here anyway. $150 used printer + $100 in new ink cartridges = $250 so I might as well buy a new printer.

Or any other suggestions for a 11x17 printer?

i have this one that i bought recently for architecture school.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16828115506&cm_re=hp_7000-_-28-115-506-_-Product

haven't used it much but the little i used it was really good

Thanks, I missed that one. HP Canada hid it in the office section of their website, not the large-format section.

Decisions, decisions...

Built in print server vs photo and CD/DVD printing... Both could be handy. But the HP is probably cheaper to run.

Defiantly. Plus it's next to impossible to refill Epson ink cart without the futz of chip resetter and not clogging nozzles. HP is a little more friendlier with ink refills.

I still prefer to print to CD label and slap em. Cheaper to throw out and replace the label if it gets misprinted than printable CD/DVD

OK, HP it is.

Here's a review for anyone else in the same boat: http://wirthconsulting.org/Documents/HO_WYSK_HP_Officejet_7000_Full.pdf

It arrived today.

Here's a mini-review in case anyone else finds themselves in the same situation.

It arrived safe so I would rate the packaging as excellent.





In the box you will find:
- the printer
- a power brick + cord (why couldn't HP find room inside the gigantic printer housing for the power supply?)
- a print-head
- four regular size ink cartridges (black, cyan, yellow, magenta)
- a "Quick Setup" guide
- a CD (or possibly a DVD - I didn't open it)

On the front/top of the printer you will find four ink cartridge lights, as well as four buttons:
- Ethernet (prints out the Ethernet configuration page)
- Cancel (immediately cancels the print job)
- Continue (after paper out error, etc)
- Power





On the back you'll find the power plug, as well as the USB and Ethernet ports. The back panel is removable for clearing paper jams.



When you turn on the power and open the front cover the carriage moves to the middle so you can install the print-head and ink cartridges. There are two sizes of ink cartridges available - "regular" and "XL". Since the majority of my printing will be B&W I will probably buy XL size black, and regular sized colour (so the colour doesn't dry out from sitting around).



Here we are loaded up with 11x17 paper, sitting next to my 1320n.

Next I connected an Ethernet cable and printed out the Ethernet configuration page (by pressing the Ethernet button) and then pointed my web browser to the IP given out by my router (DHCP server). I immediately changed it to a static IP, and gave it a host name that I would remember: 7000n.

I can now access the printer configuration by typing in "7000n" into my web browser.

Under the "Information" tab you can find information about the printer and it's supplies.





Under the "Settings" tab you can set admin passwords, change the language, and perform printer maintenance (alignment, print-head cleaning, etc).



Under the "Networking" tab you can set up the host name, ip, etc.

And last of all I set up the driver.

Drivers are available for:
» Microsoft Windows 7 (64-bit)
» Microsoft Windows 7 (32-bit)
» Microsoft Windows Server 2008 W32
» Microsoft Windows Server 2008 x64
» Microsoft Windows Vista
» Microsoft Windows Vista (64-bit)» Microsoft Windows XP
» Microsoft Windows Server 2003
» Microsoft Windows Server 2003 64-Bit Edition
» Microsoft Windows 2000
» Mac OS X
» Linux

For Windows three driver versions are offered: Enterprise (11MB), Basic (49MB), and Full (115MB) depending on how much bloatware you want. I downloaded the Enterprise driver, and used WinRAR to extract its contents.

I used the Windows "Add Printer" function to add the printer. Local, Standard TCP/IP port, and "7000n" (what I entered as host name) when prompted for the printer name/IP. When asked for the driver I picked "Have Disk" and pointed it to the folder where I extracted the driver contents.

This gave me three printer properties tabs:







One thing I was sure to set as a default was "Show preview before printing" on the "Features" tab. Since shows a preview of what the driver is sending to the printer so you can cancel it if it is not what you are expecting (and save paper & ink).

I have not used it enough to judge speed yet, but it seems plenty fast to me.

Like most inkjets it likes to clunk around a bit before and after printing something.

Noise is average for an inkjet. I've heard louder and I've heard quieter.

HP claims it is cheap to run (ink wise) but it'll take a while (I hope) before I can comment on that.

As expected text is nowhere near as crisp as the 1200dpi LaserJet sitting beside it, but it is perfectly acceptable for an inkjet.

Both of the following were printed on generic plain (recycled) paper at the best available quality for the particular printer:

- OfficeJet 7000 Windows XP printer test page (crop):



- LaserJet 1320 Windows XP printer test page (crop):



I'll dig up a piece of permium photo paper another day and try a photo, but other reviews have already covered this: If you want a photo printer buy a six+ ink printer such as the Epson 1400.