( 12 reviews )
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Posted: Apr 30 2009
I use the DesignJet 130nr with my older desktop G4 Powermac as well as my newer MacBook Pro. I've had the printer for about 2 years now, and bought it used from a popular on-line auction site. (It was terribly packaged, attached to a wooden skid with no protection! But it survived without any problem, very much to my surprise. Must be a tough little printer!) Some/many people seem to have trouble feeding cut sheets of paper through this printer, so I decided to go with the 130nr model which includes the automated roll feeder on the back, which I VERY HIGHLY RECOMMEND! Roll paper is much, much cheaper than using cut sheets. If you buy the roll feed seperately, it runs about $600 from HP. It's worth it. Extra spindles to hold rolls are about $50-60. I have used Epson printers in the past, but wanted to try something different because the Epsons clogged without constant use, and I wasted lots of ink with all of the cleaning cycles I had to do. But the print quality was very good. Anyway, this HP seems to really ration ink! I've been amazed at the large prints of my artwork and photos that I've been able to make and use so little ink! It's amazing. The inks aren't cheap, but they last so long that I'm not tempted to use third-party inks; I'll stick with HP inks. Another huge plus is the software drivers included with the printer. I almost bought a RIP, but the quality of prints using the free drivers is so good that it isn't necessary (for me, anyway). Even making a 24" print of an image taken with my older 4MP camera came out incredible, which you wouldn't expect from only 4 megapixals. I was actually stunned by the quality, the way the software upscaled my photos without visible artifact. That alone is worth a good bit of money. The printer itself has been very reliable (and sturdy, as noted earlier). The print quality is as good as it gets (use good quality paper, of course). BTW, whoever said that HP stopped making paper for this printer is wrong; I've ordered many rolls of paper from them, and they are very good quality, and reasonably priced. Very happy with the printer and HP paper. This isn't the fastest printer, but at this price who cares? The faster ones cost several times more, so if you're not in a high-volume shop this printer is fine speed-wise. As a graphic artist, and amateur photographer (for 3 decades), I can't recommend this printer highly enough. I'd also recommend using a Macintosh... :)
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Posted: Aug 5 2008
i am always hesitant to tell people not to buy. I have bought some junk over the years ans shrugged it off, but this is just the worst! The paper doesnt load AT ALL from anywhere. Sure, after about ten attempts and five chewed pieces of paper later it will print but even at that it sometimes only half prints. Now some people who have bought this item find this situation laughable, and I aks them, why has more than one person, infact, why has a bunch of people had same issues? Indeed, it is a recognised universal problem with the designjet130. basically for the price they suck. Second - even when you do get a so called awesome print, it leaves track marks and here is why. Some nutcase decided to design this printer with JAGGED EDGED METAL ROLLERS!!!!!! I mean wtf????? Especially on large pics, when using lots of black or dark backgrounds, the track marks just shine through and as for glossy photos - just forget it. ALSOOOOO - when using front loading, more often than not a horrble wheel mark from the rubber rollers are present from its harsh loading system. It basically pummels light paper and chews heavyweight paper. And by the way, thats even when you select the desired kind of paper before printing. Seriously, i have no doubts some people have no problems, but I am highlighting this because enough people have had similar issues as i have to give this information some credibility. HP needs to have a look at this printer and make some adjustments - this is just terrible, i have had to close my online shop which i have lost out on because of this printer. I will not be using hp again - thats for sure! DO NOT BUY (and by the way, i got my printer from amazon!)
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Posted: Jul 28 2008
I can tell from some of the reviews that some people are attempting to load manually from the back...If you don't have the automatic roll feeder you're MUCH better off loading all paper from the FRONT...With this printer and my old HP 100 wide format I probably have around 5% that kickback...Maybe half of those are non square edges and the rest user error while feeding...Someone stated they tried 8 times with no luck is outright laughable.. Also consider buying a CIS (continuous ink supply) to majorly decrease the ink cost... So far the auto color match profiling works great and it's value can't be over emphasized...Especially is one uses multiple papers or canvas... For the money there isn't a better 24" wide format printer out there...No doubt there is a slight learning curve and reading the manual completely is a must...It's obvious from some of the reviews that a few haven't read it... I owned a HP 100 wide format before this one...The extra 2 colors and the auto color match profiling make the HP 130 a no brainer over the HP 100, 110 and/or HP 120...Not too mention the increase available resolution of 2400x1200... Bottom line if you do a considerable amount of large prints and don't mind spending a little time to learn this printer, you'll be more than pleasantly surprised... kd
