HP Designjet 130GP

[Martin Miksch]

Mylords, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am to buy a printer, untill now I was focussed on Epsons, but now I found that HP has a very good offer with the Designjet130GP, but I didnt find any serious review. So please report your own experiences or show me a link to a review. Especially I am interested in the print quality, but also in the costs of the inks, I just found that tiny 69ml packages, compared to Epsons 220ml, and as the 130GP has some built in color calibration hardware, does this only work with a RIP?

Happy new year to all,
Martin

[Ted Harris]

Mark, the 130 is a very good printer and has been happily used for years by a small minority of printers. Among the reasons it has never enjoyed the popularity of the Epsons is that it uses dye based s opposed to pigment based inks. The dye inks are believed to be far less archival than pigment based inks.

Today, to me it seems to be behind the times and that there are other excellent choices in the same price range or less ... all pigment based printers. From HP the B9180 and from Canon the IPF9500, both for far less money. In the same price range (when you find rebates) and far more capable are the Canon IPF 5100 and the Epson 3800 and 4880. I strongly prefer the Canon 5100 because of its 12 ink system and no need to switch black inks.

The built in calibration is also available on the 9180 and the 5100. It works without RIP using the supplied software. You'll find a full review of the 9180 in View Camera ... I forget the date but early this year. A review of the 5100/100 will be in the January issue.

[Ed Richards]

I have a 130 sitting on my work bench, unused for the past 4 months. Driven with a RIP, it produces beautiful black and white and color prints on HP media, at much lower cost than Epsons - those ink carts may be small, but they go a long way. 18x24 prints knocked peoples eyes out.

The problem is the dye inks, or, more precisely, the perception that you are not a serious artist with dye ink. I got the message loud and clear from several reliable folks, both photographers and others, that I had to move to a pigment printer if I wanted to be taken seriously. So I bought an Epson 3800. Does not make as large a print, but with Harman Gloss it makes a print as nice as the HP, but at more than 2x the cost per print. It will last a long time, however, and I admit that dye ink does fade, esp. if your print is hung in less than desirable circumstances.

So, I have the printer and several boxes and rolls of media, and am not sure what to do with them. You are not close to Baton Rouge are you? I could make you a great deal.:-)

[IanMazursky]

I had the 130NR for 2-3 months. It was a horrible printer.
HP replaced the whole unit 4 times and the feed assembly 3 times.
IDK if they fixed the scratching and creasing issues.

The ink went fast but with the rip, i was able to get perfect prints. Especially for SWOP certified proofing. I was able to make my investment back in the 2 months then i sold it back to my vendor who offloaded it on someone else. I assume.

I would purchase an HP Z3100 24". I have the 44". Its a much better printer.
If you are going to get the 130, I think i still have the rip somewhere.

[Martin Miksch]

Thanks for this answers full of knowledge,
I am an european resident, so it will be difficult to deal with Ed.
Its nice here in good old Europe, but the prices for hardware are a shame, I just looked, a 130GP is priced in USA about 2000.- USD, here 3500.- USD. The Z3100 24" is here 7300.- USD, this is outside of my budget in the moment.

What I dont know about that fading issue, it comes from UV light, is it possible to laminate something to get protection?

Thanks and Kind Regards and a New Year full of creativity and fine light to all of you.

Martin

Edit: Ian, I sent you a PM ref .the RIP

[Ed Richards]

Seems that the Euro appreciation should be working for you. How much of the difference is VAT?

[Martin Miksch]

VAT is 20%, the only cheap things here around are cell phones.

A dude of my has a print shop with some large plotters, he told me he thinks that the HP printers work with pigment ink also, there are no problems with the heads. Have you ever heard about that?

Regards

Martin

Tomorrow I open my little photoshop with a little studio.^^

[Ted Harris]

Check HP's website but I don't believe that is correct. Again, take a look at the Canon's and the HP B9180. If the 130 is going to cost you 2000 you should see if you can find a Canon 5000 (or even an 8000) as thye have been recently discontinued with attractive markdowns. Still great printers.

[Martin Miksch]

In Europe there are no markdowns and rebates or very selden and the 130GP is here 3500 USD.^^

Regards
Martin

I have just looked at your website, you are the Master of handheld in the streets.

[Gordon Moat]

I was sharing one for a little while, and very impressed by the print quality . . . and generally I despise and look down upon all inkjet prints. Since my share was paper and ink supplies, I can state that per print cost is quite reasonable. Mostly I was using it for proofing larger commercial jobs, though I did a few short run posters for musicians on it. There is a mis-conception (dis-information?) that you must use HP papers; this is simply not true, though there are some good HP papers available. I would recommend individual sheets over rolls, though if you buy a roll you can cut sheets to any length you want; I was not impressed by the roll feed set-up.

My personal opinion is that unless you are placing a print or fade guarantee on your images, then making claims of archival is purely marketing (might catch some flack for that statement). If you (rhetorical) are selling fine art images, then why are they not chemically producing prints (to lower your cost?) . . . . . . Anyway, that is a separate issue. Prints can be face mounted to Diasec or similar (Lucite?), or sandwiched in other clear substrates, so you have options with how to mount prints.

Just on operating costs, you could nearly have two of these running for less than the cost of a similar width Epson. I would suggest getting the HP service agreement, if you are using this to run a business. The faster turn-around, in the event you need service, is worth the extra expense, even though it appears that the 130 DesignJet series has been very reliable compared to many printers on the market.

I would skip on the HP RIP, if they even still offer than in the EU. The EFI Designer RIP is a nice alternative, and I found it easy to operate.

You can read a comparison at the Spencer Labs website. They tested one of these against a few contemporaries when the 130 series came out. The DesignJet 90 is very similar, with a few carriage/construction improvements, and a slightly smaller width capability; you might consider looking into that series too.

Ciao!

Gordon Moat Photography