I have no experience with HP printers but after many years using my Epson Pro Stylus 4000 (very light usage) and getting clogs because of my infrequent usage, I'm thinking of switching to HP. My question is due to my infrequent use, will the HP clog easily? Do I have to regularly run a print or 2 to keep it clog-free? What about cost of ink compared to Epson? Is the HP Z3200 ink archival? Are there any persistent weakness or problem that one should expect with HP?

Thanks for any input.

Henry

The HP machines spit a tiny bit of ink periodically to prevent clogs. I've had a 3100 for several years with no clogs. The HP is exceptionally frugal with ink----less ink usage than my Epson 4880. Ink costs are comparable between Epson and HP. HP Vivera inks are Wilhelm rated to 200 years, I believe (longer than Epson or Canon, if I recall correctly, though all three brands are rated to last a long time with no significant fading). The HP is not built as heavily as the Epson 9900, and the Epson has a more convenient roll loading system.

I've been delighted with my z3100---and I'll be getting a 3200 in the near future.

Good luck with your printer!

David V. Ward, Ph. D.
www.dvward.com
David V. Ward Fine Art Photography

Also a *very* happy owner of a z3100. no clogs, excellent prints. It's also produced excellent digital negatives for me. In the past i've owned an Epson 3000, Epson 9000, Epson 9500, Epson 2400, Epson 4800, Epson 7600. I'm not an HP convert. I've also left my HP sitting with no use for extended periods of time.. never clogs

I switched from Epson(4800,7800 and 3800) to HP Z3100 then to the HP Z3200 44". The HP has never clogged, even after 3 months of no use. The HP uses far less ink than the epson and there is no switching matte and photo black ink. I would only go to epson if i needed to print wider.

I've gone 6 months without printing anything from my z3100 at times, and I didn't have to do anything regarding checking the print heads for clogs etc. Just leaving it on and it will sleep and wake up to periodically examine the nozzles and make sure they don't get clogged. Even though there hasn't been any clogging issues, remember that the HP heads are user replaceable and inexpensive relatively speaking, so if anything does happen, it shouldn't be a big deal.

I had gone through a bunch of lower grade Epsons and had no end to clogging issues but I'm very pleased with my z3100. The HPs tend to be a lot less common so softweare issues and quirks seem to be less sorted than Epson printers. I haven't had anything worth commenting on but sometimes it was a bear to figure it out since the documentation and community are a lot smaller than the incumbent Epson in this space.

Looks like everyone has very good experiences with Z3100.

Is the Z3100 much cheaper than the Z3200? What about features- anything significant in the newer model?

Thanks.

The 3200 has a new ink set with a reputedly larger gamut (a new red ink). It also has new-design rollers that are easier on the more delicate papers. There may be other differences from the older model, but that's all I'm aware of.

I'd recommend the 3200. I have the PS model which offers some further benefits: job nesting, Postscript driver if you ever need one, eliminates spooling for reprinted jobs etc. I print on a semi-regular basis, leaving the machine on to do its nozzle-check thing in the meantime, and I've never had a single clog. One thing to remember is the printer is quite noisy even in sleep mode (fan noise), so you'd want it kept away somewhere unless you like that kind of thing!

One last point: I had a problem with the motherboard, which needed replacing due to a faulty component. HP customer service were and are amazing: regular unsolicited call-backs to check that everything's working all right, etc. Nothing was too much trouble. Of course, YMMV!

Our Z3100 still works fine. Good info can be found here: http://z3100users.wikispaces.com/

HP tech paper about "printing saturated red colors": http://z3100users.wikispaces.com/file/view...s_on_Z31001.pdf
Other tech papers are at: http://z3100users.wikispaces.com/HP+Tech+Newsletters

I upgraded from a Epson 4000 to the HP Z3200ps some 6 months ago. I am an amature photographer and I do not print all that frequently.

When switched on the fan of the printer is constantly on. Not noisy, but you definitely hear it. I find it anoying so I turn the printer off when I don't use it. Since this also turns of the automatic printhead check, I turn on the printer every week or so to let it do it's printhead maintainance and then turn it off again. This works fine for me.

Once I had to wait 2 weeks because a circut board died and I had to wait for a replacement. I ran a printhead check after installing the new board and found that some of the print head nozels were cloged. I only had the printer a week before the incident so I was a bit concerned that once started it might get worse since I regularly turn the printer off and consulted my dealer. I was advised to keep the printer on. Furthermore they offered to replace the print head. However, they also said that the inc is water solutable(?) and that I therefor could try remove the print head and carefully put it on a small shallow tray with a little plain water for a while and wipe off and dry thorughly. That took care it - 20 min later all nozels working - simple as that! I certainly do not know if this is always advisable, but it may be worth a try before buying new printheads even though they are rather inexpensive. I now stick to the once a week powerup and have no problems. I believe your local climate will determine how often you need to turn the printer on.

The prints are wounderfull!

Thanks Gurglamei.

Yours seem to be the 2nd case of the board breaking down that I have read. I wonder if HP boards are not as robustly designed.
Otherwise, I think your feedback is great. Grateful for sharing.

I understood from my dealer that there was a known issue with som boards, and getting a replacment was very quick and easy. I don't think there is any need to worry. I have had no trouble after my replacment board arrieved.

I worked with the 3100 a lot. Both the PS and photo versions.

I had no mechanical problems at all.

I have a 3200 24" photo now.

I have had ongoing mechanical problems. Last week they found the paper path sensor to not be seated correctly in the plastic holder. It seems to be working on all media now.

The build quality is not stellar. While some parts are for high MTBF ratings , others are cheaply and poorly made.

Image quality is sometimes above Epson, sometimes on par , sometimes lesser. Globally the Epson will be slightly higher.
The new reds solve all red problems for matte paper and make better skin tones than previously. Personally I would only consider the 3200 for that reason.
The other advantage of the 3200 is all the mechanical parts were updated to correct for some minor problems on some 3100s.

So the 4880 or other Epson will be a high quality build, easy to load, and has aspirated platen to hold paper flat without rollers. This also lets users adjust platen height, and run very thick media. Epson dark saturation is and always has been better than both Canon and HP.

The HP Z series rarely have a noticeable clog, and when or if they do it's easily rectified, and inexpensive to do cleanings. Running costs on the Z are very reasonable. By having a separate matte black head, switching papers is a big bonus as it is fast and doesn't cost anything. I have had very prompt courteous tech support in France.

Oh yes the Z series have inks that are actually at the top of their type in permanence and stability. There is a gloss differential with the light grey ink but is suppressed with Gloss Optimiser and is not that apparent on most papers.

So if moving from Epson to HP, just make sure your gains are more than your losses.

With all the recent stumbling on the Mac platform with CS4 and Snow LEopard with printing no color management charts for profiling, you can see the advantage of the built in spectro which leaves you independent of the system or app level pains between upgrades.....

Thanks all.

Neil, I was quoted separately for the stand. I'm guessing the vendor is trying to pull a fast one. Is the stand optional?

Stands are always included with all Z models.


There is a third party supplier in Germany that makes a take up spool but nothing to do with the supplied stand.

Thanks again Neil.

Correct but for the record: this doesn't imply the black Dmax is less, the Z models are very good on that aspect.

The Z3200 dark colors improved a bit compared to the Z3100 not only by the new (heavier) Red ink but also by an adjustment of the black generation and/or gamma. That at least is what I see. But like Neil writes it can't match the dark gamut of Epson CMY mixing though. The ink limitation choices of 80-120% for custom media presets can help somewhat.


met vriendelijke groeten, Ernst Dinkla

Try: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Wide_Inkjet_Printers/