HP Officejet 7000 Wide Format Printer (First Look Review)

Low-cost, B-size inkjet printer is an excellent choice for small CAD, engineering, and DCC offices.

In conjunction with National Small Business Week, which kicked off yesterday, HP announced several new products that support the needs of small businesses while saving as much as 40% on operating costs. Among the new products is the HP Officejet 7000 Wide Format Printer -- the company's first entry-level, wide-format printer with individual ink cartridges.

The HP Officejet 7000 is a B-size printer that produces professional color documents and photo-quality borderless prints as large as 13" x 19". It offers the lowest cost per page among in-class inkjet printers, with 40% lower cost per page and energy use than competitive laser printers.

This printer is ideally suited for small CAD or engineering offices that don't need larger size prints/plots or find that they need smaller, high-quality output often. The Officejet 7000 doesn't take up much room, measuring only 22.6" x 15.8" x 7.13" (W x D x H), and it weighs a mere 15.4 lbs. The HP Officejet 7000 is easy to use, making it ideal for offices that don’t have an IT professional on staff.

The HP Officejet 7000 Wide Format Printer measures only 22.6" x 15.8" x 7.13" (W x D x H) and weighs a mere 15.4 lbs.

I tested the HP Officejet 7000 Wide Format Printer with a variety of files and applications, under Microsoft Windows Vista x64 and Windows XP Professional x32, both with all current service packs and updates. Among the applications tested were AutoCAD 2009, Microsoft Office 2007 applications (Excel and Word), and Adobe Photoshop CS4 Extended. All tests produced excellent output in a relatively short time. Vector output produced clean, crisp lines; text was clean and easy to read, even at small point sizes; and the bitmapped images, including digital photographs, were quite good.

The first page out times can be as fast as 20 seconds (black only) or 21 seconds (color). The print resolution for black only is as high as 600 rendered dpi when printing from a computer and for color output is as high as 4,800 x 1,200 optimized dpi when printing from a computer on selected HP photo papers with 1,200 input dpi. Laser-comparable printer speeds are as fast as 8 ppm for black-only output and 7 ppm for color output. The monthly duty cycle is a remarkable 7,000 pages per month, well beyond the norm for an inkjet printer. The processor unit on the printer operates at a speedy 384 MHz, and the printer comes with 32 MB of factory-installed printer RAM.

The Officejet 7000 has a 150-sheet input tray and a 100-sheet output bin. Print sizes from 3" x 5" to 13" x 44" are supported, with plain paper weights from 20 to 24 lbs and B-sheet weights as much as 286 g/m. Supported media types are brochure, inkjet, plain, photo, envelope, card (index), and transparency.

The printing system features one specially designed high-performance print head and four individual ink cartridges for the black and color inks. The HP print head is designed to deliver consistent, high-quality output throughout the life of the device without user intervention. This print head and cartridge system is a substantial improvement over previous low-end Officejet printers, both in operation cost and maintenance -- no more pricey, individual print heads for each color. Two sizes of ink cartridges are available for the HP Officejet 7000, and they are easy to replace. When it is necessary to change an individual ink cartridge, graphical labels on both the printer and the cartridges ensure easy installation.

The Officejet 7000 requires a power input of 100 V AC to 240 V AC at 50/60 Hz. In operation, the HP Officejet 7000 uses a maximum of 48 W in best mode, 14-19 W in normal mode, 32 W in fast-draft mode, 2.4 W in power-save mode, 2.7 W in standby mode, and 0.34 W (230 V) or 0.32 W (115 V) when off.

The HP Officejet 7000 wide-format printer offers some excellent new features inside and out.

Connectivity options for the HP Officejet 7000 printer include one high-speed USB 2.0 connector and one built-in Ethernet wired port. Printer languages are PCL 3 GUI. Wireless printing is possible with the optional HP Wireless Printing upgrade kit.

The minimum system requirements for the HP Officejet 7000 Wide Format Printer are a computer with at least an Intel Pentium II or Celeron processor with 128 MB of RAM, 160 MB of free hard disk space and running under Windows 2000 (Service Pack 4) and Internet Explorer 6.0 or later. Operating system support also includes Windows XP with Service Pack 1 (32-bit) running on a system with an Intel Pentium II or Celeron processor with 512 MB of RAM, 225 MB of free hard disk space, and Internet Explorer 6.0 or later. Windows Vista is supported with at least an 800-MHz, 32-bit (x32) or 64-bit (x64) processor in the system, 512 MB of RAM, 902 MB of free hard disk space, and Internet Explorer 7.0.

The minimum requirements on the Macintosh platform include Mac OS X v10.4.11, Mac OS X v10.5.6 or Mac OS X v10.6 with a PowerPC G4, G5, or Intel Core processor, along with 256 MB of RAM and 500 GB of free hard disk space. These are the minimum system requirements; better performance will result with faster processors and more RAM.

In the box, you'll find the printer, four individual ink cartridges, the HP print head, power adapter, power cords, a CD containing the printer software, a USB cable, Ethernet cable, and a set-up poster. Software included on the CD, in addition to the printer drivers, include HP Solution Center, HP Photosmart Essential, HP Smart Web Printing, HP Update, and HP Product Assistant. The software and drivers are very well considered and easy to use. The printer drivers offer the provision to determine the amount of ink remaining in the ink cartridges and give you the ability to order supplies -- both ink and paper -- online. The HP Officejet 7000's built-in web server allows network access to printer information such as ink levels and has its own discrete MAC address.

As noted previously, the HP Officejet 7000 Wide Format Printer is expected to be available at a street price of $229 -- quite a good deal compared with the $500 price tag of a previous model. Ink cartridges also are less expensive, starting at $9.99 each (see full pricing information on HP.com); they are recyclable; and they are available in high-capacity versions that print more pages with fewer cartridge replacements. To top it off, you won’t have to replace pricey print heads periodically, as was the case with previous models, because the HP Officejet 7000 has a print head that’s designed to last the life of the printer.

The HP Officejet 7000 Wide Format Printer is covered by a one-year limited hardware warranty, which includes 24/7 Internet support and business-hours phone support within the warranty period.

This is an exceptionally good printer for the price, especially when you consider its versatility and economical operation for small businesses. There's much here to like. This model will fulfill the needs for many CAD, engineering, and digital-content creation (DCC) offices for a very broad range of output needs. It offers improved operation -- such as a paper path that is similar to that of HP laser printers, to reduce paper jams -- while offering greater speed and lower operating costs. The printer is expected to begin delivery in July 2009 -- and I want one for my office! Highly Recommended