HP Desk Jet 990Cxi is designed for those who need high quality color documents, see productivity as the key, prefer practical solutions, and use groundbreaking technology in their... more
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A review by pumfster on HP Deskjet 990cxi June 8th, 2007
Author's product rating:
Picture quality
Good
Printing speed
Fast
Colour sensitivity
Good
Ease of use
Very easy
Value For Money
Excellent
Advantages:
Good quality DeskJet, Small, Quiet, Reasonalby fast
Disadvantages:
Pricey replacement cartidges . Cannot compare to a laser printer
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
I haven't had the need to use a printer at home much over the past few months, however recently the need has arisen much more often, and so I now have a greater appreciation of my printer.
I have always been a fan of Hewlett Packard, from their range of computers, which we have at work, right through to their printers, therefore when I bought a printer a while back, I reached for the trusty DeskJet 990CXi, which I had seen good reviews about in some of the popular PC hardware magazines.
The printer itself is very small and compact which is ideal for my computer desk. It is relatively stylish without being too noticeable if you see what I mean!!! It can be run either from a parallel port or a USB port, with the cables included in the box for both of these, which is a definite advantage. It can also be used over a network if you have one. It is also very quiet when in action, and you hardly notice it at all when it is doing its thing.
Installation is very straightforward; in fact Windows will probably auto detect the printer and have the relevant driver stored. If not just insert the CD-ROM that the printer comes with, and follow the instructions in the installation guide if you have any problems.
The printer is only designed to print on A4 paper, and the paper tray holds an impressive 150 sheets, however I have found out that the output tray is only deigned to hold a maximum of around 50, which can cause sheets to be pushed out of sequence, or worse, a horrible paper jam which is always annoying at best. It has just three buttons on the front meaning that it is very easy to use, and has a built in sequence for cleaning the printer heads, which takes the hassle out of that job as well. One of the key positives is the double sided print capability, which is especially useful when printing out large documents for work or from the internet, and I suppose you could say in this age of global warming, that you are doing your bit to save the planet by using this option whenever possible :)
The printer uses 2 print cartridges. A black one, and a tri-colour one, which in my opinion is not ideal, as if you use a lot of red for example, this runs out quicker, but you have to replace the whole cartridge in this instance. However on the plus point it is cheaper in the short term as only two cartridges are required, and are both provided with the printer. On the down side, new printer cartridges for HP printers are very expensive, costing upwards of £20 each in some places. However, cheaper refilled alternatives are available and some places nowadays refill your old cartridges for you if you take them in, so this is worth bearing in mind when you come to change them.
A word of warning here for people, I have found that the low ink indicator can be slightly misleading at times. If you think the cartridge cannot be empty, then try cleaning the head first up. I have found that the cartridges can be dragged out for a fair few more prints after I have had the warning, and I have heard similar things about Hewlett Packard printers from a number of different sources now as well.
The print quality can be varied with this printer, however most people will find the default settings adequate for most types of document. However, a high quality option is available and I would recommend using this only for very detailed prints such as photos from a digital camera etc. It uses a lot of ink, and really slows down what is to be fair a pretty impressive print rate at default quality settings.
One final point to raise here is that Hewlett Packard have quite a good reputation when it comes to customer help lines, unlike some other big brands. However I have never had a problem with my printer so I can only go on word of mouth from others on this issue.
To sum up, I would recommend this printer to anyone at home requiring a printer for personal everyday use. If you require something quicker for a larger workplace or office, then I don't think the 990CXi could compare favourably to a laser printer, but for the average user, the savings made compared to a laser printer make this a good quality, cost effective purchase.
Advantages: It shapes up as a fairly good workhorse & an excellent every day printer Disadvantages: Where`s my whip - faster, faster (its not slow, but we all want our printers faster, don`t we?)
...print.
Warnings given by HP and other service companies, about non-authentic ink cartridges voiding the warranty are entirely unreasonable. If the cartridges don’t work, simply swap them out. The print head mechanism is in the cartridge itself, so if that fails it is a fairly independent matter. This isn’t true of all printers, though; so don’t take it as read.
If you have a Palm Pilot, Windows CE Jordana or HP PhotoSmart digital camera, you can ... ...me this is of limited value, but I can imagine it being quite useful in some circumstances.
Hewlett Packard’s support for the printer is excellent, and if you have the Adobe Acrobat PDF reader, you will find all the manuals on-line here: http://www.hp.com/cposupport/manindex/hpdeskjet921701engman.html including international versions and supplementary documentation. This is also the location for finding up-to-date, and Windows XP, drivers.
The ...
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...Featuring a special optical sensor, HP claims that this printer saves money in printing costs in the long run as it able to detect paper quality and adjust print quality automatically to match the print media.
The 990CXi has taken a slight deviation from what one usually expects of the DeskJet family in that it is an odd combination of cream plastic upper section and grey plastic lower section with an even stranger translucent silver window mounted ... ...the tray at the base of the machine (approximate capacity of 150 sheets of A4 paper) and ejected just above into the paper output tray. During printing, pages are held for a few seconds on a special bracket to allow the ink to dry before falling onto the paper tray as normal. There is also a slot provided for manually feeding envelopes - a function which works quite well on the 990CXi. In the very bottom left corner of the front of the unit is a ...
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One of the high quality HP printers around, DeskJet 990cxi is an excellent A4 printing machine I would definitely recommend for either home or small businesses. The print quality is excellent, with crisp and realistic colours (provided the printer is correctly calibrated, of course…), and the process itself is rather fast and quiet. There is a choice of three different quality levels (I normally use draft quality for everyday printouts – ... ...a bit pricey, as the HP cartridges are definitely not the cheapest around; still, I found that the printer works equally well with refilled ones (despite the manufacturer’s warnings… it means less money for them, of course…).
Considering all the aspects presented here, I think that HP DeskJet 990cxi is very versatile and good value for money; if you are looking for an affordable good quality A4 printer, I highly recommend this ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
One of the high quality HP printers around, DeskJet 990cxi is an excellent A4 printing machine I would definitely recommend for either home or small businesses. The print quality is excellent, with crisp and realistic colours (provided the printer is correctly calibrated, of course…), and the process itself is rather fast and quiet. There is a choice of three different quality levels (I normally use draft quality for everyday printouts – ... ...a bit pricey, as the HP cartridges are definitely not the cheapest around; still, I found that the printer works equally well with refilled ones (despite the manufacturer’s warnings… it means less money for them, of course…).
Considering all the aspects presented here, I think that HP DeskJet 990cxi is very versatile and good value for money; if you are looking for an affordable good quality A4 printer, I highly recommend this ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Advantages: Quick, quiet, and effective. Awesome print quality.. Disadvantages: None found to date.
...ended up opting for the HP deskjet 990cxi. The deciding factor was the auto 2-sided printing feature, though all the other elements fell into place as well..definition, footprint, speed, noise levels, price (I paid about £240) etc.
What I hadn't realised was what a brilliant choice I had all but unwittingly made! Fast? Superman where are you now? Quiet? The British Library Reading Room couldn't complain. Quality of output? Well...I reckon that with ... ...96% that of photographic printing.
But the best thing of all...the one I hadn't though much about except that it might be quite a nice add-on...is the two-sided printing. I've been banging out proofs of leaflets of such high quality that clients have assumed that these are the finished item, and when I tell tham that I can make changes on the spot before they go to the print shop...well it's a damn good thing jaws don't make a mess when they drop! ...
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HP Desk Jet 990Cxi is designed for those who need high quality color documents, see productivity as the key, prefer practical solutions, and use groundbreaking technology in their business. Desk Jet 990Cxi features the optical sensor that detects paper type, then selects the ideal print mode for any paper and film. Infrared connectivity means convenient printing from personal digital assistants (PDA), notebook computers and other mobile devices without using wires - just point and print. Accelerated print speeds and low ink indicator provide increased productivity. Optional HP JetDirect print server allows multiple users and dollar savings. Built-in, two-sided printing automatically handles the process and saves money.
