HP 970cse Deskjet printer

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Anyone know how the photo print quality of the HP Deskjet 970cse printer compares to Epson Photo 750 or 700, Canon's photo printers, or the original HP Photosmart. The 970 has the same print technology as the new HP Photosmart P1000 and P1100 printers so I was hoping the photo print quality is as good. It's supposed to print at 2400x1200 dpi and have even smaller microdots than the Epsons. When I asked HP about it's ability to print realistic fleshtones with only having 4 ink colors, they said the new PhotoRetIII technology and smaller ink drops gets around the 4 color limitation. It seems to me that since they've discontinued their original Photosmart printer in favor of this newer technology, it must be true.

Every review that I could find says to compare the printouts and buy whichever printout looks best to me. Is there any way I can realistically compare except to buy each printer and test them and return the ones I don't like? I intend to print lots of photos with people in them and want the fleshtones to be realistic. I've already tried the HP 970 and am not quite satisfied with the slight graininess I can see in the fleshtones and other light areas. The darker colors look great and I can't tell them from the original photo. Is this slight graininess due to the lack of the extra lighter ink colors? Since I'm a complete novice at this, I'm not sure if it's the printer or if it's me. I bought the 970 over the Photosmart P1000 because of it's added versatility and performance in printing text and non-photo color printing on plain paper at high speed. I do lots of research on the web and print out lots information in double sided draft mode. I had previously done this with a HP895cse and would gladly go back to that (would have to get it back from my husband and buy him a cheaper one) and purchase a separate less expensive photo printer to use just for photos to get the best inkjet photo prints. I wouldn't care about speed if using it just for photos. My dilemma is, I don't know if the others would give me better photo prints than the 970. I don't trust those samples they send from the manufacturer, since I think it's comparing apples to oranges and doesn't really show real world print quality. Help! I need to figure this out before my time to return this printer runs out.

Brenda

-- Brenda F. Waltch (brendafw@gte.net), November 07, 1999

Answers

Brenda,

I was faced with the same dilema, however, I bought the 750 and was wondering if the the P1000 was better. I actually took my card and had its image printed on good photo paper. The results: I'll keep my Epson! The output is stunning. Period. For the price it is unmatched. Photos are indistinguishable from 35mm prints and in some cases is better. I will say, that the HP is MUCH quieter but I understand that if you print in the highest resolution you can wait forever for your photo and it STILL won't measure up to the Epson. I've read several reviews and they all say the same thing: The output of the 750 is exquisite. Go with the Epson, you can't go wrong and it's cheaper.

Good luck!

Ron

-- Ron Baker (2good2b1@prodigy.net), November 14, 1999.


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