The HP 5550 - my 'review'

[David]

I finally picked up an HP 5550 at Office Depot. I was curious to see what
this
printer did, as I couldn't find any reviews of it. So I decided to find out
for
myself. Fortunately I can take it back within 14 days if I don't like it.

The printer was larger than the 2 other inkjets I was familiar with (Lexmark
Z11 and
HP 940c). It was definitely wider than the Z11 and was deeper. Fairly
stylish
looking tho, with the silver and charcoal color and rounded body. The
printer came
with a black ink cartridge (#56) and a 3 color cart (#57), but not the
optional #58
photo color ink, which takes the place of the black cartridge when
installed.

The one thing I missed was any picture printing software, like my sister has
with
her HP 940c. It let you put 4 pictures on one 8x11, etc. etc. There was no
special
printing software included with this printer. To print, I selected the file
and
right-clicked and chose the Print option (which apparently started XP's
photo
printing wizard), or through Photowave, my only photo program. A great
program I
use for viewing photos, Irfanview, seemed to override the HP's settings for
4x6 etc.

The printer has 4 quality settings in the print dialogue:
Fast Draft
Everday
Normal
Best

TEXT
-------
I printed out the CNN.com web page under the 4 settings. Approximate times
were:

Fast Draft - 23 secs
Everday - 39 secs
Normal - 1 min 5 secs
Best - 2 min 47 secs

NOTE: Times are for one page, which included startup time, and is not
representative
of subsequent pages (or thus PPM). The test page had black text, colored
text and
some small photos. Paper type was automatic, with Automatic text rendering
selected
(not 1200). My system: P4 1.6ghz, 512mb, XP Home, using parallel port.

I thought the text output was really good. The Fast Draft was just that,
draft.
The Everday setting was fine for most printouts. Normal was better than
Everday.
I really couldn't tell much of a difference (if any), between Normal and
Best output
however, other than the greatly increased output time for Best setting.

When certain Paper Types were choosen, such as brochures, greeting cards,
the High
Resolution Control also let you choose between Automatic text rendering or
1200 dpi.
This option was not available when Plain Paper was chosen.

I also printed a single-spaced black text page to see its time. The
document had
very generous margins and was probably 90% filled with text. The APPROX.
times:

1st sheet 2nd sheet
Fast Draft 20 sec 7 sec

Normal 31 sec 14 sec

Someone else may have more accurate figures for this. Using the 2nd sheet
figures,
this gives text output at about 8 ppm on draft and 4 ppm at normal.
Although mfgrs
may be correct in saying "up to 17ppm" using double-spaced, draft text or
whatever,
I wish printer mfgrs were required to give more realistic figures using
single-spaced, normal text.

PHOTOS
------------
This was the crucial part for me, since the reason for getting the inkjet
was to
print photos. This was also my first time dealing with 'borderless' prints.
Printing was done on Jet Print photo premium brilliant glossy 4x6 paper.

I think this is HP's first foray into the "borderless" prints area, and it
only
prints borderless for 4x6's.

The first thing I noticed about HP's 'borderless' prints is that they aren't
truly
borderless! 3 of the edges are borderless, but on the HP the right-most
edge of a
4x6 picture has about 3/8" of white edge. You can cut it off manually if
you want
it all borderless. There is also an option for printing on "tabbed" 4x6
borderless
prints, which apparently let you rip off that edge and thus have a truly
'borderless' photo. Either way, it appears that you end up with a photo a
little
less than 6" if you cut off the white edge. Epson does borderless up to
8x11, but I
don't know if it is truly borderless or not. (I'm not sure why mfgrs don't
make 4x6
paper 6.35" long so it is a true 4x6 print when the edge is taken off.)

The second thing I noticed when printing borderless, was that the picture
was zoomed
in a bit to fill the 4x6 sheet, and cropping occurred on all edges,
particularly on
the right side. I was not happy with this as it was more cropping than I
wanted,
tho I'm not sure if this happens on all borderless prints regardless of
printer
mfgr, or if it was the XP printing 'wizard', or what. I don't have anything
to
compare it to. I did notice that when I printed from PhotoWave, there was
still
some cropping, but nothing like when using the XP print option. The
cropping in
PhotoWave was acceptable - from the XP right-click print option it was not
IMO.

I thought the picture quality was good for photos (and this wasn't even
using
the optional photo ink cart). However, I did a compare between a picture
that had
been printed on a 940c and the same picture printed on the 5550. Three
things I
noticed when I looked at it closely:

1) the 5550 picture had a slight reddish tint to the picture

2) the 5550 picture was cropped on all edges, the 940c's was not

3) the 940c picture was a bit sharper, some lines were more distinct

I was surprised at #3. It is possible that the cropping and less-clear
picture of
the 5550 was due to my printing software 'zooming in' on the picture, thus
creating
a less clear shot. Don't get me wrong, when you see this picture by itself,
it
looks great. But I was surprised that the slower and 'bordered' 940c output
seemed
a bit clearer on a couple of things. My glasses had no jagged edges on the
940c,
and Eyore's nostril on my Disney shirt was a distinct line. Maybe I printed
the
940c picture before I reduced it to 800x600, I don't know.

When you select photo paper and Normal or Best print quality, you can also
click on
the hp Digital Photography button and select whether to turn on Smart Focus.
It
also let you manually adjust sharpness, contrast, smoothing and Digital
Flash. Or
you could select Auto for those settings. You could also choose between
PhotoRET or 4800x1200 optimized dpi. PhotoRET was the default. When you
selected 4800 dpi, a message pops up saying it will take much longer and
400mb or more of disk space. It then confirms that you want to do 4800
optimized dpi printing.

I did notice that some of my web pages were cut off on the right side
(including cnn.com). I wrote to HP support about this and they said that
some tables may be wider than the paper, and to either reduce margins or
turn landscape. I don't believe I've ever had that problem with my HP 4P
laser printer tho. Makes me wonder if their driver is 100% up to snuff.

I found one bug with the software. I checked 'show HP preview', but later
when I
turned it off it didn't seem to remember that I turned it off. It was
checked next
time I went to print something (off is default setting). Also, after
printing a 4x6
photo it defaulted back to an 8x11 sheet, so you had to change the setting
again if
printing another photo.

I don't have any experience with other inkjets to determine if it drinks ink
or not. I've printed several 4x6's and the ink level has definitely gone
down according to the on-screen indicator. The printer really hogged the
CPU when printing. Maybe using a USB cable would do better.

That's what I've found so far. I'm going to be comparing this against a
used Canon
S800 (which has photo color built-in and cost as much as the 5550), and
possibly
against a slower 940c which I picked up for $99. Neither has the borderless
feature.

Dave

[Deggie]

USB rocks
LPT1 =(
good review please do more with optinal Photo Cart

"David" <davi...@peoplepc.com> wrote in message
news:ujsp6t7...@corp.supernews.com...

[Ian Burley]

Interesting posting, David - keep it up!

Ian

--

DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY NOW - http://www.dp-now.com
UK-based Web magazine for users of digital photography
hardware, software and services.

" Deggie" <nos...@nospam.com> wrote in message
news:ahlqai$mcd4d$1...@ID-123582.news.dfncis.de...

[Andrew Rossmann]

In article <ujsp6t7...@corp.supernews.com>, davi...@peoplepc.com
says...

> I finally picked up an HP 5550 at Office Depot. I was curious to see what
> this
> printer did, as I couldn't find any reviews of it. So I decided to find out
> for
> myself. Fortunately I can take it back within 14 days if I don't like it.
>
> The printer was larger than the 2 other inkjets I was familiar with (Lexmark
> Z11 and
> HP 940c). It was definitely wider than the Z11 and was deeper. Fairly
> stylish
> looking tho, with the silver and charcoal color and rounded body. The
> printer came
> with a black ink cartridge (#56) and a 3 color cart (#57), but not the
> optional #58
> photo color ink, which takes the place of the black cartridge when
> installed.

How do the cartridges compare with the #45 and #78? Being new, I would
guess ink costs will be obscene. According to the web site, the #56 is
only 19ml, and the #57 is 17ml. Are those 'starter' sizes, or the only
sizes? HP's site only lists various papers under 'supplies.' Does the
black appear to be used for photo printing, or only text like the 9xx's?

--
If there is a no_junk in my address, please REMOVE it before replying!
All junk mail senders will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the
law!!
http://home.att.net/~andyross

[Deggie]

"Andrew Rossmann" <andyross@no_junk.worldnet.att.net> wrote in message
news:MPG.17a8d95ea...@netnews.att.net...

The #56 and #57 work to-gether in the same way as the #45 and #78 from the
9XX series
the photo cart #58 when used provides a non-composite black but only for
photos.
The #56 black is true 1200 DPI for text
If 19ml in the #56 is bad dont forget HP in the new DJ3420 provide a black
cart with 14ml ;-)

Ink quantities seem to be the ONLY drawback to the DJ5550 refills will
negate that of course.

[Bob Headrick]

"David" <davi...@peoplepc.com> wrote in message
news:ujsp6t7...@corp.supernews.com...

> I finally picked up an HP 5550 at Office Depot. [snip]

> The first thing I noticed about HP's 'borderless' prints is that they aren't
> truly borderless! 3 of the edges are borderless, but on the HP the
> right-most edge of a 4x6 picture has about 3/8" of white edge.
> You can cut it off manually if you want it all borderless. There
> is also an option for printing on "tabbed" 4x6 borderless
> prints, which apparently let you rip off that edge and thus have a truly
> 'borderless' photo. Either way, it appears that you end up with a photo a

> little less than 6" if you cut off the white edge. [snip] (I'm not sure

> why mfgrs don't make 4x6 paper 6.35" long so it is a true 4x6 print
> when the edge is taken off.)

The HP photo paper with tabs is 4"x6.5" with a microperforated tab. After
printing you take off the tab and are left with a true 4"x6" print with no
borders.

> I found one bug with the software. I checked 'show HP preview', but later
> when I turned it off it didn't seem to remember that I turned it off. It was
> checked next time I went to print something (off is default setting).
> Also, after printing a 4x6 photo it defaulted back to an 8x11 sheet,
> so you had to change the setting again if printing another photo.

This may be a Windows "feature". If you change the driver settings from within
an application the changes will only apply to that instance of the application.
To make the settings "stick" go to Start -> Settings -> Printers, select the
printer and then change the settings you want, then Apply.

Regards,
Bob Headrick, not speaking for my employer HP

[Chris Bennett]

Looks like I keep my HP 970 and Epson Photo 820 printers.

I was hoping to replace both of them with the HP 5550. While the HP
970 is OK for photos, it is not as good as the Epson and does not do
true borderless 4X6 inch prints (or 8 by 10) as the Epson can.

The other problem is that you are limited to HP's 4X6.5 photo paper in
order to get the perforated tab. I use a variety of photo paper and
they would not work well with the HP 5550.

I really like the HP 970 especially since it includes the hardware
duplexer. I tolerate the Epson since it does such a good job on photos
but its noisy. Plus, I always have to worry about head clogs since I
use it infrequently for photos.

It is disappointing to hear that HP dropped the ball with regard to
borderless printing.

Chris Bennett

== To send E-Mail, replace "abc" with "sympatico.ca".==

On Wed, 24 Jul 2002 22:30:17 -0700, "Bob Headrick" <bo...@proaxis.com>
wrote:

>The HP photo paper with tabs is 4"x6.5" with a microperforated tab. After
>printing you take off the tab and are left with a true 4"x6" print with no
>borders.
>

[73115...@compuserve.com]

Chris Bennett <chris.bennett3@abc> wrote:

>It is disappointing to hear that HP dropped the ball with regard to
>borderless printing.

...and doubled the cost of printing by halving the ink capacity of the carts...

[Bob Headrick]

"Andrew Rossmann" <andyross@no_junk.worldnet.att.net> wrote in message
news:MPG.17a8d95ea...@netnews.att.net...

> How do the cartridges compare with the #45 and #78? Being new, I would

> guess ink costs will be obscene. According to the web site, the #56 is
> only 19ml, and the #57 is 17ml. Are those 'starter' sizes, or the only
> sizes? HP's site only lists various papers under 'supplies.' Does the
> black appear to be used for photo printing, or only text like the 9xx's?

The color #57 cartridge holds 17mL of ink and has a list price of $35 compared
to the #78D with 19mL at $35. The #58 photo cartridge is 17ml at $25 list.
The #57/#58 combination has better lightfastness than most silver halide prints
when using HP Colorfast paper.

The #56 black cartridge has 19mL of ink at $19.99 compared to the #15 black
cartridge with 25mL at $29.99 so black print costs should be better then the
#15 based printers.

The black ink is pigmented and is not used on photo paper.

[xxx]

Does HP plan to introduce larger capacity cartridges for these new printers?

Bob

"Bob Headrick" <bo...@proaxis.com> wrote in message
news:uk1mn8c...@corp.supernews.com...

[Steve Bradshaw]

I've just been to a cartridge refilling website to check some facts, and the
Canon S900 takes 6ml for each color and 13ml for black, not exactly high
capacity either. Is this correct?

<73115...@compuserve.com> wrote in message
news:7n31ku4rk3o4shsq3...@4ax.com...

[Tom Herman]

Bob, the ink costs in the new 5550 printer (vs, say, a 960cse printer)
appear VERY unfavorable.

Office Depot cites (& I don't know where they get their "max printed
pages" info from, it's not readily found at HP.com) :

5550 printer
-- #56 black, $20, 450 pages max.
-- #57 tricolor, $35, 125 pages max.

960cse printer
-- #45 large black, $30, 830 pages max.
-- #78 tricolor, $35, 450 pages max.

Rough comparison of per-page ink costs,
-- color, 5550 is 360% (!!) higher.
-- B&W, 5550 is 23% higher.

I'm trying to choose between the 2 printers for my off-to-college son,
and it seems the ink costs, especially color, will eat us alive on the
5550 printer.

Any comments, from anyone, on this rough analysis would be
appreciated.

"Bob Headrick" <bo...@proaxis.com> wrote

[David]

Sorry the text in the original review came out misaligned so.  Certainly made for less pleasant reading.

 

I HAVE 3 CORRECTIONS to my original 'review':

 

1) I said the 5550 didn't have any printing software.  I was wrong - it does!  The same great PhotoSmart software as came with the 940c (tho newer version, ver 3.20).  It's installation was buried in the "Printing Assistant".

 

2) ALSO, a lot of the CROPPING problems I complained about before seems to be due to the size of the picture I was using (it was taller than the 4x6 printing area, which caused cropping.)  However, it still holds true that using right-click > Print gives you less control over what gets cropped than if you use a photo program (or HP's program).

 

3) My earlier comment about the 940c having crisper lines than the 5550 seems to be incorrect.  It appears that the picture I am using is not as clear as the one I used back when I printed on my sister's 940c.  (This is probably due to my changing the photo size.)  All the prints I'm making right now on my 940c aren't clear either, so it apparently is the photo and not a problem with the 5550 printer. 

 

The problem with web pages not completely printing on the right side occurred on other printers too, so it apparently wasn't a 5550 problem.

 

Also, on the HP 5550 you can select the amount of ink printed on a page.  I tried less but that didn't produce a great picture.  It is best to leave it to its default setting.  Also, you can adjust Saturation, Color Tone, and Brightness.  (I moved Color Tone down one notch towards Cooler and slightly reduced the slight reddish tint in the picture.)  It also has an Auto Off feature and can do Poster printing.  And there is a Print Screen program that can be installed as well.

 

I also noticed that, at least on the particular photo paper I was using, the dark areas of the picture on the HP 5550 had almost a 'posterization' look when tilted right in the light.  The 940c had some of that look, but not as strong as the 5550.  The S800 didn't seem to have any.

 

The Canon S800 had a lot of software, ranging from managing your photos (time tunnel feature, among other things), to adjusting the amount of a single ink color used.  It also had a Print Advisor, stamp ability (like "Confidential"), the ability to print a background picture, poster or banner printing, and storing Profiles, for frequently-used configurations.

 

The S800 seems to do very well when it comes to using ink.  I've printed off many 4x6 photos and some text pages, and the ink level has hardly budged.  I printed about eight 4x6s and several web pages on the 5550, and it shows the ink level down already.  So the Canon is definitely more frugal with ink.  (I've printed even more with the 5550 - including 8x11s -  and I'm now down a good 35%).

 

I've heard that the HP's aren't that easy to refill (I presume only because of lack of fill holes??).  Perhaps someone would be kind enough to tell me how possible it is to refill HP carts.

 

I decided to pull out the HP 940c to see what it can do.  It is older and doesn't do borderless, and is slower.  (The 5550 was a fairly speedy printer, and the S800 wasn't bad at all when it came to speed.)  The 940c had a generous 25ml black cart, and a 19ml tri-color cart.

 

The 940c had the Printer Assistant software very much like the 5550: amount of ink to use; adjust Saturation, Brightness, Color Tone; multiple pages per sheet; banner printing, etc.

 

I used the same cnn.com web page and here's my results (using parallel port):

   Draft - 30 secs

Normal - 1 min 30 secs

    Best - 3 min 18  secs

 

Test page included black text, color text, and some small photos.  Includes startup time too.  This was definitely slower than the 5550.

 

I also used the same black text page I used before and here's the result:

 

                1st page    2nd page

Draft         16 sec        7 sec

 

Normal      27 sec        13 sec

 

This means the text printing speed of the 940c is as good as the 5550! (and the text quality was pretty good)

 

My 940c came with ver 5 of the XP drivers, which is an update from the v4.3 on the website.  I d/led the 4.3 but it seemed to be missing the PhotoSmart software.

 

So......

The HP 940c isn't a bad printer for $99.  I thought the overall print quality was just as good, or about as good, as the 5550.  It didn't have borderless printing or photo cart capability, but produced a decent print.   I'm not sure if it would be difficult re-filling these ink carts or not (#15 black & #78 tri-color).  There don't seem to be any refill holes for them either.

 

The HP 5550 is a sharp printer.  Basically you're paying $50 more for a faster printer (at least in color...black text is about the same) and one that will print borderless on 4x6.  Also it has photo cart capability.

 

Dave

 

 

"David" <davi...@peoplepc.com> wrote in message news:ujsp6t7...@corp.supernews.com...

[Bob Headrick]

"Tom Herman" <ther...@mindspring.com> wrote in message
news:84be517a.02072...@posting.google.com...

> Bob, the ink costs in the new 5550 printer (vs, say, a 960cse printer)
> appear VERY unfavorable.
>
> Office Depot cites (& I don't know where they get their "max printed
> pages" info from, it's not readily found at HP.com) :
>
> 5550 printer
> -- #56 black, $20, 450 pages max.
> -- #57 tricolor, $35, 125 pages max.

> 960cse printer
> -- #45 large black, $30, 830 pages max.
> -- #78 tricolor, $35, 450 pages max.
>
>
> Rough comparison of per-page ink costs,
> -- color, 5550 is 360% (!!) higher.
> -- B&W, 5550 is 23% higher.

This is not correct.

The black cost per page is better than the #15 based cartridges, not as good as
the #45 based cartridges. The same benchmark, a 5% coverage IDC page is used
for both.

In the color case you are not comparing apples to apples; the #57's 125 page
figure refers to full bleed 4x6" photo's on photo paper while the #78 benchmark
is a 15% coverage color page on normal paper. (The #57 cartridge has been out
for 9 months for the Photosmart 100 printer, which is a 4x6" photo printer.
Comparing the #57 on the same sample would yield 391 pages compared to 450 on
the #78. BTW, the page counts are not maximums. Many folks will get more
pages out.