HP DeskJet 970Cse
Photo
quality color and laser-like text, a true all-in-one printer
By Jeffery Roberts – Senior Hardware Editor
96 A
Since 1939,
Hewlett Packard Corporation has been inventing and producing high quality
electronic equipment. As a printer
manufacturer, HP has led the way with color ink-jets and is the world’s #1
manufacturer of color inkjet and photo-quality printers.
Changes in
the way HP works, sounds and looks were announced by
new HP CEO, Carly Fiorina, a classically educated, determined, and very
attractive, young business woman. “The
best total customer experience,” is one of Ms Fiorina’s stated goals. Hopefully,
these promised changes will include better peripheral software, longer
warranties, improved USB connectivity and more forthright customer support
information.
The
HP DeskJet 970Cse, Professional Series printer, represents the top of the line
in HP, USB, color inkjets. According
to HP Customer Care, the only difference between the HP, 970Cse and the HP,
970Cxi is the packaged bonus software.
Design
The 970Cse is a U path
paper track printer with a low profile and small footprint. The 970, requires only 14” of headroom with the hood raised
and a desktop area of 17” X 17” is adequate accommodation. Paper is loaded into the printer from a large, 150-sheet
capacity, two-tiered, adjustable tray at the front. The paper feeds through the lower tray, does a U-turn passed
the print heads and the completed document is deposited into the upper tray.
As the paper exits the printer it is curled slightly on both sides by a
plastic gate mechanism, hesitates and then drops to the tray below.
For cleaning and changing, the print cartridges center in the access
opening when the hood is lifted. The
ink cartridges automatically return to the ready position when the hood is
closed. The 970Cse is a dual cartridge printer, one black and one
tri-color. This inkjet printer uses
the same black ink cartridges as the very popular HP 722C and the 895C.
However, the color cartridge is the same as the one used in the HP
PhotoSmart, P1100.
A small sized, economy,
black ink cartridge, designed for people who only use their printer
occasionally, is supplied with the printer.
The 970Cse is a networkable, professional printer designed for office
use. A full sized black ink
cartridge is appropriate and really should be included.
Special Features
- Completely unattended two-sided printing with the
included two-sided printing attachment.
- Print cancel button and low-ink warning light.
- On screen printer prompts in USB mode.
- Auto On feature that turns the printer on when a
document is spooled.
- Smudge-resistant fast-drying inks.
- 150-sheet paper tray and monthly duty cycle of 5,000
pages.
- Networkable with optional HP JetDirect external print
server.
- Super quiet operation.
- NO bulky power supply unit. The 970Cse plugs directly into a wall outlet.
- Using a blue alignment light, the 970 Cse automatically
calibrates the inkjet cartridges. No
more, best guess on which red and black lines are straightest.
Point, click and it’s calibrated.
- 4 MB onboard RAM
- 4 KB buffer
Media
Handling
The HP 970Cse prints plain,
inkjet, and photo paper; envelopes, transparencies, labels, index cards,
greeting cards, banner paper, iron-on transfers and two sided documents. The
plastic guide at the left side of the IN tray adjusts to accommodate printable
stock up to 8 ½” wide by 14” long with the following tray capacities:
v
150
sheets of paper
v
15
envelopes
v
30
index cards
v
25
transparencies
v
20
label sheets
Paper jams are easily
cleared by removing the two-sided print attachment that locks into the back of
the printer with a double push release.
Installation
Opening the familiar blue
and gold Hewlett Packard box reveals a securely packaged printing device, the HP
970Cse. The 970 is a dual mode
printer and can be installed in either parallel or USB mode.
I tested the HP 970Cse in USB mode.
A large, glossy, poster-sized instruction sheet guides the user, step by
step, through the USB installation process.
“USB Setup requires
Windows98*”
In the Box
- HP DeskJet 970C Professional
Series printer (included Automatic Two-sided Printing Module)
- Power cable
- Black print cartridge
- Color print cartridge
- User's Guide
- Printer software for PC and
Mac
- HP DeskJet 970Cxi: Office in
Color™, By Design Office™, HP Web PrintSmart, and HP Instant Delivery
software
- HP DeskJet 970Cse: Office in
Color™, By Design Office™, HP FontSmart, HP Web PrintSmart, and HP
Instant Delivery software
8 Step Installation
1)
Unpack
2)
Install the double-sided print attachment in place of the
rear access door
3)
Plug in the power supply
4)
Install the inkjet cartridges
5)
Load the paper tray
6)
Insert the Hewlett Packard software CD into the CD ROM drive
7)
Connect the USB cable (NOT
INCLUDED)
8)
Install the USB software
Properly installed HP 970Cse in Win98 Device Manager
The system recognizes the
printer and automatically installs the software. Clicking YES, prints a double-sided test page, which thanks
the user, for buying the printer, in more than a dozen different languages.
Although, not part of the setup routine, I suggest rebooting the computer
and aligning the print cartridges at this point.
The ink cartridge alignment is fully automated and takes about a minute.
If the user follows the simple setup instructions provided on the poster
sized setup sheet, USB setup is virtually fool proof.
HP has done away with the
bulky power supply and cables that usually accompany printers.
The 970Cse printer plugs directly into a wall outlet.
By the way, don’t
forget to buy a USB device cable. You
won’t find one in the box.
Ink Level in USB Mode
HP Toolbox
The Test
|
HP 970Cse Test
|
02-18-2000
|
USB Mode
|
by
JMR
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Text
(22 page report)
|
Time
/Min
|
Pages
|
PPM
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Best
|
27.45
|
22
|
.80
|
|
Normal
|
4.60 |
22
|
4.78
|
|
EconoFast
|
2.50
|
22
|
8.80
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Full
Color (Flowers)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Best
|
2.50
|
1
|
.40
|
|
Normal
|
1.50
|
1
|
.66
|
|
EconoFast
|
.38
|
1
|
2.63
|
Test System
v
ABIT BE6
v
PIII 550MHz
v
256 MB-PC133 Micron on Micron SDRAM
v
Entrega 4 Port USB upgrade card
v
USB keyboard, mouse, Belkin ethernet adapter and
Entrega 4 port hub
v
Microsoft Windows98 Second Edition 4.10.2222A
To
test the speed on the 970Cse, I used a 22 page, technical report and a very colorful
photo of a field of black-eyed susans.
I connected the 970Cse
printer to the test system using an Entrega, four port, OPTi, Firelink, PCI/USB
upgrade card.
The 970Cse displays rich,
lifelike colors. The quality of
photo reproduction,
4MB of onboard RAM and a
4K buffer makes for a powerful printing solution. The 970Cse is loaded with many
new features. Auto-On, auto ink
cartridge calibration, low ink warning light, cancel print button and unattended
two-sided printing makes the 970 very easy to get used to.
Software
There are four bonus
software titles that are included on the HP 970Cse installation CD.
I chose and installed, By Design Office.
By Design Office is a program that provides templates for letterheads,
brochures, invoices, memos, newsletters and various presentations.
The software package was a perfect compliment to my copy of Office 2000
and the double-sided printing capabilities of the HP 970Cse printer.
An updated version of the program is available for $19.95.
by Design Office is one of the software titles included with the 970Cse
Conclusion
Nearly
every aspect of this high performance printer is impressive.
The HP 970Cse, combines eye popping, true photo quality color, laser
crisp text and good speed. The new ink formulas dry quickly and no bleeding was detected
on double-sided documents when printed on 24# inkjet stock.
If you’re looking for a thoroughly modern, high quality, color, ink jet
printer, take a good look at the network capable, HP 970Cse.
There’s not much, to not like, about this printer.
Bravo HP! Well Done.
Visit HP’s new, faster web site at:
http://www.pandi.hp.com/pandi-db/prodinfo.main?product=deskjet970c
Editors
Note:
Proper performance with a VIA chipset based motherboard required the
installation of an ADS, OPTi, PCI/USB upgrade card. VIA owners can also install
this printer in parallel mode.
Win2000 , yes..
The HP, DeskJet, 970Cse, is a USBMan
Editors Choice.
Stephen Roberts - Hardware Editor A+
USBMan
03/12/2002
