[phobos]

I need your advice.Hewlett Packacrd's 930 is surely the best but I wonder.How good is Epson 760?I really don't have enough money so I'm thinking Epson 760.Also if I get the 930 (which I won't) where can I find mac drivers?

[Paul Huang]

If you print more black text than color, HP 930 (download driver from
<hp.com> ) is your best choice. Just go to Office Depot or Staples and see print samples. Chances are, the Epsons are all out of at least one color and printing (if the ink tanks are still full) poorly. Just compare the black text and you will know what I mean.

When you make Epson prints with special paper (10¢ or more per sheet), the quality is very nice. However, when you print it on regular bond paper, it looks worse than HP printing on 50% coverage (draft mode).

I have both printers and I use the Epson only for images.

By the way, the 760 has been discountined. It has been replaced with the 777, I believe. I have seen the 760 advertised for $89 or 79.

Operating cost for Epson will definitely higher.


[This message has been edited by Paul Huang (edited 10-21-2000).]

[phobos]

Many thanks Paul

[exa]

I recommend the HP, its much easier to use and is more reliable. I had an Epson stylus 800 that broke - the text was awful but the pictures were great. My new HP950C is great at text as well as pictures (has better resolution than epsons) and is pretty fast. My epson had too many problems, it went bad too much and you had to do weird things with it to fix it. Go with the HP, the drivers are better than epsons (they actually use the desktop printer) and is a more reliable printer.

[Paul Huang]

HP also has another advantage unavailable in most other printers--the print head is renewed each time you replace the cartridge. When Epson's printhead is gone, it's time to buy a new printer.

I'm also looking at HP vs Epson printers. How is their Mac driver support? I've heard of problems with both. Any other watchouts?

I just bought an HP 932c, the Mac drivers came with it, and they work like a dream on my Pismo. I just plug the USB cable in and print, and then unplug it and go. Hasn't failed once.

[Paul Huang]

HP has matured with its drivers for the USB printers. Epson has had driver problem with their product since the original Stylus. The website is a mess (inaccurate information is common place).

[joe]

I bought the HP930 last Spring and the duplex option later. The drivers that came on CD with the printer (3.01) iirc didn't support printing from preview. But HP has had 3 updates in that time and each has worked very well. The current update is 4.0 and was just released 2 weeks ago. You can find it on www.versiontracker.com or HP's support site under downloads.

As for print quality, the 930 has crisp clean text and manages very good photographic prints on plain paper without warping! The 900 series is very frugal with ink useage as well. Best prints are done at 2400dpi on photo paper. The reason I bought the duplex option (auto 2-sided printing) is that it cuts down on paper. Example, a 10 page text file only ends up at 5 pages. Less clutter and less waste. I like the folding front trays too as I'm short on desk space. IMHO, the HP930 is better than the higher priced HPs if you're using it at home or home/office....joe

[Paul Huang]

The 930/932 uses the same cartridges as the 970, so the quality is virtually identical. The difference is printing speed and processing speed.

Originally posted by Paul Huang:
The 930/932 uses the same cartridges as the 970, so the quality is virtually identical. The difference is printing speed and processing speed.

I have had an HP 855 printer for about 5 years: same cartridge as these new 930-970 printers. It has LOTS of ink.