- Average user rating: 2.0 stars out of 9 reviews Back to product review
- My rating: 0 stars
Full user review
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7 out of 7 people found this review helpful
4.0 stars
"Very Good photo printer - excellent color and dynamic range"
Pros: Excellent Color out of the box
Cons: Memory Hog - HP under rates minimum requirements
Summary: I purchased and have been using this printer for about 1 month now. I often get requests for prints larger than 8x10 from my customers that cannot wait the 2-3 days to get professional prints back from my lab so I researched the alternatives and decided on the B9180.
Setup was relatively easy, the directions are clear and consise. The photoshop plugin is a great addition to the software that comes with the printer and the first prints from this printer totally amazed me, particularly the B&W prints. They were exactly as shown on my calibrated monitor with a lot better detail in the highlights and shadows than my previous photo printer (Kodak 8500 dye-sub).
The one area HP vastly underrates however, is the minimum requirements for the PC operating the printer. I have a 2.53 GHz P4 with 1 GB RAM running XP professional and it is barely adequate. Allowing the print job to spool and printing from the print preview screen allows me to close photoshop then click on the start printing button on the preview screen allows you to print at the "Maximum DPI" setting (higher quality than "Best") without seeing banding. It is a work around I could do without. I hadn't intended on upgrading my computer in the near term however, I believe I will now just for this printer - the output is that good and you don't have the hassel of finding the right paper profiles when using HP Advanced papers like you do with Epson printers.
Where to buy
HP Photosmart Pro B9180:
$436.94 - $699.99
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$699.99 | Yes |
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$649.99 | Yes |
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$599.95 | Yes |
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$699.99 | Yes |
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Amazon.com Marketplace
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$609.95 | Yes |
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