The S$599 (US$342) Photosmart 7960 is HP's high-end offering for the photo enthusiast crowd. This latest installment retains the line's extensive support for the various flash media, and broadening the scope this time to include the xD-Picture Card format. Like the former top-of-the-range Photosmart 7550, the 7960 comes with an LCD screen to enable quick previews of photos from your memory card.
Looks Impressive
On the exterior, the 7960 looks understated but under its timid bluish-metallic guise lurks a behemoth. Featuring the world's first 8-ink printing system for the desktop space, this inkjet also claims a very impressive 72.9 million color gamut. Unlike the more conventional 7-ink systems that just include an additional photo black dye, HP's 8-ink system brings to the picture two additional shades of grey as well as photo black.
This monster--with its 589 x 246 x 455mm frame--will take up lots of room on your desktop. Likewise, its 7.62kg doesn't detract from its bulky image. Disappointingly, the formidable size and weight do not translate into a solid piece of machinery. The plastic shell on the front of the unit can be peeled off with little provocation, delivering a very cheesy feel.
Minimal User Intervention
The 7960 is easy enough to set up. There is a handy quickstart guide and installation CD providing clear setup and usage instructions. This printer supports Windows 98 and up; and Macintosh OS 8.6 or later. The CD also comes with a detailed user's guide in PDF format--so you'll need to have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed. To finish off the bundle, a USB cable is thrown in so you won't have to purchase one before you get started.
Besides the device drivers, the software will also set up the "printer assistant" program. This allows users one-click access to printer documentation, troubleshooting support, as well as links to HP's support and shopping links.
On the hardware side of things, this Photosmart functions like the Deskjet 5652 we reviewed earlier. The calibration process is automated, making things simpler for the majority of end-users. People with failing eyesight should be pleased with not having to analyze patterns and inputting their results back into the--sometimes non-intuitive--software.
The Numbers
The 7960 excelled in photo printing but produced mixed results with text output. In terms of speed, this Photosmart finished our 10-page test in a very speedy 65 seconds, or about 9.2ppm. This puts it ahead of the Canon i470D which is a good benchmark for output performance. For photo printing, the 7960 also delivered good numbers, clocking in at 6 minutes 30 seconds and 2 minutes 22 seconds for A4 and 4R-sized prints, respectively.
In our tests, text output was generally good. It stayed clean and legible even down to a 2-point font size. However, in draft mode, some page numbers disappeared intermittently during printing.
Accompanying the 8-ink system is HP's latest revision of its PhotoREt (Photo Resolution Enhancement Technology) system, PhotoREt Pro. To test the new technology, we printed a number of black and white pictures using the new HP59 cartridge and compared them with the ones outputted on the normal HP56 (black). The additional grey shades certainly made our test photos stand out, with some exhibiting more details.
For color photo printing, we encountered the same problems as the Deskjet 5652. The driver's default "HP photography" settings caused our outputs to almost always turn out too bright (due to the flash algorithm designed to aid in underexposed pictures). Admittedly, some tweaking was all it took to get our expected results.
Boons And Quirks
The 7960 has a separate tray for 4R-size media (which is generally a plus). However, the slider is made of plastic and may not last. One of the two review units that arrived, had this particular component cracked, making it difficult to slide the tray in and out.
On the upside, the LCD screen was clear and bright. Together with the straightforward software, we were able to scroll and preview pictures straight from the memory cards and likewise to start printing. We also liked the quiet and quick operation of the inkjet, along with the support for xD-Picture Card flash media.
With competitors like Canon, Olympus and Epson all preparing their PictBridge photo units to address the photo enthusiast market, HP has gone with another approach. It has included built-in support for all the available flash storage to address the current situation. With PictBridge-compliant cameras beginning to trickle in, this concept may bode well with current digicam owners.
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