You'll get full-color, professional-quality print results with the HP PhotoSmart 7960 Photo Printer. Delivering everyday print output at up to 21 ppm or 4-by-6-inch photos in just over 90 seconds, the 7960 can handle a variety of tasks.
The HP PhotoSmart 7960 features HP's exclusive photo resolution enhancement technology: HP PhotoREt Pro utilizes eight-ink printing, ultra small ink drops, true neutral grays, and photo blacks to print everything from professional color images to impressive black-and-white prints with accurate shadow detail. The eight colors come from the No. 59 gray photo cartridge with two shades of gray ink and a special photo black; from the No. 57 tri-color cartridge with cyan, magenta, and yellow; and from the No. 58 photo cartridge with photo cyan and photo magenta (the black in the No. 58 is not used for eight-color printing).
Designed for PC and Mac users alike, the 7960 also offers two USB ports and four memory card slots, so you can print images directly from your digital camera. And, the built-in 2.5-inch LCD lets you preview, edit, and even remove red-eye from images before you print. The printer offers versatile paper handling through it's standard 100-sheet paper tray and built-in 20-sheet 4-by-6-inch photo tray. It also supports an optional duplexing accessory. The 7960 is backed by a one-year limited hardware warranty.
What's in the Box
HP PhotoSmart 7960 photo printer, HP 56 black inkjet print cartridge (19ml) C6656AN, HP 57 tri-color inkjet print cartridge (17ml) C6657AN, HP 58 photo inkjet print cartridge (17ml) C6658AN, HP 59 gray inkjet print cartridge (17ml) C9359AN, power supply, Basics guide and setup poster, CD-ROM with HP Photo & Imaging software for Microsoft Windows and Macintosh, HP Memories Disc Creator software, HP media sampler; USB cable not included
The HP Photosmart 7960 photo printer is HP's best photo quality printer with 8-ink color or up to 4800-optimized dpi*for stunning color and black & white prints. The 2.5-inch color LCD preview screen makes editing, enhancing, previewing and printing photos a snap. You can even correct color with features like red-eye reduction! And you don't even need a PCdirect photo printing is simple using digital camera memory cards slots and the color LCD or the HP Photo Proof Sheet and front panel buttons. Your printing options are so versatileeverything from professional-quality photos that resist fading for generationstwice as long as most traditionally processed photosto great everyday laser-quality black text.
1 terrible service
My wife and I wasted hours and hours trying to get HP service. HP has outsourced customer service to several developing countries, and each time we called, the representatives were unable to locate the record of our previous call. We were told time and again that we would be contacted by a "case manager" but that never happened. After weeks of trying, it became obvious that we need to discard the product (still under warrantee) and buy a new (non-HP) product ourselves.
2 The decline of HP
Having owned several HP printers over many years, I have noticed a steady and unforgivable decline in the quality of this company's printers with each successive model. The final straw for me is the 7960, by far the worst HP printer I have owned. While producing acceptable prints under most conditions, this printer's liabilities far outweigh its benefits. The workmanship of the unit itself is the flimsiest and most disappointing I have encountered. And the printer's lack of consistent compatibility with the two separate computers I have used it with is both annoying and inexcusable for a supposedly renowned printer company. Bad drivers have caused numerous problems and the driver updates usually make the situation only marginally better. Plus the printer's general overuse of ink and poor paper and envelope handling make the overall experience of owning one distinctly unappealing. This is my last HP printer - I'll be switching to Epson.
3 Fantastic Printer
I really love this printer. I have had it for almost a year now. It does a beautiful job on color 8x10's and prints fantastic black and white photos. Switching to the 56 cartridge makes it an excellent text printer as well. (It ships with all 4 cartridges). The 4x6 prints look much better than the ones from a photo shop or from the Kodak kiosk at Best Buy.
Both the Epson and Canon 8 color printers will not print true black and white photos. They have a pink, salmon or pale blue cast. This is also true of their 6 color printers. This printer is also substantially less expensive than Epson and Canon 8-color printers ($399 and $349 respectively). So whether you need or want the color LCD or card reader is moot. This printer is between a $120 and $170 less than its Epson and Canon competitors. Those printers also will not print regular text in sharp, clear, 1200x1200 dpi pigment based resolution. The text prints from their photo printers tend to have a dark grey tone, rather than crisp black because they use dye based, rather than pigment based black ink for text printing. Switching cartridges with the HP 7960 allows you to have the best ink type for your print job.
Finally, if you are looking at a Canon, be careful with the ink tanks. I have a friend who wasn't paying close attention and mixed up the color tanks and ended up sending the wrong color through the print head. She had to take out the print head and wash it for quite awhile in tap water. Then she had to prime (charge) all of the tanks several times to get the water out of the system. What a hassle. There are no keys or notches to prevent you from making this mistake on a Canon. The Epson tanks are keyed so this mistake can't be made and it doesn't matter with an HP. You can't ruin the print heads with HP because they are built into the ink tank.
No printer on the market is as versatile and easy to use. No printer on the market can do so many different things well. When I looked at the reviews in Consumers Reports there was not a big difference in print costs and there didn't seem to be a big savings because of individual ink tanks. Finally, the pictures will last longer. Canon only claims 25 years for framed pictures, while HP claims more than 70 years. Consumers Reports also says that Epson and HP are more fade resistant than Canon.
Color shading and tones is a personal thing. I suggest you take a picture you like with skin tones and shades down to a computer store and print out a 4x6 on each printer and see which one you like the best. After all what you like is the most important thing. All of the sample prints from all of the manufacturers are obviously skewed to present their features and benefits in the best light possible.
4 cannot find a flaw yet
I received this printer last year as a holiday gift and I have not found a flaw yet......it prints very crisp photos that rival any camera store product, it is amazingly easy to use, has lots of editing capabilites, easy to navigate functions, accepts all kinds of digital cards (which is GREAT since you don't have to buy a different printer if you change digital cameras) and prints up to 10 x 12 photos. This printer is well worth the price; in fact, I'd be willing to pay more so it's a bargain. This printer gets heavy usuage (it goes thru at least one ink cartridge change per 75 photos) and I have two toddlers who have - not on my watch - "played" with it and it still works like a dream. Does it get any better than this?!? I think not.
5 Good printer
I have had this printer for about a month now. I would rate this very good. I have been printing 11 x 8.5 inch pictures and the colors are bold, and the picturs come out very sharp. The paper you use does make a difference as the pictures are even more sharp with the HP glossy paper. Everyone I show these pictures to is very impressed by the quality this printer can produce. Be warned though, at the size that I am printing, the black photo ink cartridge(usually 1/3 full) that came with my printer is almost used up after about ten or twelve 11 x 8.5 inch full DPI pictures. I expected to use a lot of ink though at those print sizes on the max DPI and am more concerned with printing large, vibrant photos than conserving ink.
6 A horrible printer
I cannot find anything good to report about this printer, except that it was easy to set up. All of the moving parts just feel cheap and junky, like they are ready to break at any moment. The print cartridges jam about 50% of the time. Photos are printed crooked on the paper (on a slight diagonal). There are orange and yellow lines through the middle of the photos. I have had so much wasted paper because the printer decides to spit out sheets of random letters at any time. This printer is going back.
7 Excellent Printer
Shortly after coming home from a vacation in Rome, I realized that I had some very, very nice pictures, and wanted to see those pictures on something more than just a CRT or my camera's LCD. I didn't really believe my HP Deskjet 840c was going to cut it (it did a passable, albeit crooked, job on printing out a previous picture). Enter the PhotoSmart 7960...
Packaging/Construction... The printer arrived well packaged. It had taken a beating during transit, and some of the styrofoam had disintegrated, but the important part was undamaged. The printer itself is not built like a tank. If you are excessively rough with it, you will probably be able to damage it. I frequently open mine in order to switch ink cartridges, since I do a fair amount of text printing, even though I have my deskjet still hooked up (I like reports and music to look crisp and black). One of the biggest complaints I see is durability, with most people saying this printer is too flimsy. If you are going to run off into the jungle, I would definitely suggest a hard case when taking this with you. Otherwise, the 99.9% of us that leave our printers at home, and just take our camera, this printer should be fine. If I notice any unwarranted wear, I will update this posting.
Print Quality... Excellent. Colours look awesome and vibrant. Level of detail is very good. Pictures from 3 and 5 megapixel cameras are indistinguishable from film, printed at 8 x 10 size. Printing music onto some thicker stock, I got razor sharp quality using the maximum-dpi (4800 x 1200). This is from memory (mine is usually pretty good): the 56 ink cartridge contains a pigment based ink, rather than dye based, which is better for printing text, giving smaller equivalent drop size (I'm not certain how they figure that, but 4-5 picoliters of pigment based ink is equivalent to 2 picoliters of dye based ink. Perhaps it doesn't spread as much). When printing text, switching to the 56 is a good idea. The text I get from this printer looks blacker and sharper than what I get from the deskjet.
Print Speed... At high quality, this is not going to raise any eyebrows. No time trials done here, but it is fast only by geological standards. However, I figure that the few minutes invested in printing (and much longer for drying) is well worth it. Tip for those who will be using this printer for everyday text: Unless quality is a big issue, set the printer on fast draft, black and white. If you want to be a little economical, you can even lower the ink volume. There is a little reduction in quality, but print speeds are along the lines of some slower laser printers, at about 4 seconds per page.
Paper Choices... Statements about print longevity are based on using HP's Premium Plus Photo Paper. I have used that paper, and plain copier paper in this printer. Copier paper works well, although I will be getting some better quality inkjet paper for reports. The photo paper is great, although there have been some issues that people have brought up that I will attempt to address.
Dry Time... In a nutshell, 8 x 10 matte paper takes one day to dry, 4 x 6 glossy takes one day to dry, and 8 x 10 glossy takes 7 days to dry. During this time, I set the prints on a flat surface, and just leave them be. I have not tried to see how long they really take.
Little White Lines... Inside the printer are little plastic wheels that hold the paper against the rubber rollers. I believe these are actually plastic, not metal like somebody else stated. If they are plastic, they will not break in over time. You have to look closely to find these lines. When printing with matte paper, I was unable to find them. Raising drying time in the printer software may also help. When under a frame, these lines should not be visible.
Raised Surface on Paper... This problem also seems to be unique to glossy. With time to dry, the raised portions of the paper seem to go down. I think in general, the paper is somewhat raised to begin with. Given a couple weeks, it will return to this state after printing. If it really bothers you, get matte paper.
Matte or Glossy... This is a question that I have had for a long time, and will try now to answer for others. When you go to Kmart and have your film developed, you receive prints on 4 x 6 glossy paper. When you have your picture taken professionally, you get back 4 x 5 matte prints. I have yet to see professional glossy prints, especially on 4 x 6. Photoshop does not have that option, either, I believe. Glossy gives slightly sharper prints, and a lot of people feel that you need the glossy for the "picture look." Glossy has a bright, shiny finish, but it does not handle fingerprints very well. Matte paper looks a little duller, still sharp picture quality, though maybe not as much as glossy, and handles fingerprints much better. I do have glossy paper, and I have used it, but matte looks more professional. My suggestion is to definitely use matte for black and white prints, and let personal preference dictate for colour. Be warned, matte is harder to find, and more expensive. Tip to glossy users (and matte): Glossy paper really shows off finger prints, though whether you can see them or not, they can affect print quality. When getting the paper out of the bag and into the printer, first put a sheet of copier paper (or any cheap, plain paper) over the printable side. Then load your printer (for HP users, this means printable side down), and remove the copier paper. Any fingerprints will not wind up on the printed side of your expensive photo paper.
Printing without a computer... This is possible with the printer, though I have never tried it. In order to hook the camera itself up to the printer, you need to have an HP PhotoSmart camera. However, everybody else, just about, can pop their memory module out, and stick it in the printer. It looks like you can crop, rotate, and enlarge the pictures, and view them on the LCD. You can also print out a proof sheet, or a contact sheet, which allows you to fill in some bubbles, scan it, and the printer will then print out your selected photos. You can only choose one size for all the pictures using this method, and it seems to me to be only a way to show off, unless you have somebody who can't view the pictures from your camera, or at the printer. This printer will recognize DPOF, if your camera supports it, allowing you to mark pictures in your camera for printing.
Ink... This printer actually has ten inks, but will only print with up to eight at a time. This is because three of the inks are black. One is the pigment black for documents, one is the black contained in the 58 cartridge, and the third is in the 59. When the 56 (pigment black) is installed, the 57 (tricolor: cyan, magenta, yellow) and 58 (photo: light cyan, light magenta, black) are used, giving you six inks. When you install the 59 (which replaces the 56, there are only three ink cartridge carriages. The 59 has a light grey, dark grey, and photo black), you get eight ink printing (the black in the 58 is not used). When printing colour prints, eight inks give you a little better results in the dark areas. When printing in black and white, you definitely want the 59 installed. Compared to the cartridges in the deskjet, these cartridges are tiny, though not quite as expensive. I figure when I bought the printer, I paid $60 for the printer, and $90 for ink (I got it on sale).
The Bottom Line... I've gone on long enough for these specific categories. I've outlined a few potential problems, though I still gave this printer 5 stars. I was aware of the problems before I bought it, and still went ahead, and have been completely satisfied. It does everything I want. If you don't care about or don't like black and white, get the 7760, which only uses six inks. If you print black and white on it, it will mix the inks to get grays, though it won't be as high quality.
I really enjoy this printer, and get nothing but compliments on its print quality. I have even had people compare my Rome pictures (taken on a point and shoot camera, full auto settings) with photos taken by SLR cameras and developed in a real darkroom (as opposed to my digital one).
Hope this has helped you,
Erik
8 A great Photo Printer
Completely delighted with the quality of the prints. The definition at A4 size from my Olympus 3.2 pixel camera is remarkable. My family want me to do all their processing in future. I also use it to print from my 35mm cameras processed to CD ROM. Wonderful value.
9 UNBELIEVABLE PICTURES
I just saw a demo on this printer. UNBELIEVABLE pictures. Truly fantastic. The unit is extremely sturdy and it is so, so quiet. A full 8.5 x 11 picture comes up within 3 minutes. It takes all the digital cards on the market and the buttons on the front are easy to use as is the fantastic software that comes with it.
Must buy.
10 Two lemons in a row
On September 9th I purchased an HP Photosmart 7960 from Office Max.
Shortly after installing the printer I found a problem trying to print envelopes.
I was using MS Word. The envelope would move to the print location and print the return address. It would then move the envelope to the area where the address should be printed and it froze.
This occurred several times. I tried to adjust the settings with no success. I then tried MS Publisher to print an envelope and the same thing happened.Word Perfect 10 would not print the envelope properly.
I downloaded and installed a new driver that was available but this didn't help.
After contacting HP Tech support by e-mail they suggested a replacement. They would ship me a Reconditioned printer, which I did not want.
I took the printer back to Office Max, who replaced it with a new HP Photosmart 7960. I got it yesterday and after hooking the new one up, I tried to install the cartridges and the carrier wouldn't lift to afford adequate space to slide in place.
I turned it off and on several times but kept getting a red light flashing where the on light should be and a message on the LCD screen saying the cartridges were not installed.
I then called HP Tech Support and got a woman in India who could hardly speak English and after several minutes wasting my time, she told me to register the new printer and call back. I asked her what on earth good that would do?
She advised me to take the computer back..
I then wrote HP Tech Support via e-mail and got the reply that the printer evidently has a mechanical problem and to give them the serial number and shipping information and they will ship me a Reconditioned printer..
I've decided to return this printer back to Office Max and purchase an Epson printer.
This is the sixth HP Printer I have owned. The first printer printed everything else fine and the quality of the photo prints were excellent but the quality of the printer
leaves a lot to be desired.. They've really cheapened the quality with thin plastic.
Sad commentary of what was a good company..
11 WOW!
Now this is what I call an HP printer!
Easy to set up right out of the box and the printing results, whether black & white documents or photography are incredible!
My only beef is the lack of a cable, but this is a normal thing throughout the industry.
WOW!
12 A Fine Printer, But With a Few Reservations
I have had my HP 7960 Photosmart photo printer just a short time now, but have printed at least a hundred pictures on it. I had, and still have, an old HP 895cse Deskjet printer, which gave excellent pictures, even though it was not marketed as a photo printer, simply a general-purpose inkjet printer. The 7960 is at least as good as, probably better than the 895cse. I also had been using the Kodak Picture Maker machine, the kind they have in drugstores and supermarkets, to make good prints on, carrying in a handful of edited pictures on three and one-half inch diskettes, the kind you use in your 'A' drive. But it has been getting increasingly difficult to find Kodak machines which would take these diskettes, anymore. I did print one picture on the 7960, which I had also printed on the Kodak, and it was at least as good, no better, no worse. This is a subjective judgment, of course. It was of two children riding a brass rhinoceros in the Omaha, Nebraska zoo.
There are a few quirky things about the 7960 printer. The first one I discovered is that it made the CPU usage of my computer go up to around fifty percent, from its usual five or ten percent. This was when the printer was doing nothing, in fact not even turned on. This slowed other operations down prohibitively, and probably caused one or two crashes I had, when on the Internet. Ultimately, I found that I could unplug the USB cable when I was not using the printer, and all would be well. However, I choose to plug or unplug this cable only when the computer is turned off. I did find I could turn the printer on while the computer was running, but not off. It would crash the computer to do so. So far, this has been a workable arrangement, only plugging in the USB cable when I needed the printer. However, it gets a little dangerous to edit a photo while the printer is on, USB plugged in, even though not printing. I should add that my computer is five years old, and uses a 500 MHz processor. This problem may not even exist with a more modern computer using a 2000 MHz processor. I cannot say for sure.
Another quirk was that when printing envelopes I would enter the size of the envelope into MS Word, but get strange results or no results at all while printing the envelope. I found I had to also enter the size of the envelope into the printer software, something I did not have to do with the older 895cse printer. This was no inconvenience, once I got used to it, but it did take some getting used-to. Also, when entering margins I usually have to tell the printer the paper or envelope is an eighth of an inch wider than it actually is, and that the lower or left margin is one eighth of an inch wider than I actually expect. This is to center the image on the paper stock within the margins.
I have not actually used the printer's facility to read from camera memory cards. My memory card does fit the printer, but, to tell the truth, I hate to even unplug it from my camera. It is one of these Compact Flash memories, with the little tiny pins the diameter of a human hair. The newer ones with gold plated edge contacts may be less risky, but my camera does not use these. I really prefer to edit pictures in Paint Shop Pro 7, and to print from that software.
People complain that this printer uses a lot of ink. It probably does, I cannot say for sure. Hobbies are usually terribly expensive, and printing photos is no exception. My ordinary method of doing pictures is to buy 8.5 by 11 inch paper, and cut it to either 4.25 by 6.75 inches, three of these to a sheet of printer paper; or cut it to 5.5 by 8.5 inches, two pieces to a sheet of printer paper. I print on these pieces and trim off the white margin with my paper trimmer. This makes nice 5 by 7 pictures, but only 3.75 by 6 inch pictures instead of 4 by 6 inch pictures (on the 895cse printer). I have, now, found I can trick the 7960 printer into printing full-size 4 by 6 inch pictures by telling it I am using 4.5 by 6.75 inch paper. It then prints with one-eighth of an inch margins in the 4-inch dimension, which I trim off with the paper trimmer.
This makes the paper for a 5 by 7 print only about twenty or twenty-five cents per sheet at current special prices for printer paper. Add even fifty cents for ink, and it results in a seventy-five cents price for 5 by 7 pictures, equal to the best of Walgreen's prints, which cost two dollars each, normally. Not too shabby.
I have an exquisite old black-and-white print of a young woman, taken in the 1890s, which I scanned, photo-edited and printed. The 7960 did very well printing this black-and-white. This is one of these old pictures where even the eyes are clear and precise; you can see the pupils and irises just fine. In fact, while editing the scan of the picture I saw that the woman was wearing an engagement ring, but no wedding ring. This is significant inasmuch as my wife is the granddaughter of this woman. My guess is that the picture was taken to commemorate her engagement to my wife's grandfather.
All in all, I recommend the HP 7960. I cannot compare it to the Epson or Cannon offerings, having never used either one.
13 Love it!
Even though it is ink hungry, I love this printer. It works with or without a computer, thanks to the onboard card slots. It was also the only printer with quality I was willing to accept which accepted the XD digital picture cards. If you use XD and want a nice printer, this one will fit the bill!
14 Fast and feature loaded.
When buying an inkjet printer I always reckon it best to go with HP because, although the ink cartridges are more expensive than most other brands, you always get new print heads as well for crisp and reliable print performance.
HP software is also easily installed and understandable, and has a good compatibility with Adobe Acrobat and the Acrobat Reader for doing accurate printouts and scale-to-fit options. ie: your original page is letter but you want to print to an A5, or some custom size, without having to to repurpose the document. And HP printers are well supported for Linux and FreeBSD machines with gimp-print and cups, so there?s no hassle to get your HP printer up and running with Open Source.
For those using their printer for black text output for most of the time, it?s a good idea to set the printer to draft mode, and greyscale, high quality, as the default setting. HP draft mode is perfectly okay for most printouts, saves significantly on ink, and prints much faster. And even though you are only printing black text you are also using some blue when in colour mode: something I discovered by accident when suddenly greys for table shading became pink. Used like this, print speeds and cost-per-page will be comparable to a laser printer.
The ability to read memory cards and print directly is a convenience.
This is a nice compact printer capable of very professional colour results, and is economical and fast enough for most purposes.
15 I love my HP Photosmart 7960
I was looking for an 8 1/2 by 11 inch borderless printer for producing high quality double sided product brochures. I bought an Epson Stylus Photo R800. WRONG thing to buy. It does 8 1/2 by 11 and it does borderless printing, but NOT on 8 1/2 by 11 media. The largest borderless print media is 8 by 10, and no one makes that in two sided print surfaces. I returned the Epson and got the HP. What a relief, it does exactly what I want and is not finicky, lots of options for acceptable paper. I did have some trouble installing software however. I had to shut down and remove all other USB devices and then load the printer before it would install properly. Otherwise 5 stars.
16 Great Printer
One thing a lot of people do not realize is that the reason why the ink cartridges are so expensive is b/c the manufacturers sell the printers usually at lower than cost and then they recoup their sales through the accessories such as paper and ink cartridges. Yes, it may seem to be unscrupulous, but HP and all the others are in the business of making money. As for the person who had problems printing envelopes, remove all the paper and use the paper guides and resize them to the envelope. I've had no trouble printing envelopes with my 7960.
One feature that people have also failed to mention is even though the memory card slots are there so you don't need the computer to print your photos, they also save you the trouble of attaching your camera to the computer since you can move your pictures from your memory card to your hard drive since the printer also acts as a removable drive.
everyone has been blown away when I tell them that I printed these pictures at home, and i find that the pictures that it prints are better than when I took my memory card to wal mart. Plus, it was quicker. It was no problem using my Sony digital camera with my HP printer.
One more thing, buy the printer at Sam's or Wal-Mart as it is only $187.
17 tested 3 of them
I purchased a 7960 about a week ago. It did a great job right up to the point of ejecting the photo from the printer. The last inch of the photo was marked/scratched like a roller was stuck on the paper feed. I took it back and was given another printer, same thing. This time I went to another location, thinking maybe they got a bad batch of them but......same thing.
I traded up to a Canon I9900, best move i've made in a long time. The Canon is the smart purchase without a doubt.
18 Great Photo Quality Printer !
I purchased this printer a few months ago and finally got around to installing it in my system. Software loaded successfully on the second try on my modest system. After tweaking the setup and setting defaults I was ready to print. For my first project I chose a recent picture of my children taken during a family trip. To say I was astounded at the output is an uderstatment.
This printer provided photo quality output for a home/office environment. I compared a printed photo with a digitally sourced print from a photo lab and yes there is a very slight difference. However, the difference is so slight as to remain unnoticed except under very close examination. When you consider the convenience and the full control over the process that you have at home, this printer wins the comparison hands down.
Other posts has mentioned the issue of track lines appearing on the photo. My photos did have these artifacts and they are visable to the eye on close examination. However from a distance of 12in or more the lines are invisable. The lines are also invisable if the print is placed behind the glass of a picture frame. From looking at the path of the paper and the transport mechanism, it appears that the lines are caused by a line of metal traking pins that press the paper against the transport rollers. I am told that over time the tracks are produced less frequently as the tracking pins become more compliant. I am surprised that HP allowed this defect to remain in the final design.
As an aside, on a recent trip to NYC, I noticed several street vendors offering to take your digital photo silluetted against the lights of Times Square. Every vendor I noticed used either this printer or the 7760 to print the photo output. Not a Cannon or a Lexmark among them.
One of the reasons I purchased this printer was due to it's capability to produce stunning B&W prints. I have yet to investigate this feature, but I am looking forward to it.
Like everything else electronic, as the product ages the price drops. Yesterday's premium offering is today's loss leader. This printer is no different. At current prices, this printer is a BARGIN !
Highly recommended.
19 Great Printer!
HP has come through again. I purchased this printer a few weeks ago from Amazon.com. I had it up and running in minutes. The print quality is great, it is very user friendly, especially the one-touch button for e-mailing. The fact that it takes several different media cards for direct printing is a real plus. If you want a great printer with great results, you can't go wrong with the HP 7960 photosmart printer.
20 Nice printer but...
I just got my 7760 last week and am still playing around with it. No complaints so far except for 1 annoying problem - 4x6 borderless photos are cropped by the printer. That is, the image you see in the software is not what you get - some of it gets chopped off. HP said this is the nautre of the printer - a small amount will be cropped when you print borderless. This does not happen when you print with borders. If you are a stickler, you will not be happy about this.
21 I LOVE MY PRINTER
I purchased my printer in Jan. and have just used my first ink cartridges. Please keep in mind I do not care about speed or space. I simply wanted a printer that prints quality prints. I generally print 8x10 and 4x6 prints. Here are the pros and cons:
PROS:
* I can not tell the difference between my professionally printed pictures and copies from my printer. No one can believe that they came from a home printer.
*Beautiful black and white prints. (I love black and white so having the photo gray was the decision maker for my purchase)
*Easy to use printer and easy to install software. Effortless to change and replace the ink cartridges.
*Coloring is excellent.
*I generally use with Camedia and Photoshop however it is nice to be able to print right from the printer when you are in a hurry.
*Prints regular documents quickly.
*I like being able to choose what quality ink output I want. If I am experimenting in Photoshop I like printing at a lower quality so I do not waste ink. For good prints I use the high end mode.
*This printer has never jammed therefore I do not waste costly paper. (I buy the HP premium matte)
CONS:
*Price. Expensive printer, ink and paper. (But worth it)
*I notice on some of my prints there are roller marks. (Faint lines that go through the pictures.) They only appear randomly and a lot of the time I have to look for them. When the ink is low I notice them more. I was aware of this problem prior to my purchase and still made the purchase.
*The ink takes a little bit to become completely dry and sometimes I smudge it.
Overall, Great purchase. I only buy HP printers and can not compare to other brands. I have always had good luck with them, why change?
22 Very Good and Highly Recommended Printer
I own a Canon Digital Rebel and needed a new printer that could handle printing high quality photos with a good life span. The HP Photosmart 7960 handles picture from my camera with no problems whatsoever. The prints come out better than from a photo finisher and thats with just using the settings from the printer software; I have not even begun to use Photoshop on the pictures!
I checked out the Epson Stylus R800 as well, but for an extra $100 you actually lose some features with the Epson. The R800 prints will last 80 years on Epson Paper and the HP Photosmart 7960 prints will last 73 years on HP plus paper...no deal breaker there! In addition the Epson does not have flash card slots...but the HP does!
The HP Photosmart 7960 inks are a bit pricey...especially the No.59 Grey Cartridge for photos. I printed only (3)-4"x8" prints and at least 10% of the cartridge is gone already. But from what I can see the other manufacturers are playing the same games with ink.
Overall, I highly recommend this printer for its features, software, price and high quality photo printing! The only con as I mentioned would be the price of ink, especially the No.59 Grey Cartridge for photos. Good luck and happy printing!
23 I love it!
I got the HP 7960 for my first grade classroom. I snap pictures and print them right there in the class. I have printed 80 photos so far without a technical problem of any kind. The photos look great to me. I've had digital photos printed at Ofoto, and the photos on the 7960 are as good. I did not buy HP paper, but still haven't had one printing problem. Recommended!
24 I LOVE this printer!
In searching for a photo printer, I initially bought the epson 1280, and returned it in a few weeks. It went through ink like crazy -- I had to replace the ink two to three times a week, and I wasn't printing out very many photos. Plus, the epson supplies were hard to find. After it's return, I bought this printer, the HP 7960, and I couldn't be happier. The pictures are fantastic; the print speed is so much faster than the epson; supplies are easy to find, and I haven't used one full ink cartridge in the month I've had it. I'm close, though. I also like the direct entry of a digital camera card -- no need to use the computer to print out GREAT pictures. Sign me THRILLED!
25 MSRP prices at Amazon
I am sure that this printer is top notch as most HP photo printers are. One word of warning to the consumers here is to KNOW your prices and do your research BEFORE coming to Amazon. Do not go by their crossed out MSRP dollar amount. I have found several instances where the price that Amazon shows is NOT the manufacturer's MSRP! The MSRP on this 7960 printer is $299.00. That is what HP told me. Amazon wants you to believe that you can save $50.00 by purchasing it here for $299.99. I have written to the BBB, the WA State Consumer Protection office and Amazon to correct this error. My attempts have been futile. Amazon's response- "there are several million items listed on our web site. It would be impossible for us to check on the price of each item on a regular basis, so we rely on the data provided to us by our suppliers." Evidently, between HP and Amazon, there is another company giving Amazon these incorrect prices. My point- if a customer points out a GLARING error, why not check it out with the manufacturer? Why hide behind the above statement?
Be careful. They do have some good buys here, but you have to do your homework BEFORE you come here!
26 I do not recommend this
Not impressed. I am the opposite of impressed. Even with the $20 for 20 pages of photo paper that HP practically forces you to buy to insure getting the best possible pictures. In fact, I've tried both glossy and matte finish and while the matte is just a little better, it's just not doing it for me. Now, if you're trying to hide blemishes or wrinkles in a photo, then this is the printer for you, because all details are washed out and all of the photos are an odd non-color. Further more, and most disturbing of all, are the black streaks that just appear randomly all over the prints. And when you go to the HP website for a solution, it actually says "The issue will not be resolved by servicing the printer" and their solution is to buy a better quality of their paper!! Oh, and how can I forget the documents I printed with the tops of every letter across every line cut off? This printer is being returned.
27 Very Good Product
I think the -Buyer Beware- guy needs to chill. Of course only Hp cameras will work, DUH!!, It's A HEWLETT PACKARD PRINTER. Of course the ink is a tiny problem but if you could afford the printer it shouldn't be TOO bad. As for the person complaining about how they didn't need the 2 inch screen - WHY DID YOU GET THE PRINTER? WHY DIDN'T YOU GET THE 1 INCH ON THE 7660!! --DUH!!!--
28 good but....
ink goes extremely fast and is expensive paper jams once in a while its hard to figure out what paper goes where .after a week or two i managed to figure it out..as far as noisy it is noisy don't believe the other reviewers.its not a bad printer i gave it 4 stars didnt i?.because the photos i print are beutiful and the thing takes 5 different memory cards from all different digital cameras and it connects to your computer its awesome with some drawbacks but all in all its good./
29 beautiful prints - at a price and a hassle
This printer replaced my Epson 750 Photo Stylus. The print quality is breathtaking. Skin tones, transitions, etc. are all flawless. The dedicated grey cartridge performs wonders. The printer is relatively quiet, fast, paper handling decent (beware multiple sheets of glossy paper in the tray) and the design and quality sturdy enough. Bounces around a bit when printing, and it's a big gizmo to plonk on a desk.
Problem 1) installing this thing can be a bit of a nightmare. My old W2K server with a 5 port USB2 card absolutely refused to play nice with the printer. Hours and hours with tech support was a total waste of my time (and theirs). Their final suggestion - to take it back to the store "because there might be an issue with the ports" - was blatantly ridiculous. Finally moved to another computer (also W2K, and tested on an XP machine with no problems), and all was well.
Problem 2) $70 for a set of replacement color cartridges?!? Do the math - someone on a site did just that, and found that they price this stuff higher than Chanel No. 5. Come on, HP, you've got us buying your "solid state" plastic, your paper, *and* your cartridges, could you at least price it all fairly? I'm getting the refill kits a.s.a.p. to see how they perform. I was really disappointed to realize that 8 color printing *does not* mean 8 individual cartridges - should have read the fine print, but this does mean you're wasting pricey color when you ditch a half-empty cartridge.
Final issue I have is paying for all the crap I don't need. I'm never connecting a camera or a media card directly to this thing, so the plethora of ports is wasted on me. Likewise the little 2" screen - cute for info on progress etc. but total overkill. I'd much rather have saved that money on a no-frills version - or spent it on more ink.
All the same, I'm satisfied with the printer - the drivers work great on XP and 2000, transfer is fast, even via USB1, and again, the print quality is excellent.
30 Very Easy & Nice Photo Quality
Both the HP photosmart 7960 printer and HP photo album software that comes with are VERY EASY to use and quick to build great looking prints and albums. I have an old Kodak digital camera and used to print with an old HP 895 color printer...what a HUGE improvement printing with hp photosmart 7960. Ink can be pricy, but the photo ink seems to be a key to professional looking results. With the birth of my nephew at year end...went to the hospital, snapped several close up and posed shots...went home and in a short time had an album ready for the proud parents...8x10's look fabulous...and the variety arrangements and wallet size options added that professional touch.
31 HP 7760 vs. HP 7960
I couldn't decide between the HP Photosmart 7760 and 7960 so I bought them both, and I printed the exact same pictures from both pictures to compare quality. I found that I liked the coloring of the 7760 in most of the color pictures. The 7960 tended to have reddish looking pictures. For example, a person's face would look redder in the 7960 pictures. But the 7960 did have more detail in landscape type pictures. Hands down, the 7960 did the best job printing black and white (used the 59 Black and White cartridge in both printers). For me, I only print black and white photos about 10% of the time.
I did like the slightly bigger LCD screen of the 7960, but found the menus and options exactly the same as the 7760. The 7960 is longer(20.9") than the 7760, and it did not fit on my desk.
The 7960 comes with 4 ink cartridges - 56 (black for documents), 57 (tri-color), 58(photo ink), and 59(black for black and white photos). While the 7760 comes with 2 ink cartridges - 57 and 58. Buying the 56 and 59 is about an additional $40, which could be a consideration when buying the 7760.
In the end, I kept the 7760. I just could not justify the additional $100 for the 7960.
32 HP Photosmart Very Smart
Just got it for Christmas. What a breeze to set up! Even before connecting it to my PC and Mac, I was able to start testing it out immediately, and had a ball playing with all of the built-in features. I liked that the printer itself lets you zoom, reduce red eye, adjust the brightness, rotate, and more. Plus, I was able to start printing borderless 4 x 6 prints immediately -- no fancy footwork needed. I just loaded the paper and started printing.
This would be the perfect printer for somebody who doesn't even want to mess with their pictures on a computer. The fact that I can hook it up to my Mac and PC for additional tinkering with in PhotoShop is just the icing on the cake.
The printer itself does seem very light -- in other words, it doesn't feel very substantial when you pull it out of the box.
And, the ink cartridges are a bit expensive. But I've been taking hundreds of pictures over the past two years and printing very very few of them...so I am just glad that now I can finally print quickly and easily.
33 Rubbish
Excellent print quality. However, I had frequent paper jams. The 4x6 paper holder is really flimsy and poorly designed. The "borderless prints" were rarely aligned correctly. There is no visual print preview which was very aggravating because I had no control over cropping. The printer cropped at will. I wasted alot of ink, paper and time trying to get the printer to print the way I wanted it to. The software is very poor and so are the guides and documentation. I was very relieved to return this printer. The high quality black and white prints are just not worth the aggravation. I'm getting a Canon.
34 Great Printer for a Great Price
I have had the HP Photosmart 7960 for 2 weeks now and love it. I upgraded from the HP Photosmart 1218 and can see an immediate difference. The pictures are much crisper with more depth and vibrance.
I typically use my 7960 for day to day printing and on FastDraft, I'm able to print in black and white and in color at amazing speeds.
Just a great printer all around.
Especially if you can catch it on sale (I paid $269 thru Amazon) and then got a $40 credit to use on anything I want.
Not to shabby!
35 Everyone should have one!
Combine this printer with the new HP Premium Plus photo paper and you would swear that your prints were from film! I recieved this printer as a gift this weekend and spent today in heaven playing with it. First off, it is the easiest printer I have ever dealt with! You don't even need to have a computer hooked up! The panel is intuitive; but, gives you a lot of control including print size, # of copies, zoom, and rotate. And everything you do to the photo is shown on the screen which adjusts to whatever angle is easiest for you to view. I was printing using the low-end black ink instead of the higher quality grayscale ink and I am still amazed at the quality of the prints! If you are looking for an amazing printer which is easy to operate, this is the one you want!
36 Disappointing HP - Canon Outperforms.
I seem to be one of the few disappointed by the HP 7960. I found the photo print quality lacked depth. The machine itself felt too light weight, the intertia of the printing caused it to skid across the desk. The machine was prone to paper jamming. After a week, I returned it in favor of a Canon i900D.
The Canon machine is much more substantial and gives much warmer pictures. Downsides - LCD isn't as clear as it could be and the machine takes a little longer to set up. Overall though, the Canon is the winner. (especially as it is almost $100 cheaper)
37 Buyer beware
First of all, this is my fourth HP product I have purchased. The other 3 printers were all excellent performers. I was very shocked, flabbergasted, and disappointed when the USB connection was completely incompatibe. After 40 minutes of waiting for an on-line HP technician, I was informed that this printer works only with HP digital cameras. What a major disappointment. HP suggested I call Minolta and Canon to see if they had any adapter that would work, thanks HP. No thanks, no mas, I am returning this clunker back.
38 Easy to use!
I'm very impressed by the straight forward design and navigation of the HP PhotoSmart 7960. Very easy to use and figure out, even if you're a technophobe like myself. Out of the box it was easy to set up with the step-by-step poster that they provided. Right away I was printing vacation photos straight from my compact flash (with the printer's default settings, without being hooked up to a computer) and I got really good printouts.
Pros: The LCD display is bigger than most digital cameras and is very clear, navagation is straight forward and easy to figure out, the color range is good (considering there's "8 colors"), very easy to use.
Cons: It comes with color cartridges that combine colors (CMY, Light-CMY, Grey or Black) so if you run out of one color you have to replace the whole thing. On glossy photo paper the overall color tends to be a bit darker. And at the moment it's a bit pricy compared with it's competition.
39 does a great job
I've used this printer for a ton of photos taken at 2288*1520 and it has done a great job on all from 4*6 to 8*10.The 4*6 prints from this printer are impossible to tell apart from the 4*6 prints from my photo dedicated dye sublimation printer.With many more print size options compared to more expensive dye subs this would be a great choice instead.The card reader is also a great benefit works very nicely and is simple to use.It's only real bothersome side is that you must change the gray scale print catridge for black when printing text and back for photos.I also use an epson 960 that does an absultely equal job at photos that doesn't require any cartridge changes but with the epson you give up the card reader convenience.
40 Best for the Money
This printer is the best value I have seen in printing in my 63 years.
It offers clear, sharp B&W pictures and beautiful color at a reasonable price.
You will not be disappointed.
41 Great for Photos, but....
I have had my 7960 Photo printer one week, and was knocked out by the quality of the photos it prints! It is great to be able to just remove the card from my Minolta 7i digital camera and insert it into the slot on the 7960 and print excellent photos that match any from a commercial Photo Lab in minutes. The photo printer that I was using before is the Canon S9000, which I still have, but it has to be used with the camera hooked up to the computer and the procedure from there was complicated to use, though the finished product was good. But something had messed up the connection to the computer and we were not able to use it anymore, as we aren't very computer savvy, so it was easier to just buy a new photo printer that was much simpler to operate, and the HP 7960 is definitely the one, it couldn't be simlper nor easier to use. But...I gave up my old HP
2000C Professional Printer to have room for this one, and it was my workhorse printer for over four years, and still going strong when we unplugged it and gave to a granddaughter. Now I wish I had it back, because this 7960 will not "do" envelopes. I have tried everything, even calling HP tech support. After almost an hour of holding and being shuttled back and forth from one operator to another, saying they would connect me to the 7960 Printer technician, I finally was connected to a tech in India, of all places. The lady was very nice, and I could understand most of what she said (though not everything). I explained my problem to her, she told me to do exactly what I had been doing already, and after about 20 minutes of trying different things that she told me to do, none of her solutions worked. I don't think she had even seen a 7960 Photo Printer, maybe a photo of one, but it was hard to explain to her how it worked in connection with placing the envelopes in the tray. She finally directed me to an HP website online, a "Trouble Shoot" Site, and it had basically the same info she had been telling me to do, that I had already done before calling HP, and it still will not print envelopes! I get the message "Printer is out of Paper." There is no way to place envelopes in this printer where the printer will recognize that it is an envelope. So if you want to print envelopes on your printer, have an older model as a standby, because this one sure won't do it! But if you only want to print photos, go for it, you can't do better. Now I will call Canon to see if their techs can tell me how to do envelopes on a Canon S9000.
42 Excellent HP Printer as usual!
I received my new HP 7960 Photosmart printer 2 weeks ago. Set up is very easy and the printer is excellent at printing photos. This printer is wide (20") so make sure you have room for it. The printer comes with a large viewing screen which makes it easy to view your photographs prior to printing. One drawback: You have to change out the grey photo cartridge to the black cartridge in order to print text, but I am using this printer strictly for printing photographs anyway. The printer accepts most memory cards and also has a USB port on the front of it. I highly recommend this printer!!
43 High quality, fairly easy to use.
I was looking for a photo orinter that was higher-end than the multitude of $100 choices out there. I didn't want to spend the $600 and up for some of the low-end professional options out there either. In comes the HP 7960.
This printer has the bells and whistles I like -- without the gimmicks I don't want to pay for. Having bought and still using an HP laser printer (1100a) many years ago, I felt comfortable with the quality for price of the product.
Printing out pictures is very easy. Since I msotly use my laptop these days I really like the option for dropping in the compact flash card and printing directly from that. Now I can leave the printer in the office but keep my laptop whever I need it. No computer necessary for printing! The menu system is easy to use except one thing -- moving the selector for the printed area with some print sizes. Other than that, I give this two thumbs up. The photo quality is VERY good!
