Expert’s Rating
Pros
Cons
Our Verdict
The incoming grade of the archival - timber photo pressman market is heating up flop now , with the simultaneous spill of Epson ’s Stylus Photo R1900 ( ) and HP ’s Photosmart Pro B8850 . HP ’s entry is a lower - price rendering of the Photosmart Pro B9180 ( ) , offer that model ’s very expert photographic print calibre and substantial feature ( with a few thinking omissions ) at a low terms .
Set-up
The B8850 is a gravid pressman , weighing nearly 40 pounds . It has a 200 - sheet newspaper publisher tray and a single - sheet , manual - feed tray with a neat theme route , both of which are capable of care paper from 3.5 by 5 inches up to 13 by 19 inch . It apply eight individual eminent - capacity ink cartridge , with separate black ink for photo and matte paper type , a light gray ink for calamitous - and - clean impression , and the standard full complement of cyan , yellow , magenta , light cyan , and light Battle of Magenta ink .
In addition to the ink cartridges , the B8850 also requires initiation of four printheads ; but , under normal usage , the printheads should last the life of the printer .
Print quality
The B8850 uses the Vivera inks and cartridge plant in the B9180 ; as a solution , prints made with the new model are as honest as those from the original . On all media types – glossy , semigloss , matte , and all right - prowess papers – the B8850 produces in high spirits - quality print that have large-minded tonal chain of mountains and reckon unfeigned to living . When compare print on similar newspaper publisher character with the R1900 , some viewers felt that the B8850 prints were a bit cool than those of the R1900 , but the differences were minimal , and easy correctable .
HP Photosmart Pro B8850
On glossy papers , the B8850 exhibit some tan , especially on ikon with large area of little or no ink on the page . On HP ’s forward-looking Glossy composition – the company ’s preferred glossy media – this can be a bit unsightly . If we had n’t seen the glistening output from the R1900 , we would have tell that the B8850 ’s shining end product was quite good , but the Epson pressman does a much better Book of Job in this category .
HP Photosmart Pro B8850
Where the B8850 does have it over the R1900 is in black - and - white-hot impression . The HP model produces great grim - and - snowy photos that are rich and detailed , with no visible color swan on most composition type . They ’re close to the character you get with Epson ’s $ 800Stylus Photo R2400or $ 1,200 Stylus Pro 3800 ( ) , although those printers expend two gray inks in gain to the picture or matte black inks , which dedicate you slimly more tonic range and tincture detail than you ’ll get with the B8850 ( or the B9180 ) .
The B8850 ’s print life should also be quite upright . According toWilhelm Imaging Research , prints using the B8850 and many of HP ’s glossy and okay art papers should last for near 275 years when put under glass , and approximately 200 years unframed . This is among the longest lifespan of any of the printer - ink combinations Wilhelm has tested .
Extra features
As the archival printer grocery store has grown , so have the choices for alternative written document from unlike manufacturers ( see Printing on unusual surfaces ) , and HP wisely recognizes this by permit you automatically lend new newspaper types – and their associated ICC color profiles – directly to the configurations fare in the Print dialog box . This feature debuted with the B9180 , and nearly three years later , no other printer manufacturer makes it as loose to publish on alternative newspaper publisher type without jumping through hoops .
The B8850 also comes with a nice suite of utilities for bring off the printer , including a Dashboard appliance that displays the current ink levels in each cartridge and a basic applications programme for printing photos ( although most mass who purchase the printing machine will probably have a photo program such as Photoshop CS3 , Lightroom , Aperture , or iPhoto that they will use for their printing needs ) .
HP includes a number of smart utilities for managing the B8850 , including a Dashboard widget that displays the current ink level .
HP includes a number of smart utilities for managing the B8850, including a Dashboard widget that displays the current ink levels.
While the B8850 share a good deal of features with the B9180 , there are a few missing items in the lower - priced model . The B9180 has an Ethernet port , which is ready to hand for using the printer in small workgroups ; a front - panel LCD that lets you manage the printer without a Mac ; support for HP ’s Postscript RIP ; and a higher thickness threshold–1.5 millimeter vs. 0.7mm – with media in the manual feed slot . Few of these omissions will matter to the B8850 ’s target interview of recreational digital photographers , who we think will much prefer spending less money to get the same print quality as the B9180 .
Performance
There ’s a caboodle to like with the B8850 , but it ’s not the speediest printer in its category . In the received print mode , the B8850 printed a 4 - by-6 - column inch photo in 75 second base , an 8 - by-10 - column inch photo in 156 seconds , and a 12 - by-18 - in exposure in 309 secondment . print at the maximum mark timbre resulted in stop number decreases of 30 to 42 pct on mediocre , but the only printer in this course that is slower than the B8850 is its predecessor , the B9180 . Both Canon ’s Pixma Pro9000 and Epson ’s R1900 were at least twice as tight as the B8850 in default mark manner , and on average 70 to 90 per centum quicker at maximum print quality .
The B8850 get with high-pitched - capacity ink pickup , which means more printing process before you run out of ink . In our test , we print more than 200 photos – mostly 8 - by-10 - inch print and large – before we turn tail out of any ink . That ’s great , but it ’s also deserving noting that the HP cartridges also cost more , so you do n’t get a smashing price break with the bigger capacities . ( You will pay roughly similar amounts per cubic centimeter for ink from any of the other major pressman maker . )
Macworld’s buying advice
The Photosmart Pro B8850 is n’t a radical shift key from HP ’s initial first appearance into the pigment ink printing machine market . HP wisely chose to pare the right features from the B9180 to make an low-cost , entrance - level printer for photographers looking for archival - quality prints . While it lacks some of the glitz of Epson ’s Stylus Photo R1900 , the B8850 is a strong offering with very skillful print character on most newspaper character and the best opprobrious - and - white impression capabilities of any printing machine under $ 800 that I ’ve test . If the R1900 were not useable , the B8850 would without doubtfulness be the printer to buy . The R1900 ’s glossy photo timbre definitely outshine the B8850 ’s , but if you want bleak and ashen , the B8850 is the better choice at this damage .
[ Rick LePage play the photo printing sitePrinterville . ]
