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#1
06-08-2009, 07:32 AM
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HP C7280 AIO for $169!
At Amazon. Recall that I am a recently laid off HP pen designer. I have no love at all for the company but I do have a lot of experience and up to date knowledge of the printing business generally.
This appears to me to be the final dumping of the BEST print system ever sold. It uses small ink tanks instead of cartridges so they are cheaper to buy. The best part is that it has a recirculating pump inside so that all the servicing spits get sucked up and returned to the ink tank. It uses a fixed print head so that your photo coloring will never change when you need to replace a dry ink tank - this is huge problem with cartridge pens. It is a 6 ink system K-Y-M-m-C-c with the half tone Magenta and Cyan giving fantastic color and shading. Most of the print mech is built with metal rather than plastic. This entire thing was done at the high end and its like has never been approached by any other manufacturer and will not be again. It appears from this sale that HP is dumping the last of these printers so that in the future they will sell only a newer, cheaper, design of ink tank printers. At $169 you are paying over much less than the thing cost to build! IMO this is the great opportunity for a printer purchase. I'm tempted to buy a second, backup job since I have a large supply of ink for these printers. I don't expect mine to ever break down but things do get damaged falling off of shelves, etc. Carl P.S. The big complaint that I read is about the software, and this is valid. My directions would be to go to the HPShopping website and download an up to the minute driver and install it. It is HUGE though and there is really no way around that. DOn't use any of the discs that come with the thing, you should have better photo handling software available to you. 
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#3
06-08-2009, 09:35 AM
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The ink should be available nearly forever. The supplies organization runs separately from the printer/printhead part and is dedicated to getting every bit of money out of product. These print systems were developed with the idea that they would last forever and give HP the opportunity to harvest ink money for a long time. Judging by other cartridges we should be good for at least 7-10 years of manufacture, probably more. Even when they stop manufacturing them, they finish by building an enormous stockpile of parts. I don't anticipate running out being a problem.
Carl
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#4
06-08-2009, 10:12 AM
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Not bad! I wish they had that technology in one that was not an all in one printer.... I hate buying ink - thats why I am phasing out my epson now....
__________________
Want to buy some models from independent designers? http://www.ecardmodels.com and visit the shop!
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#5
06-08-2009, 11:59 AM
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Up to a year ago, you could have bought one. But they want to push people over to a newer ink tank system that makes more money for HP. Unfortunately it is not anywhere near as good for print quality and has a cheaper, mostly plastic, mech. BTW plastic mechs are pretty much the industry standard.
If you like, when I get home I can look at my non AIO printer for the model number and maybe you can look on EBay for one. There might be a 3rd party discount house dumping them an some outrageous low price. Carl
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#6
06-08-2009, 06:49 PM
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Carl -- Unless I am at the wrong site, Amazon is now charging $248.99 for the HP C7280 AIO: Amazon.com: O Hewlett Packard O - Hp Photosmart C7280 Aio Printer: Office Products
Don
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#7
06-08-2009, 07:25 PM
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On Ebay, you can pick brand new starting at around $170.
Carl, How is the printer handling heavy cardstock? My Hp1220, after few months had real tough time lifting cardstock from the tray and then try to turn it around to print...
__________________
Constructive criticism of my builds is welcome - if I messed up and allowed others to see it, I certainly deserve it  Michael Krol
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#8
06-08-2009, 08:17 PM
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#9
06-09-2009, 02:57 AM
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Carl,
Thanks for your insider's knowledge on the mysteries of the printers. The HP C7280 is an all-in-one device with a number of bells and whistles that makes it somewhat large. I'm looking at this as an option to transport overseas and this one just doesn't fit into my designer Walmart action packer that I usually use to transport stuff to where I live full time. (The plastic Walmart action packer is airline friendly but also customs friendly as it usually raises no eyebrows when I take the "nothing to declare" greenline through my friendly customs officials.) So here is my question: Are there other HP printers that use this high quality print system but aren't as large? Are there devoted stand alone printers without the scanner that use this print system? I think the HP C7280 dimensions were around 17 inches by 17.5 inches. Length isn't so much a problem as width being more a more transport friendly 12 inch dimension. HP is here in Africa and I believe the ink is also this side also, so this could be an ideal printer up-grade for me. I'm sure I could even source an old 220v HP transformer to work although that isn't even necessary and I can find other means to get the voltage correct. I can continue to keep an eye out for other HP printer options as they appear on Amazon or ebay if I know of other HP model numbers that also use this system. Thanks again. Phil
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