HP Designjet T770

Hewlett Packard's latest wide-format, six-colour device, the Designjet T770, was recently put through its paces by the Buyer's Lab (BLI). We take a look at what they had to say.

First - and most importantly - how are the prints? Well, the BLI were pleased, rating the T770 'very good' on both colour and black & white printing. Its handling of shadows and highlights in black & white photography was particularly impressive, while its colours were consistent and natural-looking. It also comes with a Colour Emulation feature, which allows you to match its output to that of earlier HP models. Pretty handy if you ask us!

If you're looking for a printer for CAD or other detailed line work, it's worth noting that the T770 performed well here too: it can produce finely-spaced lines, full circles and consistent line widths without any visible ink spray or haloing.

Like many of its competitors, the T770 can handle multiple file types, including HP-GL/2, and the HP Instant Printing feature keeps the file submission process quick and easy. However, unlike many of its competitors, it comes with a 160GB internal hard drive. This is great if you're handling data for large numbers of complex jobs, while the HP Web Jetadmin feature (available as a free download on the HP site) is a fantastic tool for busy administrators as it lets them monitor and configure HP and non-HP printers in their network simultaneously. 

If you're looking to save a few extra pennies, you'll also appreciate the Nesting feature, which saves media and money by printing smaller documents across the width of the page, using as much of the media as possible before cutting.

So far, so good, but how easy is it to use? On the upside, the T770 is top-loading rather than rear-loading, automatically straightens media which is loaded skewed, and can recognise 29 types of media, many of which have their own pre-programmed drying time to ensure they're ready as soon as they're cut. It's also very reliable - during BLI's two-month test, it had no jams and needed no service calls (there were one or two glitches, but these were fixed by restarting the printer).

On the downside, the control panel is crowded and not as intuitive as it could be, which could be a problem for new users. While it deals successfully with a lot of media types, the T770 only has a 2-inch core adapter, so can't be used with 3-inch core media.

That said, it remains one of the most versatile printers we've seen in a long time. It's packed with features to make life easier for administrators, while its high performance on both colour printing and fine line work makes it ideal for graphics and technical workgroups.

Find out more about the HP Designjet T1200PS. You can also get in touch with our CAD experts on 03332 409 204 or email CAD@jigsaw24.com.