HP B9180 printer

When I bought this printer for archival prints it was the best rated. Is it still the best ? The ink prices are

horrendous. What worries me also is how long ink cartridges will be made for the printer. Should I keep it ?

<p>you're already invested; why not just use it until you cant get cartridges? if the ink cost is high consider 3rd party inks but I've rarely seen 3rd party HP carts. Ink is always expensive, esp in small cart sizes.</p>

<p>It's very good - as long as it works which will not be for ever. Ink prices are always horrendous whatever make you have.</p>

<p>This printer is notorious for having terrible build quality and mind-breaking operational dysfunction. But when it works, the prints are indeed excellent. HP abandoned this one a few years ago. I ditched mine about three years ago. The few others I knew with it did the same.<br>

<br />Ink costs too much for all pigment printers, so if yours works well, count your blessings and keep using it.</p>

<p>ME</p>

<p>Try looking on ebay for ink. I've gotten some great deals (like 1/2 price, sometimes lower) on cartridges for my HP 8750. Sometimes they're out of date, sometimes new.</p>

<p>I don't do enough digital printing to make it worthwhile (keeping the heads clean and serviceable) and dislike the fact that the ink cartridges have a limiting date after which, even full, they can refuse to work. When I bought it I didn't have a good monitor or calibration device. An expensive business unless your throughput justifies it. For the moment it is (was) a mistaken purchase for me. For B&W, I am happier in my darkroom and have less trouble making high quality prints. For the rest, I let capable digital printers do the work, or accept moderate quality results with a smaller printer. Maybe I am a Luddite?</p>

I am possibly asking for trouble saying this but my B9180 has never missed a beat unlike my Canon which was always going wrong with the inking. and then it finally stopped working and the cost of repair meant it was cheaper to dump it.I think I'll soldier on with the high cost inks.

<p>I happily tossed mine (literally) 3 years ago from the back of my truck into the concrete pit of our local recycling center.</p>

<p>Anthony. it is great that it has worked well for you. It had a good reputation for neutral B&W print quality. I had trouble getting much help from HP, but may restart it later on if it recognizes my year old inks. What do you do if the heads block with ink? Anyone tried ultrasonic cleaning? </p>

<p>Mines actually working right now. Have lost count of the times I was THAT CLOSE to chucking it though. If it's not mechanical issues it just well..., get's lost. Go through the motions of a firmware upgrade, even though it has the "latest", and what do you know: it get's found again.</p>

<p>I better not type to loud, I think it's listening...</p>

<p>I just replaced my B9180 with an Epson 3880 and it works great. I was tired of the B9180 using too much ink with it's daily cleaning cycles. </p>

<p>In my opinion pretty well all inkjet printers are like this - great for 3 - 5 years then they die. Perhaps we should accept this is their lifecycle? Having sworn off printing my own I have capitulated again and now have a Canon PRO100 - hoping that dye ink will be less prone to clogging than pigment.</p>

<p>Users of the Epson 3880 report that it does not clog - some have reported no clogs even when the printer was off for 6+ months. I hope this is correct because I am a low volume user. </p>

<p>Robert - report back in 5 years with your experiences! The problem I see is that low volume use is never a very good idea. The worry with the 3880 is that actually it is a more expensive printer and has more expensive ink cartridges (although price/print is less), so if it does play up, you loose more. This is why I think we need to think in lifecycles - are you happy with the depreciation? If you are higher volume user, in my experience, you are less likely to get these problems and, when you do, you are at least more likely to feel you have had your money's worth.</p>

I have one in storage as of last April. I got it in 2008 based on very positive reviews . I used it infrequently but, the prints were great. I bought the HP extended service and I think they discontinued the printer before the plan expired. Their tech support was dismal. I will never buy an HP product again.

 

I'm currently babysitting an Epson 4800. The first print I made (16 x 20) via Lightroom 5 was perfect! Off my 2007 MacBook Pro, no less. This has NEVER happened before. BTW it's known for being thrifty with ink.

 

Keep your 9180 as long as it works and you can get ink.

<blockquote>

<p>I will never buy an HP product again</p>

</blockquote>

<p>I'm in the same school, not only due to my printer, but a recent slew of failed HPN "RPN" calculators. Typically the buttons fail, and on my latest it basically had an electronic nervous breakdown: flashes a message about some memory overload. I can do various resets, take the batteries right out (for a month or two). Nothing helps.</p>

<p>I believe HP published a statement, something about ending their involvement in "consumer level" products.</p>

<p>Just a great company, lots of great ideas, LOL.</p>

<p>Follow Robin Smith's advice: the Canon Pixma Pro 100 for less than $100 after rebate...third part inks available (and chip re-setter) - a dye ink printer (not pigment like the B9180)</p>

 

<p>This model used the Vivera ink set. These produce the blackest blacks in the time the pigment inks were struggling with this. I'm not sure on the richest blackest blacks now a days, but I have seen some great blacks from recent Canons. A dye 6 ink has a wider range than a pigment base. Canon uses 12 inks!<br>

The Photo Satin paper for these is also a superior product. super thick and has a great durable surface.<br>

<br />I'm surprised they clean the heads often. At the time, I left Epson 7500 for this reason. If you don't use an Epson regularly, you are in clog head hell. I could leave the HP for weeks without a print, and it would jump right in to print with no issues. Don't get me wrong, I also hate the HP and its paper feed issues. I have wasted more paper in the past use when I had the HP DJ 130gpx, I actually felt bad for the trees. But once in place on the roll feed it was OK. The B9180 and the 130 shared the same ink formula.</p>

I must have a Canon problem complex. My Canon scanner only worked for about 20 months before packing up and when I took it to Canon they said it wasn't worth repairing - just like my Canon printer. All my HP products have worked perfectly except I just cannot get my B9180 prints to match the monitor image for brightness however much I try to adjust the monitor. My monitor is a cheapie 10 year old ACER so I was wondering whether to get a Samsung.

Can any of you experts suggest an answer to the printed image problem ? I have tried all the gamma adjustments without success.