HP DeskJet 930C
Price: AU$399
Distributor: Hewlett-Packard Australia
Ph: 03 9272 2895; Fax: 03 9898 7831
www.hp.com.au
The only model in HP's 900 series that we have previously tested is the 970Cxi so we were interested to see what the 930C had to offer, and what corners, if any, had been cut for the 930C to sell for a rather substantial $360 less than the 970Cxi. Obviously we were also eager to see what benefits the 930C presented over the 840C for around $100 more.
The 900 series has more curvaceous lines than any of the previous HP inkjets and while more sophisticated than the earlier series, as we shall see, the similarity in functionality is very obvious. The paper handling is the very latest from HP and it even offers some advantages (and disadvantages) over the 970Cxi. The configuration still consists of a lower input tray with an output tray positioned above. Well, calling the output area a tray is a bit like calling a raft a ship; yes, both should keep you dry but one is a good deal more substantial.
That's not to say HP's solution is not clever, you see only the lower half of the output sheet is fully supported by a -mini-tray"; the top half of the page is only supported at the very end. This actually works fineâ€"the reason HP has -shaved" off some of the output tray is that it now allows the entire tray assembly to fold up against the body of the printer for easier transport and storage, the only one amongst the tested HP products that can achieve this feat. The tray is smaller than the 970Cxi and as a consequence holds fewer sheets of paper: 100 A4 sheets, in fact. HP claim stock up to a pretty hefty 200gsm can be fed and, should a paper jam occur, a large panel at the rear of the printer can be removed to clear it.
The rear panel can be removed entirely and (although at a quick glance we could not find it on the 930C's option list) we confirmed the 970Cxi's duplexer can be attached.
The AC power supply has been moved to the inside of the printer where, in our opinion, it should be. The top-mounted control panel includes a power switch, a cancel button, a resume button, and three status LEDs (one indicates the printer is powered up, the second indicates error conditions, and the third signals one of the cartridges is out of ink). On the subject of cartridges, when the printer cover is lifted, the carriers undock and the distance they travel depends on the cartridge status, a yellow arrow on the cartridge carrier points to legends embossed on the plastic above.
The cartridge moves out a short distance and points to a smiley face icon if all is OK. The other four options in order are black low, colour low, black out, and colour out.
Like the 800 series, no -Photo" colour cartridge is requiredâ€"the printer has a single black and a single CMY tri-colour cartridge. Black cartridge life is pretty darn impressive for all the 900 and 1200 series printers. At 680 pages the 930C is only bested by the 970Cxi and 1220C. The life of the standard tri-colour cartridge, however, is not as brilliant with just 213 pagesâ€"of the desktop printers only the Lexmark range fared worse. Cost per page breaks down to and inexpensive 10 cents for black and a relatively steep 33 cents for colour, using the standard cartridge.
Documentation is similar to the 800 series except that the User's Guide is a single language and more substantial running to 58 pages. Peak throughput for the 930C was the fourth fastest overall at an impressive 5.9ppm. Mind you, at this speed some registration errors tended to slip in. Stepping up to HP's -normal" setting for the complex document sees a marked increase in quality and the conquering of the misregistration errors with a score of 1.06ppm. Text formation was excellent with deep and rich blacks on par with the 970CXi, only the Lexmark printers were superior in this regard.
The 930C is no slouch when it comes to photo quality output either with a score of 0.22ppm placing it third fastest overall. The quality of the print was very good with great definition and quite fine dither patterns although the default setting produced over saturated colours marginally more so than the 970Cxi. This is a common trait of all the HP printers tested that do not utilise a photo ink cartridge, the 640C managed more restrained colour with its photo cartridge, and we found tweaking the colour sliders in the driver's -advanced" page alleviated the problem.
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Thats really good printer,These would be useful in the work place who are using printers.Like in the office. This may be a big help to make their work easier. Thanks for sharing this information. Have a good to all of you.
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