Hewlett-Packard DeskJet 960c

WHAT'S HOT: The DeskJet 960c is one of the faster ink jets on the market today; PC World tests clocked it at 4.8 pages per minute for text and just shy of 1 ppm for graphics. Text printouts look attractive, with clean lines and smooth curves, though letters have the grayish-black look characteristic of HP's recent ink jets. A more serious flaw is the tiny white dots we detected inside larger letterforms where ink failed to cover the paper.

The 960c does a wonderful job on graphics, printing gray-scales with excellent detail and realistic shading. HP's driver lets graphics pros choose to print gray-scales with only black ink or with a combination of color inks. (In the composite mode, the driver uses subtle touches of color to add depth to gray-scales; in our opinion, composite gray-scales always look better than plain monochrome images.) Color graphics have fine detail and subtle shading.

We also like the 960c's design. For instance, when the printer runs out of ink or a print head malfunctions, you just open the lid--the printer self-diagnoses and the carriage slides to a stop in front of one of several icons indicating various error conditions.

WHAT'S NOT: HP's crack documentation team must have been on vacation during development of this model. The so-called reference guide is a too-brief 20 pages, and the setup poster's instructions on installing the driver and attaching the printer contradict instructions displayed on screen during the installation process. The online help files don't provide much enlightenment.

At $299 the 960c is a relatively expensive printer, and HP should have devoted more effort to supporting users. The 960c's ink costs per page of text run to 3.6 cents, though color graphics price out at 11.2 cents.

WHAT ELSE: The 960c's driver has a setting to optimize graphics so that they'll fax (or copy) well. The prints don't look great with their dots rendered big enough for a fax machine to capture, but whoever gets your fax will be able to decipher it. HP sells a $79 duplexer option that pops into a slot in the rear of the printer, allowing you to save some trees.

BEST USE: With all-around decent print quality and reasonable performance, the DeskJet 960c could work well in a home office, but its $299 price is pretty steep these days.

SUMMARY

Hewlett-Packard DeskJet 960c Rated 5.7 ppm monochrome/4.7 ppm color, 2400-by-1200-dpi maximum resolution, 150 sheets input, 50 sheets output. $299 800/752-0900 www.hp.com