HP DeskJet 9650

Hewlett-Packard Deskjet 9650

DeskJet 9650 Review, by Dan Littman June 25, 2004

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• Reviewed by: stefweaver

  Strengths: A printer with a large plotting size with high resolution at an affordable cost.

  Weaknesses: There are no printer cables included. You must purchase your own USB or parallel port cable.

  Overall: This printer is great for oversized color printing (greater than 8.5 x 11). I've printed a lot of 11 x 17 plots and have found the quality to be excellent (I think it prints up to 13 x 19). Print quality can be adjusted to accomodate 4 levels of quality from draft to final presentation. There is a photo quality ink cartridge included which is probably good for photos, although I haven't used it yet. I like this printer a lot!

• Reviewed by: GLRPHD

  Strengths: 13X19 capacity, color quality, toolbox

  Weaknesses: loses detail in shadow areas, massive ink consumption

  Overall: Having been spoiled by the HP 1220c's detail quality, replication of the original photo, relatively low ink consumption (80+ 8x10 prints per single color cartridge vs 40+/- prints per dual cartridge with the 9650), and Photo RET system, the 9650 is a long step down.It isn't immediately noticeable, but the 9650 has a serious problem with losing shadow detail. As the print comes out of the printer, it appears that the shadow detail is present, but within minutes of drying all that is left is a dark blotch. And there is no fix for this problem. So before you contact the HP tech dept, and they manage to empty your two cartridges and leave you with dozens of identically blotched trial prints ... consider your options, lighten the shadow areas about 20% before printing, and resist the impulse to contact the techies.And as soon as HP replicates the discontinued 1220c, buy it and sell your 9650 for the price of a couple of cartridges.

• Reviewed by: Saknussem

  Strengths: This printer has no strengths as far as I am concerned. I wish I had NEVER spent the money on it.

  Weaknesses: This printer has endless weaknesses.

  Overall: This printer communicates with XP poorly at best. The ink cartridges designed for it have an inherant flaw with them that makes the ink bleed out and solidify on the contact surface. The software for this printer is also flawed in that the printer will not print out its own test pages, cartridge alignment pages, or clean ink cartridge pages. I have been buying HP products for many years, and this is, no doubt, the worst printer they have ever released on an unsuspecting public.SHAME ON THEM!

• Reviewed by: parkartist

  Strengths: Large format

  Weaknesses: Blows through ink because you have to put it in best mode to get a decent art print - if you print in normal quality mode, you will get printer lines

  Overall: I have gone through 3 of these printers in the last six months. I bought one of those replacement warranties initially, now I am stuck with a printer that works for 2 months, then starts printing bars. It is not the paper I am using. I have tested all kinds. I used to have an HP1120c, but HP did not make a driver for it to work with Windows XP. So I bought the 9650. It is horrible. Don't even consider buying it.

• Reviewed by: snowbuddah

  Strengths: Crisp, clean type and photos. Excellent reproduction of color photos and documents.

  Weaknesses: Very noisy when grabbing paper from tray.

  Overall: Overall I have had no problem using this printer. Meets every expectation. Matching of color in printing photos is excellent. Type is very clean and crisp at all sizes. Has the ability to print in every size from A4 to 13 x 19, and 4 foot banners. Borderless photo printing is just another plus for this machine. Manual feed slot in back also aligns paper for you; when you go to print, it will back-off the paper and then pull it forward again to align so your prints are straight. Apparently Mr. Littman does not care for good quality in his revue. He emphasizes the cost of each type of printed page. As with all products, you sacrifice one for the other. He seems more concerned about cost and speed, than excellent results. In that case, maybe he should buy the cheapest thing out there, and leave the quality printing to others. Personally, I find the HP 9650 one of the best printers out there. For the money it is a very good buy.