topic Re: Anyone using the HP Designjet 120? in Installation & update

Anyone using the HP Designjet 120?

Anonymous — Thu, 11 Mar 2004 17:22:40 GMT

I was considering buying the HP Designjet 120 to use with Archicad 8.1 & Plotmaker on my Mac G4..

Is anyone using this printer? Is it good to use with Plotmaker? Any comments good or bad?

Thanks.

Stephen Duda

Re: Anyone using the HP Designjet 120?

JCovarrubias — Fri, 12 Mar 2004 14:22:12 GMT

You will be able to use this device as a Printer (File-> Print), while the File-> Plot command won't work with this device (no HPGL/2).

I have worked with a greater number of clients using the the HP DJ500 or HP DJ500PS who have had the option to plot and print (HPGL/2 is optional).

(I have personally used the HP120NR for a few months and found the quality of output sub-par for an inkjet device)

Re: Anyone using the HP Designjet 120?

Anonymous — Fri, 12 Mar 2004 23:49:38 GMT

Stephen wrote:
I was considering buying the HP Designjet 120 to use with Archicad 8.1 & Plotmaker on my Mac G4..

Is anyone using this printer? Is it good to use with Plotmaker? Any comments good or bad?

Thanks.

Stephen Duda

I've used hp100 to print pdfs on a PC. Works great.

Re: Anyone using the HP Designjet 120?

Anonymous — Mon, 15 Mar 2004 14:35:43 GMT

JCovarrubias wrote:
You will be able to use this device as a Printer (File-> Print), while the File-> Plot command won't work with this device (no HPGL/2).

I have worked with a greater number of clients using the the HP DJ500 or HP DJ500PS who have had the option to plot and print (HPGL/2 is optional).

(I have personally used the HP120NR for a few months and found the quality of output sub-par for an inkjet device)

Excuse my ignorance, but what are the disadvantages of the Designjet 120 not functioning as a plotter? Can't I get the same output with it as a printer?

Thanks for the information - Stephen

Re: Anyone using the HP Designjet 120?

Anonymous — Mon, 15 Mar 2004 14:55:25 GMT

Stephen wrote:
Excuse my ignorance, but what are the disadvantages of the Designjet 120 not functioning as a plotter? Can't I get the same output with it as a printer?

Thanks for the information - Stephen

Plotting still tends to be faster than printing and plot files are smaller than PDFs for sending by e-mail, but otherwise there is little or no difference.

In general it is a good idea to start moving toward printing as a uniform standard since HP themselves are no longer including HPGL as standard in their plotters (it's available as an add-on), and they are not even calling them plotters any more - they're "wide format printers" now.

This is also consistent with moving toward using PDF for record sets and archiving. It is likely that they will be readable long after HPGL is a distant memory. PDFs are closely tied to printing and (AFAIK) the is no way to plot them.

Re: Anyone using the HP Designjet 120?

Anonymous — Sat, 20 Mar 2004 00:29:30 GMT

What about the speed compared to a HP 500. Obviously slower, but by how much. HP's website/tech support are absolutely no help (one is listed as Min./PP the other SF/min). There tech support is absolutely clueless.

In short: How long does it take to spit out an average B&W 24x36 plot?

Re: Anyone using the HP Designjet 120?

Anonymous — Tue, 20 Apr 2004 14:30:21 GMT

I have had an HP Designjet 120 for 5-6 months. I like it but it is slow to my thinking.
All the size options one could want and I have done A1 high resolution photographic type images which is pretty amazing, but my normal preference is A3 (~twice foolscap for you imperial, old world users) and you get a beutiful fine print if you print at the 'Best' option (...fast, ..normal, ..best, ..high resolution), but this 'best' takes 5 minutes for one A3!!
I had a Conon i9100 A3 which could print this quality in seconds.
David

Re: Anyone using the HP Designjet 120?

Anonymous — Tue, 20 Apr 2004 18:06:33 GMT

What kind of output speed does it get for 'normal' resolution, grayscale, line drawing, 24"x36" (A1), such as a typical working drawing/construction document.

My Designjet 500 can do the average drawing (above) in around 60 sec. (print time only - not processing).

Re: Anyone using the HP Designjet 120?

Anonymous — Fri, 30 Apr 2004 23:34:51 GMT

For a company I use to work at had an hp120. I would say about 1 1/2 mins to 2 mins for a 24x36 normal res. If you plan on using it to print sets, I would suggest getting the roll attachment. Loading each individual sheet by hand takes time and if the paper is not perfect the printer will not except the paper. Overall, if I need a large format printer at a reasonable price, I would probably get an hp120.

Re: Anyone using the HP Designjet 120?

Anonymous — Wed, 05 May 2004 14:39:13 GMT

If you want the most productivity, go with a DesignJet 500, and get the HPGL/2 accessory card (You can get a memory upgrade for the card as well; don't get it from HP though, just get laptop memory. It's cheaper ). I used to work in the DesignJet tech support area. . .I REALLY favor the 500/800 series over the other current DesignJet series in that price bracket.

Re: Anyone using the HP Designjet 120?

Stress Co_ — Wed, 05 May 2004 21:29:57 GMT

Chad:

I'm on the verge of purchasing a 24" HP 130nr. In your opinion, is it worth the extra $3,000 to get the 24" HP 800ps?

Is there a big difference in Printing vs. Plotting?

My output is fairly small. I just wanna be sure I can print using OS 10.3 ......unlike my HP Laserjet 3330 .

Thanks for any input.
Marc

Re: Anyone using the HP Designjet 120?

Anonymous — Wed, 12 May 2004 10:49:50 GMT

Ive noticed that HP have replaced the 120 with the 130 model.

Does anyone know what the differences are, apart form the colour?

Re: Anyone using the HP Designjet 120?

aahatimo — Thu, 13 May 2004 19:46:23 GMT

Stress wrote:
Chad:
I'm on the verge of purchasing a 24" HP 130nr. In your opinion, is it worth the extra $3,000 to get the 24" HP 800ps?
Is there a big difference in Printing vs. Plotting?
Marc

marc, did you get a new large format printer yet?
i am not sure about $3k more for the 800ps, but for about $3000 you should be able to buy a 24" hp 500 and add the stand, jetdirect card, and hpgl2 card. it is quite a bit larger footprint than the 100 series but i agree w/ chad it's much better production machine.
you should also compare the cost of consumables. i can generally buy the 69ml ink cartridges for under $30 a piece. i also buy 24"x150' rolls of 19lb translucent bond for $10 - $12. i think the 100 series use less capacity ink cartridges and 50' paper rolls.
the 130 would be far superior if you were needing large format high quality color output, it is a 6 color printer vs 4 color for the 500/800 series. more a graghic design / photographic unit.
https://www.designjet.hp.com/pdp/render.html?new_product=130&page_name=overview+and+features&pageseq=156051

Re: Anyone using the HP Designjet 120?

aahatimo — Thu, 13 May 2004 20:02:45 GMT

correction: the 130 also uses 4 69 ml ink cartridges and 2 29ml.
also the ink is fade resistant. i wonder if they will work in the 500?! nah probably not, that does not seem very hp like.
one other thing just to be fair, the 500/800 series are pretty loud. they have a vacuum that holds the paper down. you may not want it right next to you. it would be great to be able to compare both the 130 & 500 in action.

Re: Anyone using the HP Designjet 120?

Stress Co_ — Tue, 29 Jun 2004 01:52:51 GMT

I just received my hp 130nr and so far, .....not so good.

There isn't a paper option for Vellum or Translucent bond (the two medias I want to use). As a result, my line drawing plots are really soft (fuzzy) not the crisp lines I'd expected. Hp does not list Vellum or t-bond as compatable media for the 130 (or the 120), that is unless you use their "media chooser", in which case it does.

Has anyone dialed in the best settings for this printer (or a 120)? I don't think I can return it.

Marc