The HP Z3100 24" Pigment Ink Printer

I have divided this report into three sections.  First, I will look at the decision

process and why I decided to purchase this printer.  Next, I will talk about the

ordering, delivery, and setup of the printer.  Finally, I will review the use and output

of the printer.

The Decision

Buying a printer is often a long and thoughtful process.  It requires many decisions,

not just one.  The various photo  printer forums are filled with posts asking which

printer should I buy or help me choose my printer.  Endless rants go on about the

cost of ink or questions about the cheapest place to buy supplies.  I believe these

should be a part of the decision but are not the first considerations.  Just as a

general rule, I would advise to read the reviews of the products under consideration

before going to the forums and reading posts by people who may have a rant or

desire to bash one product over another.  Trusted reviewers who have a good record

of providing reliable and thoughtful analysis are always a good starting point.

For me, the first rule of thumb to remember is I get what I pay for. I kept that in my

mind as I went through the decision process. At first I set a budget limit and tried to

approach the research from my set limit.  That proved to be very limiting and

clouded my judgement.  I used a different approach.  See what options are available

for my needs and then work from there.

I sorted my requirements into several categories.  This helped me work through the

options and make sure my decision was based on what would work for me.  I knew I

had three companies to consider:  Canon, HP, and Epson.  My existing printers are

very old and need replacement and that is the main reason for wanting a new

printer.  Right away, I will tell you that I eliminated Epson.  I have not been an

Epson person. I have read too many reports of clogs and partially filled "empty"

cartridges and other issues related to their printers.  I know many have said these

issues are being addressed and like their printers and this is not meant to put others

down who decided differently.  I made the decision not to consider them.

Category 1:  What size output do I want?  As my interest in various types of

photography grew, I became frustrated with my current printers and their output

limitations.    My Canon and Kodak printers limited me to 19" and 12" lengths

respectively.  I was interested in printing panoramas at 24 and 36 inch lengths.  No

Canon sub $1K printer will do that.  Because of the limitations of my current

printers, this decision category became my first consideration   From my research, I

found my options to be a 17" or 24" printer realizing that a 44" printer was not

needed.

Category 2:  What paper source do I want?  The options are roll paper, cut sheet

paper, or a combination of the two.  Roll paper has the advantage of slightly less

cost  and any size print within the roll width but has the disadvantage of paper curl. 

Also, consider the feed options for sheet paper and whether the printer handles one

sheet using a tray input or uses a cassette for holding many sheets. Another

consideration is how the single sheet is fed. Is there a straight through path for

heavier paper or is the feed from the front of the printer causing a bend as it passes

through the printer?

Category 3:  What type of ink do I want to use? The choices are pigment or dye. 

This was probably the most difficult part of the decision.  I prefer gloss and satin

prints.  Historically, pigment inks have had some difficulty with bronzing and gloss

differential, especially with glossy papers.  Then there is the color gamut issue with

many charts showing that dye inks have a larger gamut. The advantage of pigments

inks is their longevity and better durability.  They are less susceptible to permanent

damage from water.  The disadvantage of dye inks is their susceptibility to surface

damage and fading.

Category 4:  What is the cost of the consumables?  I had made the decision with my

existing printers that I will always use OEM ink and not spend time trying to find

third party replacement inks.  Sometimes other inks work and sometimes they don't. 

This is one area I decided I will not spend time investigating.  Realizing that ink for

inkjet printers is one of the most expensive liquids on the planet, I wanted to take

this cost into the decision process and not be shocked afterwards.  Paper costs, print

head replacement costs, and other maintenance costs also fit into this category.

Category 5:  What features are important to me?  Each printer has some features

unique to the model.  What are the driver capabilities, what does the interface look

like, what does the printer display tell you, and many others considerations.  How

easy is it to change paper?  How easy is setup?  What is the size and weight?  What

is included in the box when new. This is the category where I put all the things

related to how this printer will work.  Here is where reading as many reviews as you

can find will be a big help and give you both the good points and the deficiencies of

the printer.

Now lets look at what I decided by category:

For Category 1,  I wanted the ability for 16x20 and 16x24 prints as my primary

output.  Two options are available for consideration with my requirements. They

included 17" printers and 24" printers. I decided on a 24" printer.  Yes, the 24"

printers are more expensive but I now have the option of doing larger poster size

prints of 24x36. If this choice proved to be more than I wanted to spend, I could

always come back to this decision. The options available for this size print output

were the Canon 6100, the HP Designjet 130, and the HP Z3100 or Z2100.    I did not

want to regret not having the ability to do the larger sizes, even though that will not

be my primary use. In the 17" size, my choices were the Canon 5100 and the HP

Designjet 90 and I could come back and reconsider them.

For Category 2 I decided that roll paper was my first choice and is standard with the

Canon and HP Z series printers. The Designjet offered a roll feed as an option at

additional cost.   Cassette paper feeds for this size printer are not offered.

For Category 3 I decided on pigment ink.  Recent reports indicate that the newest

pigment inks were excellent and the benefits of longevity and durability outweighed

the dye inks.  This eliminated the HP Designjet 130.  That printer uses dye inks and

has other disadvantages (Category 5 issue of USB 1.1 for example) but does have

excellent output.

I am now down to three choices.  The Canon 6100 or the HP Z2100 or the HP Z3100. 

Here is where my decision narrowed very quickly.

For Category 4 I found the HP consumables cost significantly less than the Canon

offering and eliminated the 6100.  HP inks (130 ml. cartridges, which are the same

size as Canon) are available in twin packs that save about $24 per cartridge.  Here

is the math.  A Canon cartridge is $73 x 2 =  $146.  An HP twin pack is $98.  Cost

per cartridge for the HP is $49 vs. $73 for the Canon saving $24 per cartridge.  This

is a significant savings over several years of use and significantly reduces the cost

per print. The next consumable cost to consider was the print heads.  Here again HP

has a significant savings over Canon.  HP has 6 print heads that cost about $70 each

for a total of $420 if all needed replacement. Canon has 2 print heads that cost about

$500 each for a total of $1000. Again there was a significant cost savings with HP.

The cost of paper was not an issue as it would depend on what paper I wanted to use

for a particular print.  I had two options left.  The HP Z2100 and the HP Z3100.  As a

side note, HP does not have a 17" pigment ink printer at this time so my only choice

had I decided on a 17" printer was the Canon 5100, which has the same ink costs as

the 6100.  The cost savings of the HP significantly narrowed the price difference of

the 24" printer over time compared to the 17" printer.

Category 5 made the choice much easier between my two remaining options, the HP

Z3100 and the Z2100.  Both printers had similar features in network connection,

driver, setup, and printer display.  These were important features to me. Both had

the spectrophotometer to create icc profiles for paper.  Both had the roll feed

standard and a single paper feed tray with a straight through paper path.  The

features that became the final decision point was the gloss enhancer capability of the

Z3100 and the additional inks.  This filled my requirements and met one of my goals

in printing on gloss and satin paper.  The cost difference between the two printers

was not significant based on the additional features.  With the HP rebates available

at my time of purchase, I decided this printer would be within budget although it is

more than I initially wanted to spend.

To summarize, the features that made the major difference for me were the

spectrophotometer, the gloss enhancer, and the ink cost savings of the twin packs. 

When I started the process of deciding on a printer, I never thought of these features

as being the ones that would be the deciding factors.  Notice that image quality was

not the primary factor.  The reason is not that I did not think about it or that it was

not important.  The reason is that all of the latest printers from these manufacturers

have very high IQ output and many trusted reviewers note that in their reviews.  I

did take note of the use of "minimize" when reading about the problems with

bronzing or gloss differential on competing brands.   This is why the gloss enhancer

of HP was a deciding factor.  Other features of the HP are the included 40 gig hard

drive and web server interface. 

Purchase and Setup

I purchased the printer from ITSupplies.com.  Their customer service is outstanding. 

Their sales people know printers and are very helpful in answering questions.  And

they provide free shipping.  (Yes, I know there is no such thing as free and the cost

is included in the price of the printer).  There are however, places that will charge

you for shipping.  The printer is heavy. 

Delivery weight is about 200 lbs.  I ordered

the printer on a Wednesday morning.  On

Friday, right after lunch, the truck pulls up to

my door with the printer.  I was impressed

with a two day delivery.  The printer arrives

well secured to a pallet.

Opening the box reveals a well packaged

product.  Everything about the packing is

organized and easy to unpack.  The top tray

contains the parts for the stand,

consumables, and instructions.  There is

even a sample roll of HP Glossy paper. 

That is a nice touch since it will be

required for setup.  Under the tray is

the printer.  It is well protected with

styrofoam ends and wrapped in heavy

plastic.  The sides of the carton will lift

off when the handles are unsnapped

and removed.  It does not get any

easier than this.

I laid all the parts out on the table so I

could keep things organized and ready for

use.  The stand is in the large box.  The

print heads and starter ink cartridges (69

ml) are all packed and labeled. 

Documentation includes the printer

manual and a large setup chart that

details step by step instructions for the

stand and the printer.  All of the pieces

are well labeled and the instructions are

very clear and easy to follow.

The first task at hand is to assemble the

stand.  Since this printer weighs about

120 lbs., it is important that the stand

be sturdy and well made.  It is.  HP

included all of the necessary screws

(even a few extras) and the screw

driver needed for assembly.  This is the

only tool needed and HP supplied it. 

The stand took me about 15 minutes to

assemble.  it goes together nicely. 

Even includes the rollers for moving the

printer.  Once the stand is ready, the

printer is ready to be attached.  This is

a two person job.  Once set on the

stand, there are four screws that secure

the printer.  The final step is to install the catch apron.  The printer is now easy to

roll on the stand.  I used a UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) with the printer.  I

thought it not good to have the power go out in the middle of a large print.

Once setup, the printer is ready for installation of the print heads, ink, and paper. 

The instructions are very clear and easy to follow.  Each print cartridge is installed

one at a time.  Shake first, then insert in the keyed slot.  There is no way to put the

wrong color in the slot since it is keyed.  Each cartridge installed generates a beep

that signals all is well.  After the inks are installed, the print heads are next.  This is

where I ran into problems.  The last print head, the gloss enhancer/gray print head

failed the initialization and would not let me proceed with setting up the printer.  Of

course, HP support is now closed as it is Friday evening and the support center is

only available during day hours Monday to Friday.  So my new printer had to sit for

the weekend as I had a defective print head that shipped with the printer. 

Early Monday morning I called support and they also determined it was a defective

print head and would overnight a new one to me.  About noon on Tuesday, the print

head arrived.  I installed it and things then went smoothly for the rest of the setup. 

The print heads passed initialization, the ink lines charged and the printer was ready

to do its calibration routine.  During the initialization process, it is time to install the

necessary software support on your computer.  The process takes about 30 minutes,

so this is a good time to work on the computer.

There is one area where the documentation is not up to date.  Since I have a Mac

and have upgraded to Leopard, I ran into some problems that were not covered in

the documentation.  The drivers for this printer ship with Leopard and should not be

installed from the disk that is included in the box.  Installing the drivers from the

disk will cause significant problems and require a call to support and a lengthy

recovery process.  I made that mistake and spent an  hour with support reinstalling

parts of Leopard and getting things up to speed. 

The whole setup process from delivery to working had two problems.  From what I

have read, most people do not have either of these problems but they do happen. 

The two problems where the defective print head and my error in installing the

drivers from the enclosed DVD.  Both were fixable and just delayed my use of the

printer.

Using the Printer

If one word could describe the output from this printer, I would say stunning.  I have

printed over 100 square feet of prints since getting the printer three weeks ago.  I

have not had one print that was unacceptable or off color.  My iMac is calibrated and

I have printed on HP Premium Instant Dry Photo Gloss and Satin.  Using the included

profiles for these papers, I have not been disappointed in the color and the match to

my screen.  I have profiled and printed on two matte papers, the Epson enhanced

matte and Canon fine art paper.

The printer walks you through loading a roll of paper.  It is extremely fussy about

alignment and eliminating skew.  Be very careful and meticulous when loading the

roll paper to get it to feed straight the first time. You will need access to the rear of

the printer to properly load a roll of paper.  The sheet feed input folds against the

back of the printer when not in use.  Rollers on the stand make moving the printer

very easy.  I always wear cotton gloves when handling the paper.

Creating profiles for paper is easy, takes about 10 minutes, and uses minimal ink. 

The included spectrophotometer works as advertised.  I have read of some pixel

peepers that criticize the resulting profiles as inferior or not up to their expectations. 

All well and good if you want to spend thousands of dollars for something "better". 

No other printer has this capability built in.  I have gotten better results from this

printer than I have had with any other printer.  After a new paper type is loaded,

create the profile from the printer utility.  Give it a name and it is saved both on the

printer and in your profiles folder.  HP provides profiles with the printer for its

papers.

Ink usage is better than I expected.  My 16x24 prints use between 3 and 4 ml if ink

per print depending on the photo and settings. I use normal with maximum detail

and the economy gloss enhancer setting.  Calculating the cost based on a set of

cartridges containing a total 1560 ml of ink and a cost of $600 with the twin pack

price, the cost per ml is .38 or about $1.52 of ink per print.

Paper cost is easy to figure out.  A 50' roll of the glossy or satin paper I use is $82

or $1.64 a foot.  A 24x16 uses 1.3 feet of paper so costs $2.19 for paper.  Paper and

ink come to $3.71 per print.  Not bad for that size of print.  I would say a good

figure to use on total costs would be $4.50 per print to include some paper waste

when loading the paper (about 3" when it is loaded the first time or after it is

reloaded from a paper change), and for ink maintenance usage and print head

usage.  That may be a little high but is reasonable.

Roll paper is nice to use but there is what I consider a serious design flaw in the 3"

roll adapters.  Once inserted into a roll, they are next to impossible to remove.  I

struggled for 20 minutes to remove them from the roll.  It is fortunate I did not

damage them with all of the prying and pushing.  Looking at the adapters, I decided

to remove the spring clips that provide tension on the wings that grip the roll.  They

are very tense springs and pushed the wings into the roll to the point where they

would not slide out.  After removing the springs, the adapters work fine, hold the

paper roll securely, and slip out with little effort.

Paper curl is a problem with the roll paper.  Even a new roll will have a slight curl on

the prints.  One option is to spend $250 on a product to de-curl the paper.  Another

option is to make a home made version for about $3.  I decided on the home made

version.  I bought two pieces of mylar at the art store and used a roll core from the

sample roll that came with the printer.  It is just the right width at 24".  I taped the

two pieces of mylar to the roll, slip the print between the mylar and roll opposite the

curl.  I let this sit for about 5 minutes.  The result is no curl on the print.

Mounting and framing large prints can be a challenge.  I have been mounting most of

my prints on foam board.  I wait for the board to go on sale locally and buy a case

at $1 for each 20x30 board.  Mounting on the foam board without bubbles or uneven

adhesion required something other than using spray adhesives.  I found the sprays

to lay down uneven adhesive and was not happy with the look and resulting bubbles. 

Now I used a product from diage.com call Rollataq.  It works great.  There is a hand

held applicator that lays a thin and even coating of the adhesive.  Once positioned on

the foam board, I use a brayer to roll it and activate the adhesive.  After letting cure

for 15 minutes, I have a nice even and flat print mounted on the foam board.

HP recommends keeping the printer power on at all times.  This facilitates the

maintenance of the print heads and ink lines and prevents head clogging.  I hear the

printer execute its routine twice a day.  Once in the morning and once at night.  The

whole process takes about 25 seconds or so.

My biggest complaint now that I have been using the printer is the fan noise.  Even

in standby and sleep mode, the fan runs continuously and it annoys me.  My iMac is

whisper quiet and I do not hear it at all.  Friends tell me I will get used to the fan

noise.  I guess that is so.  I wish HP would come up with a firmware update that

would silence the fan when not printing.  Not that it would have made a difference in

my decision, but this is one area I did not consider during the buying process. I am

working on a solution but have not devised one yet.

The print dialog for printing from Photoshop is very good.  I have presets saved

based on the type and size of paper I am using and the quality settings I want.  For

most work, I print in normal mode and check the maximum detail box.  On special

prints I can choose the highest quality setting which results in a double pass of the

print head.  I have not noticed an appreciable difference in the quality of the print.  I

choose the economy mode for the gloss enhancer since I don't see the need to cover

the whole print.  It does an excellent job.

Printing on canvas is a wonderful way to display photographs.  The Z3100 is great

for canvas prints. For a complete review and tutorial on printing on canvas, click

here.

The web interface provides a lot of information about the printer.  Paper and ink

usage is displayed and can be emailed to you or downloaded as a spreadsheet. 

Printer status, remaining ink, and printhead information is presented on the status

page.  It even tells you what is under warranty.  From the status page, I can see

that I have used the gloss enhancer, yellow, and light gray about twice the rate of

the other colors.  It is nice to know ahead of time what colors are getting low and

when it is time to order.

This is a great printer and I am glad I made the decision to purchase it.  The output

is better than what my expectations were.  I would recommend it without hesitation. 

This is not to say the other printers are bad.  This is to  say that for my needs and in

my evaluation of what is available, this printer fits the bill.