HP DJ90

HP Designjet 90 review

Although A4 and A3 printers are the most popular sizes for most home and semi-professional use, there are many professional photographers and enthusiasts who may want to produce something a bit bigger. Large format inkjet printers tend to be expensive, and costly to run, they also need a lot of space. Earlier this year I was shown HP's new DesignJet 90 printer, I was taken back by the compact size and print quality and as a bonus the printer is priced at £787 + vat.

Setting up

Generally I include a section on what's in the box here, but as the box and parts are so big I am leaving out the pack shot. I will mention that a USB cable is included - perhaps manufacturers are taking note of my remarks regarding this small item.

The printer is supplied in a very large box, this will not fit in the average family car boot, so opt for delivery if you intend purchasing it. Once removed from the box, there are several pieces that need to be assembled. There is an excellent set up manual which takes you through each step, make sure you read the headlines on each page as some of the instructions only apply to the DJ30 and DJ130. The media in tray has to be loaded first, put in a wedge of A4 media and then move the paper guides into position, fit the top dust cover and then slide it into the printer. It would seem that you have to remove the media tray each time you want to load new media. Finally, fit the paper catcher tray, this slots in from above but will not close unless you apply a slight amount of pressure to the left side and then it closes without any resistance.


Load media tray and position paper guides	Fit top dust cover to media tray

Open top cover and slide media tray into printer	Fit media catcher to the printer

The construction of the parts is of a high standard with plenty of attention to detail, there are numerous hinged parts and extendable trays. My concern may be, will this all stand up to heavy usage in a studio environment, for semi pro and hobbyist use the DJ 90 will fit the bill without any problem.

Power up

The next stage is to power up and fit both the print heads and ink cartridges. Insert the power cable , wait for 15 seconds and then press the power on button. The DJ 90's fan or motor whirrs in the background, in fact this printer in standby mode is as noisy as my computer, I guess I have become used to silent printers. Lift the first front flap and fit the ink cartridges, these are colour coded so there shouldn't be any error in fitting them. The Yellow, Black, Light Magenta and Light Cyan each contain 69ml of ink and the Cyan and Magenta both contain 28ml of ink.


Fit each cartridge in the correct slot	Inks are fitted

Top row indicates ink levels, bottom row indicates ink heads (none fitted for this shot)	The second set of slots are for the printheads

After fitting the cartridges you must fit the individual printheads, these are inserted in the spaces above the ink cartridges. I am still waiting for HP to confirm how long a printhead will last before a replacement head is needed. I suspect it will last for four or five cartridge changes, The heads are small compact units and each one is colour coded. There is a small quantity of ink in each head, (I couldn't find the figures for the exact amount), this should ensure that the head is primed ready to go on insertion. Well, in theory it should, the printer takes approx 12 minutes to ready itself and then produces an automatic printhead alignment test sheet. Time for another cup of tea, only another 10 minutes to wait.


Six individual print heads - all colour coded	Easy to replace, independently of the ink cartridges

Sis cartridges and six print heads fitted	Cover on the print head cradle

Having waited for in excess of 15 minutes I am faced with a flashing black printhead icon, a quick look at the reference manual tells me that "A flashing printhead icon indicates a print head failure or the printer cannot detect a printhead. Action - check that the printhead was inserted correctly and that the connections are clean. If necessary replace the print head" OK. I have checked and double checked all the points, removed and cleaned the head - still no joy. I do not have a replacement head.

Is this going to be the shortest review ever for photo-i? I can't proceed any further with this printer, it is due to be collected within the next day or two and i haven't produced a single print. I had anticipated finishing off the review before the end of Thursday as I am tied up with other work next week. Over to you HP.