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Product Tour Summary |
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 • Printer has only 3 buttons on the front
• Individual indicators for each ink cartridge |
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Introduction |
Page 2 of 13 |
Setup & Software |
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Front
Ink Lights
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Control Buttons
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Manual Paper
Feed Tray
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Cover of Ink Compartment
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Paper Tray |
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The main features on the front of the B8850 are the controls in the top left corner, the ink indicators below them (which light up when one of the cartridges runs out) and the cover of the ink comaprtment below this. Both of the paper paths are also on the front of the printer: the main paperm tray is at the bottom, then there is the paper output tray and the flop-down manual feed tray above that.
Back
There are only a couple of significant features on the back of the B8850: a rear paper door that is used for clearing paper jams and the power and USB ports. There are no network ports or other inputs. On the rear paper door you can see the slot where large pieces of paper from the manual print try ont eh front protrude while they are being printed on.
Ink Cartridges
The HP B8850 uses 8 ink cartridges: Matte Black, Photo Black, Light Grey, Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Light Cyan and Light Magenta. That's a slightly unusual combination; most printers use only one or two blacks, but the B8850 adds a third light grey, which HP claims will improve the reproduction of neutral tones. All of the inks are pigment based, and HP claims a print life of over 200 years for prints that are properly printed and stored; more details of their claims are here. There is no clear coating ink, though, unlike the R1900. The cartridges are HP's type 38, which are used by several of their printer models. Each cartridge can be changed individually, and there are also 4 seperate print heads that handle the 8 colors; two for each print head.
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| The 8 ink cartridges used by the B8850 in place |
In the Box
The B8850 includes a fairly standard selection of parts in the box. You get:
• The printer itself
• 8 ink cartridges
• 4 print heads
• Quick start guide
• Printed manuals
• Software CD
• Power supply
• Paper selection
No USB cable was included with our review model, and we wish that manufacturers would stop doing this; not everyone has a ready supply of USB cables available, and it is frustrating to have to constantly swap them over between devices. The selection of paper samples included is pleasing to see: you get 30 sheets of 13 x 19 paper of 4 different types, which is enough to get started and to get a feel for the different types of paper on offer.
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