The cost of colour printing, particularly the price of inkjet cartridges, has long been a sore point with office managers and CFOs. We've been pleasantly surprised by HP's PageWide technology, which delivers fast, high quality colour printing for up to 40 per cent less per page than colour laser printers.
Lowest total cost of ownership
Save money on printing.
In comparison to other colour business printers and MFPs in the $300 to $3000 price range, HP says its PageWide printers have the lowest total cost of ownership, factoring in energy consumption (84 per cent less than laser printers), cost of hardware and supplies, and cost-per-page. We've found them easy to maintain, less demanding in terms of servicing than some other office printers, and more secure than other machines in their class-all of which contribute to lifetime cost savings. Because they're designed for reliability and long service life, they won't have to be replaced as soon as other printers.
Print faster than other printers and MFPs
Time is money.
HP says its PageWide printers and MFPs are the fastest in their class, with speeds of up to 75 pages per minute. That's definitely been our experience, too. PageWide printers achieve this remarkable feat with a design that allows the print bar to print the entire page in a single pass-the print head, which is as wide as the paper, is stationary and only the paper moves. The machines don't take any time to warm up, either. In busy office environments where queued print jobs create inefficiencies, unrivalled print speeds may mean you don't need to invest in additional printers, even as you add staff.
Comparable to professional digital printers
Quality counts.
We have a very hard time distinguishing between the print quality of jobs completed on an HP PageWide printer and professionally printed documents. The colour from pigmented inks, which are also used in high-end digital printing machines) is vibrant and ink doesn't smear. Unlike other printers and MFPs, you don't need to compromise quality to achieve greater speed. Â
Reliability rated "Excellent"
Independent testing proves it.
HP commissioned Buyers Laboratory LLC to evaluate the reliability of the OfficeJet Pro X551dw printers (a model that uses PageWide technology). The printers were put to a demanding 500,000-impression test over 6 and a half months-the equivalent of almost seven years of usage at the recommended monthly volume-and the testers recorded any misfeeds, multi-sheet feeding, error messages, misalignment, machine malfunctions, and cartridge or print head failures. Buyers Laboratory noted that the machines demonstrated "outstanding reliability" and gave the printers a reliability performance rating of Excellent.
Customer story #1
"For IT, the compelling benefit is set-it-and-forget-it printing. We don't have to disrupt critical tasks and waste valuable staffing resources to fix paper jams or check ink levels."
- Jeffrey Brown, global helpdesk supervisor, IntraHealth International
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INDUSTRY:Â
Healthcare
PRINTING NEEDS:
300 to 400-page proposals, cooperative agreements, speciality printing for events and donor programs
A-HA MOMENT:
In the first three months of use, they used only 25 per cent of the PageWide Pro's cartridge. In the same timeframe they had to change out the ink cartridges on other office printers an average of three times each, after printing fewer pages than on the PageWide. (They can also print on sticky notes without gumming up the printer!)
Customer story #2
"By using the HP PageWide Pro, we have reduced printing costs by 20 per cent [even after increasing total devices by 25 per cent]. We have also been able to reduce our electricity costs by 70 per cent."
- Marcel Wimmer, IT organisation department, Klinikum Passau
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INDUSTRY:Â
Healthcare
PRINTING NEEDS:
Patient records, treatment agreements, letters, accounting documents
A-HA MOMENT:
The IT department's electricity calculations showed the value. Laser printers used 30 watts per hour in standby mode and 450 watts per hour while printing. The PageWide printers used two-thirds less electricity in standby mode (10 watts per hour) and a whopping 15-times less electricity when printing (30 watts per hour). The machines don't produce toxic dust like laser printers, and so can be placed anywhere.
Customer story #3
"Output from the HP PageWide Pro is high quality, even in comparison to much more expensive printers."
- Dan Miller, CIO, Novak Construction
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INDUSTRY:Â
Construction head office
PRINTING NEEDS:
Construction plans, contracts, marketing materials
A-HA MOMENT:
When the marketing department produced proofs for a presentation on the PageWide, and they couldn't tell it hadn't been printed in their professional printing centre.