HP's second-generation 7000-series Photosmart flagship printer
HP Photosmart 7960 ink-jet printer
Typical selling price (UK, pounds Sterling): £230
Manufacturer's guide price: £249
The HP Photosmart 7960 is the flagship of HP's second-generation 4800dpi stand-alone 7000-series A4 ink-jet photo printer range. Essentially it's a direct, but much modified, development of HP's Photosmart 7550. Both models are designed with photo and office printing in mind and to be used for photo printing with or without host PCs - printing from memory cards or compatible HP Photosmart cameras directly. The 7960 is the first printer to support xD memory cards without the need for an adapter.
The 7550 was the first Photosmart printer to accommodate three ink cartridges at once so you didn't need to swap text black and photo colour cartridges when switching between plain paper and photo printing jobs. While the Photosmart 7960 also has space for three ink cartridges, the choice has increased to four cartridges with the introduction of the No.59 grey scale ink cartridge.
Fourth ink cartridge introduced for mono printing
This cartridge was developed to print high quality black and white photos, something difficult to achieve using colour inks alone. The third cartridge slot can be fitted with either the grey No.59 cartridge or the No.56 pigment black ink cartridge, which is specifically for plain paper printing. The new No.59 cartridge is only currently compatible with the new 7960, 7760 and 7660 printer models.
Introducing Photoret Pro
Fundamentally, the 7960 runs HP's Photoret IV ink layering system which was introduced with the first Photsmart 7000-series printers in 2002. To support the No.59 monochrome printing capability, HP has extended its Photoret system and now refers to it as Photoret Pro. When printing in colour with the No.59 cartridge fitted, the 7960 can draw upon no less than 8 different inks - cyan, magenta, yellow, light (photo) cyan, light (photo) magenta, plus the three monochrome shades supplied from the No.59 cartridge.
8-colour printing
In fact 9 different inks are contained in the three cartridges, but the No.58 cartridge photo black is not used while the No.59 cartridge is fitted. While the No.59 cartridge was developed for monochrome printing, HP says it does contribute to improved colour photo printing, helping to print cleaner grey tones and textures that rely on greys, like metal surfaces, for example.
Borderless A4 printing at last
With the arrival of the 7960, HP at last catches up with Canon and Epson with the inclusion of borderless A4 printing capability for the first time.
Specifications
HP Photosmart 7960 ink-jet printer
Ink cartridge system
Single colour ink tanks?: No (No.56 black only)
Photo ink formulation: Soluble dyes
Plain paper black ink formulation: Pigment
Optimal photo paper surface type: Swellable layer
Light (photo) ink shades supported?: Yes (No.58 cartridge)
Print head: Thermal type, integrated with disposable ink cartridge
Print head nozzles: Ultra photo mode: 900, with HP No. 57, 58 & 59 inkjet print cartridges
Auto print head alignment?: Yes
Ultra versatile mode: 1016, with HP No. 56, 57 & 58 inkjet print cartridges
Variable droplet sizes? -
Minimum droplet size: -
Paper handling
Input tray capacity: 100 sheets plain paper or 25 sheets photo paper
Paper path: 180 degree turn, front loading
Borderless printing?: Yes
CD printing?: No
Roll paper support?: No
Integrated paper cutter: No
Standard paper sizes supported: A4, A5, A6, B5, C6, DL
Proprietary paper sizes supported: 76 to 216 mm width, 127 to 356 mm length
Maximum recommended paper weight: 280gsm
Manufacturer's claimed print speeds: Mono text (A4 pages per minute) - draft 21, normal 7.7, best quality 0.9, Photo printing (10x15cm, seconds) - draft 36, normal 85, best quality 116.
Duplex printing capability?: Extra cost option
Printer languages supported: HP PCL 3 GUI, PML
Software included: HP Photo & Imaging software for Microsoft Windows and Macintosh, with HP Share-to-Web software and HP Memories Disc Creator
Dimensions: 530 x 383 x 194 mm;
Weight: 7.53kg
Power consumption: 45 watts maximum (printing), 5 watts maximum (idle), 2 watts maximum (off)
Interfaces: USB 1.1 (front and rear ports)
Manufacturer's stated minimum system requirements:
Windows: Microsoft Windows 98, Me, 2000 Professional, XP Home or XP Professional on Intel Pentium II (or equivalent), SVGA monitor (800 x 600, 16-bit colour), 64 MB RAM (128 recommended), 500 MB free hard disk space (50 MB on system drive, 300 MB on drive with temp directory, 150 MB anywhere else), Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.0 or later (5.5 recommended), 4x CD-ROM, USB port and USB cable (cable not included, please purchase separately); HP Memories Disc Creator requires CD-Writer.
Macintosh: Mac OS v9.1, OS v9.2 , OS X v10.1, or OS X v10.2 on G3 processor or greater, 64 MB RAM (128 recommended), 500 MB free hard disk space, 4x CD-ROM drive, SVGA monitor (800 x 600, 16-bit colour), USB port and USB cable (cable not included; please purchase separately); HP Memories Disc Creator requires CD-Writer C6518A HP USB cable - 2 m
The hardware explored
Here we take a visual tour of the 7960:
The HP Photosmart 7960 is physically very wide in order to accommodate three ink cartridges at a time. However, HP's traditional front-loading design means only a modest depth is consumed by the footprint of the printer (below):
A low profile design, the 7960 doesn't sprout extra paper rests and lids in order to be used.
When used without a host PC you can preview images to be printed, configure print selections and settings and view the status of a print job via a 2.5 inch colour LCD screen.
The LCD screen tilts so you can obtain the best viewing angle.
Paper larger than 15x10cm fits in the lower section of the front paper tray. Access can be made easier by flipping up the top of the tray that doubles as the rest for printed pages.
A secondary paper tray for blank 15x10cm photo media is situated above and to the right of the main paper tray. It needs to be physically engaged to switch the feed from the main tray.
A handy flip-up paper stop is provided to prevent printed pages from falling off the end of the top rest. The only problem with it is that it feels like it won't last very long.
To access the front USB port or the media card slots, you need to open a wide plastic lid.
This close-up shows the media card slots and secondary front USB port. The 7960 can read SmartMedia, SD, MMC, Memory Stick, Memory Stick Pro, Compact Flash I and II (including Microdrives) and xD cards, without the need for an adapter. The front USB port can be used for convenient printing from, say, a laptop or direct from a supported HP Photosmart digital camera.
Some labels would have been useful.
Your xD card slot goes in here.
To gain access to the print cartridges you need to open the printer up clamshell-style by pressing this button.
The whole top of the printer gapes open to reveal the three ink cartridge slots in their parked position to the right. Colour coding reduces the risk of fitting the wrong cartridge to a slot.
Here the tri-colour No.57 cartridge, No.58 photo cartridge and No.59 grey ink cartridge are fitted. The coloured locating levers that lock the cartridges in place are shown up and disengaged.
As the No.56 (pigment black) and No.59 (photo grey) cartridges must be swapped around, one will always be uninstalled. While out the printer, to prevent leaks and the print head from drying out, a simple cartridge stand is provided.
This is what the rear of the 7960 looks like. It looks fairly featureless until...
...you remove the blanking plate that would be replaced by the optional duplexing unit that enables double-sided plain paper printing.
Here is a close up of the rear USB port and proprietary power connector port.
Software
The 7960's printer driver is a relatively simple affair and quite easy to use. Below are selected screen grabs showing the various settings and facilities available.
HP also bundles utilities for previewing images, managing the sharing of pictures - via email, for example and creating slide shows with audio tracks.
Remaining ink levels indicated are only a guide estimated through logging printer activity. The actual level of ink inside the cartridge is not measured. The only printers that are able to do this are Canon models that support the Canon 'Think Tank' system. This lets you see the ink level through the transparent sides of the tank and an optical sensor alerts you once the actual ink level has dropped below a certain level.
Changing between colour print and mono print mode is but a click of the mouse.
Custom paper sizes can be saved for later use.
HP provides an easy to use visually-assisted picture quality setting panel.
Here you can choose the required paper size.
And here you can select the type of paper to print onto.
Above is step by step animation showing the six key preferences tabs in the printer driver.
The toolbox panel has three tabs, one to access printer head maintenance functions, the second to display the estimate of remaining ink and the last contains miscellaneous configuration settings.
HP has ensured that the 7960 will print images created to both the commonplace sRGB colour space and Adobe's expanded colour space favoured by professional photographers.
Photo print quality & speed
The dpnow ink-jet photo printer test procedure has been revised. We now use test chart to examine colour rendition and tonal quality, as well as the ability of the printer to deal with acute angle high contrast edge detail.
We also put a set of digital camera sourced and higher resolution studio images through the printer.
Times for each print are also listed. Photos are printed on A4 paper, unless otherwise stated. 4:3 camera images are printed to 10x7.5 inches (25.4x19cm), which leaves a border on A4 media. We don't measure the preparation time before the printer starts a print job as this is directly related to the host PC. Each print is timed from the moment the page is moved from the input tray into position for printing and until the finished page is finally ejected.
Photoret best quality print, without No.59 cartridge, HP Premium Plus glossy media - 260 seconds
The picture of the couple is a studio shot taken on medium format film and digitised. The original 12MB JPEG file has a resolution of 4866x3885 (18.9 MP).
Photoret best quality print, using No.59 cartridge, HP Premium Plus glossy media - 293 seconds
The same image printed at 4800x1200dpi in best quality mode took a patience-sapping 603 seconds (just over 10 minutes). Only images with above average latent image quality will benefit from the longer printing time.
Here is a 2400ppi scan, sampled down to 600ppi, of the girl's right eye (left as viewed) covering about a 2.3cm width of the print. This particular scan was taken from a 4800dpi print, representing the best quality output of the printer.
Here is the same area scanned from a Photoret mode print. There is slightly more dot grain and this subdues the detail a little. The 4800dpi section looks smoother and slightly more saturated.
Above is the same scan of the 4800ppi print but reproduced at the original 2400 scanned resolution, showing correspondingly less area.
And here is the same zoomed in 2400ppi scan of the Photoret mode print. The 4800dpi dot grain is more prominent at this magnification, but this serves to preserve more detail.
The colour chart shows smooth tonal gradation and just a slight fall-off in the red bar. Use of the No.59 grey cartridge ensures a neutral grey tone.
This test chart shows edges at 5 degrees to the horizontal. Printed at 4800dpi, there is some visible serration of the edges, suggesting some over-sharpening.
Printed at just 600dpi, the edges are smooth.
The 7960 does a very good job of reproducing the pink of the clothing and the tone of the hair and skin.
Compared to some rival printers, the green of the foliage is slightly muted and there is no excessive yellow as demonstrated by some Canon printers. The gradation of white to yellow in the flowers is slightly compressed.
A separate article exploring the mono capabilities of the 7960 can be found
here. But above is a scan of a the studio scene printed from a mono version of the image, but without using the No.59 grey scale cartidge. It's not awful, but it has a cold feel about it that is not representative of the actual image. Under different light sources the print can appear to assume a number of different tints, which confirms that metamerism is an issue.
If anything the print is slightly on the warm side when printed using the No.59 cartridge and the print certainly has more body and depth. It's also a lot less affected by different light sources, meaning metamerism is well controlled. It's a very impressive result.
Finally, here is another high resolution digitised film image. This shows that the 7960 reproduces metallic tones well and that shadow detail is adequately preserved.
Plain paper print quality & speed
Our plain paper black text printing quality and speed test uses a page containing four paragraphs of single-spaced 12 point Times New Roman text, totalling 43 lines, including a heading. Timings are taken from the time the first page of a three-sheet print run completes until the second is completed.
Fast draft mode
Time: 7.1 seconds (8.4 pages per minute)
The extreme close-up above reveals some rather jagged formation of the letters. But this is compensated for by very good black density. With the naked eye, you have to look quite closely to notice the low resolution of the lettering.
Fast normal mode
Time: 8.8 seconds (6.8 pages per minute)
Now the characters are formed more smoothly but there is some ink over-spray. But once again, the excellent density of the printing is the dominant quality and the printed page looks very good.
Normal (best quality) mode
Time: 11.1 seconds (5.4 pages per minute)
There is a marginal improvement in quality compared with Fast normal mode but you have to look very hard on the printed page to see the difference. But it's there - the characters are just that little bit smoother and sharper.
Running costs
Typical cartridge selling prices (UK, pounds Sterling), including 17.5% VAT:
No.56 (19ml pigment black) £16.45
No.57 (17ml cyan, magenta, yellow) £29.37
No.58 (17ml photo cyan, photo magenta, photo black) £21.15
No.59 (17ml photo grey-scale) £17.47
(prices from dabs.com 20th January, 2004)
We haven't yet run an exhaustive consumption test on the 7960. Previous Photoret III-based HP printers proved to be more expensive to run than comparable Epson and Canon printers, but it would be wrong to assume that the story is the exactly same here as the ink cartridges and printing systems are now quite different.
However, a set of the four cartridges to replace those originally supplied with the printer will set you back well over £80, around double the cost of some of HP's key rivals. Part of this extra cost can be explained by the integrated print heads that are thrown away when the ink cartridge is depleted. HP, of course, points out that, in effect, when you buy a new ink cartridge you also get a new print head thrown in. HP's detractors, with some justification, point out that the fixed print heads (or Canon's non-disposable, but replaceable, if required, print heads) demonstrate consistently good performance over the life of many sets of ink cartridges.
We will update this page as soon as we get an opportunity to run our ink-depletion tests on a 7960 printer.
Print longevity
HP photo inks are based on soluble dyes. Unlike pigment-based Ultrachrome and Durabrite inks produced by Epson for a sub-set of its printer models, dye-based inks are vulnerable to gas-borne chemical attack by ozone and other gaseous pollutants, plus the effects of naturally occurring ultra-violet (UV) radiation in sunlight and some artificial light sources.
So, on face value, HP Photosmart photo prints should be just as vulnerable to environmental fading factors as those produced by other dye-based ink-jet printers from rivals Lexmark, Canon and Epson. But HP claims otherwise and here's why. HP photo media is different to typical Canon and Epson photo papers. HP's print head lays down more ink than its rivals and the ink is absorbed into a 'swellable' gelatine-like layer that makes up the surface coating of the paper. Once the ink has dried, the dye is locked into the layer and protected from the atmosphere. Epson's ColorLife paper works on a similar principle.
All HP's longevity claims for its Photosmart photo prints is based on resistance to gas fading. HP states: "Up to 73 years, based on Wilhelm Imaging Research, Inc. using the HP 58 Photo Inkjet print cartridge and HP 59 Gray Photo Inkjet print cartridge on HP Premium Plus Photo papers"
Wilhelm figures are authoritative, but need to be carefully interpreted. HP's ink and media scientists confirmed to me that their photo prints bore no more resistance to UV fading than any rival dye-based ink-jet photo print. If you leave a dye-based photo print in a position that gets several hours of direct sunlight, your print will fade in weeks. Even indirect illumination, from sunlight reflected off walls, for example, is harmful. But with the use of UV-filtering glass in picture frames or by storing your photos in a dark place, prints should last well.
Conclusions
Conclusions and ratings
dpnow review ratings explained
We know that you, the reader, will value certain aspects of a product more than some other individuals. This is why we instead of numbers or percentages, which can be interpreted very differently by different reviewers and readers, our rating system presents values on or above a median. It's a bit like ABC exam scores, where A or A+ is the best, C is the minimum pass and F is, well, failure.
Design
Style is a matter of personal taste, but I haven't yet come across anyone that drools over the 7960's styling. But it's not hard on the eye either. Internally, HP is unique in employing a 180 degree turn in the paper path, something it has stuck with since the late 1980s. This is fine with thin plain paper, but unless you're using particularly flexible heavier weight papers or card, you can run into paper transport problems. I've noticed several third party photo papers emerging scratched, though HP's super-slinky photo papers work without any problems.
Features
At the time of writing, true grey scale printing for grain-free continuous tone monochrome photo printing, thanks to the new No.59 photo grey ink cartridge, is unique to the 7960, as is support for direct printing from xD memory cards. Add to that features like a standard colour LCD preview and status screen, front and rear USB ports, optional duplex printing capability and it's clear that the 7960's feature set is a strong one. But there are some gaps. For example, direct printing from a camera is only possible with selected HP Photosmart cameras. HP has signed up to the PictBridge camera to printer standard but has been happy to let rivals introduce PictBridge printers first. There is also no sign yet that HP is interested in less wasteful single colour ink tanks. But one good bit of news is that HP has, at last, introduced borderless photo printing with the 7960.
Build quality
While Print quality has improved markedly in the last two years, HP's ink-jet printers seem to have paid a price in terms of build quality. The 7960 is no exception. It’s a big and heavy printer, but the plastics used seem relatively flimsy. This might explain why printing noise is higher than usual for normally ultra-quiet HP ink-jets.
Ease of use
There are no complaints here. HP has traditionally worked hard to make its printer drivers easy to use, some might say over-simplifying them in the process. PC-less printing is also very straightforward using the front panel controls and on-screen menu system. There is no fiddly manual head alignment either as the 7960 continues in the family tradition of providing an automatic self-alignment system.
Photo print quality
Colours, dot grain and print sharpness are all excellent. The only imperfection that has been noted is a tendency towards over-sharpening and this can make some prints look over-contrasty. Black and white prints from the 7960, when printed using the No.59 ink cartridge, set a new standard for monochrome ink-jet photos. Blacks and greys are slightly warm but prints look great, free from distracting colour casts and metamerism issues when viewed under different light sources. If you like ultra-shiny glossy prints, the 7960 may disappoint. The shine delivered by HP Premium Plus glossy photo paper is adequate but not in the same league as Canon's PR101 or Epson Premium Glossy, for example.
Plain paper printing quality
Continuing HP's strong tradition in this category, plain paper black text prints are not easy to distinguish from laser printer output. The 7960's fast draft mode looks coarse when magnified but its good black density masks much of the detail deficiencies when viewed with the naked eye.
Printing speed
HP's chosen combination of relatively heavy ink deposition and 'swellable' surface coating on HP photo paper results in photo printing speeds that are generally below those of Canon photo printers and many Epson photo printers.
Third party photo paper compatibility
HP's ink-jet system deposits relatively large amounts of ink onto photo media. This is because HP favours photo media that features a 'swellable' absorption surface. As Epson and Canon ink-jet printers mostly support porous surface photo media, which has a lower absorption capacity, papers developed to support these printers don't work well with HP printers like the 7960. The excess ink pools on the surface of the paper, taking longer to dry and results in less sharp prints and usually poor colour and contrast too. In general, more papers work well with Epson printers, in particular, than HP ink-jets. Results on some matt-finish fine art papers aren't too bad as long as the paper is flexible enough to survive the tight paper path.
The 7960 is not a fine art printer, though its accomplished mono printing performance might make you wish it was. However, we were able to print successfully using the No.59 cartridge in combination with some lighter weight fine art matt papers.
Another issue worth noting is that HP's printer driver does not provide easy access to standard colour management settings. If you wish to create your own custom profiles it will be more complicated to implement them than with an Epson printer, for example.
Print longevity
The two enemies of photo prints are air-borne or gaseous pollutants like ozone and dye-zapping ultra violet light. HP's Premium Plus paper locks the ink dyes inside an air-tight photo paper surface layer, making prints genuinely resistant to normal gas fading. But HP inks are made from soluble chemical dyes rather than particle-based pigments. The latter are much more resistant to UV fading. So 7960 photo prints are no more resistant to light fading than any other dye-based photo prints, but should resist fading well overall as long as they are shielded from direct sunlight and other UV sources.
Incidentally, HP's Premium Plus glossy paper is vulnerable to water damage and it's relatively easy to damage the surface coating of a print.
Value for money
The HP 7960 is a high-specification printer and, as such, does carry a relatively high price tag. But the 7960 does represent a lot of printer for the money. What's more of a concern is the cost of running your 7960. HP ink cartridges, with their integrated print heads, are more expensive than rival ink-only ink cartridges from Canon and Epson. And HP does not offer thriftier single colour ink cartridges either.
Bottom line
For:
Excellent photo print quality when using HP paper
Outstanding black and white photo print quality using No.59 cartridge and HP paper
Prints are genuinely resistant to gas fading
Comprehensive direct print media card support including xD cards
Plain paper text printing quality is very good
Colour LCD preview and status screen is standard
Front and rear USB ports
Optional duplex printing
Automatic self-print head alignment
Easy to use
Against:
Limited ink compatibility with third party papers
Some third party papers damaged by tight paper path
Photo printing relatively slow
Direct from camera print facility exclusive to selected HP cameras (PictBridge not yet supported)
Larger than average dimensions
Disappointing build quality
Separate colour ink tanks not implemented
Ink cartridges relatively expensive
Dye-based photo colour inks are not resistant to UV fading
Photos can be a touch over-sharpened
Difficult to use with custom profiles
Verdict
The HP Photosmart 7960 is not a perfect product, but HP deserves a big slap on the back for having the vision and confidence to introduce this printer. HP's Photosmart flagship can claim a number of firsts, including the most comprehensive memory card compatibility yet, beating rivals to integrated xD card support. But it's that No.59 photo grey ink cartridge that makes the 7960 really special. Not only does it enable the 7960 to produce outstanding black and white prints but it further enhances HP's already much improved colour photo printing quality. For these reasons alone, the 7960 can be heartily recommended. Resistance to fading is also above average. But potential buyers need to weigh up the relatively high cost of inks and limited compatibility with photo papers apart from HP's own.
Check the latest price or purchase this item via
|
|
|
|  |
| Click on the flag that best relates to your location |
| The EU flag links to Amazon Germany, currently the only European Amazon outlet that supplies electronic goods like cameras priced in Euros. |
| Each Amazon outlet can ship to most countries in the world. |
Second opinion? Read reviews of the HP Photosmart 7960 from:
Photo-i
Steve's Digicams
Or send us your
comments on your experiences with the 7960 to share with other readers.
Your comments...
This page is reserved for feedback from dpnow.com readers who have use the HP Photosmart 7960 printer. We want to hear what you love and loath about your printer!
Click
here to share your experiences with other dpnow readers.
Updated: 28th January, 2004
Alex G has an answer to my criticism that the heavy inking of HP printers like the 7960 prevents you from using many third party papers. He says:
"The 7960 does allow you to reduce the amount of ink placed on the page.
The setting is found in the [basics] [advanced] menu. Setting it down
one notch allows beautiful prints on Epson, Canon and other brand papers."
Egil Eriksen is very complimentary about the review's conclusions:
"In my mind, the review hits very close to the bulls eye. It`s a nice printer, and with a better build quality the 7960 would have been brilliant. Anyway, I do not regret to have purchased one, only remember too keep the infants away from it. By the way, I have tried some Kodak paper(Premium Gloss? don`t remenber) and it worked very well."
Gordon Simpson from Canada has had some paper feed problems with his 7960:
"My HP 7960, which I purchased December 29 and returned the following week due to a printing problem! This printer suffers from a problem that causes marks (parallel dots) in several lines across the prints. This is evidently caused by the star wheels designed to feed the paper through the 180 degree turn of the paper feed system. These marks were extremely noticeable on HP premium photo paper, and could still be seen by careful viewing on the HP premium plus paper, Ilford Galleria and Kodak Premium Picture Paper and tetanol High Glossy 264 Gm paper. I loved the colour prints produced and thought that I had at last found a great B&W printer with no colour tinges ( I love B&W) as a hobby photographer. I was so disappointed to have to return it. But if I enter prints at the local camera club and such lines on prints would not be acceptable.
"The HP web site at hp.com mentions this problem and states that " there is no service solution to this problem" !!! They suggest that one only uses HP Premium Plus papers as they initially swell up and then help to hide the marks when dry. But this best paper costs 50% more here in Canada, which make it expensive to use all the time. I am surprised that you have not noticed this problem, nor has " Steve's Digicams" noticed either apparently in his tests.
"Perhaps HP will be bringing out a new design with a changed paper feed route which would overcome the problem. They'll have to do something as the print quality is so good that it is a pity to have it marred by this mechanical problem.
Ian replies: I have only seen this problem in Epson printers and then, only rarely and not recently. I believe you had an unrepresentatively faulty printer.
HP Photosmart 7960 printer
Minimum system requirements
| Component | Windows PC | Macintosh |
| Operating system | 98, 2000 Professional, Me, XP Professional, XP Home | Mac OS 9 v 9.1 or later, OS X v 10.1 through 10.2 |
| Processor | Pentium II (or equivalent) or greater | G3 or greater |
| RAM | 64 MB (128 MB recommended) | Mac OS 9.1 and OS 9.2: 64 MB (128MB recommended)Mac OS X v 10.1 and OS X v 10.2: 128MB |
| Free disk space | 500 MB | 500 MB |
| Video display | 800 x 600, 16-bit or higher | 800 x 600, 16-bit or higher |
| CD-ROM drive | 4x | 4x |
| Connectivity | USB: Front and back ports (Windows 98, 2000 Professional, Me, XP Home, and XP Professional) | USB 2.0 full speed (Mac OS 9 v 9.1 or later, OS X v 10.1 through v 10.2) |
Ink cartridges
| Colors | Cartridge model number |
| Black | HP #56 (C6656A |
| Tri-color | HP #57 (C6657A) |
| Photo | HP #58 (C6658A) |
| Photo gray | HP #59 (C9359A) |
Print resolution
| Black truetype resolution | Plain paper/FastDraft | 300 x 300 rendered dpi |
| Plain paper/ Fast Normal | 600 x 600 rendered dpi |
| Plain paper/Normal | 600 x 600 rendered dpi |
| Plain paper/Best | 600 x 600 rendered dpi |
| Plain paper/Maximum dpi | 1200 x 1200 rendered dpi black |
| Color resolution - Four-ink (any paper type) | Plain paper/FastDraft | 300 x 300 input dpi |
| Plain paper/Fast Normal | 600 x 600 input dpi |
| Plain paper/Normal | 600 x 600 input dpi |
| Plain paper/Best | 600 x 600 input dpi |
| Plain paper/Maximum dpi | 1200 x 1200 input dpi |
| Color printing resolution - Six-ink (plain and photo papers) | Plain paper/Fast Draft | 600 x 300 dpi; 300 x 300 input dpi |
| Plain paper/Fast Normal | 600 x 600 dpi; 600 x 600 input dpi |
| Plain paper/Normal | 600 x 600 dpi; 600 x 600 input dpi |
| Plain paper/Best | 1200 x 1200 dpi; 600 x 600 input dpi |
| Plain paper/Maximum dpi | 4800 x 1200 optimized dpi; 1200 x 1200 input dpi |
| Photo paper/Fast Draft | 1200 x 1200 dpi; 300 x 300 input dpi |
| Photo paper/Fast Normal | 1200 x 1200 dpi; 600 x 600 input dpi |
| Photo paper/Normal | 1200 x 1200 dpi; 600 x 600 input dpi |
| Photo paper/Best/Photo REt | 1200 x 1200 dpi; 600 x 600 input dpi |
| Photo paper/Maximum dpi | 4800 x 1200 optimized dpi; 1200 x 1200 input dpi |
Print speed
| Color | Print speed |
| Black text | 21 ppm |
| Color | 16 ppm |
Duty cycle
The duty cycle for the HP Photosmart 7960 printer is 5,000 pages per month.
Input/Output
• Front USB port: 2.0 full speed, supporting note book computer and camera connectivity to selected HP cameras
• Rear USB port: supporting computer connectivity
• Five memory card slots: CF I and II, Secure Digital/MM card, SmartMedia card/xD-Picture card, Sony Memory Stick, and IBM Microdrive.
Internal memory 32 MB RAM
Automatic features
• Media-size sensing using width detection
• Media-type detection
• Low ink detection
• Automatic ink cartridge alignment
Paper tray capacity
| Paper size | Capacity |
| A and A4 | 100 sheets |
| A6 | 20 sheets |
| Photo tray | 15 sheets |
Physical dimensions
| Height | 7.24 inches (183.8 mm) |
| Width | 20.43 inches (518.9 mm) |
| Depth | 15.4 inches (391.16 mm) |
| Weight | 14.5 pounds (5.78 kg) |
Environmental specifications
Hewlett-Packard Company is committed to providing quality products in an environmentally sound manner. This printer has been designed with several attributes to minimize impact on our environment. For more information, go to HP's Commitment to the Environment Web site at www.hp.com/hpinfo/globalcitizenship/environment/index.html.
Ozone production
This product generates no appreciable ozone gas (O3).
Energy consumption
Energy usage drops significantly while in ENERGY STAR mode, which saves natural resources, and saves money without affecting the high performance of this product. This product qualifies for ENERGY STAR, which is a voluntary program established to encourage the development of energy-efficient office products. ENERGY STAR is a U.S. registered mark of the U.S. EPA. As an ENERGY STAR partner, Hewlett-Packard Company has determined that this product meets the ENERGYSTAR guidelines for energy efficiency. For more information, go to www.energystar.gov.
Paper use
This product is suited for the use of recycled paper according to DIN 19309.Plastic parts over 0.88 ounces (24 grams) are marked according to international standards that enhance the ability to identify plastics for recycling purposes at the end of the printer’s life.
Material safety data sheets
Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) can be obtained from the HP Web site at www.hp.com/go/msds. Customers without Internet access should contact HP support.
Recycling program
HP offers an increasing number of product return and recycling programs in many countries and partners with some of the largest electronic recycling centers throughout the world. HP conserves resources by reselling some of its most popular products. This HP product contains lead in the solder, which may require special handling at the end of its life.
|
