Hewlett Packard
DeskJet 895Cse
By Jeffery Roberts - Senior Hardware Editor
92
A
The Hewlett
Packard name can be found gracing home and business computers, workstations,
storage devices, scanners and even calculators. Although, HP manufactures and distributes a slew of other
products, Hewlett Packard is best known for their line of computer printers.
As a printer manufacturer, HP has led the way with color ink-jets and is
the world’s #1 manufacturer of color inkjet and photo-quality printers.
Hewlett Packard was founded in 1939, in a one-car garage by Bill Hewlett
and Dave Packard. The garage, in
Palo Alto, CA, still stands and is designated as a historical landmark and
Silicon Valley milestone. HP still
calls Palo Alto, CA, home and in1998, Bill and Dave’s little business grossed
$47.1 billion.
The HP DeskJet 895Cse, Professional Series printer, is
another color inkjet printer from a long line of color inkjet printers. The
895Cse is squarely aimed at the SOHO, (Small
Office-Home Office) market. Until
very recently, the HP 895 series printer was Hewlett Packard’s,
top-of-the-line, USB, color inkjet. According
to HP Customer Care, the only difference between the HP, 895Cse and the HP,
895Cxi is the packaged bonus software.
Design
A traditional U path paper track printer, the HP 895Cse,
has a low profile and requires only 15” of head room with the print cartridge
access door fully ajar. Paper is
loaded into the printer from a two-tiered adjustable tray at the front.
The paper loads into the lower front tray and the completed document
exits into the tray above. To prevent smudging, a dual sided, plastic, gate mechanism,
in the exit tray, delays the page from dropping too quickly, when multiple pages
are printed. Like all newer HP
DeskJets, the print cartridges center in the access opening when the door is
lifted and automatically return to the ready position when the door is closed.
The 895Cse is a dual cartridge printer, one black and one tri-color.
This printer uses the same ink cartridges as the very popular HP 722C.
The printer comes provided with the new, small sized, economy, black
cartridge, designed for people who only use their printer occasionally.
The 895Cse is a networkable, professional printer designed for office
use. A full sized black ink
cartridge should be included.
Media Handling
The 895Cse is versatile enough to handle most business
documents and a lot more.
The HP 895Cse prints plain, inkjet, and photo paper; envelopes, transparencies, labels, index
cards, greeting cards, banner paper, and iron-on transfers. The plastic
guide at the left side of the IN tray adjusts to accommodate printable stock up
to 8 ˝” wide by 14” long with the following tray capacities:
-
100 sheets of paper
-
15 envelopes
-
30 index cards
-
25 transparencies
-
20 labels sheets
Clearing the dreaded “paper jamb”, is simplified by a
trap door in the back of the 895. The
rear access panel exposes the paper path, permitting the victim to reach in and
free the printer of the problem sheet.
HP 895 Properties
Color Smart II
Information from the Hewlett Packard
website
|
Print
Speed, Black
|
EconoFast:11
ppm
Normal mode: 5.1 ppm
Best mode: 4.4 ppm
|
|
Print
Speed, Color
|
EconoFast
mode: 8.5 ppm
Normal mode: 3.6 ppm
Best mode: 1 ppm
|
|
Resolution
|
600
dpi in black; HP PhotoREt II color layering technology
|
|
Resolution
Technology
|
REt
|
|
Print
Colors
|
Black
and up to 16.7 million colors
|
|
Print
Cartridges
|
2
1 black and 1 color (cyan, magenta, and yellow)
|
|
Color
Technology
|
HP
PhotoREt II color layering technology
ColorSmart II color layering technology
ColorSync support for Macintosh
HP RealLife Imaging System
|
|
Print
Languages, Std.
|
HP
PCL3
|
|
Print
Languages, Opt.
|
None
|
|
Automatic
Language Switching
|
No
|
|
Monthly
Volume
|
3,000
pages
|
|
Paper
Trays
|
1
|
|
Input
Capacity
|
100
sheets
|
|
Envelope
Input
|
15
|
|
Media
Types
|
Plain,
inkjet, and photo paper; envelopes, transparencies, labels, index cards,
greeting cards, banner paper, and iron-on transfers
|
|
Memory,
Std.
|
2
MB built-in RAM, 48 KB receiver buffer
|
|
Memory,
Max.
|
2
MB built-in RAM, 48 KB receiver buffer
|
|
Scalable
Typefaces
|
8
built-in fonts, 4 each in portrait and landscape orientations; CG Times,
CG Times Italic, Univers, Univers Italic, Courier, Courier Italic, Letter
Gothic, Letter Gothic Italic
|
|
Connectivity,
Std.
|
IEEE
1284-compliant Centronics parallel; Universal Serial Bus (Windows 98 and
Macintosh)
|
|
Connectivity,
Opt.
|
HP
JetDirect external print servers
|
|
Automatic
I/O Switching
|
No
|
|
Warranty
|
One-year
limited
|
|
Dimensions
|
W
x D x H: 17.5 x 7.4 x 14.0 in.
|
Installation
Opening the colorful, well-made cardboard box reveals a
securely packaged printing device, the HP 895Cse. The 895 is a dual mode printer and can be installed in either
parallel or USB mode. As the USB
Workshop, we will concern ourselves with the USB function of the HP 895Cse.
Minimum System
Requirements for the 895Cse:
Microsoft. Windows 3.1x, 95, or 98: 80486 processor, 8 MB RAM (16 recommended)
Windows NT 4.0: Pentium. processor, 16 MB RAM (32 recommended)
MS-DOS. 3.3 or above: 80386 processor or better, 4 MB RAM
Mac OS 7.5.1 or above: Networked Macintosh only
Mac OS 8.1 or above: USB-connect Macintosh only
Software Compatibility:
Microsoft. Windows (3.1x, 95, 98, and NT 4.0); MS DOS applications
Mac OS 7.5.1 or above: Networked Macintosh only
Mac OS 8.1 or above: USB-connect Macintosh only
A large, glossy, poster-sized instruction sheet guides
the user, step by step through the USB installation process.
“USB Setup for Windows98* for Windows95, use
parallel mode”, is the first line on the setup sheet.
There are 7 steps to installing the printer in USB mode:
1)
Unpack
2)
Plug in the power supply
3)
Install the inkjet cartridges
4)
Load the paper tray
5)
Insert the software CD into the drive
6)
Connect the USB
7)
Install the USB software
The system reboots, we align the print cartridges and
we’re off to the races. USB setup
just couldn’t be easier.
A nice feature is the large, heavy, power supply which is
plugged at both ends. The extra
long two-piece power cord, allows the power supply to rest on the floor.
Way more convenient than units that plug directly into the wall socket
and block off two outlets.
By the way, don’t forget to buy a USB device cable.
You won’t find one in the box.
HP 895Cse - Properly Installed in Device Manager
THE TEST
Test System
-
ABIT
BE6
-
PIII
450 @ 540 MHz
-
256
MB-PC133 Micron on Micron SDRAM
-
ADS
PCI/USB upgrade card
-
USB
keyboard, mouse, Belkin ethernet adapter and D-Link 4 port hub
-
Microsoft
Windows98 Second Edition 4.10.2222A
To test the speed on the 895Cse, I used a 22 page,
technical report and a very colorful picture of some Black-Eyed Susans.
Tests were run for all three, speed settings, Best, Normal and EconoFast.
Unlike the difficulties encountered with the 812c test,
the 895Cse works flawlessly with an ADS, OPTi, PCI/USB upgrade card.
Connecting this HP printer to the test system using an Entrega, four
port, USB hub, exhibited a slight slow down in printer reaction time and overall
speed. Actual print times with the
hub connection are somewhat slower than those shown in the test figures.
Print quality, with both add-on USB devices, is consistent with that
achieved by direct connection to the onboard, Intel, PCI/USB host controller.
|
HP 895Cse
Test
|
10-03-1999
|
USB Mode
|
JR
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Text (22 page
report)
|
Time /Min
|
Pages
|
PPM
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Best
|
5.55
|
22
|
3.96
|
|
Normal
|
5.20
|
22
|
4.23
|
|
EconoFast
|
2.55
|
22
|
8.63
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Full Color (Flowers)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Best
|
2.18
|
1
|
.46
|
|
Normal
|
.88
|
1
|
1.14
|
|
EconoFast
|
.32
|
1
|
3.13
|
The 895Cse displayed, beautiful, vivid color reproduction
on HP photo paper. The sharp,
laser-like, text character formation is crisp and unfragmented, even when
magnified. The Network ready
printer, operated quietly in Normal and Best Mode but screamed like an old, 9
pin, dot-matrix, when printing in EconoFast mode.
The Auto-On feature of the 895, automatically turns the
printer ON when a print job is spooled, saving energy and steps.
Unfortunately, the Auto-On feature is NOT Auto-OFF. Bi-directional
printer communication is not supported in USB mode.
Therefore, the very useful, printer error message feature is disabled.
Surprisingly, the speed of the 895 in USB mode is very similar to
its speed in parallel mode. I
expected the printer to be faster in USB. It
was NOT. An extensive software
package is included with this HP printer. Unlike
some software packages that include lots of TRIAL VERSION software, the HP
package is full version. I selected
and tried, Office in Color. I
liked the color features and I intend to leave it installed.
Office in Color
(Included in Software Bundle)
The HP 895Cse, is
a very good printer, combining laser quality text, exceptional color, useful
features and networking capabilities. If
you need an inkjet printer for your small business, home office, or personal
use, the HP 895Cse should be on your short list.
Although not perfect, I liked the 895Cse and I bought one.
Visit these sites for additional information on the HP 895Cse.
HP 895Cse home page
http://www.pandi.hp.com/pandi-db/prod_info.show?model=C6410B&name=DeskJet_895Cse
HP
895Cse User Forum
http://forum.support.hp.com\escforum\deskjet\index_dj890.html
HP 895Cse
PDF Brochure
http://www.pandi.hp.com/pandi/pdf/dj895cse.pdf
Search for best price at Price
Grabber
USBMan
09/20/1999
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