HP DeskJet 995CK Color Inkjet Printer

Rating:
Summary: WARNING - NO MAC BLUETOOTH SUPPORT
Review: I just bought this printer for my office and am sad to report that contrary to the product information provided on this page, this printer's bluetooth capabilities DO NOT SUPPORT MACINTOSH/APPLE OSX. I'm upset to say the least, as I have a powerbook and bluetooth was the reason I bought this printer.

Rating:
Summary: Works fine w/Mac OSX 10.3.7 & Bluetooth Firmware Updater 1.2
Review: I ordered the 995ck with the hope that Apple had fixed their Bluetooth implementation with this update. Evidently they did: the printer worked beautifully out of the box with my iMac G5 w/Bluetooth keyboard.

I would recommend the printer heartily, had it not abruptly vanished from the Amazon catalog (late Dec '04)

Rating:
Summary: Top quality unit - Good for low volume home office work
Review: The HP Deskjet 995ck Inkjet printer is an updated version of the 995c printer, which was first released in 2001. The 995ck was released in September 2003, and the differences between the two are minor. The 995c came standard with the duplex (two sided) printing unit and an infrared sensor. For the 995ck, the duplex unit is optional and the infrared sensor has been dropped. Hewlett Packard (HP) has dozens of printers available both in the Laser and Inkjet category. I will explain below why I think that the 995ck is one of the best Inkjet printers on the market for under $500.00. I also purchased the HP 175x Jet Direct Print Server along with the printer.

Prior to purchasing the HP 995ck, I owned an Epson Stylus Color 800 Inkjet printer. It was the top rated Inkjet printer discussed in several computer magazine reviews at the time. I was looking to replace it with a unit of comparable quality and capacity. My requirements were as follows:

A) Excellent text and graphics printing on plain paper - Graphics being defined as pages printed from the internet or downloaded magazine articles which are then printed for later reading, perhaps with graphs, charts, etc.

B) An ink cartridge life of approximately 1000 pages, and reasonable printing speed.

C) Relatively low cost per page expense.

D) A full-featured Ethernet connection that would operate just like my HP 4050TN Laser printer, which has a built-in Ethernet connection. I have a home office with four computers and wanted everyone to be able to use both printers without my computer needing to be on to print.

E) A well built unit mechanically, which would stand up to occasional office use for a long time without parts falling off.

F) A printer capable of good photo printing, but top quality photos were not needed.

The HP 995ck was the best choice among 15 printers that I evaluated or read about. There are many Inkjets available for less than the $249.00 that I paid for this one, but in one respect or another they didn't cut it for me. Many of the low cost Inkjets appeared to be made very cheaply, using plastic parts in some spots that look like they may not last very long. Even the other HP low cost printers looked to me a bit flimsy, particularly the paper tray components. I suppose for $99.00 I shouldn't be so picky.

The other area I found to be a problem was getting a printer with a Network connection without having to buy a third party print server box. In many cases, these units do not work correctly with every printer and my research shows that in the reverse direction (that is when the printer sends status information back to the computer), they do not work at all. The 175x is bidirectional with most HP printers, however before making a purchase, check out the HP website for a list of compatible units. The 995ck comes standard with a USB connection.

The HP 995ck is cost effective with ink, with an average cost per page of about 5 cents. It has optional high capacity ink cartridges if you want them, and they are not that expensive (relative to other models). The other nice thing about the ink cartridges is that they have built in ink nozzles, so when you replace the ink cartridge you are also replacing the nozzle. Some printers made by other companies do not have an option for the user to replace the ink nozzle. The user would, in the case of ink nozzle failure, just buy a whole new printer.

The printing quality of the 995ck is excellent for both text and graphics, even on plain copy paper, and it prints quite a bit faster than my old Epson. As far as the build quality of this unit, I consider it better than most of the lower cost Inkjet units, including those made by HP. It does have plastic parts but they appear to be more solid than other units I looked at.

The 175x Jet Direct print server is an external print server, housed in a small box with the footprint of a 3x5 index card, and costs about $159.00. It turns the 995ck and some other HP inkjets into full-featured network printers. (NOTE - check the HP website for a compatible printer list and network capabilities). This allows the owner to share the printer with others on the network. It also allows you to locate the printer up to 100 feet away from the computer. It comes with a Installation wizard which worked quite well, although you may wind up calling HP's technical support if you are not that familiar which setting up networks.

I am very pleased with the 995ck although I have only had it for a short time. In other review articles on the web, when they discuss this printer, the focus was always on the Bluetooth connection. I have no interest in this feature and simply turned it off. One of the control panels has a button to shut it the Blue tooth connection down, if you don't need it. A well known consumer magazine recently reviewed some Inkjet printers and liked this one too.

Highly Recommended.

Bobzt
RF Engineer.

Rating:
Summary: Top quality unit - Good for low volume home office work
Review: The HP Deskjet 995ck Inkjet printer is an updated version of the 995c printer, which was first released in 2001. The 995ck was released in September 2003, and the differences between the two are minor. The 995c came standard with the duplex (two sided) printing unit and an infrared sensor. For the 995ck, the duplex unit is optional and the infrared sensor has been dropped. Hewlett Packard (HP) has dozens of printers available both in the Laser and Inkjet category. I will explain below why I think that the 995ck is one of the best Inkjet printers on the market for under $500.00. I also purchased the HP 175x Jet Direct Print Server along with the printer.

Prior to purchasing the HP 995ck, I owned an Epson Stylus Color 800 Inkjet printer. It was the top rated Inkjet printer discussed in several computer magazine reviews at the time. I was looking to replace it with a unit of comparable quality and capacity. My requirements were as follows:

A) Excellent text and graphics printing on plain paper - Graphics being defined as pages printed from the internet or downloaded magazine articles which are then printed for later reading, perhaps with graphs, charts, etc.

B) An ink cartridge life of approximately 1000 pages, and reasonable printing speed.

C) Relatively low cost per page expense.

D) A full-featured Ethernet connection that would operate just like my HP 4050TN Laser printer, which has a built-in Ethernet connection. I have a home office with four computers and wanted everyone to be able to use both printers without my computer needing to be on to print.

E) A well built unit mechanically, which would stand up to occasional office use for a long time without parts falling off.

F) A printer capable of good photo printing, but top quality photos were not needed.

The HP 995ck was the best choice among 15 printers that I evaluated or read about. There are many Inkjets available for less than the $249.00 that I paid for this one, but in one respect or another they didn't cut it for me. Many of the low cost Inkjets appeared to be made very cheaply, using plastic parts in some spots that look like they may not last very long. Even the other HP low cost printers looked to me a bit flimsy, particularly the paper tray components. I suppose for $99.00 I shouldn't be so picky.

The other area I found to be a problem was getting a printer with a Network connection without having to buy a third party print server box. In many cases, these units do not work correctly with every printer and my research shows that in the reverse direction (that is when the printer sends status information back to the computer), they do not work at all. The 175x is bidirectional with most HP printers, however before making a purchase, check out the HP website for a list of compatible units. The 995ck comes standard with a USB connection.

The HP 995ck is cost effective with ink, with an average cost per page of about 5 cents. It has optional high capacity ink cartridges if you want them, and they are not that expensive (relative to other models). The other nice thing about the ink cartridges is that they have built in ink nozzles, so when you replace the ink cartridge you are also replacing the nozzle. Some printers made by other companies do not have an option for the user to replace the ink nozzle. The user would, in the case of ink nozzle failure, just buy a whole new printer.

The printing quality of the 995ck is excellent for both text and graphics, even on plain copy paper, and it prints quite a bit faster than my old Epson. As far as the build quality of this unit, I consider it better than most of the lower cost Inkjet units, including those made by HP. It does have plastic parts but they appear to be more solid than other units I looked at.

The 175x Jet Direct print server is an external print server, housed in a small box with the footprint of a 3x5 index card, and costs about $159.00. It turns the 995ck and some other HP inkjets into full-featured network printers. (NOTE - check the HP website for a compatible printer list and network capabilities). This allows the owner to share the printer with others on the network. It also allows you to locate the printer up to 100 feet away from the computer. It comes with a Installation wizard which worked quite well, although you may wind up calling HP's technical support if you are not that familiar which setting up networks.

I am very pleased with the 995ck although I have only had it for a short time. In other review articles on the web, when they discuss this printer, the focus was always on the Bluetooth connection. I have no interest in this feature and simply turned it off. One of the control panels has a button to shut it the Blue tooth connection down, if you don't need it. A well known consumer magazine recently reviewed some Inkjet printers and liked this one too.

Highly Recommended.

Bobzt
RF Engineer.

Rating:
Summary: It works.
Review: This is not the greatest printer ever, but it will do for simple printing needs. Works fine with OS X and updated bluetooth firmware. No 5 out of 5 because the printing sometimes messes up when printing with bluetooth, and is pretty slow with BT. Like I said, "It works."