Hewlett-Packard Co. Tuesday announced three new series of large-format printers, the DesignJet 5000, 500 and 800 printers. The company made the announcement at the Seybold publishing conference being held this week in San Francisco.
The HP DesignJet 5000 family, which includes the DesignJet 5000 and 5000PS systems, are targeted at print service providers or people who carry out heavy-duty printing. Using dye-based inks or pigment-based UV inks, the 5000 series of printer can provide print images or text up to a maximum resolution of 1,200 x 600 dpi (dots per inch), according to a company statement.
DesignJet 5000's six-color printing system uses 680cc ink cartridges and one-inch printheads with JetExpress technology for faster printing. The printers can print up to 569 square-feet per hour and are available in 42- and 60-inch models, according to the company statement.
The DesignJet 5000 printer has a 5G-byte hard disk, while the 5000PS has higher storage capacity with a 20G-byte hard disk. The printers can hold up to 256M bytes of RAM (random access memory). To enable operation over networks, the printers have a JetDirect 610 N BaseT network card, the company said.
The DesignJet 5000 printers are available now at a price tag of between US$10,500 and $21,000, according to HP.
The DesignJet 500 and 800 families are scaled-down versions of the DesignJet 5000 series. These two printer families have two members each -- the DesignJet 500/500PS and the DesignJet 800/800PS printers -- and are targeted at architects, engineers, designers or anyone who indulges in color-line drawing.
While the DesignJet 500 series can print a maximum image resolution of 1,200 dpi, the 800 series can print up to a resolution of 2,400 dpi. Both the printers have similar specifications otherwise, with 69cc ink cartridge capacities, and print speeds of 85 square-feet per hour.
Available in 24- and 42- inch sizes, the 500 series will range between $2,500 to $4,400 in price, while the 800 series will range in price between $5,800 to $9,000, according to HP.
All three printer families use HP's color layering technology, which places multiple drops of ink per dot, to provide better contrast. All three printer series will also come with Adobe Systems Inc.'s PostScript 3.0 RIP (Raster image processor) support, with respective drivers for Apple Computer Inc.'s Macintosh and Microsoft Corp.'s Windows operating systems provided with the printers.
HP, based in Palo Alto, California, can be reached at +1-650-857-1501 or at http://www.hp.com/.