There is always—always—stuff piled up in front of it.
I bought it in June, 2006 to replace my smaller (and artifact-prone) HP 7960. As I recall, I got both a Staples in-store reduced price and an HP rebate! I had weighed the pros and cons between dye and the more expensive pigment printers and decided that, given the price differential, I would go with the dye printer knowing that better pigment printers would soon be coming out.
But I’ve found no reason to switch yet. I’m pleased to note that HP is still listing the 8750 as a current model (meaning that paper and ink for the printer will still be available for—what?—two years from discontinuance?—can’t remember . . . something like that).
Of course the ink and paper are very expensive—that’s just to be expected nowadays. But the results are great. Yes, the color might be just a bit too vivid, but I’m fine with that. And the black and white prints are, alas, better than my old darkroom Ilford Galerie silver prints (equally subtle gradations and tonalities, plus the benefit of Photoshop processing.) The downside is the need for frequent replacing of the (expensive) gray ink cartridge.
The ink is designed to be used with HP’s "swellable-polymer" papers—as I understand it, the paper acts something like a sponge, the ink sinking into the surface of the paper and thus improving longevity. Wilhelm Imaging Research display permanence ratings for this printer/paper combination are as follows:
Color prints framed under glass: 108 years.
Black and white prints framed under glass: 115 years.
Dark storage: Greater than 200 years.
In point of fact, I’ve only sold a few prints so far, and no one has yet to ask me about print permanence issues. I include a little cheat sheet giving that information with each print anyway.
Yes, yes, I know. HP has just announced its new $549.00 B8850 pigment printer. We’ll have to wait and see.
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