See the big picture

Colour printing has never been cheap and few people print only for fun. Every printed page, even the simplest one, has its price tag. Trial and error methodology, so common in the computer world, is expensive when it comes to printing -- playing around with printer settings can lose you a hundred bucks faster than in a casino.

Print management software is an essential feature for a colour printer and HP DeskJet 1120C, as any member of the large DeskJet family, fares very well in this regard. It comes with a set of features under the common name "smart software", which makes users' lives easier and saves them a couple of bucks on the way.

I really liked the PrintPreview option, which helps you inspect what kind of output you`ll get from your software, without wasting expensive ink and paper. This option becomes especially useful when you start exploring the printer`s special features, such as booklet and handout printing.

Another option, Print Settings Summary, helps you check out printing parameters before the final go -- also a nice money-saving feature.

The DeskJet 1120C comes with ColourSmart II technology. Through an easy interactive session, this feature automatically adjusts colour settings for the best-looking results. When I switched the printer on for the first time, it warned me that the cartridge was new and offered guidance for an interactive printing adjustment tour. So nice, so easy!

If you become stuck at any stage of printing, a context-sensitive help and trouble-shooter, accessible from the Toolbox icon on the desktop, is just a mouse-click away. It offers detailed step-by-step instructions, including comprehensive video clips on a variety of topics -- from loading the cartridge and clearing the paper jam, to how to print with special features.

The HP DeskJet 1120C is an A3 printer primarily for business environments. Although I`ll keep a few pretty posters as souvenirs (our production department usually pays R35 for a printout at a bureau), printing postcards and posters is probably the last item on a business user's list.

The printer is designed to print a variety of office documents -- double-sided newsletters, brochures, booklets, 2-, 4- and 8-page handouts, up to 40 x 53 inch billboards, big banners - whenever you need small print-runs for proofing or presentation purposes. Your sales and marketing department will love it as it really helps you show the big (and colourful) picture of your business.

The built-in SmartZoom technology automatically enlarges or reduces documents to match the printing purpose, while smart software takes the hassle out of printing even the most complicated items. All you have to do is choose the feature and press the right button. The printing wizard and printer will take care of everything else. The printer automatically converts your plain Word document into a double-sided z-fold brochure.

Everyone in the company can print their own documents -- you don`t have to hire a printer operator to help them out.

The 1120C prints on a variety of size/type media -- from envelopes and greeting cards, to banner paper, photo paper, transparency film and T-shirt transfers. It offers a 150-sheet front loading input tray, a straight-through paper path and a slot for inserting single media.

The DeskJet 1120C prints black text up to 600dpi with black pigmented ink, while Hewlett-Packard doesn`t specify the printing resolution for colour prints.

The printer uses a three-colour and black cartridge with specially formulated inks mixed according to a Hewlett-Packard recipe to eliminate paper soakage on plain paper. The HP PhotoRet II produces extremely small ink drops allowing for 16 drops to be placed per dot.

In econo-fast mode the printer churns out two full-page colour A4 pages per minute. In high-quality mode, when the printer does a real photo-quality job, a printout of ITWeb`s home page or a high-quality picture from our picture library can take more than four minutes.

In any case, the econo-mode printing speed and heavy monthly duty cycles (3 000 black or 500 colour pages per month) also qualify the printer for small workgroup network printing. The printer can be put on the network either as a share on a dedicated printer server or via HP JetDirect external print server.

The DeskJet 1120C produces natural rendition of images, smooth colour coverage, continuous gradation between tones and very good photo-quality output. The black text output is stunning.

When colour matters and you want to use in-house technology to produce big images and low print-run sales and marketing stationery, the DeskJet 1120C is the right candidate. The mix of technologies used in this printer is called "The Real Life Imaging System". Rightfully so!