HP Deskjet 960C

Most printing enthusiasts own an inkjet, so how does HP hope to make you ditch your old one and buy the 960C?

Well, the 960C has at least one new trick up its sleeve. When you feed paper into the printer, it senses what type it is and alters the print mode accordingly. Jogging through a menu to change settings when switching from printing a letter to printing a picture should be a thing of the past.

Print speed is also a factor that often prompts users to consider an upgrade. Many become frustrated with slow-coach models, and to be fair to HP, the 960C is fast for an inkjet printer. In our tests, it managed just over four pages of crisp, clean text every minute. To put this in context, a laser printer around the same price as the 960C will print up to three times faster.

Budget lasers don't print colour, though, which is something the 960C handles with ease. Epson's dedicated photo printers are generally considered to make the best picture in the inkjet market, but the 960C isn't far behind.

In fact, the quality of pictures here is as good as that achieved by the most expensive printer in HP's Photosmart range ,and shares a maximum resolution of 2,400 x 1,200 dpi. The Photosmart printers are more expensive because of their LCD screens and memory card slots.

The 960C's appeal for home photo enthusiasts is enhanced by its ability to print 4 x 6in pictures. Just make sure when you print, you do so on photo paper. Printing pictures on photocopy paper creates results that are more streaky than a packet of bacon. Helpfully, HP has tested the 960C with photo paper from a wide range of manufacturers, so it doesn't really matter which brand you use.

The strength of the 960C is its equal comfort in printing text and pictures, something many dedicated photo printers don't like. The only question mark is the price - shop around and you'll get a printer with similar performance but without frills such as automatic paper sensor, for fifty quid less. If you need to have those extra bits and bobs though, look no further.

Contact
Hewlett-Packard: 08705 474747 www.hp.com/uk ALSO CONSIDER

Epson Stylus Photo 895
Great prints and simple PC-free operation for less than £200.
£199 *****
Reviewed in Computeractive, Issue 89.