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The placement of the roll in the rear of the printer was not a good call. I understand the reasons for doing so, but the result is a loading
process that is annoying at best and for some it will be a major hassle. In almost all production environment’s printers are crammed
against walls in crowded small spaces. Another thing to note is that the HP does not use a vacuum system to keep the paper at when
moving under the print path, but instead uses a feed system that includes a star wheel system. On the Z3100 these occasionally produced
marks on the print. So far I have yet to see any marks from the star wheels on prints from the Z3200. My feeling is that the marks are a
non issues on HP branded media, or when time is taken to ensure the correct settings are used when creating a media set for a 3rd party
media. If the marks were a problem even after altering the print setting, you now have the option of lifting the rollers for specic media.
I’m fairly condent this will give users enough options at their disposal to allow better support for third party media.
PRINTER CONTROL PANEL
All the printer’s controls on the Z3200 are located on the front of printer, grouped around a large monochrome LCD panel. From here
you control all the standard functionality of the printer, such as loading and unloading paper, selecting media types, and performing
color calibration. I like detailed information accessible from the display. Everything from the warranty status of the inks, to the amount
of ink each head has red, to the rmware version and connectivity information is easily found and clearly displayed. It’s nice to have
this much functionality available without having to move to the computer interface. It’s easy to change and congure the IP address.
Even basic color management functionality can be controlled from this menu. I also like HP’s use of animations on the LCD panel to
walk you through simple tasks such as loading paper, and changing print heads. This makes the printer a little friendlier in multi-user
environments where many people may only have brief contact with the printer. Of course this sophistication comes at a cost, making
the printer much more computer like. Partly because of the integrated 80 gb hard drive it requires a bit more time to start-up and in my
experience is slightly more prone to “crashing”. This occurs more with third party RIP’s, but has happened a few times with the drivers.
In all the interface is easy to use and offers a great deal of control without having to retreat to the nearest console to see what’s going
on in the printer.
BUILD QUALITY
Over many years HP has established a track record of building reliable, often overbuilt, easily maintainable printers. Compared to the
HP4000 or Z6100, the Z3200 is a lightweight, and reects the design philosophy of a photo/ne art printer rather than a production
printer. When the Z3100 was released there were some problems. Quite a number of users, including Spectraow, had to have the paper
feed sensors replaced. Also some users were troubled by appearance of star wheel marks on their prints due to the roller system used.
Since the Z3200 is an evolution of the Z3100 platform, many of these issues have been addressed, and I would expect that this launch
will go much smoother. Most of the issues I encountered with Z3100 printers made themselves known very early on, were addressed,
and afterwards functioned reliably. The stand is very robust and assembly is elegantly simple. The outer case is almost entirely plastic
yet feels solid. The paper basket is also well thought out. This printer gives the impression of being well built, and after having spent
considerable time using the Z3100, I have no reason to think that the durability of the Z3200 will not be equaly good, or better.
HARDWARE SUMMARY
The HP Z3200 is a well designed, functional print platform. The hands off approach to maintenance is rst-rate, almost eliminating any
downtime, and reducing ink waste to the bare minimum. The placement of the roll is still one of the primary annoyances I have with the
unit. Paper loading over all is average, but should not pose any serious limitations for most users. Cost per print is quite good considering
the relatively small size of the cartridges. It would have been nice to see a larger size cartridge option.