Home > Consumer Reviews > HP CP1700 Color Inkjet Printer

After trying 2 Epson 785EPX's and having trouble with the USB driver install, system locks and unacceptable white dot tracks all over the photos - cursing like I never have before, I decided to try HP & their brand new cp1700. Died and went to heaven! The results are STUNNING!! Printer sets up in 10 minutes, my entire computer runs three times faster (for some odd reason the Epson slowed everything down)and the photos are brilliant! (The paper feed on the new Epsons have real problems, that's what creates the white dot tracks, read other consumer reviews on the 785) This HP was up and kicking like no other hardware I've ever seen, amazing. Agreed that the price is more, but guess what? More than worth it, much more! Way to go HP, if there was a 6th star, you'd get it! Let alone the ability to print crystal clear 12 by 16's. Wow!

I purchased this printer for my company, an architectural firm, mid 2002. Upon first glance, this printer seemed amazingly well built with a modern design, albeit a bit of a space hog. I had hoped for the best with this puppy since it was the most expensive piece of printing equipement besides our HP plotter.

Anywhooo, as the puppy has grown out of its early stages of life, I have grown increasingly frustrated with it. For one, I don't understand why, but the dpi resolution just does not compare to other ink jets on the market. Even at the highest quality setting and on premium paper, images appear muddied and bereft of any vividness. I've seen better quality from printers a third of its price. Secondly, this printer can not do borderless prints, which is FINE. I can deal with that; however, I can not tolerate the printer being unable to print less than 3/4 of an inch near the left margin. What the heck is going on here? No matter what software I'm using, Photoshop, Dell Picture Studio, Epson Film Factory, yada yada yada, it becomes tremendoulsy painful to accurately center a picture on a page; in fact, if you don't adjust the printer settings carefully, the printer will willy nilly print straight off the right side of a page as if it suddenly wishes to become like its borderless Epson cousin.

I would expect a printer to recognize the paper edges and halt printing if the paper isn't there. Nope, that's not the case here, it will just dump ink inside the machine to soak deep within. I thought this was a driver problem at first and I even upgraded the firmware and drivers; result: same [stuff], different day....

One other gripe: This printer is by no means fast, especially when printing high quality on premium glossy paper. The other Hp 5550 I also just purchased for my office is at least twice as fast when printing regular color text pages and it cost a quarter the price.

So, the pluses to this printer is that it is extremely well built and looks terrific in a nice corporate environment. In terms of functionality, look elsewhere folks. I've had it with this model.

***MAY 15, 2003 UPDATE***
The printer died a few weeks ago, so I traded it in... The new one seems to not have the margin problem which is a needed relief. All other factors remain the same.

... Until I saw this printer and realised I could have everything that the magicolor had in A3+. This really is a workhorse of a printer. Consumables are reasonable for an office printer and it's great to have not only separate ink tanks for each colour but also separate print heads for each colour also. The duplexing is great. It will print on 300gm card and also prints up to 3mm from the edge of the page (I have an edge bleed design on my stationary design and now print all my own). The final win is the 250 page second tray and the upcoming addition of an HP sheet feed scanner which converts my system into a full-color/duplex/A3+ photocopier/faxer. Brilliant

The CP1700 just absolutely died on me and simply wouldn't run anymore. This is the third HP printer I have had and the third time the same thing has happened.
Paper feeding problems galore and no response from HP when I inquired. The quality of HP printers has declined drastically. Anyone who tells you anything different is a con artist. I run a printing/publishing business, so I do know what I am talking about. For a small desktop, wide format printer, I have gone to the Epson 1280. What a beautiful printer. Even the cost of cartidges is much better than HP's. No wonder HP is in trouble!

I purchased this printer last August, and am now on my second replacement. The feed mechanism broke on the first two units, and I suspect it's going on the machine I'm using now. My volume is not all that large, by the way.

Even when the printer is not broken, the ability to feed 11 x 17 paper is pathetic. Yesterday, it took me two hours to get two tabloid size pages printed, with about a dozen jams occuring in the process. I use good quality paper, am careful about positioning in the tray, and have tried all three trays with the same abysmal results. This, but the way, is when feeding one sheet at a time; I long ago gave up on feeding multiple copies!

Another thing: every one of the printers I've had feeds slightly crooked. This seems to be an HP thing as the 1220 I had before did the same thing.

On the plus side, print quality and speed are good, as least compared to other printers I've owned, and the multiple ink cartridges and separate print heads are a plus.

But when you spend as much time as I do clearing paper jams and returning broken machines, it's impossible to recommend this product. If you need large sheet print capabilities, avoid this model at all costs!