Designjet 4000 Series From HP

HP has introduced its HP Designjet 4000 printer series, which is expected to begin shipping in February 2005. Primarily geared for the technical market, the 4-color (CMYK”?black is pigmented, CMY are dye-based) Designjet 4000 is designed to handle line drawings, graphics, maps, renderings and presentations for medium and large businesses.

A 42-in. wide inkjet printer, the Designjet 4000 offers a print speed of up to 1000 sq ft/hr and resolution of up to 2400 x 1200 dpi. The printer uses HP's new “Double Swath” technology, comprising a pair of staggered printheads–leveraged from the HP Business Inkjet 3000 printheads with some electrical differences and different mechanical keys–for each color that generate a wide print swath and higher firing frequency. The result, says HP, is faster performance without sacrificing image quality, and twice of the performance of earlier Designjet models. It also features an embedded Web Server that allows for remote queue management, remote preview, supplies and printer status, and error notification.

HP notes that new media was not created specifically for the Designjet 4000. The printer will support a wide range of existing HP media, including bonded, coated, durable media as well as vinyl and digital fine-art papers.

Estimated street price: $9995 (Designjet 4000 base model), $12,495 (4000ps, includes embedded RIP, Adobe PostScript Level 3). Prices include 1-year, on-site warranty. (HP: www.hp.com)