A few notes on the Z9.
I love technology, especially the creators that are trying to do better with every release.
As much as every turn of the Z3200 was amazing every time, this printer or at least the one i had was not.
Does it clog? I had to let it sit for long periods as there were technical issues. It did clog more often within periods of non use than the Z3200 series. Was it hard to elevate? Non targeted head cleaning from the results of a diagnostic print always solved missing lines.
Colour permanence. The ink set is different thus testing is required to say with certainty how long the inks singular or in overprint combinations will last. I'll assume due to the fact HP prided themselves on perhaps the best numbers for colour printing that it will remain stable or surpass the Z3200 inkset.
Quiet: yes it sleeps correctly and all but early morning maintenance schedules could wake you if you are in the same room. I suggested that HP revise their CRON tasks according to time zone. Who knows, they have listened before.
Is it worth replacing a Z3200 or Canon or Epson. Most of the advantages of HP remain. Cheaper easily replaced print heads. No swap black inks or waste. Built in i1 in the + series. This printer once the spool file is received is the fastest In have seen. IF you have the vertical cutter it must be a great production printer, rather than my way of using long straight edges and cutters!
Maintenance is super simple, I see nothing shocking about that. Although if they are still using the neoprene drive belts then you'll have to be prepared to completely dissemble the printer to change one drive belt. I have no way of knowing the composition of the belt. In the Z3200 3100 and 2100 it was a cheap part that required a lot of work, even then a technician would only be able to reset via hardware the necessary control checks like head firing!
It is a vey nice looking printer, very economical, quiet, fast, and efficient. The unit I had ( sending it back today) was NOT without problems though. I am waiting for a promised replacement but no confirmation. If and when I do, I'll write and post a review ASAP.
Feel free to ask any questions.
There are still a few issues to be worked out and HP has been diligently working on all of them. Good news is that the carriage belt is of a much higher quality and is thicker and sturdier than what is in the Z3200's.
One unfortunate issue is that the embedded spectrophotometer allows for making ONLY 464 patch target profiles and no opportunity to make extended profiles independently like the Z3200's allowed.
We're hoping that HP will address this issue in the future and possibly bring back APS (but frankly just opening up the capability to make extended profiles like the previous Z's would be good enough).
One particularly interesting feature of the Z9+ is the job queue. It is now totally browser based - you are redirected to a separate ip address where many features are available, one of which is the job queue itself, complete with images of all jobs printed. Many settings for the printer can be changed from within the Job queue proper, as well.
There have been something like 10 or more firmware updates since the beginning of this Z9+ build. With each update, the printer improves significantly.
Unquestionably, this is a smoking fast printer. The spectrophotometer works flawlessly and moves at an amazing speed, so making custom profiles is simple and easy, and fast.
Wilhelm is coming out with ratings soon and Aardenburg is beginning to start on a few papers, particularly Moab Entrada Natural 300 Gsm, and a few others.
It's looking like HP has achieved another breakthrough similar to the Z3200 Vivera Inks with their new Vivid inkset and the dual droplet technology. Once testing is completed we'll know the results. I've been saying all along that HP would knock it out of the park in this area. Color science is their specialty and there is no doubt in my mind that they will remain "King of the Hill" as far as longevity is concerned.
I have heard that there were problems with earlier models in regard to clogging, etc., but I have not experienced any issues at all, not even in the slightest. Generic printheads is a major step forward. Just keep one or two on hand and problem solved for the most part.
One issue of concern to me is that it seems only Gloss, semi-gloss, and pearl papers are eligible for advance paper calibration. So far the option to calibrate paper advance on heavier matte papers is unavailable. This is of course somewhat remediated by the choices made in defining the paper through the specific preset and changing paper characteristics, such as star-wheels up, etc.
Additionally, there no longer is the ability to define the amount of Gloss Enhancer in a preset. It seems that they have determined what is optimal for each paper and that's that.
As with all HP photo printers, this one is not without quirks but you soon get used to them.
Sheet Paper loading is still a pain, and in some ways better than with the Z3200, in some ways worse. Let's face it. This is a roll printer - these printers all are, and sheet loading is secondary. It's a pity HP did not listen when I explained at length and sent plans for a mockup tray. One improvement is the rear loading platform in the back, which is a metal surface with lines indicating loading paper path. It MUST be accessed from behind the printer, which means walking around to the front of the printer to make choices required by the console. They could easily have made the entire console invert itself so it could be read from the back, but that's another area I made suggestions that were not addressed.
In every way, this being a ground-up new build, it's somewhat unfair to make comparisons to the Z3200, although this is inevitable. Overall, hands down, the Z9+ wins in almost every area, but the Z3200ps is a tinkerer's dream, can be fixed, and has a long standing history of best in class print longevity. With the Z3200, one can create a tiff target that can be printed on the Z9+ then read through the Z3200's spectrophotometer. I have done this - made an Aardenburg 10445 patch target ICC profile for the Z9+ using the Z3200ps to scan, and finally using Argyll to created the ICC profile. Of course this could be done with any printer in concert with the Z3200ps, but I have to admit that HP really nailed it on the 464 patch target that resides in the Z9+. It is very accurate and mostly adequate.
All in all, the more recently manufactured Z9+units, particularly with firmware upgrades, appear to be stable and reliable, although not without bugs which are continually being worked on.
I'm doing extensive testing and have been compiling information about the pro's and con's, but it takes time. So far so good, with a few exceptions.
Mark