Hi everyone. It was just over a year ago that I had posted on here, asking about printers. My old DesignJet 130 had died, (and I had trouble getting paper for it before it died).
I had been looking at the Z9+ all this time, watching all the comments on here all year. Some positive; some not so positive.
So, when the big sale was on around Christmas, I finally decided I better get one.
I ordered it online, on Dec 26. Remember, I live in Alaska, and I was a bit concerned about the thing getting here without getting frozen. I ordered it in the evening, and got an email about the CarePak the next day. On the 28th, I got an email that my order had started shipping. They said it was coming via FedEx, and gave a link to a number. Well, it did not work, but I though maybe the tracking number was too new.
On the 30th, I tried to check on the tracking number again. Nope, did not work.
On the 31st, I checked the tracking number again. Nope. So, I went straight to the FedEx site, and chatted with their virtual helper. I entered the number, and it said, "That is not a valid FedEx tracking number". What? By now, I was starting to get a little anxious. I had several thousand dollars of printer and ink wandering around somewhere. I tried MULTIPLE customer service numbers, trying to get hole of a real person. Never did. Just recordings. I finally sent a blistering feedback note to HP, asking where my products where. I was pretty upset.
I had just got my coat and boots on to go outside and shovel snow when the phone rang. My printer had JUST been delivered in town! It was below zero (F), so we plugged in our truck and let it warm up a bit before we drove to town. It had warmed up to a couple degrees above zero when we finally got to town, pushed the package on its pallet up boards into the pickup bed, covered it with moving blankets, and headed for home. At home, it was easy to back the truck up to the garage door and slide the printer down the boards and into the garage. We let it sit for a day while I finished cleaning up my office and making a place for it. Regarding the tracking number, I never find out what the number was that they sent to me. HP's email said they sent it via FedEX, but after it got to the Anchorage airport, they transferred it to an Alaskan freight company. Nowhere on the box did it say that maybe, just maybe, it should NOT be left out in the cold to FREEZE. All the inks were in a box shrink-wrapped to the top of the printer.
Assembly and startup went well. One comment about the directions that HP had in there for assembling the stand: the print was small and not a dark black. It was VERY difficult to read. But, I think we had it put together quite a bit faster than they said it would be. My office is right next to the garage, so we just rolled it right in there. I plugged it in and it started all of its initialization procedures. Wow, that's quite a lengthy process it does.
It's up and running now. I am still working on getting it hooked up to my computer, but I have made several prints just from a USB jump drive. They are gorgeous. I had a roll of HP Premium Plus Satin paper left over from my old printer, and now that I have that roll in there, I'm hesitant to take it out and use sheets!! It is so convenient to print with roll paper.
So, now, what papers work well with the Z9? I like satins and matte, but not glossy. Any suggestions?
