In January 2013 a revolution in business inkjet printing hit the UK, and its name is the HP Officejet Pro X series.

The Officejet Pro X series of inkjet printers are primarily aimed at small and medium-sized businesses, and HP claim it will reduce costs and promote the value of inkjet technology in the workplace. The Officejet Pro X is also Energy Star qualified, using up to 50 percent less energy than laser printers.

HP have essentially thrown out the inkjet printer rule book and started from scratch to create the fastest colour office inkjet printer on the planet. And that is not just a marketing gimmick created by the PR department either…. this claim is literally backed by folks at Guinness World Record (GWR), when 500 consecutive pages of a pre-agreed document were printed in record time at an event held on the 6th April 2012 in Vancouver (Click here to see the documentation.)

To put this record into context, here are some results from the event:

Test Results: Time to Print 500 Color Sheets (Minutes: Seconds)

– Hewlett-Packard Officejet Pro X551dw Printer 7:18

– Hewlett-Packard Officejet Pro X576dw MFP 7:19

– LG Machjet LPP6010N Printer 9:47

– Lexmark OfficeEdge Pro5500 All-in-One 21:13

– Xerox Phaser 6280/N Printer 23:39

– Brother HL-4570 CDW Printer 26:20

…now that’s impressive! …especially when compared to the business class toner-based color lasers in the test group (Xerox Phaser 6280/N and the Brother HL-4570CDW).

So What Makes These Printers So Fast?

HP have introduced a new technology into the Officejet Pro X business inkjet printer series. Something they are calling HP PageWide technology.

Essentially they have introduced a way to significantly improve print speed by changing the style of print head. The Officejet Pro X range make use of a printer head that spans the width of a page, unlike conventional inkjet printers that have much smaller print heads and which move back and forth across the paper. This gives another huge benefit to the business owner – less noise!

Because the print head remains static, and the paper is instead moved under the page-width print head, far less noise is produced due to significantly diminished vibration and this makes for a very quiet operation.

Look what one reviewer had to say on the HP website when leaving a comment about this printer:

Here is what Jake Ludington (a fellow ex-Microsoft MVP) recently had to say on the HP Officejet Pro X:

“The HP Officejet To get full coverage of ink on the page, most inkjet printers have mechanical parts that move the print heads back and forth over the paper until the page is printed. HP turned this paradigm on its head with the Officejet Pro X Series of printers that use PageWide technology to provide a print head that spans the 8.5 inch width of a standard page. The speed increase is substantial, with over 70 pages per minute for standard office printing.In addition to being fast, the printer also offers ink cartridges that print about 9200 black and white pages before needing to be replaced.”

…and you can see Jake, in this video, with the HP Officejet Pro X576dw – in particular you can see him compare the PageWide print head to a traditional inkjet print head.

So What Printers Are Available In The Range?

Initially Hewlett Packard have released 4 inkjet printers in the UK range:

2 x Single Function

HP Officejet Pro X451dw – Designed for about 3-10 users printing between 500 – 2800 pages per month

HP Officejet Pro X551dw – Designed for about 6-15 users printing between 1000 – 4200 pages per month

2 x Multifunction

HP Officejet Pro X476dw mfp – Designed for about about 3-10 users printing between 500 – 2800 pages per month

HP Officejet Pro X576dw mfp – Designed for about about 6-15 users printing between 1000 – 4200 pages per month

The single-function models start at £320 inc VAT while the multifunction models start at £520 inc VAT.

What About The Officejet Pro X Ink Cartridges?

The Officejet Pro X has a new range of HP inkjet cartridges:

HP 970 Standard Capacity Black Ink Cartridge (CN621AE) 3,000 Pages
HP 971 Standard Capacity Cyan Ink Cartridge (CN622AE) 2,500 Pages
HP 971 Standard Capacity Magenta Ink Cartridge (CN623AE) 2,500 Pages
HP 971 Standard Capacity Yellow Ink Cartridge (CN624AE) 2,500 Pages

HP 970XL High Capacity Black Ink Cartridge (CN625AE) 9,200 Pages
HP 971XL High Capacity Cyan Ink Cartridge (CN626AE) 6,600 Pages
HP 971XL High Capacity Magenta Ink Cartridge (CN627AE) 6,600 Pages
HP 971XL High Capacity Yellow Ink Cartridge (CN628AE) 6,600 Pages

In the following image you can see the cartridges being changed.

 

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