This is a much larger printer, which can print on media up to 24 inches wide. It is a 6-ink dye-based system (Cyan-Magenta-Yellow-Light Cyan Light Magenta-Photo Black). The printer has 6 printheads and 6 separate off-axis ink supplies. The printer was a success when it came out in 2006, and did get many positive reviews. I was not directly working on the ink development for it, but was indirectly involved. When released, the printer sold at about $1300. The printer is bulky and heavy, but the paper path is well designed. It produces good quality prints on photo and DFA media.
After 2006, HP moved away from dye-based systems to pigments; accordingly there was no follow-up product to Designjet 130. I do not know when exactly the printer manufacturing was discontinued by HP ; I am guessing about 2010. The existing printer base is still supported by HP but the support is minimal. The drivers are outdated; thus, there is no current driver for Mac. I was having difficulty to print on this printer via Photoshop and Windows 11.
In 2020, HP still sold the printheads and ink supplies for DJ130, but they were very expensive --- do not remember the prices now, about $100 apiece, so that the complete new set (6+6) was about $1000. As of now, in February 2024, the supplies are available only through refillers; HP no longer sells them.
I bought this printer second hand in 2020, 4 years ago. It belonged to a local art professor and was not in a working condition, as the printhead assembly carriage broke. That caused the whole system to stall and the inks in the printheads to dry up. After buying second hand (original HP) printheads and second hand (original HP) ink supplies via Ebay and cleaning up the ink lines I was able to make the printer to work.
The main challenge was and still is, the Photoshop compatibility, but I found some ridiculous hack with Microsoft Paint Software, which somehow supported the existing printer driver. This way I successfully printed about 20 large format prints, with a good quality.
The most recent issue was, the printer lost the power! I am assuming the power supply is now broken, and I have ordered a replacement (second hand, coming via E-Bay from China). I perhaps will need to put it to rest, if the power supply replacement will not fix the issue.
Update 2-19-2024: replacing the power supply fixed the issue... It took some effort to locate the power supply in the printer and to take it out. Now more printheads are ordered via ebay as the light magenta and black do not print well as the colateral damage.
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