HP DeskJet 890C

Hewlett-Packard claims that by using a smaller ink drop, its latest high-end colour inkjet, the DeskJet 890C, is able to deliver more tonal variation than the competition. While Epson and Lexmark have pushed the physical resolution of their colour inkjet printers to 1,440 and 1,200dpi respectively, Hewlett-Packard has stuck to 600dpi.

The 890C is the first of several printers to fire dots as small as 10pl (picolitres). Dots from its predecessor, the DeskJet 870C, were more than three times the size, at 32pl. HP calls this technology PhotoREt II, to set it apart from the original PhotoREt that appeared in the 690 series. The ability to place such small dots at the same resolution as the 870C means that there's a marked increase in the number of shades that can be created. In addition, PhotoREt II doesn't require you to fiddle with extra cartridges - instead, you use the same cartridges for every print job.

Installation under Windows 95 is as easy as any plug and play printer. When you install the printer you're also prompted to align the print cartridge by looking at a test page. The driver allows the usual selection of print quality modes, in this case, best, normal and econofast. Paper types and paper handling options including double-sided printing. You also get an excellent troubleshooting Toolbox utility, and there are several step-by-step tutorials on routine maintenance to help prevent common difficulties.

To start with, we tested the printer on plain copier grade paper. In best quality mode, plain text was perfectly readable but had the fuzziness that's characteristic of almost all inkjets. This is one area where the Lexmark 7000 remains the outright leader as it doesn't suffer from this problem.

Business graphics, however, were much better. Where the Lexmark's output had visible dithering and, in some cases, colour bleeding, the 890C was spot on. Particularly impressive was the complete lack of dots in our test document's Excel bar chart. Likewise, when printing the smooth colour graduations on the colour test page, the DeskJet 890C demonstrated none of the discrete steps present in the Lexmark's output.

Photographic images on plain paper showed the typical inkjet tendency to pastelise colours, with poor saturation and little shadow detail. There was also some paper wrinkling on large photographs. Unfortunately, Hewlett-Packard was unable to provide us with its new paper formulations - Deluxe Photo and Premium Photo - for this printer. Ironically, at the time of writing, the printer is available on the high street, but not the paper (potential buyers should check this before placing an order). We had to use Hewlett-Packard's Premium Inkjet Glossy Paper. Although it's not listed in the printer manual as a compatible paper, the packaging claims suitability for all DeskJet printers. It worked well in the Deluxe Photo paper setting showing a huge jump in quality over plain paper. Images were warmer, with a much stronger contrast, which helps to draw out the detail in photographs.

The 890C's 600dpi PhotoREt II was clearly superior to the Epson Stylus 800 at 1,440dpi, especially the fade to white in the Epson's output, which was too severe to show highlights properly. Using smaller dots, and therefore more subtle shading in the highlights, the DeskJet delivered an almost perfect continuous colour gradation.

In comparison to the Lexmark 7000, the 890C won in some areas and lost in others. Once again, the subtlety of the shading worked in the DeskJet's favour, while the extra resolution of the Lexmark showed in the CorelDraw! test. The curves and diagonals in the 890C print showed distinct jagged edges compared with the Lexmark's completely smooth curves.