When it comes to picking a new wide-format system, there are many factors to consider: ease-of-use, print peed, durability, etc. Add a scanner to the mix and your analysis becomes that much more complicated. Luckily, a research company, BLI Labs (Buyers Laboratory LLC), has performed an independent study that compares two of today's top models, the Canon iPF785 MFP and the HP Designjet T2500 eMFP. See how they compare concerning large format plotter reviews.
BLI Labs conducted very stringent tests to compare device performance and produce a report comparing the relative strengths and weaknesses of the two products in these specific categories:
- Image quality
- Productivity
- Direct print submission (not having to use another application to print a file)
- Banner printing
- Walk up ease-of-use
- Device feature and print driver feature sets
- The results were overwhelming! The Canon iPF 785 MFP clearly outperformed the HP in many different categories.Here are some of the highlights.
Color and Black Image Quality
- Canon iPF785 has a larger color gamut. This means that the printer is capable of displaying more colors overall.
- The Canon displayed none of the fuzziness in the text and line art that the HP showed under magnification.
- The iPF785 showed a much finer level of detail in photographs and business graphics.
- The Canon imagePROGRAf delivered superior GIS graphics in all modes.
- The HP Designjet delivered higher color density for cyan and magenta in High/Best Mode, but the Canon had the density advantage for yellow and black.
- In high quality mode, fonts produced by the Canon model were much crisper than those produced by the HP model.
Scan Capture Quality
- The Canon iPF785 clearly benefited from its 1200dpi maximum resolution as compared to the 600dpi resolution of the T2500.
- The Canon, when left in the default Mixed mode delivered more subtle gradations of halftones, especially in dark contrast areas, whereas these areas lost integrity when scanned by the HP Designjet T2500 eMFP.
Print Productivity
- The Canon iPF delivered a faster first-page-out after a weekend of non-use, compared to the HP device.
- Overall, the Canon printed faster than the HP after testing various mixed file types.
Scan Productivity
- Batch scanning is not supported by the HP Designjet T2500, whereas the Canon offers this feature.
The Canon scanned at least 30% faster in all segments tested. In some cases, the Canon iPF was over 70% faster than the T2500.
Direct Print Submission Functionality
- Canon offers a free software utility called Direct Print & Share that enables PDF files to be printed without opening Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Reader. Only the Designet's Postscript model is capable of handling PDF file natively.
- The latest version of iPF Direct Print and Share support "Shortcut Print" which defines several print settings via an icon on the user's desktop. Files can be automatically printed with the predefined settings with a simple drop-an-drop operation. It is important to point out that multiple desktop icons can be created for different print settings.
Conclusion
According to the BLI Labs Report, the Canon iPF785 MFP clearly outclasses its rival HP Designjet T2500 in a variety of differt areas. That doesn't go to say that that T2500 eMFP is a bad system. Honestly, HP has experienced a good level of success with that unit. And loyal HP users will attest to the brand.
However, when compared side-by-side against the offerings of a Canon iPF785 MFP, the results speak for them self.
Want to see more? Download the full BLI Report:
