HP 990Cxi Printer: In-Depth Review and User Opinions

The HP 990Cxi is a color printer released by Hewlett-Packard in 1999. As part of HP's DeskJet line of inkjet printers for home and small office use, the 990Cxi was considered a high-end consumer model at the time. With a manufacturer's suggested retail price of $399, it was more expensive than basic inkjets but offered capabilities geared towards business and professional users.

Key features of the HP 990Cxi included high print quality and speed, built-in Ethernet connectivity, two paper trays, automatic two-sided printing, and the ability to print directly from digital cameras. It utilized HP's photoREt IV color layering technology along with their specially formulated inks to produce lab-quality photos and graphics. The 990Cxi was compatible with both Mac and Windows operating systems.

Overall, the 990Cxi was intended to provide exceptional photo printing and robust office printing capabilities in a fairly compact, inexpensive package compared to color laser printers of the era. Its mix of features made it stand out as a versatile consumer printer with some pro-level attributes.

Design

The HP Deskjet 990Cxi has a sleek, modern design featuring a front paper tray and rear feed slot. It measures 17 inches wide, 10 inches deep and 7 inches tall and weighs 22 pounds. The exterior shell is made of sturdy plastic with matte and glossy black finishes. The front paper tray has a 150-sheet capacity while the rear feed slot can hold a single sheet up to legal size. The build quality feels very solid with no flimsy plastic parts. The printer has a relatively compact footprint on a desk and won't take up too much space. Overall, the 990Cxi's design focuses more on functionality over flashy aesthetics but still looks modern and appealing.

Print Quality

The HP 990Cxi offers excellent print quality for both text and graphics. It has a maximum print resolution of up to 2400 x 1200 dpi, delivering crisp, sharp text and detailed images.

The printer uses HP's PhotoREt IV ink system with six separate ink cartridges - black, cyan, magenta, yellow, light cyan, and light magenta. This provides smooth color gradations, natural skin tones, and vivid color for photos and graphics. The light cyan and light magenta deliver brighter colors.

Print speeds are fast for an inkjet printer. For text documents with minimal graphics, print speeds can reach up to 21 pages per minute in black and up to 16.5 pages per minute for color. For full color graphics and photos, print speeds are around 7.5 pages per minute. While not as fast as a laser printer, the 990Cxi delivers good speed for high resolution photo printing.

The HP 990Cxi is capable of producing gallery-quality photos and professional graphics right from your desktop due to its high print resolution and six-ink system. Text documents are printed with sharp, crisp text. Print speeds are quite fast for a high-end photo printer.

Connectivity

The HP 990cxi printer offers both wired and wireless connectivity options. For wired connectivity, it has a built-in Fast Ethernet 10/100Base-TX network port that allows you to connect directly to your router or network switch using an Ethernet cable. This provides a fast and reliable wired network connection.

For wireless connectivity, the 990cxi supports Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n. You can connect it to your Wi-Fi network and print wirelessly from anywhere in your home or office network coverage area. It's compatible with any standard Wi-Fi router or access point. The printer also supports Wi-Fi Direct, which allows you to connect your mobile devices directly to the printer without needing a wireless router. Overall, the 990cxi provides versatile and up-to-date connectivity options for both wired and wireless networks.

Paper Handling

The HP 990Cxi has a 150-sheet input tray with an additional 50-sheet multipurpose tray, allowing you to print on a variety of paper types and sizes without having to constantly reload the main tray. The input tray supports standard sizes up to legal (8.5 x 14 inches).

The multipurpose tray provides flexibility for printing envelopes, labels, heavier stock paper, or custom sizes ranging from 3 x 5 inches up to 12.28 x 45.7 inches. You can easily switch between paper types and sizes on the fly for mixed media print jobs.

Both trays have adjustable paper guides to keep your printouts straight and prevent jams. The main tray has an angled front design which makes it easy to monitor paper levels at a glance. An optional 250-sheet bottom feed tray is also available for high volume printing.

Overall the generous input capacity, flexible paper handling, and smart tray designs make the HP 990Cxi well equipped for any home or small office printing needs. The ability to print on diverse media types without having to constantly reload paper gives you uninterrupted productivity.

Scanning

The HP 990Cxi has impressive scanning capabilities for a printer from this era. It features an optical resolution up to 1200 x 1200 dpi and a color bit depth of 48-bit.

The scanner can handle originals up to 8.5" x 14" in size, making it versatile for scanning documents, photos, or other mixed media. It has a scan speed of approximately 3 seconds per page at 300 dpi for letter-sized pages.

For convenience, the 990Cxi has a built-in document feeder that can hold up to 10 pages. This allows for easy batch scanning without having to place each page individually on the flatbed.

Scan-to options include scanning directly to a computer over USB or to a memory card. The printer includes HP's proprietary Sofware for scanning, which provides basic image adjustments and file format options like JPEG, TIFF, BMP, PDF, etc.

Overall, the scanning capabilities were quite impressive for an inkjet aimed at home and small office users. The optical resolution and bit depth allowed for crisp, detailed scans suitable for archiving photos or documents. The document feeder was a handy addition not always found on printers in this class.

Copying

The HP 990Cxi delivers fast copying speeds with high quality results. It can churn out up to 14 copies per minute for black and white copies and 12 copies per minute for color copies.

The 990Cxi can make up to 99 copies of a document in one run. This allows you to efficiently make multiple copies without having to repeatedly scan or feed the same original.

Copy resolution goes up to 600 x 600 dpi for crisp, clear duplicates. The copier also features adjustable settings like lighter/darker modes to further customize your copies.

Overall, the 990Cxi performs very well as a copier. It excels at delivering quick copy speeds and good looking duplicates thanks to its 600 dpi resolution. The ability to make up to 99 copies in one go also improves efficiency when you need batches of copies.

Ink and Toner

The HP 990Cxi uses both a black and tri-color ink cartridge. According to HP, the included ink cartridges can print up to 840 pages in black and white and up to 825 pages in color.

Replacement ink cartridges yield around 600 pages in black and 450 pages in color. The 990Cxi uses HP's No. 10 ink cartridges. Generic and remanufactured ink cartridge options are available from third-parties that help lower ongoing printing costs.

The ink cartridges are easy to replace when needed. The printer has a front-loading cartridge system with separate slots for the black and color cartridges. Replacement reminders can also be enabled to alert you when ink is running low.

Overall, ink yields are decent for a wide-format printer like the 990Cxi. And there are ways to reduce ink costs over time through generic cartridges or HP's ink subscription service. Just be aware that you'll need to replace the cartridges somewhat regularly with this printer depending on your print volume.

Pros

The HP 990Cxi printer has numerous positive features that make it a good choice for home office and small business use.

• It produces excellent print quality in both black and color. Text is sharp and easy to read at even small font sizes. Graphics and photos look vibrant and detailed.

• The printer is very fast, able to print up to 12 pages per minute in black and up to 8 pages per minute in color. It can handle frequently high-volume printing jobs without slowing down.

• Connectivity options are versatile, with built-in Ethernet, WiFi, and wireless direct printing capabilities. It's easy to set up and share the printer on a network.

• Paper handling is flexible, with the ability to print on many sizes and types of paper. The 250-sheet capacity means less frequent refilling. An auto-duplexer allows fast two-sided printing.

• It can scan, copy, and fax quickly and with high image quality, making it a true all-in-one printer suitable for any home or small office task.

• Ink costs are reasonable compared to other models, and separate ink cartridges mean you only have to replace the color that runs out.

Overall, the HP 990Cxi delivers robust printing capabilities, great print quality, and versatile connectivity in a reliable package suitable for high productivity.

Cons

The HP 990Cxi has a few drawbacks to consider before purchasing:

• The printer is quite large and heavy, taking up substantial desk space at 22 x 15 x 9 inches and weighing over 30 pounds. This makes it less convenient for home offices with limited space.

• It uses ink cartridges which are more expensive per page than laser toner. Replacement ink cartridges can cost $30-60 each, driving up long-term operating costs.

• Print speed is relatively slow for business use at 12 pages per minute in black and 8 pages per minute in color. This could limit productivity in busy offices.

• The printer only connects via USB, parallel port, or network. It lacks more modern wireless connectivity options which could limit placement flexibility.

• Paper handling is limited to 250 sheets, without options for higher capacity input trays. This means frequently having to reload paper.

• It lacks auto-duplexing for printing on both sides of the page. You'd need to manually reinsert pages to print double-sided documents.

• Copy and scan features are quite limited compared to more modern multifunction printers. The scanner is low resolution and copies slowly.

• Being an older 1990s printer model, it may be difficult to find replacement parts and ink cartridges as it's discontinued. Lack of manufacturer support could present issues long-term.