I have a chance to buy either an HP 500 plotter for $550, or an HP 1050 plotter for $500. The HP 500 is five years old with light use (home office for landscape architect). I do not know the history on the HP 1050 yet.
I have used an HP 1050 before and know it is a decent plotter. I do not know much about the HP 500.
Assuming the HP 1050 is less than 10 years old, which would be the better of the two plotters?
Thanks,
Mike
Theoretically, the one that cost more new. That said, we have a HP 1050 that seems to be on the way out. I spend increasing amounts of time googling error codes and trying to fix them. It's not a problem if you are handy and have an IT background though. Since the two you are looking at are about the same price, why not try to find the cost of new print heads and ink. If one is significantly cheaper than the other, I might just go with that one since you aren't paying very much for the plotter. I guess buying something like this used makes me nervous too.
I have two 500's. A base model 24" & a 42" with the card. Both bought used, both great printers. I would buy another if I needed it. Full sets of HP ink can be had on ebay for $36-$64.
Bruce
Bought an HP500 24" new several years ago.
Bought an HP500 42" used several months ago.
Very happy with both and no issues or problems.
Don't know anything about the 1050.
One concern - if you are running Win 7 you may have driver issues. Comes down to the firmware version on the plotter. But it can be gotten around by sharing through an XP machine. I suspect this would apply to both plotters.
I'd buy the 500. I've had mine since their introduction, no problems at all except I had to replace the $75 belt about 2 years ago, and 1 print head last year.
I think the history and how the plotter was used would be very important.
Using a car as an example, does it have 15k miles on it from being driven to church by a little old lady or does it have 250k miles on it driven by teenage boys for pizza delivery.
I would agree with the Sgt. - I've had my HP 500 for several years now with virtually no problems at all. No print head problems or ink issues like the HP 450 it replaced. I had to replace a trailing ribbon a year ago (it was a design flaw)- did it myself in 1-1/2 hours and cost about $50. Although I don't know anything about the HP 1050, I wouldn't hesitate to pick up another HP 500 if I needed to.
Thank you all for your input. I ended up getting the 500.
Which 500 did you get the 24" or the 42" model? After about six years of heavy use I have had a few minor problems. The problems were a print head that needed replacing and alinement. Once I did that all was fine again.
I got the 24", I don't normally plot anything larger than 24 x 36.
The 1050 is also a good plottrer, more of a production model. The one I was looking at (on craigslist) is in the Nashville, TN area. It is about 6-7 years old, and has been in stogage for the past three years. If the lady got back to me sooner, I would have had a difficult dicision. The ink is expensive, put it is a good model.
