I checked out the Epson Stylus R800 as well, but for an extra $100 you actually lose some features with the Epson. The R800 prints will last 80 years on Epson Paper and the HP Photosmart 7960 prints will last 73 years on HP plus paper...no deal breaker there! In addition the Epson does not have flash card slots...but the HP does!

The HP Photosmart 7960 inks are a bit pricey...especially the No.59 Grey Cartridge for photos. I printed only (3)-4"x8" prints and at least 10% of the cartridge is gone already. But from what I can see the other manufacturers are playing the same games with ink.

Overall, I highly recommend this printer for its features, software, price and high quality photo printing! The only con as I mentioned would be the price of ink, especially the No.59 Grey Cartridge for photos. Good luck and happy printing!

Great Printer (Rating: 4.00)
Review : One thing a lot of people do not realize is that the reason why the ink cartridges are so expensive is b/c the manufacturers sell the printers usually at lower than cost and then they recoup their sales through the accessories such as paper and ink cartridges. Yes, it may seem to be unscrupulous, but HP and all the others are in the business of making money. As for the person who had problems printing envelopes, remove all the paper and use the paper guides and resize them to the envelope. I've had no trouble printing envelopes with my 7960.
One feature that people have also failed to mention is even though the memory card slots are there so you don't need the computer to print your photos, they also save you the trouble of attaching your camera to the computer since you can move your pictures from your memory card to your hard drive since the printer also acts as a removable drive.
everyone has been blown away when I tell them that I printed these pictures at home, and i find that the pictures that it prints are better than when I took my memory card to wal mart. Plus, it was quicker. It was no problem using my Sony digital camera with my HP printer.
One more thing, buy the printer at Sam's or Wal-Mart as it is only $187.

beautiful prints - at a price and a hassle (Rating: 4.00)
Review : This printer replaced my Epson 750 Photo Stylus. The print quality is breathtaking. Skin tones, transitions, etc. are all flawless. The dedicated grey cartridge performs wonders. The printer is relatively quiet, fast, paper handling decent (beware multiple sheets of glossy paper in the tray) and the design and quality sturdy enough. Bounces around a bit when printing, and it's a big gizmo to plonk on a desk.

Problem 1) installing this thing can be a bit of a nightmare. My old W2K server with a 5 port USB2 card absolutely refused to play nice with the printer. Hours and hours with tech support was a total waste of my time (and theirs). Their final suggestion - to take it back to the store "because there might be an issue with the ports" - was blatantly ridiculous. Finally moved to another computer (also W2K, and tested on an XP machine with no problems), and all was well.

Problem 2) $70 for a set of replacement color cartridges?!? Do the math - someone on a site did just that, and found that they price this stuff higher than Chanel No. 5. Come on, HP, you've got us buying your "solid state" plastic, your paper, *and* your cartridges, could you at least price it all fairly? I'm getting the refill kits a.s.a.p. to see how they perform. I was really disappointed to realize that 8 color printing *does not* mean 8 individual cartridges - should have read the fine print, but this does mean you're wasting pricey color when you ditch a half-empty cartridge.

Final issue I have is paying for all the crap I don't need. I'm never connecting a camera or a media card directly to this thing, so the plethora of ports is wasted on me. Likewise the little 2" screen - cute for info on progress etc. but total overkill. I'd much rather have saved that money on a no-frills version - or spent it on more ink.

All the same, I'm satisfied with the printer - the drivers work great on XP and 2000, transfer is fast, even via USB1, and again, the print quality is excellent.

Great Photo Quality Printer ! (Rating: 5.00)
Review : I purchased this printer a few months ago and finally got around to installing it in my system. Software loaded successfully on the second try on my modest system. After tweaking the setup and setting defaults I was ready to print. For my first project I chose a recent picture of my children taken during a family trip. To say I was astounded at the output is an uderstatment.
This printer provided photo quality output for a home/office environment. I compared a printed photo with a digitally sourced print from a photo lab and yes there is a very slight difference. However, the difference is so slight as to remain unnoticed except under very close examination. When you consider the convenience and the full control over the process that you have at home, this printer wins the comparison hands down.

Other posts has mentioned the issue of track lines appearing on the photo. My photos did have these artifacts and they are visable to the eye on close examination. However from a distance of 12in or more the lines are invisable. The lines are also invisable if the print is placed behind the glass of a picture frame. From looking at the path of the paper and the transport mechanism, it appears that the lines are caused by a line of metal traking pins that press the paper against the transport rollers. I am told that over time the tracks are produced less frequently as the tracking pins become more compliant. I am surprised that HP allowed this defect to remain in the final design.

As an aside, on a recent trip to NYC, I noticed several street vendors offering to take your digital photo silluetted against the lights of Times Square. Every vendor I noticed used either this printer or the 7760 to print the photo output. Not a Cannon or a Lexmark among them.

One of the reasons I purchased this printer was due to it's capability to produce stunning B&W prints. I have yet to investigate this feature, but I am looking forward to it.

Like everything else electronic, as the product ages the price drops. Yesterday's premium offering is today's loss leader. This printer is no different. At current prices, this printer is a BARGIN !

Highly recommended.

tested 3 of them (Rating: 3.00)
Review : I purchased a 7960 about a week ago. It did a great job right up to the point of ejecting the photo from the printer. The last inch of the photo was marked/scratched like a roller was stuck on the paper feed. I took it back and was given another printer, same thing. This time I went to another location, thinking maybe they got a bad batch of them but......same thing.
I traded up to a Canon I9900, best move i've made in a long time. The Canon is the smart purchase without a doubt.

I love my HP Photosmart 7960 (Rating: 4.00)
Review : I was looking for an 8 1/2 by 11 inch borderless printer for producing high quality double sided product brochures. I bought an Epson Stylus Photo R800. WRONG thing to buy. It does 8 1/2 by 11 and it does borderless printing, but NOT on 8 1/2 by 11 media. The largest borderless print media is 8 by 10, and no one makes that in two sided print surfaces. I returned the Epson and got the HP. What a relief, it does exactly what I want and is not finicky, lots of options for acceptable paper. I did have some trouble installing software however. I had to shut down and remove all other USB devices and then load the printer before it would install properly. Otherwise 5 stars.