The DesignJet 2500 was the first in a long line of HP Plotters, which enable the printing of high quality documents in large scale. The technical issue of feeding large sheets of paper and storing and delivering the required high volumes of ink had been finally overcome. Since 1997, the products have become ever more sophisticated, coping with both improved quality and print speed that the modern user demands.

The DesignJet 2500 was followed up by the DesignJet 3500 whose unique feature was that it was able to print onto paper widths of 54 inches using the ink jet method of printing and since then the quality and performance of the HP DesignJet range has continued to be enhanced and improved.

One of the biggest issues for users of these machines has been the Total Cost of Ownership of these high initial investment business tools. The initial cost is of course the major investment, but the ongoing cost of keeping these machines running in terms of maintenance and ink can also be significant.

For this reason many organizations will often contract with a specialist supplier of plotters to look after their mission critical ?super-printers? ? and these contracts often specify response and fix times so that users can be assured that their plotter will not be down for too long in the business day. The cost of these contracts can be very modest when compared to paying the one-off charges of those same companies when they are invited to attend on an ad-hoc basis.

When working on an ad hoc non-contracted basis there is usually no question of a guaranteed response time, guaranteed fix time, or a replacement plotter pending repair. For most organizations a maintenance contract should be an essential part of their business continuity program.

In addition to routine maintenance it also makes sense to service a plotter at least once a year depending on the volume of printing and irrespective of whether there are any immediate issues. An annual service allows the pro active management of plotters ensuring less down times on a planned and managed basis. Often these routine visits can be secured at a reasonable cost if taken out at the same time as the more traditional maintenance contract.

In addition to maintenance and support services it is also important to find a good value but reliable supplier of the ink cartridges associated with your HP Plotter ? very often the company which maintains your plotter will also supply the ink at competitive prices to ensure your loyalty and it often pays to ask them about supply before you shop around and commit to an unknown and potentially unreliable supplier.

When selecting a suitable company to support a plotter it is important to get some idea of their performance and learn what percentage of their site visits end in a complete fix ? as well as the length of time to make the fix. Also try to get some recommendations and testimonials from other customers to ensure that the performance does live up to the promise.