Upsides: good price (if it's in good condition and inks are left) Great printer for quality; nearly the best in fact! Easiest to get the colors right, in the artist-RIGHT kind of way Workhorse
Downsides: it does nothing small. 8.5x11 is a PITA with this printer. Don'tuse it for anything under,say, 14x17. Everything you buy for it will be big and spendy - big ink carts, big paper rolls, big cutters, big area to put it in, etc etc etc. And due to it being way past EoL on HP's timeline, if something goes wrong with it, it'll go REALLY WRONG and really spendy.
If you want a hobby-biz and you want it to pay for itself, but you gotta put in a lot of unpaid elbow grease, this is an outstanding printer for the task.
IF you want a REAL biz and you want to make a profit, this is way too high a risk. Go to a real big-printer store, get a real rep, buy a modern printer with a service contract and full support. Buffer your stock, buffer your maintenance, and be prepared for equipment downtime. Also don't expect to make very much money unless you can find high-dollar clients willing to pay for high-dollar quality that you spend time on getting right.
If it were $2k with half-full-carts in good condition, and you were willing to put in another $1500 for inks/media/stock, and you were only serving local multiple-fandoms, I say go for it. It'll be fun if you have the room. But be prepared to lose all that money if it goes belly up on you too quickly, as it'll be nigh-unfixable without sinking a ton more money into it.
At the price he wants... it's more of a risk. Still potential worth it, and its with market price. Just be cautious and prepared, fiscally.
no subject
Upsides: good price (if it's in good condition and inks are left)
Great printer for quality; nearly the best in fact!
Easiest to get the colors right, in the artist-RIGHT kind of way
Workhorse
Downsides: it does nothing small. 8.5x11 is a PITA with this printer. Don'tuse it for anything under,say, 14x17. Everything you buy for it will be big and spendy - big ink carts, big paper rolls, big cutters, big area to put it in, etc etc etc. And due to it being way past EoL on HP's timeline, if something goes wrong with it, it'll go REALLY WRONG and really spendy.
If you want a hobby-biz and you want it to pay for itself, but you gotta put in a lot of unpaid elbow grease, this is an outstanding printer for the task.
IF you want a REAL biz and you want to make a profit, this is way too high a risk. Go to a real big-printer store, get a real rep, buy a modern printer with a service contract and full support. Buffer your stock, buffer your maintenance, and be prepared for equipment downtime. Also don't expect to make very much money unless you can find high-dollar clients willing to pay for high-dollar quality that you spend time on getting right.
If it were $2k with half-full-carts in good condition, and you were willing to put in another $1500 for inks/media/stock, and you were only serving local multiple-fandoms, I say go for it. It'll be fun if you have the room. But be prepared to lose all that money if it goes belly up on you too quickly, as it'll be nigh-unfixable without sinking a ton more money into it.
At the price he wants... it's more of a risk. Still potential worth it, and its with market price. Just be cautious and prepared, fiscally.