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HP DesignJet 800 Remarketed Printer (

42" wide-format inkjet printer

ModelC7780BR
Prints42" wide

HP Designjet 800 Remarketed Printer (42 in) large format printer

Authorized HP dealerGenuine hardware & ink

Manufacturer warrantyExtension plans available

Free shippingContinental U.S.

Plotter specialistsAEC experts, not just sellers

Analyst take

A discontinued 42-inch HP inkjet best suited to monochrome line work on plain bond.
The 42-inch width handles E-size and ARCH E sheets a 36-inch plotter can't.
It's a single-roll design of its era, so expect operator attention on long or mixed runs.

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Overview

Built for the work

HP Designjet 800 Remarketed Printer (42 in)

Expert analysis

What you should know

By Ray KowalczykSenior Technical Editor — CAD & Technical Printing

Key takeaways

A discontinued 42-inch HP inkjet best suited to monochrome line work on plain bond.
The 42-inch width handles E-size and ARCH E sheets a 36-inch plotter can't.
It's a single-roll design of its era, so expect operator attention on long or mixed runs.
Color output lags modern six-ink machines — treat color as occasional, not core.
No modern network authentication or job accounting without added help.
Consumables like HP 10 and HP 11 inks and the HP C6036A printhead still exist, but confirm supply before committing.

It’s 4:45 on a Thursday. Somebody in the bullpen needs a D-size site plan out the door before the courier leaves, and the machine standing there is an HP Designjet 800. Old workhorse. Still running. That’s the situation this page is about.

The Designjet 800 is a discontinued 42-inch wide-format inkjet from HP’s long-gone Designjet 500/800 generation. Plenty of them are still bolted to floors in engineering offices and small print rooms. If you’re reading this, you’re either keeping one alive or buying a remarketed unit to bridge a gap. Both are reasonable. Let’s talk about what it actually does.

What it's for

Monochrome line work. That’s the core job. Permit sets, bid drawings, plan checks, redline markups on plain bond. The 800 was built in an era when the deliverable was crisp black lines on a 42-inch roll, and for that narrow purpose it still holds up. Vector output from AutoCAD or a flattened PDF, HP-GL/2 through the driver, roll onto the floor. No drama.

Where it earns its keep is the office that prints in bursts, not in floods. A civil or structural shop pushing a few dozen sheets a day, mostly black, occasional color. The 42-inch width handles E-size and ARCH E sheets that a 36-inch machine can’t. That extra six inches over a 36-inch plotter is the whole reason some firms kept the 800 instead of trading down.

42 inPrint widthhandles E-size / ARCH E sheets

HP 10Ink platformblack cartridge for the line-work workload

HP 11Color inkscyan, magenta, yellow for the color channel

discontinuedLifecyclesupported here as a remarketed unit

Where it slows you down

Name the failure mode first: this is a single-roll machine of its generation, and it was never a color-graphics powerhouse. If your Friday deadline means presentation boards, rendered site plans, or GIS maps drowning in color fills, the 800 will make you wait, and the color won’t match a modern six-ink machine. It’s a line printer that tolerates color, not the other way around.

It also predates the network security, authentication, and job-accounting features your IT director now expects as standard. If chargeback and user login matter, this machine won’t check those boxes without help.

Feed it the right media and it behaves — HP’s bond and coated rolls like the HP C6035A and HP C6019B families, plus matte films where you need them. Keep the HP C6036A printhead and cleaning maintenance parts on the shelf. Consumables for this generation still exist, but that’s a question worth asking your supplier before you commit.

What to buy instead, if not this

Need scanning and copying on the same footprint? Stay in the HP family and look at the HP DesignJet T918 36-in, an MFP-class machine — though it’s also discontinued and narrower at 36 inches. If you want a current 44-inch machine with modern color and support behind it, the Canon large-format line is the honest cross-shop: the Canon GP-4000 44-in for straight production, or the Canon iPF8300 44-in when color rendering carries weight. Worth a side-by-side — put the 800 next to the GP-4000 and see the gap for yourself. For the full field, the class ranking lays it out.

The read

The Designjet 800 is a monochrome line printer that happens to do color. As a remarketed bridge machine or a known-good backup in a shop that already runs one, it makes sense — cheap seat time for black-and-white plan work at 42 inches. As a first-and-only plotter for a firm doing color deliverables, network accounting, or scanning, it’s the wrong decade. Buy it for what it is, keep spare consumables on the shelf, and don’t ask it to be a color house. Bottom line: it prints lines all day and asks little — just confirm parts availability before you lean on it for a deadline.

Spec analysis

How the specs grade

Overall performance

—Not enough data for an overall score

Individual dimensions are shown where the specs support them.

How it scores

Media HandlingNot enough spec data

Print QualityNot enough spec data

Print CostNot enough spec data

ColorNot enough spec data

SpeedNot enough spec data

ConnectionsNot enough spec data

WorkflowNot enough spec data

Size / FitNot enough spec data

WarrantyNot enough spec data

Graded on a curve against the best published spec among the wide-format printers we track — 100 = the catalog’s gold standard for that metric (the finest droplet, the longest warranty, the fastest rated speed actually on the market). Every input is a manufacturer-published spec; rated speeds are shown as listed, not timed throughput. Ticks mark the class best. How we grade →

Specifications

Full technical detail

Max print width42"

Use caseCAD / Technical

Everything that fits the HP DesignJet 800

The full supplies hub lists every cartridge, printhead, roll and accessory verified against the manufacturer's own documentation for this machine.

5 ink cartridges · 4 printheads · 77 paper & media items · 2 accessories

HP DesignJet 800 ink and paper →

Supplies

Compatible ink, printheads & media

Genuine consumables that fit the HP DesignJet 800 Remarketed Printer (42-in) — only the cartridges, printheads and media compatible with this model.

Questions

Straight answers

Is the HP Designjet 800 still made?

No. It’s a discontinued machine from HP’s older Designjet 500/800 generation. Units sold now are remarketed, and it remains common in the AEC installed base.

What inks does it use?

It runs the HP 10 black cartridge and HP 11 color inks, with the HP C6036A printhead among its maintenance parts. Confirm current availability with your supplier before you rely on it.

Can it print E-size drawings?

Yes. At 42 inches wide it handles E-size and ARCH E sheets, which is the main reason firms kept it over a 36-inch plotter.

Is it good for color presentation boards?

Not really. It’s a line printer that tolerates color. For color-heavy deliverables, a current machine like the Canon iPF8300 44-in will render better and faster.

Does it support user login and job accounting?

It predates the network security, authentication, and chargeback features expected today. If your IT team requires those, this generation won’t provide them without workarounds.

What's a modern replacement in the same width?

For a current 44-inch machine, the Canon GP-4000 44-in covers straight production and the Canon iPF8300 44-in handles color work. Both are supported and shipping today.

Resources

Brochures, datasheets & video

Documents

BrochurePDF

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