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Zoom · Feb 21, 2007, 06:31 PM

I've got a Canon i850 and it's okay, but I'm getting really tired of feeding it ink. I'm an infrequent printer and it seems like the ink just evaporates on its own. I'm guessing maybe that after infrequent use, it does some automated cleaning routine that wastes ink. The cartridges are about $50 for all four, and it's hard to find sales on genuine Canon ink. I used to use generic ink, but kinda got scared off. I can't seem to get a straight answer on whether it's a) good for your printer and b) good for longevity. Anyway...

I've been out of the printer market for a bit, so I figure there are new buying tips to be had.

Basically, I print some black and white here and there, some color copies from my scanner, and sometimes I print 4x6 prints. I print maybe once every couple weeks, sometimes even less. Speed isn't that important - any modern printer would be fine. I want something that won't bleed me dry on ink costs given that I don't use it that often.

Two more features that would be nice. First, a flat input tray. My printer sits on a shelf that pulls out. The Canon has a paper tray at an angle, such that I can't keep it loaded with paper when it's put away because the cavity isn't tall enough. That's a pain.

Second, I'd love to be able to print on CDs and DVDs. I researched that a while ago, and it looks like only the Epson's do it, and while the print quality is good, the inks are very expensive and it really uses a lot of ink (the R-series). Why hasn't someone else come out with this feature (like Canon)?

Zoom · Feb 21, 2007, 06:34 PM

BTW, I might be up for an all-in-one unit now. I could replace my scanner (Canon LiDE 30) and the printer all at once, and then I wouldn't need the flat input tray. It could sit on my desk where the scanner is now, if it's not too tall. I tend to like Canon's and Epson's.

peeb · Feb 21, 2007, 06:36 PM

Yes, the ink will evaporate over time. Get a laser if you don't want this.

Zoom · Feb 21, 2007, 07:16 PM

I was actually being sarcastic about the evaporation. :-)

deeper · Feb 21, 2007, 07:46 PM

I have the i850 and have the same complaint. I don't use it that often, but it seems like I'm always putting in new ink. I read somewhere that Kodak has recently released inkjet printers with the claim that printing costs about half as much as a normal inkjet. I'm not sure about the reliability or print quality.
I've been thinking of getting a multifunction machine as well. I don't have a copier, and one would come in handy.

OreoCookie · Feb 22, 2007, 10:21 AM

If you want to print nice photos, you should not get a laser printer. Even the best color laser printers have `horrible' photo quality -- if you compare that to current inkjet printers. So you might benefit from newer technologies such as finer ink drops and whatnot, but in principle, it won't change a thing.

I don't think you'd solve any of your problems with a new printer, unless you get a dedicated photo printer and a laser -- which is what I've done. I replaced a Canon S630 which broke after years of faithful service and thousands of pages (literally) with a laser (Kyocera FS-1020D) and a photo printer (Olympus P-11). Obviously you won't be able to print on cds and dvds, though.

Douglashh · Feb 22, 2007, 10:28 AM

If you can wait until March you might want to check out the new line of Kodak printers. Based on information from website the ink will be $10 B&W and $15 Color. I've put off a printer purchase to see what they can do.

shifuimam · Feb 22, 2007, 01:20 PM

Originally Posted by Zoom

Basically, I print some black and white here and there, some color copies from my scanner, and sometimes I print 4x6 prints. I print maybe once every couple weeks, sometimes even less. Speed isn't that important - any modern printer would be fine. I want something that won't bleed me dry on ink costs given that I don't use it that often.

Two more features that would be nice. First, a flat input tray. My printer sits on a shelf that pulls out. The Canon has a paper tray at an angle, such that I can't keep it loaded with paper when it's put away because the cavity isn't tall enough. That's a pain.

Second, I'd love to be able to print on CDs and DVDs. I researched that a while ago, and it looks like only the Epson's do it, and while the print quality is good, the inks are very expensive and it really uses a lot of ink (the R-series). Why hasn't someone else come out with this feature (like Canon)?

Does your place of work have color printers? Are you in school and able to print in color for a few cents a page?

If so, then I can't honestly think of any reason why you should buy another inkjet color printer. Print your photos through Snapfish or Walmart Photos or a similar online service - it costs less than 20 cents a picture now, and the time you'll save and the higher quality of printing are worth it. Unless you're printing huge numbers of photos regularly, there's no reason to spend the money on lots of ink, photo-quality printer, and expensive photo paper (the cheap Kodak and generic stuff just flat-out sucks).

I do all my color printing at work - and I rarely need to print in color. In fact, I hardly print anything at home at all anymore.

A laser printer will provide significant savings for you. The printer might cost $200-$300, but one $50 toner cartridge can last you upwards of a year if you don't print that frequently. Not to mention the convenience of printing that doesn't smudge when wet and is always very sharp and crisp.

Printing on CDs isn't, IMO, all it's cracked up to be. The sticky CD labels will eventually ruin your CD-Rs, and I just don't know if there's guaranteed longevity on printable CD-Rs. If you desperately desire that feature, though, then you're going to just have to suck up the cost of a higher end Epson printer - and the special printable discs.

closer · Feb 22, 2007, 01:55 PM

I'm going to be looking for home use as well and would have considered one of the Xerox Phasers until I discovered how wax unfriendly they are unless you are in a high volume environment... if used constantly they will offer great cost/page and really quite good quality pictures (duplexed articles as well)... however you can't afford to turn the unit off cuz it prints out what I figure is a $20 cleaning page every time its turned back on... and the "feature" can't be disabled... as well it squirts out used wax whenever it warms up... so its best in an environment that is in constant use... too bad its been a real workhorse in our school, but more expensive to run than we were lead to believe

SVass · Feb 22, 2007, 02:07 PM

I have an Epson and use Ink4Art.com: Inkjet & Laser Toner Supplies, Paper, and More! inks that are far less costly than the manufacturer's ink. They sell cartridges for many types of printers. sam

Zoom · Feb 22, 2007, 05:41 PM

Interesting suggestion (going for a laser), but I do print various color stuff at home from time to time - stuff that I need right then and often things that aren't just prints. I have definitely heard good things about printing online, including that it's cheaper overall. I need to look into that for stuff that can wait.

I'm sure this has been debated to death somewhere already, but can someone convince me that non-name-brand ink is safe and still decent quality? I know it depends on what you buy, but the last time I researched this I came away with the impression that it's worth it for Canon. They tend to be cheaper than Epson or HP (at least they were when I checked). And I've heard horror stories about junk ink ruining printers or having horrible color matching. Thoughts?

kchris · Feb 25, 2007, 10:21 AM

The days of super-expensive ink prices are supposed to be numbered, according to the experts. If it happens it won't be a day too soon.

The only problem with the non-brand ink cartridges is durability. The colors fade badly after a few months in every one I have tried. Keeping them out of the light helps, but the original inks are way, way better.

I don't believe cheap inks damage your printer. You can do that best yourself if you just turn it off for a couple weeks and and let the heads dry out, in my experience with Epson.

The way some inkjets work, they have to keep pumping ink thro the heads every few days to stop them drying up. So you'll pay a kind of "ink tax" even if you don't print anything, that or the heads dry up and you've gotta dump the carts, or the whole printer.

analogika · Feb 26, 2007, 02:50 PM

Some of the higher-end HP printers will recycle the ink used to clean the heads. They have an elaborate rubber tube-and-receptacle system. However, even HP does not expect their printers to last more than two or three years.

And Canon has better drivers.

zerostar · Feb 26, 2007, 03:23 PM

I have a Canon iP4300 or some such model, I had 3 Epson's before this and will NEVER buy an Epson again!

The canon pictures do not fade like the epson and the ink never seems to go down nor clog!!! I still have the original ink in the printer and it works every time I print. Plus if it ever clogs you can replace the ink head just by snapping it out. This is now like a year old... I am a Canon evangelist now :-)

This Canon is only 4 colors + a deep black, but prints even look better than my epson that was 7 or 8 colors and it prints SUPER quick, I am actually amazed it prints that quick for an inkjet and it wasn't even an expensive model. I buy the 100 year ink and its been really cheap to run so-far.

This was it Photo Inkjet Printers - Photo Inkjet Printer - PIXMA iP4300 - Canon USA Consumer Products

It does borderless and I have read even CD printing if you do a little software hack... but I have no need for that now...

EDIT: Oh yeah, it duplexes and even has a cassette underneath that you can keep a frequently used size in.

bryoung · Mar 1, 2007, 04:21 PM

I have owned a canon i860 then the 6000D, and now I own the MP500. I would highly recommended any canon printer that uses individual ink cartridges. The print quality and the compatibility with the mac is by far the best.

As far as the paper tray, my mp500 has one on top and one underneath and so did the 6000D. I usually use the one underneath for 8.5x11 paper and the one on top for different size photo paper. This is easer because I don't always have to be removing paper from the machine, I just put in the photo paper that I need at the time.

Ink cost the cheapest among all the printers that I have looked at, but its still not that cheep. I just bought each of the color cartridges and 2 black for a total cost of $90.(1x cyan, 1x magenta, 1x yellow, 1x photo black, 2x text black) I only print photos with the canon and I use a samsung laser printer that I bought at Sams for text. The quality of the prints is on par with Snapfish or Shutterfly.

What I usually do is print photos that I want for special frames or collages with the canon. Then when I want 4x6 photos for an album I use Shutterfly or Snapfish and order 40-100 at a time.

CD printing is only available on epson printers because of a patent I do believe. But you can get a CD stomper and some labels.

-B

Zoom · Mar 1, 2007, 04:34 PM

Great info, folks, thanks!

I definitely don't want to do the labels on disks, I want to print directly. Figures they'd have a patent. How can you patent that?? Weird.

I'll check out the Canon's again, see if I want to upgrade.

Is there a good all-in-one Canon?

brassplayersrock² · Mar 1, 2007, 05:31 PM

I've had my hp 1210xi all in one here with me at school for the past 3 years and even through repeat packaging and storage and even a couple drops (ya know how college can be) it still works perfectly. just a little beat up but still fine as the day i got it. no ink problems, only a few paper jams, and nothing else. prints alright photos, but i use it maily for school work anyways.

-a

about printing onto the disk, have you ever thought of buying a disk drive with light scribe? i have the lacie version and i love it, unless you want colored images on your disks, then forget about the light scribe drives. they dont do color to my knowledge

bryoung · Mar 1, 2007, 06:02 PM

The MP500 that I own is an all in one.
If I was going to buy now I would get the MP810. It also has the ability to scan slides and negatives.

Lightscribe is a great solution but it requires a new DVD/CD Burner.

-B

gnomexp · Mar 1, 2007, 06:45 PM

I'm another advocate of the two printer model. I have a Brother HL-2040 which works great for all my black and white. I've been through 4 or 5 reams of paper and still haven't replaced the toner on it. I also have an EPSON R2400 for photographs and poster media, though any other EPSON will work. My best inkjet experiences have been with EPSON or HP. Both have high quality jobs and reasonably priced ink (EPSON is 15 dollars per cartridge). They also don't run out of ink as quickly as Canon in my experience, though you have to be sure the cartridges don't get clogged.

Best of luck!