RMM
Fan of Printing
Three years ago this week I bought my first Canon inkjet printer, the IP4700. I paid $50 for it new with shipping. Yesterday, my mother called me and said the printer began a print job, made an odd sound, then turned off. No power. I suspect that the power supply or internal circuitry is fried. This printer was used HEAVILY! It was truly a great value. I have had 2 MX860s die on me at around 3,000 pages, which was a big disappointment.
In January I did happen to do a service printout out of curiosity, the page count was at 21,530. I almost couldn't believe it. There have probably been another 2,000 or so pages through it since then. I would have never believed it would make it this long. Most of the pages printed have been duplex and I'm not sure if the counter takes that into account. All of the cartridges were the factory originals, except for the cyan (chip died in the first 6 months). Original printhead.
I started out with Hobbicolors UW8 inks, which I used for about a year. The color cast was bad, so I generated a profile with Profile Prism which worked nicely. I had to purge the PGI-220 (pigment) cartridge about every 5 fillings with this ink or I would start to get clogs. The lightest cyan nozzles would also clog if not used frequently. I light cleaning always brought them back, but this was always a hassle. The UW8 inks clogged these nozzles in all of the CLI-221 printers I tried them in (iP4600, iP4700, MX860, MX870). I have never had any clogging issues with the UW8 ink in CLI-8 printers. I suspect that for whatever reason the ink just does not mesh well with the 1 pl cyan nozzles. The CLI-8 printers are only 2 pl nozzles.
For about the past two years I have been using OCW inks from rjjettek in the CLI-221/PGI-220 cartridges. The colors are a pretty close match to the OEM ink, much better than the Hobbicolors (in the CLI-221 printers). I can get by without a color profile. The price is very good when bought in bulk. Most importantly, I have never had a clog with this ink, and have never had to purge a cartridge with it. I love this stuff.
As for the replacement, I have several iP4700s that I bought on clearance a few years ago that are ready to take the place of the "old one". But the old printer will always keep a place in my heart.
It was my first, after all! 
In January I did happen to do a service printout out of curiosity, the page count was at 21,530. I almost couldn't believe it. There have probably been another 2,000 or so pages through it since then. I would have never believed it would make it this long. Most of the pages printed have been duplex and I'm not sure if the counter takes that into account. All of the cartridges were the factory originals, except for the cyan (chip died in the first 6 months). Original printhead.
I started out with Hobbicolors UW8 inks, which I used for about a year. The color cast was bad, so I generated a profile with Profile Prism which worked nicely. I had to purge the PGI-220 (pigment) cartridge about every 5 fillings with this ink or I would start to get clogs. The lightest cyan nozzles would also clog if not used frequently. I light cleaning always brought them back, but this was always a hassle. The UW8 inks clogged these nozzles in all of the CLI-221 printers I tried them in (iP4600, iP4700, MX860, MX870). I have never had any clogging issues with the UW8 ink in CLI-8 printers. I suspect that for whatever reason the ink just does not mesh well with the 1 pl cyan nozzles. The CLI-8 printers are only 2 pl nozzles.
For about the past two years I have been using OCW inks from rjjettek in the CLI-221/PGI-220 cartridges. The colors are a pretty close match to the OEM ink, much better than the Hobbicolors (in the CLI-221 printers). I can get by without a color profile. The price is very good when bought in bulk. Most importantly, I have never had a clog with this ink, and have never had to purge a cartridge with it. I love this stuff.
As for the replacement, I have several iP4700s that I bought on clearance a few years ago that are ready to take the place of the "old one". But the old printer will always keep a place in my heart.
It was my first, after all! 
