A4 printer recommendations - all much of a muchness?

[turnpaper]

I'm in need of a new printer for home use. My last few printers have been Epson. My current one is a PX730WD, but one of the nozzles has been blocked and despite trying to clear it, no joy. If I remember correctly, Canon printer cartridges always used to come with a new head attached, so presumably, you rarely had the blocked nozzle issues. I'm talking years ago, so my guess is this is no longer the case.
Epson WF-7120 Review
I have read review after review and if I am honest, none of them seem to stand out too well. A3 printers seem to be considered more professional, but I don't have the space for anything that big.

I wondered if I would get a different perspective from this forum.

It's really just a general 'family' printer that would be used for everything, but it would be nice to know that I could get excellent A4 photos printed reliably from time to time.

 

[Redbrickman]

Don't think there is any Canon now with print heads on the cart. For general use you can't go far wrong with the Canon Maxify range. Not a photo printer if you want high quality photos but for everythign else its a great machine that can also be refilled with 3rd party inks.

 

[Artur5]

Don't think there is any Canon now with print heads on the cart. For general use you can't go far wrong with the Canon Maxify range. Not a photo printer if you want high quality photos but for everythign else its a great machine that can also be refilled with 3rd party inks.

Not only third party but also refilled with Canon bottled inks for Maxify printers.

 

[The Hat]

but also refilled with Canon bottled inks for Maxify printers.

Looks like even @Artur5 is convinced..

 

[Artur5]

Yes, I'm convinced that the current prices of Maxify megatank models are outrageous..
What's the point of paying 510 euro for a GX6050 when you can get three good ole MB5150 for this amount ?

- Think about what you'd save in ink.. says Canon.
Argument rejected I say. You can refill your MB5150 carts. with GI-56 bottles.

- GX series a have a replaceable ink maintenance cart .. says Canon.
Argument rejected I say. In all likelihood the maintenance cart has very small capacity and you have to replace it (and pay ) ten times before the waste inkpad counter of a MB5150 would reach full... and what that eventually happens, with the money you saved for not purchasing a GX6050, you can buy another couple of new MB5150.

 

[The Hat]

you can buy another couple of new MB5150.

I just did…

 

[Artur5]

Two of them ?
Think about the amount of filament you could have purchased with the money you paid for those MB5150.

 

[The Hat]

Think about the amount of filament you could have purchased with the money you paid for those MB5150.

Actually it was a MB2750 that I got, the MB5150’s are all out of stock.. But I got it cheap for €136…

Anyway I don’t need a great deal of filament now because I’m not planning on making another Lamp standard.. The Mark V is “Clyde built”..

 

[PeterBJ]

Don't think there is any Canon now with print heads on the cart........

It seems Canon still makes a 2 cartridge printer the TS3450. But the two cartridge printers use only CMY ink for photos, no photo black. It is estimated that an A4 photo uses 1 ml of ink and with a capacity of the tricolour cartridge of 8 ml or 13 ml for the XL version only a few A4 photos can be printed before you need to buy new cartridges.

The two cartridge printers might be cheap to buy but are expensive to use. They are best suited for occasional plain paper documents.

 

[The Hat]

It seems Canon still makes a 2 cartridge printer the TS3450. But the two cartridge printers only use CMY ink for photos, no photo black. It is estimated that an A4 photo uses 1 ml of ink and with a capacity of the tricolour cartridge of 8 ml or 13 ml for the XL version only a few A4 photos can be printed before you need to buy new cartridges.

I was tempted to get a tri cart printer when I didn’t know any better, I started with an Epson 360 something, and then moved to a Lexmark tri cart printer but gave that away too, but they were reliable and dependable. Then I tried a Canon 5 cart printer and haven’t looked back since..

The only good thing I can say about the TS3450 is you get a free scanner with it, if you don’t have one already, so long as you don’t print anything, because if you run out of ink you then can’t use the scanner..

The Maxify has the edge on most home printers for its versatility and ruggedness and will even do a decent job at photo printing for most family and students.. But they are becoming a scares as hens teeth..