Are all Canon Printers Photo?
- Thread starter PKT
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What are you interested in printing? Maybe an inkjet printer isn''t for you! For printing only black text you are better off with a laser printer.
What you've heard about Canon refills applies to their previous generations of printers. The "i" series and early pixma printers used bci-6 carts and the refill inks for bci-6 carts as well as the bci-3ebk black pigment-ink carts in some of these printers. The newest Pixmas have computer chips on the carts and there are currently no aftermarket carts for them. There is some refill bulk ink available.
What you've heard about Canon refills applies to their previous generations of printers. The "i" series and early pixma printers used bci-6 carts and the refill inks for bci-6 carts as well as the bci-3ebk black pigment-ink carts in some of these printers. The newest Pixmas have computer chips on the carts and there are currently no aftermarket carts for them. There is some refill bulk ink available.
I certainly don't dispute what fotofreek said but I may take the opportunity to expand on what has been said. I do agree that if one just needs monochrome text, a B/W laser may well be the way to go. But as soon as one wants some color in your output, todays broad options are either a color Laser or an inkjet of some variety. At least at the present time, an inkjet does a far better job than a color Laser in terms of quality photoprinting. But since PKT is saying PKT does not need the photoprinting, it may become important to examine the two technologies on that other basis---printing economy--or maybe better put as TCO--which is total cost of ownership over a given period--often three to five years.
But TCO is the sum of initial purchase price plus the consumable supplies used in that given period--and the consumable supplies include the cost of the paper, the ink or toner, and may also include any repairs needed.---but computing those costs requires somewhat what is totally missing here---namely PKT's antispated printing volume.
I faced a similar problem some time ago in a bygone age before the first chipped Canon's on store shelves. So I was costing out color lasers that were then breaking out as cheap as $300. vs. any make of inkjet. While finding quality data proved to be devishly hard, I quickly concluded the Canons were the best of the inkjets---with something like a ip4000 coming in with OEM cartridges costs of about 3 cents per page for 5% coverage black ink and about eight cents for mixed color on a typical mixed color page on plain paper. Other makes of printers tended to not do as well---Epsons came close--maybe 50% more expensive---but they have clogging problems---the best HP's came in as twice as expensive---Lexmarks were even worse--and you were in a heap of trouble if you selected some really cheap and bad printers that had per page costs 10x the ip4000.
The color Lasers were far more uniform in per page costs---roughly 1.5 cents for 5% coverage B/W and the same eight cents for that typical mixed color page on plain paper. But then I learned that many of the sub $500. prosumer color Lasers were short shotting their Toner cartridges---so in as few as 1500 pages, I would be facing a $300. plus expense of replacing all Toner cartridges.
Further reserch also revealed I could save up to about a factor of 7x on Canon OEM ink using third party prefilled Canon Cartridges readily available. At the time I was not especially interested in the greater savings to be had by refilling.
So I bought my wife a Canon ip4000 for $110---spent another $33. for 18 non-Oem cartridges from a vendor recommended by this forum---and I was still about $150.00 ahead of the game if I had bought a color Laser. Then I got a MP730 refurbished cheap for me---used some of the 18 cartridges and now refill my own cartridges. I estimate my per page ink consumable costs at 0.3 cents per page for 5% coverage black and less than a cent for mixed color on plain paper--or about a 10x savings over OEM ink---and this will also come in under the costs of most Lasers for even B/W text.
And if I want to do some color photo's, I still get super output and low costs.
But for PKT, the Canon maze gets easier---you probably do not want a six plus color Canon printer because these tend to be specialised photoprinters less good for general use---with the ip3000, ip4000, or ip5000 your probable best choices. Non chipped Canons are getting hard to find--but still they can be found---but the ip4000 printer engine can be also found in multifuntional and non chipped form in the MP750, MP760, and the MP780.
As fotofreek pointed out certain of the i series are also unchipped and are also fine choices.--but are even harder to find today.
But as for me, going Canon is the one of the best decisions I ever made.
But TCO is the sum of initial purchase price plus the consumable supplies used in that given period--and the consumable supplies include the cost of the paper, the ink or toner, and may also include any repairs needed.---but computing those costs requires somewhat what is totally missing here---namely PKT's antispated printing volume.
I faced a similar problem some time ago in a bygone age before the first chipped Canon's on store shelves. So I was costing out color lasers that were then breaking out as cheap as $300. vs. any make of inkjet. While finding quality data proved to be devishly hard, I quickly concluded the Canons were the best of the inkjets---with something like a ip4000 coming in with OEM cartridges costs of about 3 cents per page for 5% coverage black ink and about eight cents for mixed color on a typical mixed color page on plain paper. Other makes of printers tended to not do as well---Epsons came close--maybe 50% more expensive---but they have clogging problems---the best HP's came in as twice as expensive---Lexmarks were even worse--and you were in a heap of trouble if you selected some really cheap and bad printers that had per page costs 10x the ip4000.
The color Lasers were far more uniform in per page costs---roughly 1.5 cents for 5% coverage B/W and the same eight cents for that typical mixed color page on plain paper. But then I learned that many of the sub $500. prosumer color Lasers were short shotting their Toner cartridges---so in as few as 1500 pages, I would be facing a $300. plus expense of replacing all Toner cartridges.
Further reserch also revealed I could save up to about a factor of 7x on Canon OEM ink using third party prefilled Canon Cartridges readily available. At the time I was not especially interested in the greater savings to be had by refilling.
So I bought my wife a Canon ip4000 for $110---spent another $33. for 18 non-Oem cartridges from a vendor recommended by this forum---and I was still about $150.00 ahead of the game if I had bought a color Laser. Then I got a MP730 refurbished cheap for me---used some of the 18 cartridges and now refill my own cartridges. I estimate my per page ink consumable costs at 0.3 cents per page for 5% coverage black and less than a cent for mixed color on plain paper--or about a 10x savings over OEM ink---and this will also come in under the costs of most Lasers for even B/W text.
And if I want to do some color photo's, I still get super output and low costs.
But for PKT, the Canon maze gets easier---you probably do not want a six plus color Canon printer because these tend to be specialised photoprinters less good for general use---with the ip3000, ip4000, or ip5000 your probable best choices. Non chipped Canons are getting hard to find--but still they can be found---but the ip4000 printer engine can be also found in multifuntional and non chipped form in the MP750, MP760, and the MP780.
As fotofreek pointed out certain of the i series are also unchipped and are also fine choices.--but are even harder to find today.
But as for me, going Canon is the one of the best decisions I ever made.
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Just to add to Osage's post... I put together a spreadsheet that takes into account all the published figures from various printer manufacturers and looked at both Inkjets and laser printers...
What I found bore out what Osage has said... The budget laser printers are relatively cheap to buy initially but you get short shrift when it comes to the parts replacement and frankly I've warned a few people off them already.. Epson and HP colour lasers in particular were very much into the "consumables game" so be careful there.
As to which inkjet... well I'd fall back on Osage's points... To my way of thinking the question you have to ask yourself is whether you value the convenience of pre-filled and ready to go "from the box" consumables or whether you can afford to spend some time learning, experimenting and getting a little messy in return for cheaper printing. If it's the latter then I'd highly recommend the newer chipped canons but be prepared to learn how to refill them... If not, I'd look to the Epson inkjets like the C/D88 but make sure you print on them regularly and get a good cartridge/ink provider.
As Osage said though, you really can't go wrong with the MP780 multifunctionals... very nice and well spec'd for other features.
What I found bore out what Osage has said... The budget laser printers are relatively cheap to buy initially but you get short shrift when it comes to the parts replacement and frankly I've warned a few people off them already.. Epson and HP colour lasers in particular were very much into the "consumables game" so be careful there.
As to which inkjet... well I'd fall back on Osage's points... To my way of thinking the question you have to ask yourself is whether you value the convenience of pre-filled and ready to go "from the box" consumables or whether you can afford to spend some time learning, experimenting and getting a little messy in return for cheaper printing. If it's the latter then I'd highly recommend the newer chipped canons but be prepared to learn how to refill them... If not, I'd look to the Epson inkjets like the C/D88 but make sure you print on them regularly and get a good cartridge/ink provider.
As Osage said though, you really can't go wrong with the MP780 multifunctionals... very nice and well spec'd for other features.
Oh one more critical factor PKT,
Roughly where are you?---I am in the USA---that means I get certain market acess that someone somewhere else might not get and vice versa. So its an important variable because it can restrict what your purchase options are---but does help in that it may put you in touch with other people in your country or location who do know some of the better suppliers on a done that been there basis.---its also the wonderful part of the international printing community--we are united by need and not divided by politics.
( just writing the above to explain its not a matter of being nosy---and keep the general location vague--no one is trying to track you down or trick you with that type question)
Roughly where are you?---I am in the USA---that means I get certain market acess that someone somewhere else might not get and vice versa. So its an important variable because it can restrict what your purchase options are---but does help in that it may put you in touch with other people in your country or location who do know some of the better suppliers on a done that been there basis.---its also the wonderful part of the international printing community--we are united by need and not divided by politics.
( just writing the above to explain its not a matter of being nosy---and keep the general location vague--no one is trying to track you down or trick you with that type question)
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Thank you all for the prompt responses.
Osage I also live in the US- Florida, and the Canon ip4000 does seem to be very popular in this forum
and seems could be a good choice.
The refilling has sparked my interest as well the third party prefilled canon Cartridges.
Regards
Osage I also live in the US- Florida, and the Canon ip4000 does seem to be very popular in this forum
and seems could be a good choice.
The refilling has sparked my interest as well the third party prefilled canon Cartridges.
Regards
I am ready to buy a iP4000 if I could find one but they appear to be unavailable in Calif or Az. So, am looking at maybe a MP500 or MP750 just to get a printer without the new style contact carts. Don't really need the scanner unless it is worth the extra $ so would be happy with just a regular printer that prints good photos and prints clear text with out getting the new tanks with contacts on them....
Does the iP 5000 or iP 6000 series have the old style ink tanks and which one would you recommend the best choice.
Does the iP 5000 or iP 6000 series have the old style ink tanks and which one would you recommend the best choice.
To grybeard,
The ip4000, the ip5000, the ip6000d, amd the MP750 are all unchipped. The MP500, the ip4200, and for that matter the ip5200 are all chipped. You can often tell the chipped Canons by noting which cartridges they take---any Canons that take the BCI-3&6 cartridges are unchipped----any Canons that take the CLI-5&8 cartridges are chipped.
The Canon ip6000d is a fine printer that may still be available at $100.00 at outpost.com---I hesitate to recommend this six color unchipped printer to PKT because its more of a dedicated photoprinter rather than a general purpose one---but if you are into photoprinting I would not hesitate to recommend it to you.
But finding a unchipped Canon is getting harder every day---still some under the counter at various stores like staples or Fry's, let your fingers do the walking and call, and ebay is always a good place to check. Other online outfits have sometimes have them new or refurbished.---but for a general purpose printer its hard to beat a ip4000 or ip5000. I should also mention the many fine two generations back just plain i an S series printers---but they are even harder to find --but if you can find a i960 or a i965, snap it up.
But if any here have links to current sellers who still have them for online sale, this would be a good thread to post them on.
The ip4000, the ip5000, the ip6000d, amd the MP750 are all unchipped. The MP500, the ip4200, and for that matter the ip5200 are all chipped. You can often tell the chipped Canons by noting which cartridges they take---any Canons that take the BCI-3&6 cartridges are unchipped----any Canons that take the CLI-5&8 cartridges are chipped.
The Canon ip6000d is a fine printer that may still be available at $100.00 at outpost.com---I hesitate to recommend this six color unchipped printer to PKT because its more of a dedicated photoprinter rather than a general purpose one---but if you are into photoprinting I would not hesitate to recommend it to you.
But finding a unchipped Canon is getting harder every day---still some under the counter at various stores like staples or Fry's, let your fingers do the walking and call, and ebay is always a good place to check. Other online outfits have sometimes have them new or refurbished.---but for a general purpose printer its hard to beat a ip4000 or ip5000. I should also mention the many fine two generations back just plain i an S series printers---but they are even harder to find --but if you can find a i960 or a i965, snap it up.
But if any here have links to current sellers who still have them for online sale, this would be a good thread to post them on.
