Canon ip4500 and Lyson CISS

[luvmycanonfinally]

This may not be much help to some, as the 4500 is rather hard to come by. I guess my ultimate point will be that it is so rewarding to get a ciss system and screw Canon or anyone else out of ill gotten gains. If a fair price were charged, well that would be another story.
My wife is a teacher and with the economy the way it is, a number of monetary constraints have been imposed. Teachers are only allowed a certain number of copies a month. The worst part is having to wait on others to make their copies. So, we bought this 4500. Well, let me tell you..after about 250 pages we learned that ink carts were not the way to go, even if we re-filled them. I stumbled across the Lyson website after reading the remarks about their ink quality. Even after reading that, I took a chance and bought their ink system for the 4500. I just printed the eeprom report and I was shocked at the page count. She has printed 37,488 pages and this printer has not misfired one time nor has the ciss. Of course, I have had a few streaking problems here and there, but they were easily fixed with a head cleaning procedure. I use the dyebase inks from MIS Associates. I even have the original printhead. This printer is so dependable I bought two more last year.
So, if you get the chance buy a ciss and print a whole lot cheaper. Do your homework and get a system with good reviews. The Lyson unit has performed flawlessly for me, but I don't honestly know if it is even made by the same company as when I purchased mine.
Also, after a lot reading I chose to put the upper most liquid level of the supply bottles even or just below the print head nozzles. At first, I had the bottles on the same surface as the printer, when I started noticing random drops of ink on some pages. That's when I started reading about several people experimenting with bottle placement. Anyway, my two cents.
I hope this helps someone to free themselves from the big boys.

 

[cityinkexpress]

Was this lyson system bought in the UK

shane

 

[l_d_allan]

37,488 pages

My speculation is that you are mostly dealing with text, and perhaps mostly b/w. Have you considered a laser printer? If nothing else, seems like it would be much faster.

 

[l_d_allan]

I guess my ultimate point will be that it is so rewarding to get a ciss system and screw Canon or anyone else out of ill gotten gains. If a fair price were charged, well that would be another story.
...
I hope this helps someone to free themselves from the big boys.

Not meaning to be argumentative (and I do have a tendency to be a contrarian), but the Canon/Epson/HP/etc. business model for pricing doesn't particularly bother me. They are essentially giving away printers, and figuring that most people won't do their own refilling because of:

* low-volume of printing (seemes justified to use OEM ink, imho)
* print exhibition where highest quality matters (justified)
* print-selling (which justifies OEM ink, unless it is a small multiple of your costs)
* expectation of longevity (justified)
* Large prints > 13" x 19" where the paper to ink cost ratio is Very Different than commodity letter size photo paper
* ignorance (which is very different than stupidity, but too often confused as the same)
* lack of time
* laziness, stupidity,, clumsiness, etc.
* bad experience from previous attemps, or "war stories" from people they know
* deep pockets and want the best, no matter the expense.
* any number of other reasons

Seems to me that if you really want to "stick it to Canon/Epson/HP/etc", you would make it a point to refill the carts of other people, which is what I believe a number of people on this forum do. If and when I really feel proficient at refilling ... if ever ... I hope to be able to do that.

We have a number of "Meetup social groups" in the Colorado Springs area related to photography. I've proposed a workshop on cartridge refilling. I'm not qualified to teach it due to lack of experience so far, but I'm hoping I can help a instructor who has significant experience.
http://www.meetup.com/The-Colorado-Photography-Learning-Group/events/16529781/


If and when I get my current ignorance is behind me, I expect to be able to give away letter size prints for 15 to 20 on a printer that Canon basically gave away. And I'm supposed to be upset with Canon?

 

[pday12]

Have just bought a Canon iP4850 here in Australia - replaces my Canon iP4200 - earlier had a Canon iP3000 - they all seem to last a few years then fail somehow - each time they get more difficult to refill - the iP3000 had nothing in the way of refill prevention I seem to recall - the iP4200 had a chip on tanks that you could see through - bought a 2nd set of tanks & also a chip resetter from Germany - now this one has tanks you cannot see through with new chips - so have bought a RIHAC CISS system from for $143 - should save several hundred $ within a year or 2 - will rig it up once the first tank complains of being "empty". Till then will make sure all is working well - has already had to be returned the day after purchase because one of the black colours would not print. The $99 printer was simply replaced.

Phil D.
(Brisbane Asutralia)

 

[samurusawyer]

Although the trend is definitely from ink-jet printers to all-in-one machines, there are still advantages to the single-function machine, which is smaller and slightly cheaper for the same specification level. Canon's new PIXMA iP4500 includes duplex printing, a PictBridge camera socket, dual paper trays and CD/DVD print facilities in a machine costing under 70.

Just about all Canon's printers and all-in-ones have the same silver and gloss-black livery, which is smart without being showy, and the iP4500 is a simple machine to set up and run. You fold up the rear section of the top cover for a 150-sheet paper feed tray, or slide out the 150-sheet cassette from under the front of the machine as a secondary paper source, and fold down the front cover to produce a very serviceable output tray.

 

[The Hat]

samurusawyer Canon's new PIXMA iP4500 includes duplex printing, a PictBridge camera socket, dual paper trays and CD/DVD print facilities in a machine costing under 70.

samurusawyer that all sounds wonderful but the iP4500 is not sold anymore so where are you coming from..