Canon MP550 vs Canon ip4700

[Leyart]

Hello, I am new on this forum and I find it awesome
Today my old Epson C46 decided to stop working, I tried everything to resurrect once again the printhead without any result...

I decided to buy a new printer, this time a Canon because of several factors but I still want to be able to refill manually the cartdriges and considering that the new models seem difficult to be refilled, I would like to buy one of these models, Canon Mp550 or Canon ip4700.

I have already a scanner, but being able to copy and print a document just by turning on the printer is a plus.
On the other side I really like the auto duplex function of the ip4700...

Which is the best of the two? (Considering I can buy them at the same price).
Are they a good choice for a good printer that can be refilled? (I am not worried about buying resetters and so on, I just want to be sure that I can refill the inks)
Do they suffer from clogged printheads like the epson printers?
What is a good place to find good inks and not cheap garbage that is going to kill my printhead?

Thank you a lot for any reply, it has been a while since the last time I bought a printer...
And sorry for my bad english also!

 

[The Hat]

Leyart

Glad to hear you like this forum, Welcome.
For someone that has not bought a new printer of late. Your choice of the two Canons was excellent.
As you already have a scanner then it's got to be the ip4700, its great printer.

Canon printers dont suffer a great deal with clogged print heads, provided you use OEM cartridges and good quality inks.
My advice to you is to use a good refilling method and one that suites you best.

There are two methods that are used by members on here: - Top filling method (original)
and the German "Durchstich"(new) method, both are discussed on many threads here and can be found easily by using the search button.

I would recommend that you invest in a resetter for your cartridges as it might save you destroying your print head in the new printer..
There are many places to get good quality inks used by the members of this forum,
so if you let us know where you are at (home), Im sure that youll get a good response to your question..

 

[Leyart]

Hi Hat!
Thank you so much for the reply... If I don't bother you too much could you please explain me why the ip4700 is a better choice?
I have read somewhere that they share the same printhead model...
I live in Italy, I cannot order inks from the U.S. it would be too expensive...
Using any EU website or eu ebay seller is probably fine.
And also: I have seen a lot of empty cartdrige with auto resetting chips, why should I avoid them?
Thank you in advance!

 

[The Hat]

Leyart
The fact that you allready have a scanner, why would you need a second + the 4700 gives you the extra duplex.
The auto reset chips are not very good at gauging the amount of ink that might be left in the cartridge,
besides every time you turn on your printer these chips reset the ink levels back to full again giving another false ink level reading.
IT means that youll have to check the cartridges visually yourself to know exactly how much ink is left in each one before you can print anything.
Another problem when using these chips is that again each time on start up a cleaning cycle will be preformed taking several minutes and wasting quite a lot of good ink.
Auto reset chips do work if you are prepared to spend a lot of you time watching your own ink levels.
An EU supplier of good quality ink and the things youll need to refill your cartridges and resetter is:-
www.octoink.co.uk/ log on and give them a try ..

 

[Leyart]

Thank you, I have already bought several stuff from them and I was really satisfied.
The fact that you are telling me they are good makes me happy, I was already planning to buy inks from them
Have a nice time and thank you again!