Ink in Australia - Canon IP5000

MrHammy

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Hi,

I'm a recent lurker who has decide to expose himself...

I've been using a canon s750 for the last few years.
I don't print for profit, just for pleasure.
I do print photo's, but not all the time. Mostly it's just general stuff - Text and graphics etc.
I was using Calidad refil inks for several yaers with reasonable success - I never bought a second set of tanks in the whole time I had the s750...

Sadly, the s750 died - the print head blocked up and when I sent it to be 'fixed' unber the 'extended warranty', they just said that it had been laid to rest and was in the big print room in ths sky. Died of printer pneumonia - or blocked head - and they didn't want to replace it. The upside was that they offered me a brand new Canon IP2000.

Even more sadly, I didn't just get the IP2000, I talked myself into the IP5000 instead. 'Sadly' only because of the extra dollars I had to pay out.

Love the printer, great output for me - BUT...

I've figured out that one day the ink tanks will run out of ink - See, I'm pretty smart for someone whose was born in the 50's.

I like Canon machinery, but I'm not too happy with the cost of inks - like most of you.

I need to figure out the best sources and types of inks to use.

Now when I say best, please bear in mind that cost and availability are major factors. Colour matching isn't so big for me - I still think that there are only seven colours in the rainbow...

However, if I can get a good ink in Australia which is priced well, does a fair colour match, is available in Australia and above all will not kill the print head, then I'll be happy for now.

I have been reading many of the threads here, but most of the brands I have seen mentioned appear to not be available where I've been looking in Australia.

Oh, I don't get through ink at a high rate, and I plan to be doing refills - that is unless someone can suggest a good cartridge at a very good price in Australia.

By the way, I will import from USA or elsewhere if I have to, I'm just a bit lazy...

Hope this makes sense and if there are any replies, please note that I only have a basic knowledge of inks and inkjet printing - as my wife put it 'you're just too tight to pay full price'...

MrHammy
 

Manuchau

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I recommend a company called Ink Tec, based in Korea. They are known for high-quality inks, and most of their products are available in the Pacific regions...this includes compatible cartridges, or, if you are more ambitious and want to do your own re-filling, they have excellent colour bulk inks.

By the way, your old printer died from lack of use. As someone in the business, I can tell you that the people who have the least problems with their inkjets are the people who use them frequently. Letting the printer sit around for months with no usage is guaranteed to give you headaches with any inkjet. Print at least 1-2 pages per week..and your problems will disappear.

Happy Printing!!
 

Nifty

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MrHammy, welcome to the forum. I love it when lurkers are converted to InkJet Forum Newbies!

Hey, be very glad that you went from the ip2000 to the ip5000! The ip2000 has a tri-color cartridge instead of separate ink tanks for CYM! May I ask what you had to pay to make up the difference?
 

Craig Ross

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MrHammy
Welcome fellow Canberran I would be more than happy to help you out with either compatable
cartridges, refills or bulk ink at a very good price and advice is free.We are on Marcus Clarke St. in the
city ph 62474030 if I can be of any help.

Sorry Rob I don,t mean to use the forum as a place to advertise but MrHammy is a fellow Canberran in need.
Regards
 

MrHammy

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Nice to be welcomed to the forum.

Thanks to you all...

I paid an extra A$150 for the IP5000. I know the cost here is about A$350 at Harvey Normans - for those of you who don't know, its one of the bigger retailers in town - not a huge amount of expertise, but a fair range of goods...

I chose the IP5000 because of the higher definition and the separate ink tanks.

I've seen alot of ads for ink-tec inks and was gonna give them a try anyway, but I'll have a word with my fellow canberran Craig and get advice from an 'expert' - in this case anyone else seems like an expert...

Regarding the usage of the S750 - I did use it quite regularly, printing at least 20 to 30 pages a week. maybe that wasn't enough though...

Symptoms were a bit odd though...

What happened was I filled the tanks for the umpteenth time and the magenta ink wouldn't print properly. When I did the test pattern magenta was only printing on about half of the lines. When I printed a normal quality image, it seemed that there wes a strip about half the depth of the print head that just diddn't come out at all.

I removed the print head, soaked it in windex, rinsed it out with warm water and thought everything would be fine. Still the same problem... Did the soak and rinse again, this time soaking overnight. Still no fix. Then I remembered I'd paid for extended warranty and thought I'd try to get it fixed. They just took it away and I never saw it again.

I though maybe I'd been a bit too heavy handed in the print head and bent some microscopic bit or seomthing. I'll never know, but the S750 was a magic beast for me.

Anyway, the IP5000 works just as well (better in fact) and I'm quite proud of it.

I do make sure that I print every day or so, even if it is just a web page.

I'm also trying to assemble an idiot guide for myself which will help me if and when I encounter problems with it.

Thanks again...

Hope I haven't bored you too much...

Regards

MrHammy
 

BlasterQ

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i think your printer didn't die, your cartridges did! you said so yourself, you never had to buy a second set of carts! you should've tried buying a new set of carts before you buried your printer. :(
 

Nifty

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If you could take advantage of that extended warranty (that I'm sure you paid extra for) and you got good life out of your old printer, hey, no worries... you've got a great new printer!

MrHammy, don't worry about boring us at all. The forum was designed for these types of posts where we could learn from each other's experiences. If enough people post what did and didn't work for them then we'll have all the info we need to solve our printing problems.

Hey Craig, don't worry about a thing. I'm completely in favor of members helping each other out. Our inkjet Guru's and Masters are given more liberty than other members.
 

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