Inkjet Printer REcommendation

[swoop]

Hello,

I was wondering if someone with knowledge of Inkjets could give me a recommendation. I am in the market for a new Inkjet printer. I need to print about 100 - 8.5X11" sheets of card stock and about 25 miscelaneous pages per week. So... I am looking for the best printer to do the job. I would like a printer that is easy to refill individual colours using bulk ink as the cardstock prints only print using Black and Blue. I understand that the "chipped" cartridges are annoying to refill?

Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

 

[fotofreek]

The Canon chipped carts are extremely easy to refill - just the same as the previous generation of unchipped carts. When you do refill them the printer recognizes that you've put a cart into the printer that it shows as empty by the chip's tally. It refuses to print unless you give up your warranty. It then disables the ink monitor and you will have to monitor the ink levels visually. That is no big deal as the carts are clear and checking them takes less than a minute. Best to check periodically and especially before doing a big print job. I would buy the printer where it can be returned, no questions asked within a reasonable period of time. I say this because you will need to see it the card stock you use will feed and print properly.

I'm starting to sound like a broken record with the next suggestion! If you are in the US and near a Staples store they have the ip4300 on a closeout at $69 - less than the cost of the ink carts that come with it. If you go to any store that will demo the unit you can bring your card stock and check it out. I rarely see inkjets demo'd now. Probably because they may clog from lack of use on the shelf, need a salesperson that will replace ink carts, etc. Too much of a nuisance.

 

[swoop]

Thanks for the information. Good to know that there is an easy work around with the Canon Chipped cartridges. Does that go for all Canon cartridges?

I did some research on the IP4300 and the reviews seem to say that it does not handle card stock very well. It seems to have problems with heavy media. I looked up similar models to the IP4300, and I think the IP6700D might do a good job? It seems that this one is designed to handle heavy jobs?

Does anyone know if this is a good printer? It is going for $199.99 at Staples here in Toronto.

Thanks for you help.

 

[Manuchau]

If possible, since you are in Toronto, I'd look around eBay. You sometimes can find excellent bargains on recent model Canons, and occasionally on last year's Pixma series, which does not use the chipped cartridges.

 

[fotofreek]

My Canon i960 handles reasonably heavy stock - too bad it is no longer available. It is difficult to do envelopes, however, and I end up doing them on my laser printer. I haven't tried my wife's ip5000 with heavy stock. i know that I can return nearly any purchase to Staples, no questions asked, within their allowed return period. You could certainly buy one at a store with such a policy and try it with the stock you need to use. BTW, the I960 has a setting in the driver software to allow thicker stock to be used without contact with the printhead and subsequent abrasion or ink marks.

 

[inkkit]

I have an old canon and it still working fine for me.

 

[mharris]

Interesting,

My iP-4200 had various carts refilled and never completely gave up the ink tank tank monitor function. I gave up the warranty atleast once when presented. It then stopped working completely with an ink tank error message that I had "installed a cart that could not be recognized." I had to put new carts in to reset it and start printing again.

Has anyone tryed swapping empty carts from one machine to another, refilling and trying to print?