I'm in the market for a new printer...looking for an all in one printer, mostly because we have multiple computers at our house and do scan documents from time to time. Would like to be able to print nice photos.
Since ink is expensive, and a lot of new printers seem to drain ink rather quickly, I would like to go the route of refilling, although I haven't any experience doing that yet.
Right now I was looking at canon's mp990 and the mg6120, and epson's artisan 835.
In regards to the canon, I'm not quite sure which route I should take--the mp990 is a little more expensive (as it's the older version of the new mg8120) and uses the older 220/221 cartridges, while the mg6120 uses the 225/226 cartridges. From what I've read on here, it seemed that the 220/221 cartridges are better having chip resetters and older versions had the clear window which helped refilling. The new ones use opaque cartridges and don't have chip resetters out right now. The problem is that the 220/221 cartridges with windows are old stock and have also been replaced with an opaque version.
Given the state of the two cartridges, is there a benefit to getting the mp990 (and the 220/221 cartridges) over the mg6120 at this point? the newer cartridges will probably have chip resetters of it's own soon right?
On the other side of the fence, how is the epson in regards to refilling?
For printing is there a preference between the 3 printers? I've heard that epson's printers don't print text that well (or as well as other inkjets), but print nicer photos. Canon has a higher resolution (2400 dpi i believe, vs 1440 dpi) and smaller droplet size (1 vs 1.5 pl) which also helps with photos. Yeah...not sure what to make of that.
Anyway, because I live in hawaii, my choices are also limited as to where I can buy these printers. Right now, I can buy the mp990 from the canon store ($150 new/$90 refurb), the mg6120 from amazon (it's in stock again $130) or bestbuy (also $130-rather pay tax than have to pay $100 or so for shipping >_<), and artisan 835 from amazon ($170).
As much as I like how a dedicated photo printer sounds, it isn't practical for what we want in terms of connection (a lot of them are USB only...how am I supposed to connect it to the network if it's only USB?), and price (although the pro9000 mark ii has a $200 mail in rebate, amazon won't ship to hawaii, shipping from B&H is about $100, canon and bestbuy prices are at $500 vs $450 at B&H).
I've also read that OEM cartridges are the way to go. At first I was considering third party (ex. inkproducts.com) refillable cartridge for the canons (clear and has a plug in place for refilling), but I've heard mixed reviews (both on the various sellers and third party cartridges in general). Are the third party cartridges really that bad? A clear case would be nice for refilling.
And then there's the method of refilling. I'm guessing that the German method would be difficult with opaque cases, both in figuring out how much your filling and when to fill (I just read that it's best when the ink tank is almost empty when you refill via the german method...difficult if you are using opaque cartridges and no chip resetting). Although the top filling method seems easy enough, I worry a little about sealing the hole (and it leaking). Is top filling the only real option when using opaque cases? Also, what's good for sealing the hole? Is a good tape enough or do I have to resort to hot glue or a screw or something odd like that? With all the issues with refilling the canon cartridges, does the epson fare any better?
I think I have to decide soon as to what I should buy since the sales that are going on are only until the end of the month i believe. The only thing that I'm hesitant about is the fact that I don't print that often at the moment. If I did get a new printer, then I would use it to print some photos, but I'm not sure how often that would be in the end. I do feel we should get a new printer though since our current one is having a lot of issues (new color cartridge doesn't print one of the colors, multiple colors in a single cartridge, having to babysit it during paper feeding, constant paper jams, errors trying to do scanning, print quality is getting worse (some "didn't feel like printing that line" banding), etc).
Since I don't do that much printing (and may not in the future--not sure), I don't know if it'd be a good idea to get OCP ink (as the bottles are pretty big--16oz). How long would the ink last if I were to get it (shelf life and average number of refills per bottle), and what are the alternatives (also where to buy them)?
I tried to look at the recent postings and I'm sorry if this is something that is easily searchable, but I thought I'd ask all my questions in a new post (rather than hijack someone else's thread).
Since ink is expensive, and a lot of new printers seem to drain ink rather quickly, I would like to go the route of refilling, although I haven't any experience doing that yet.
Right now I was looking at canon's mp990 and the mg6120, and epson's artisan 835.
In regards to the canon, I'm not quite sure which route I should take--the mp990 is a little more expensive (as it's the older version of the new mg8120) and uses the older 220/221 cartridges, while the mg6120 uses the 225/226 cartridges. From what I've read on here, it seemed that the 220/221 cartridges are better having chip resetters and older versions had the clear window which helped refilling. The new ones use opaque cartridges and don't have chip resetters out right now. The problem is that the 220/221 cartridges with windows are old stock and have also been replaced with an opaque version.
Given the state of the two cartridges, is there a benefit to getting the mp990 (and the 220/221 cartridges) over the mg6120 at this point? the newer cartridges will probably have chip resetters of it's own soon right?
On the other side of the fence, how is the epson in regards to refilling?
For printing is there a preference between the 3 printers? I've heard that epson's printers don't print text that well (or as well as other inkjets), but print nicer photos. Canon has a higher resolution (2400 dpi i believe, vs 1440 dpi) and smaller droplet size (1 vs 1.5 pl) which also helps with photos. Yeah...not sure what to make of that.
Anyway, because I live in hawaii, my choices are also limited as to where I can buy these printers. Right now, I can buy the mp990 from the canon store ($150 new/$90 refurb), the mg6120 from amazon (it's in stock again $130) or bestbuy (also $130-rather pay tax than have to pay $100 or so for shipping >_<), and artisan 835 from amazon ($170).
As much as I like how a dedicated photo printer sounds, it isn't practical for what we want in terms of connection (a lot of them are USB only...how am I supposed to connect it to the network if it's only USB?), and price (although the pro9000 mark ii has a $200 mail in rebate, amazon won't ship to hawaii, shipping from B&H is about $100, canon and bestbuy prices are at $500 vs $450 at B&H).
I've also read that OEM cartridges are the way to go. At first I was considering third party (ex. inkproducts.com) refillable cartridge for the canons (clear and has a plug in place for refilling), but I've heard mixed reviews (both on the various sellers and third party cartridges in general). Are the third party cartridges really that bad? A clear case would be nice for refilling.
And then there's the method of refilling. I'm guessing that the German method would be difficult with opaque cases, both in figuring out how much your filling and when to fill (I just read that it's best when the ink tank is almost empty when you refill via the german method...difficult if you are using opaque cartridges and no chip resetting). Although the top filling method seems easy enough, I worry a little about sealing the hole (and it leaking). Is top filling the only real option when using opaque cases? Also, what's good for sealing the hole? Is a good tape enough or do I have to resort to hot glue or a screw or something odd like that? With all the issues with refilling the canon cartridges, does the epson fare any better?
I think I have to decide soon as to what I should buy since the sales that are going on are only until the end of the month i believe. The only thing that I'm hesitant about is the fact that I don't print that often at the moment. If I did get a new printer, then I would use it to print some photos, but I'm not sure how often that would be in the end. I do feel we should get a new printer though since our current one is having a lot of issues (new color cartridge doesn't print one of the colors, multiple colors in a single cartridge, having to babysit it during paper feeding, constant paper jams, errors trying to do scanning, print quality is getting worse (some "didn't feel like printing that line" banding), etc).
Since I don't do that much printing (and may not in the future--not sure), I don't know if it'd be a good idea to get OCP ink (as the bottles are pretty big--16oz). How long would the ink last if I were to get it (shelf life and average number of refills per bottle), and what are the alternatives (also where to buy them)?
I tried to look at the recent postings and I'm sorry if this is something that is easily searchable, but I thought I'd ask all my questions in a new post (rather than hijack someone else's thread).
