New printer needed.

[sportflyer]

My Canon i560 finally semi died . Tried all kinds of cleaning methods recommended by this forum to no avail . 1/2 the nozzle banks are clogged. I can still print color nicely to photo paper but regular paper leaves bands. However this is solved by going to Custom print mode however its very slow in this mode. It's time to get a new alll in one printer this black Friday !

I am thinking of either a Epson Workforce 600 or the Canon MX 850 . I am somewhat reticent re the Epson re their tendency to clog . What are your recommendations? Also sometimes I travel for a month so printing a color page every week is a problem. What to do to prevent printer from clogging? Is there a way to prevent clogging in this case?

Tks

 

[Mr K]

Hi,

I had a similar request, you might want to see the replies for AIO printer recommendations posted at http://www.nifty-stuff.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=3483

Regards,

Mr K

 

[sportflyer]

Thanks for the thread. Is there a way to keep the print head from clogging if not using for a month or this is a hopeless issue. Are the Canons inkjets better than the Epson wrt print head clogs ?Tks

 

[IGExpandingPanda]

Thanks for the thread. Is there a way to keep the print head from clogging if not using for a month or this is a hopeless issue. Are the Canons inkjets better than the Epson wrt print head clogs ?Tks

For the purpose of this post, I'm going to presume you want a network ready AIO printer.

I think the workforce is using Durabrite pigment inks. These are quick drying and offer a benefit of being among the most archival inks on the market. There are damn good reasons to buy a Epson C series. But as you might expect, these are the most prone to clog. You can actually visit a 2nd hand store and see the stock of Epson C printers to verify this, new ones. The other issue is the technology. Canon uses a thermal head, Epson uses Micropiezo. To clean an Epson head, the printer operates in reverse and this drives a pump attached directly to the cleaning station. However a moderate clog might not permit the ink to flow, so a mixture of windex and alcohol in the cleaning station will in most cases dissolve most clogs.

Canon doesn't offer pigment inks except in the new $400 model the mx7600. Kodak offers pigment inks in their printers, and in fact the cost per page floats around 2.5-2.8c/page. I know every little about these printers, and in fact I tried to contact Kodak to get a copy of a print from this printer. They refused. Reviews have not been stellar of the Kodak printers.

Canon, the head is print to burn out. The "official" lifespan is 10,000 pages or 10 cartridge changes of each tank. Reality is much higher, 15,20,30. Clogs can lead to burnout too. Replacement heads are about $50 depending on model. Canons you can throw money at to resolve the problem, Epsons require elbow grease.

HP has their new C6380 All-in-One Printer.
http://www.druckerchannel.de/artikel.php?ID=2353&seite=6&t=test_hp_photosmart_d5460
Both kodak and HP seem to have taken a tip from Canon for their models, the separate head and ink tanks resemble canons. HP in particular uses a prism to measure ink levels. The HP is a new model, and while the cartridges look easy to refill, there is no information in the chip.

As far as preventing clogging, unless you are willing to keep the plastic covers and pop your head in the fridge with a damp cloth to keep it moist, it's difficult to protect your self from clogging. Though I've gone a month or two without printing without issue on my ip5200.

I have the mp830, and in fact that's being sold for $80 + shipping on the canon estore. It doesn't support wireless.

 

[sportflyer]

Thanks for the summary. I don't need wireless , ethernet connection is fine with me. I will go for the Canon . I suppose the MX700 is similar to the MX 850 except it cannot do auto duplex printing or faxing. Whats the difference between MP and MX series? Tks

 

[IGExpandingPanda]

Thanks for the summary. I don't need wireless , ethernet connection is fine with me. I will go for the Canon . I suppose the MX700 is similar to the MX 850 except it cannot do auto duplex printing or faxing. Whats the difference between MP and MX series? Tks

Ok, I'm going to presume you want networking, fax, and a sheet feeder.

The MX series is their "office" series, as in they tend to have networking on board. It's a new designation, many of the MP models are going to be "office" models, as in have fax and perhaps a sheet feeder.

The MP is their photo series.

It gets confusing since there are fax models in the MP lineup, and there are MPs with lower resolution, which is something you tend to consider for speed. Networking is pretty much limited to the MX and the MP900s. (970/980) The main exception is the bluetooth addon, something not documented very well.

The mx700 features lower resolution and NO cd printing over the mx850. It is also missing the extra dye black, which is used on any thing but plain paper, and duplex printing. If for example you print a dark image on the mx700 on matte paper, it will mix the color to make black resulting in soggy paper. It's not an issue if you select plain paper. I don't find the duplex feature to be useful my self. I wasn't aware that the printer didn't have duplex.

Canons offer 3 basic printing resolutions
5pl - All current models have these nozzles
2pl - This is the medium resolution
1pl - This is the lowest.

The 2pl/1pl are typically only used on cyan and magenta unless we're talking a photo model. The ip4500/mx850 for example has all three nozzles. The mp830 has only the 5pl and 1pl.

estore/buy.com
$180 / $160 mx850 1pl,2pl,5pl
$130 / $137 mx700 2pl,5pl

I say this because unless you are printing photos, near as I'm aware the higher resolution isn't used, though I have to review the details when each set is used. 2pl printing is still VERY good.

The MX7600 features 2&5pl nozzles and pigment ink all around, and a huge pricetag of $400. I've not seen the quality of the print from this model, but it's nice to see you have a choice for a pigment printer other than Epson and Kodak.

The mp970 features networking as well but no fax or sheet feeder. It also has 7 ink tanks, adding light cyan and light magenta
The newer mp980 features 6 ink tanks, adding a grey tank. It also features smaller cartridges at a higher price, the new standard cartridges. These are the $300 models.

If you don't need networking, the canon esore has the mp830 for $80 + tax and shipping refurbished. It has the 5&1pl nozzles. I own this model and just picked up a spare. But if you want networking $130-$160 isn't too much to spend at all.

 

[sportflyer]

Thank you so much for the explanation of the various Canon models. I do a bit of all the functions with emphasis on document , web page as well as photo printing. Currently I have separate Canon photo printer, cheap flat bed scanner and a Panny fax/phone machine. I thought it would be nice to integrate all these functions since my Canon i560 is now at the point of dying. I think the MX 850 is best suited for my needs . I am running a home network and have run out of ports on my linksys wireless router so the WIFI feature of the printer is useful or else I have to get a 5 port ethernet switch . Office Depot has the MX 850 today for $169 I am hoping for a better price the day after thanksgiving Thanks again.

 

[IGExpandingPanda]

Thank you so much for the explanation of the various Canon models. I do a bit of all the functions with emphasis on document , web page as well as photo printing. Currently I have separate Canon photo printer, cheap flat bed scanner and a Panny fax/phone machine. I thought it would be nice to integrate all these functions since my Canon i560 is now at the point of dying. I think the MX 850 is best suited for my needs . I am running a home network and have run out of ports on my linksys wireless router so the WIFI feature of the printer is useful or else I have to get a 5 port ethernet switch . Office Depot has the MX 850 today for $169 I am hoping for a better price the day after thanksgiving Thanks again.

I doubt you'll get a better price. I have to admit I feel somewhat foolish buying a spare MP830 for $150 from buy.com, but I stand by my choice. It was a good deal lower in price than the MX850 at the time, and I specifically wanted a model with a head compatible with my ip5200 and other mp830. I say this because canon has the same model for $105 shipped refurbished.

I highly doubt you'll find anything lower than $158.99, which is the present price on buy.com. Granted the MSRP is only $200, and the MSRP on the mp830 was $250 and it bottomed out at $150 (except the referb for $80 + shipping&tax). The printer ink is $70ish in stores ($64 @ office depot if you buy the multipack). Based on my observation of prior models, on the new front the lowest price on the mainstream AIOs, the decent ones, $150 is pretty rock bottom for the spiffy model, $100 for slightly less spiffy.

[act soon supplys are limited]
There isn't an unlimited supply of this model. Canon is phasing out all their printers that take the PGI-5bk and CLI-8 inks. They released new tanks that are smaller and more expensive per page. Also there are chip resetters for this model, and just like 3 years ago when they released the chips in the first place, all the printers that didn't need chips that could take the cheap cartridges went up in price.

[online vs store]
Canon support is pretty good. You have a problem with the head, they ship you a new one 2nd day air. You have a problem with the printer, they ship either a referb replacement without head and ink, or a new one if in the unlikely event you can't remove your old head. There are advantages to buying a printer in store, mainly the "extended" warranty.

[text on the mx850]
Canon text has not improved in some time. I don't have this model, nor the ip4500, but I can say with reasonable certainty that they have no changed the specs for text printing. You want improved text, consider one of the new HPs.

[Objective]
I'm actually not a big fan of the AIO fax model. I find that the fax support is somewhat lacking. To be honest, if I need to fax something out, I scan to PDF first then fax it using my fax modem. This is mainly because I can do a cover letter on the PC, and I have a digital record of a given fax. Obviously I could just use the printer it self, and fax in a traditional way. Canon doesn't really have a suite of applications. It comes with OCR and such, but to be honest I tend not to use it. HP tends to have better application support than canon. AFAIK, you can't really setup the canon to receive faxes to the PC.

The "only" reason I bought the mp830 was I needed a document feeder. I needed to scan a ton of paperwork. I find Microsoft Fax more than enough for my needs

To me, the Canon AIOs do 4 things. They print, they fax, they scan, they copy.

[E-fax]
There are a ton of services out there that offer free fax->e-mail. Even web->fax is offered. Having a stand alone fax unit is really not required in this day and age unless you want ease of operation.

 

[sportflyer]

My faxing needs is fairly basic . No letter heads needed. I usually prepare document in computer ,print it out then use Panny fax machine. I dislike the thermal paper for receive though. Do I really need a chip resetter , Can I just monitor the ink wells more often ? Where can I buy chip resetter? If I dispense with fax requirements which Canon model would you recommend ? TKs

I found several places to buy the resetter at reasonable prices. However after reading other threads re the resetting process, there seems to be some problems with some of the cartridges. Do all the newer Canon printers have chipped cartridges?

 

[IGExpandingPanda]

My faxing needs is fairly basic . No letter heads needed. I usually prepare document in computer ,print it out then use Panny fax machine. I dislike the thermal paper for receive though. Do I really need a chip resetter , Can I just monitor the ink wells more often ? Where can I buy chip resetter? If I dispense with fax requirements which Canon model would you recommend ? TKs

[supplies are limited]
Before I continue, buy.com no longer has the mx850 for $160 shipped. It's up to $200. The Canon e-store is up to $180.
Amazon.com has it for $165 through buy.com plus free shipping. I'm going to wager rock bottom price on this unit at $165, as the non-network model the mp830 bottomed out at $150 or $80 as a referb.

http://www.amazon.com/Canon-Pixma-O...1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1226965452&sr=8-1

[chip resetter]
I've not run my mp830 yet on aftermarket ink, and I just bought a chip resetter. I have run it on the ip5200 which uses the same printhead. If it's anything like the ip4200/ip4300/ip5200 then the thing just continues to operate without the ink sensor. If you're going to be using bulk ink, I'd buy one. They are presently $30. I got mine here.
http://www.inkfilling.com/show_canon-cli8-pgi5-resetter.html
But you can use froogle.com and find a "canon chip resetter". The lowest price on the redsetter is $30 presently.

They are not absolutely required. The tanks are clear and you can always pop the top and examine the cartridges. It's a tad frustrating since the printer mainly monitors the ink level from the prism.

[models without fax and networking]
That's the thing. If you want networking, your choice is limited to the mx700/850/7600, or the mp970/980. the MX7600 is $400, the mp970 is $300 and offers 7 ink tanks. Oh, there is the mp620. It takes new ink and will cost more per page to print with.

It just so happens fax models are reasonably priced. The "only" reason I bothered with a fax model was I needed a sheet feeder.
$120 - mp610 (canon estore) No sheet feeder, no fax, no network.
$150 - mp620 Wifi no fax no feet feeder, new ink

You "could" save money on the mp620, but as you bought up a chip resetter it's unclear at present if there is a chip reseter for this model.

The model I'd recommend at present is either the mp830 or the mx850. They just happen to support fax. In the past it was a choice of a sheet feeder or a slide scanner, but I'm not actually seeing the slide scanner feature on these new models.