So, what's really changed/improved since BCI-6 carts?

[turbguy]

Have Canon printers really changed all that much since BCI-6 / BCI-3e printers were phased out?

Is it worth upgrading?? And why?

Wayne

 

[ghwellsjr]

There are some printers that use the CLI-8 / PGI-5 cartridges that have definite advantages over the older ones. I'm thinking of the MX850 and the iP4500 which have way more nozzles than the MP780 and the iP4000 and therefore are much faster. The MX850 also allows you to copy double-side originals on to double-sided copies. The reservoir on these newer cartridges is only maybe ten percent smaller than the non-chipped version to make room for the chip and the light-pipe that goes up the end to make it visible on the top of the cartridge. It's not like the more recent cartridges that have been made so small for no good technical reason.

 

[ink_junkie]

I am going to upgrade to the MX850 when this HP gives up the ghost (it's going to be soon).

 

[ghwellsjr]

If you want an MX850, you better start looking now on craigslist.

 

[nche11]

From BCI-6/BCI-3ebk to PGI-5/CLI-8 I noticed significant changes in the printer not only in some models with much higher nozzle count. Canon actually improved the durability of the print head in my opinion. Canon also improved how the printer takes care of the print head in a way how the cleaning cycles are done to prime the print head. For example, the old printers will not do a cleaning cycle if you pull a cartridge then put it back in. This is somewhat dangerous to the print head. The ip4300/4500 with chipped PGI-5/CLI-8 will detect it and will always do a cleaning cycle to prime the print head. This prevents a lot of possibility of print head clogging.

The ink in PGI-5 is a much better ink. The old BCI-3eBK ink can be messy sometimes. If you refill your BCI-3ebk I recommend to refill with the latest PMT-BK from Hobbicolors, which is compatible primarily with PGI-5 but works absolutely great in BCI-3ebk. With this ink I almost never needed to purge my BCI-3ebk or PGI-5 ink cartridges after several hundred refills. The print quality is excellent too. It is indistinguishable from laser prints if you don't look very closely.

Canon CLI-8 ink is absolutely an improvement over the BCI-6 ink. The colors are better balanced than the old BCI-6 ink. Again I recommend to refill old BCI-6 cartridges with Hobbicolors UW8 ink. The UW8 ink is primarily compatible with CLI-8s. The UW8 ink will improve your BCI-6 printer right in front of your eyes. The UW8 colors are very vibrant. If you like the colors to be less vivid it is easy to desaturate by your software. Canon CLI-8 ink is very vibrant too. It is a joy to print with CLI-8 ink. To refill CLI-8 cartridges UW8 ink is an excellent ink. It never clog my print head. My mp780 is more than 6 years old now. It is still my daily printer after tens of thousands of sheets of paper printed on it.

However unfortunately Canon discontinued almost all printers designed to use PGI-5 and CLI-8 ink cartridges. Pro9000 MKII seems to be the only printer that is not discontinued that still uses CLI-8. Obviously CLI-8 ink is Canon's best photo ink. If you can still find new old stock of printers that still use PGI-5 and CLI-8 ink cartridges you should grab them and run as fast as your can. It is not too late to upgrade yet.

 

[ghwellsjr]

I forgot one other thing, the pigment inks in Canon OEM cartridges is improved from BCI-3eBK to PGI-5Bk, with regard to smearing as a result of using a highlighter. But, of course, if you are going to refill, this isn't a factor. I have never seen a 100% black pigment bulk ink that smears with a highlighter on normal plain paper (those without the Color-Lok feature).

Unfortunately, if you are in to paying the high prices for Canon OEM cartridges, you cannot use a PGI-5Bk cartridge in a printer designed for a BCI-3eBK cartridge because, although it fits fine, it won't snap in place and stay put. I suppose you could always tape it in.

The Color-Lok feature that seems to be taking over almost all plain papers re-creates the highlighter smearing problem. It helps keep the dye inks from smearing when the page gets wet which is the advantage of the black pigment ink on any plain paper but now it makes using a highlighter a real problem. This happens with all black pigment inks that I have tested.

 

[ghwellsjr]

Canon also improved how the printer takes care of the print head in a way how the cleaning cycles are done to prime the print head. For example, the old printers will not do a cleaning cycle if you pull a cartridge then put it back in. This is somewhat dangerous to the print head. The ip4300/4500 with chipped PGI-5/CLI-8 will detect it and will always do a cleaning cycle to prime the print head.

This does not always happen with the MX-700 which surprised me. In fact, sometimes it won't do a cleaning cycle even when I replace an empty cartridge with a full, reset cartridge, which really amazes me. At least the older BCI printers will always do a cleaning cycle when you replace a low cartridge with a full one.

 

[nche11]

Are you sure about that? As far as I know it will do the cleaning cycle only before it prints. If you take out a cartridge and put it back in it won't do anything until right before it prints something next time. On the old BCI3ebk and BCI-6 printers it will do that only when you replace an empty one with one that is not empty. THis only happened if the printer complained that the cartridge was empty and you replaced it afterwards.

 

[ghwellsjr]

Yes, I'm sure. I always do a nozzle check after replacing any cartridge. Sometimes it prints right away and sometimes it does the cleaning cycle before printing. It's pretty obvious when it does the cleaning cycle.

 

[nche11]

Maybe Canon has implemented a better algorithm for keeping the print head primed for your printer. Maybe it will count the time the ink cartridge is removed. if it is pulled and put back in immediately it does not need to prime? If your pull one out longer then it will prime? Just my guess. My observation on ip4700 is that it will prime always whenever a cartridge is pulled and put back in. Although it is for a good cause it is annoying. The priming happens eight before it prints. The printer will memorize that a cartridge has been disturbed.