Thinking of replacing my Canon i865

steve1635

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My i865 has finally gone down with stripey colors (dark C, M and K) so I am debating whether to try a replacement printhead (about £20) or put the money towards a new printer. I have been refilling the canon cartridges without problems for years, so I want something refillable, preferably with only the four inks. I also am on Linux, which Canon does not provide drivers for. Is there anything available now that would replace what I can do with the i865, but have good Linux connectivity?
 

The Hat

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@steve1635, Don’t waste your money on a replacement print head, mostly of these refurbished heads still don’t print properly and it will only disappoint you more, just lay the printer to rest with your fond memories..

You could try a Canon Maxify, (Office printer) it’s only got four colours and the ink is pigment, it has all the bells and whistles that you could ever want and it can be refilled with ease.

You can control all the output from its little LED screen, so it doesn’t depend on the O/s as such, it does a reasonable job with photos on glossy paper but mostly it’s used for plain paper, it’s a real work horse and practically never clogs, I wouldn’t be without mine..

Check them out carefully because there are many models to choose from with bigger carts, two paper trays, and automatic document feeder, just to name a few..
 

PeterBJ

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I just checked available drivers for the Maxify printers. 32 and 64 bit Linux drivers are available and both as source file and in rpm and debian package formats. So it looks like Canon has now also accepted Linux users.
 

steve1635

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Thanks for the suggestion, and the link to the refill video. The driver availability is good news, I will check out linux chat to see how that goes in practice.
The other thing important for me is photo printing: how do the maxifys compare to for example Epson ecotank?
 

The Hat

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The Maxify is only a 4 colour printer and all dough the photos will look good they will not be as good as a multi coloured dye printers but will be archival and last a dam sight longer if fading is important to you.

Here are two Pics, one is printed on dye ink on an iP4500 and the other is pigment ink on the Maxify.. You be the judge…


img105.jpg img106.jpgclick to enlarge..
 

steve1635

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The one on the right seems worse, with much more distinct speckles on the toned areas. What are the dimensions in mm of the areas of print covered by these images?
 

stratman

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If you want a photo printer then the Maxify is not for you. It is a business class SOHO printer that does acceptable image quality for office work. I love my Maxify but it is not for image reproduction like a photo printer class printer.

Go to Canon's web site and read the specifications of the Maxify printers. Do the same for the Epson you are interested in. If possible, go to a brick and mortar store that has these printers and get a demo print out to see with your own eyes.
 

Artur5

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@steve1635 : Welcome to this forum and my congratulations for keeping in good shape for so long your i865. Are you aware that several generations of newer Pixmas printers have come and gone since the i865 appeared in the market.?.
I bet that Canon wouldn’t be very happy to know that you managed to live all these years with a single printer. :D

As for your current question, I agree with @stratman. As much as I like my Maxify, if you want very good quality photos, they wouldn’t be my number one recommendation. Horizontal resolution isn’t up to most current multipurpose printers. Canon has designed the Maxifys priorizing speed over fine detail. On the other part, @The Hat said already that resistance to fading and waterproof prints are strong points of these printers, if compared to the vast majority of similar models -most of them with colour dye inks and a pigment black for text. Maxifys are all pigment. They’re also very fast, sturdy and capable of heavy duty work, scanning, copying, fax.

If you decide to get a Maxify, my advice is to use ‘high quality’ mode when you print anything with photos, illustrations, solid color diagrams and such. If you use ‘standard mode’ for these things, you’ll get horizontal banding to some degree, not because of malfunctioning but because of the carriage traveling so fast from side to side that inkflow can’t cope with the demand.
For plain text, standard mode is superfast and the output very neat.

Sorry, I know nothing about Epsons.

Regards.
 

steve1635

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Thanks for the kind words, yes, I have been through the cleaning and drying of the waste ink pads, replacing the print head, resetting codes, etc. It seems that things are going my way, but not got there yet: Canon now do a tank range, the pixma G series, and Brother and HP do too, but not available in the uk yet. Among tank printers the Canon and Epson photo output at high quality is good for a four ink printer, but not quite as good as my 5 ink i865 as far as I can judge. One reviewer says Epson better at photos, another that Canon is. Epson do a tank photo printer, but at three times the cost of the regular ones. With the competition heating up I expect there will be new offerings soon, so I am trying to be patient and make do with B&W only on the old machine for now. Or perhaps buy Epson (for its more durable technology) and sell on if a better alternative comes out.
Best wishes
 
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