Re: Inkjet printers - what's good nowadays?

Rowland McDonnell <real-address-in-sig@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Andy Hewitt <thewildrover@xxxxxx> wrote:

Rowland McDonnell <real-address-in-sig@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
[..]
Not that one in particular, it's a lower spec model to my iP4500, but I
think all that's missing is the CD tray and duplex function.

Well, I wouldn't want to print on a CD at all so that's one lack I won't
mind. And as for duplex - the point of buying this printer is to be
able to print out colour prints of the sort you want to display, not
two-sided bread-and-butter stuff. I've got a B&W laser printer for
*that* sort of thing. 22ppm an' all - a wee bit quicker...

Basically, I want to be able to print photos and similar stuff. Up to
the job, do you think?

Well, the church has just sold one of my prints that I donated, so I
guess it must be :-).

But yes, the 5 cartridge Canon system does seem to work well, it's
actually a four colour photo system, with a bulk black for text
printing.

Cartridges
look similar to mine, and it's a similar 5 cartridge system.

Uhuh.

Some customer reviews here:
<http://www.amazon.co.uk/Canon-2868B008AA-PIXMA-iP3600-Printer/dp/B001EO
6Z2S>

I'm always a bit wary of that sort of thing - how many of those reviews
are really genuine?

For sure, there are the odd 'idiot' post, but I just use them to get a
general feeling. Sometimes you get a good balance of comments that shows
if a product is worth considering, or whether it's just crap.

As it happens, I'd read that lot before asking here. It's always a good
idea to get opinions from several sources. `customer reviews', `asking
someone you know', and those dodgy-looking online commercial reviews
from magazine-type entities.

Yes, if you use all those sources wisely, and take the average comments,
it should help decide.

Overall I find the Canons to be excellent allrounders, good photo
quality, good text quality, and pretty fast - a 10x8 photo prints in
under a minute at highest quality. Also, I haven't had to clear the
heads on this one in two years.

Oooh! That's nice.

As far as the continuous ink goes, knowing what you're like on
engineering stuff, I think you'll be disappointed. They are a bit of a
fudge as you have to route the tubes under the lid, which means it
doesn't shut properly, so you have to jam the lid-open switch closed.

Hmm.... Bodges, I do not like, you're right there.

They do work out *very* cheap though, as I mentioned, under £30 for 5x
250ml of ink. The initial kit comes with 5x 100ml, and is still only
about £40. A set of carts is about £45 with 15ml of ink. So the first
saving is 33 cartridges, a refil kit is equivalent to 83 cartridges.

Coo! How about invalidating the warranty? Any issues with that? I've
heard some printer firms don't like continuous ink systems in that way,
IYSWIM (well, you can understand 'em wanting to do everything in their
power to keep you hooked on their super-pricey high-margin rip-off ink
supply)?

Not sure, you don't need to actually modify the printer, so it's
possible to remove the CISS and stick the original carts back in if
necessary.

My printer is well out of warranty, so I decided to modify mine a little
- just chopping away the plastics a bit so the kit fitted better. The
switch can be jammed with a bit of folded card.

I have heard that some 'compatible' inks can cause head blockages, but
this CISS ink has been fine for the last 7 months.

Print quality from the ink I got is as good as the genuine cartridges.

But if you get a benefit like that, maybe I could put up with ugliness
in fitting if it works reliably.

I take it you get reliable operation?

So far, yes.

Any actual problems with the lid not shutting, aside from looking ugly,
letting in a bit more dust than you'd like, and getting in the way if
you want to pack the printer up neatly?

Yes, those would just about cover it. You also get a block of ink tanks
to stand next to the printer. I did have a little accident with mine a
couple of months ago though. One of the bits of plastic I cut off must
have got into the mechanism, and caused an intermittant jam. I tried to
take it apart to remove it, and ended up with the ink draining onto my
floor in the office (I hadn't applied the close valve fully). Luckily I
managed to stop it in time to save some ink, and in fact I'm still using
it. I also managed to free up the jamming as well, although I never did
find the cause.

--
Andy Hewitt
<http://web.me.com/andrewhewitt1/>
.

Relevant Pages

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  • Re: How much ink is left in that dead cartridge?
    ... but you dismiss the message and keep printing. ... you're still using the same cartridge and thinking ... though you suspect there's plenty of ink left. ... third-party (aftermarket) vendor cartridges leave a startling amount of ...
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