Canon printer and inks.

Jestertheclown

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I've got a cheap Canon PIXMA which, despite being fairly new, has just gone belly up so it looks like a trip to Argos to get an equally cheap replacement.

It's just about devoid of ink anyway so, in theory and considering a set of replacement inks costs about £25.00 (at least) and a replacement printer is only going to cost me about £15.00 more than that, buying another printer doesn't seem like such bad value.

When I bought the now malfunctioning printer, the inks that came with it produced a fair number of prints; I wish now that I'd counted them. Since then, it's had a few replacement cartridges but I don't recall them producing significantly more prints than the came-with-the-printer ones.

What I'd like to know then is, do the ink cartridges that come with the printer actually contain a sensible quantity of ink or are they there just to get you started? I've heard some say that they're just standard cartridges while others take the other tack and claim that they only contain a dribble.

Does anyone actually know?

And do the XL cartridges really contain a sufficiently increased amount of ink, compared to the standard ones, to justify their higher price?


"It's good to be . . . . . . . . . Me!"
 
Solution
Other than the Pro-100 (low volume) , which probably did not justify a separate fill line, Canon resorted to the standard cartridges and called them setup.

On the other smaller desktop models, they did use setup cartridges which are "standard" vs. the XL carts which are closer to the older "standard" cartridges. So with the new generation the standard is in fact reduced volume as compared to the old days.

There are benefits to the XL variant especially if you purchase OEM ink. Firstly it is less expensive per ml. Additionally, and this is something the non technical might not have appreciated. With each cartridge change, the printer uses some extra ink to "set" it up or get it ready. This extra ink in setup is wasted amongst all the...
I can only speak of the Pro 9000 MKII & Pro-100. Both come with full cartridges.
 
From what I've read, heard and experienced canon ink jets come with the same carts you buy as refills.

so refills will last no longer than new ones.

I just bought a canon pro 100..with rebate it cost me less than a new full set of inks...tempted to get a second for that price, as a spare..big storage space needed though.
 
Thanks guys.

I'd rather thought that that might be the case.


"It's good to be . . . . . . . . . Me!"
 
Other than the Pro-100 (low volume) , which probably did not justify a separate fill line, Canon resorted to the standard cartridges and called them setup.

On the other smaller desktop models, they did use setup cartridges which are "standard" vs. the XL carts which are closer to the older "standard" cartridges. So with the new generation the standard is in fact reduced volume as compared to the old days.

There are benefits to the XL variant especially if you purchase OEM ink. Firstly it is less expensive per ml. Additionally, and this is something the non technical might not have appreciated. With each cartridge change, the printer uses some extra ink to "set" it up or get it ready. This extra ink in setup is wasted amongst all the cartridges as well.Thus if you purchase reduced capacity cartridges, you will end up performing more cartridge changes and thus more ink wasteage over time as compared to if you used larger capacity cartridges.

If you can afford to, purchase the XL, especially if you purchase OEM.
 
Solution
Other than the Pro-100 (low volume) , which probably did not justify a separate fill line, Canon resorted to the standard cartridges and called them setup.

On the other smaller desktop models, they did use setup cartridges which are "standard" vs. the XL carts which are closer to the older "standard" cartridges. So with the new generation the standard is in fact reduced volume as compared to the old days.

There are benefits to the XL variant especially if you purchase OEM ink. Firstly it is less expensive per ml. Additionally, and this is something the non technical might not have appreciated. With each cartridge change, the printer uses some extra ink to "set" it up or get it ready. This extra ink in setup is wasted amongst all the cartridges as well.Thus if you purchase reduced capacity cartridges, you will end up performing more cartridge changes and thus more ink wasteage over time as compared to if you used larger capacity cartridges.

If you can afford to, purchase the XL, especially if you purchase OEM.
Thanks for that.

I thought the supplied cartridges must be the standard ones as they'd lasted quite a while before the tricolour ran out.

I understand about the set up process and had expected to lose some ink, I've seen it with previous printers. This one though, didn't seem to make much of a fuss. It just got on with it.

You've also confirmed what I thought regarding the 'XL' cartridges. I've only ever replaced the cartridges a couple of times and I'm sure I used standard ones each time. In fact, I'm not sure that I've ever replaced the black one.

I'll use the 'XL' version in future.

Thanks again,

Jester.

"It's good to be . . . . . . . . . Me!"
 

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