Modern printing

[wilko]

Haven't posted in a while but still love this forum. So many tips I have picked up over the years. Have tried Brother and Epson printers over the years but Canon rules for me. IP4000, what a printer. Mega carts with no chips. Then the IP4500 was released with full carts but with a chip, soon overcome with the chip redsetter. Canon then started with smaller chipped carts IP 4700 etc. but again chip resetters and non OEM carts overcame these restrictions.
Finally the Ip7250 was released with carts which were opaque and had a chip which made it difficult for any chip resetter to re-program carts. However, profit will always find a way and compatible carts were eventually for sale on Ebay etc.

I love Canon printers and the later printers like the IP7250 are a piece of plastic junk but the IP7250 has one thing in common with most Canon printers. They all have a printhead which has a limited life.

I have come to live with the fact that Canon Printheads fail for no reason but I've never seen one fail within the 12 months warranty,IMO.

Taken this all into account. I can't think of any other printer which has alowed me the chance to print so many documents and photos at so little cost throughout the years.

I know that many people no longer print photos etc. but I remain old school and love to handle prints.

Still running with an IP4500, IP4700, 2 MG6250s, 2 IP7250s (one starting to fail), and one IX6850.

Printheads can be revived. Lots of tips on here but unless you have a high end printer like the pro 100s try to refresh your PH with hot water but if that fails get a new printer.

Printing and refilling are becoming a thing of the past. Streaming etc. is the new norm.

Feel a bit like a dinosaur. Everyone I know just uses Facebook to show pics. I just like to hold pictures with so many memories in my hand.

Reading that even pro photographers are finding that clients just want online photos of weddings etc.

Would love to hear the opinions of the real stars on this forum.

I once thought that ink cart refilling was becoming a thing of the past but the ip7250 arc chips proved me wrong. Now printers don't seem to be a priority in most households.

Not sure that there is a future for home photo printing. Most home users just seem to use their printer for docs.

Can anyone remember the days of dot matrix printers. Producing text or graphics seemed like a miracle back then.

Now we have printers which can produce life like images and the current generation see it as the norm.

Is there a future for home printing? I suspect that most homes will have a MFP installed which will only be used occasionally

This forum has helped me to save thousands of pounds by showing me how to bypass Canon chip restrictions.

Personally it will a;ways be Canon for me.

Just my opinion, not a fact.

Good luck to everyone who appreciates photo print outs

 

[stratman]

Great post. Great to hear from you.

Good Health to you and your family.

Happy printing.

 

[wilko]

Picking up on this thread. I still keep an eye out for printer bargains on EBAY. However, something has happened during lockdown that seems to have turned everything upside down. The prices of older Canon printers on EBAY UK seems to have gone through the roof.

Here are some current examples of basic printer prices

IP4700 used £100 9 already sold
IP4850 used No Printhead 6 already sold
Ip4850 used £135
IP4950 used £149
IP3000 used £150
IP4300 used £100
IP4950 parts only £45
IP7250 new £189.99
IP7250 new £269.99
IP7250 new £229.99 (20 watchers)
IP7250 new £375
IP7250 new £189.99
IP7250 used £125
IP7250 faulty printers asking price varies from £20 to £100

In contrast a brand new pixma pro 9000 has just gone for £147.99 and you can pick up a used pixma pro for less than some of these IP7250 asking prices. I purchased a hardly used ix6850 for £85 on EBAY 2 years ago

Is it the UK that has suddenly gone mad? For example a new IP7250 was available for £49.99 from Canon with a 2 year warranty until last year.

Is it just in the UK that basic Canon printers are selling for ridiculous prices or is it the same elsewhere?

IMO A3 printing brings a new dimension to photo printing and it's great to produce these for relatives who don't have access to such a printer. Great for posters for shows etc. Even A4 prints have become a rarity for most young 'uns and a framed a4 photo print is a very welcome gift for those who just use Google photos.

One thing I have learned on this forum is to use good quality ink and as important, use top quality photo paper.

From what what I have read many newly married couples prefer on line photos than printed versions. Hope this is wrong information. Nothing can ever compare with holding a professionally taken photo print.

I don't think I'm alone in promoting home printing. Non OEM arc carts are still selling well but there is still a healthy market for my favourite inks, OCP, Inktec and Image Specialists. Also a special mention for Octoinkjet. Top class service and always gives sound advice.

Still lots of life in home printing and who knows, the fad of online photo viewing may well end.

Great to see that the likes of Stratman and The Hat are still active. Your posts have saved me a few £s in my early printer experiences.

 

[stratman]

Thank you, wilko. Great post.

Yes, prices have been jacked up in the US as well. Pandemania has gripped the world. Hang in there. It will end.

Nothing can ever compare with holding a professionally taken photo print.

True. I am hardly a pro but some of my photos are priceless to me. Watching the print come out of the printer is still a little like a great magic trick performed close up before your eyes.

(I've been watching Penn and Teller Fool Us and just learned about turtles and dolphins)

 

[PeterBJ]

I remember when the BCI-3e/6 printers like the iP4000 were replaced by the chipped PGI-5/CLI-8 printers like the iP4200. Prices of the iP4000 also went through the roof then until the redsetter was introduced.

I think we are seeing something similar now. The PGI-x80/CLI-x81 OEM cartridges are very expensive and no resetter is available. Even aftermarket refillable and single use cartridge are much more expensive than aftermarket cartridges for earlier cartridge series.

From a thrift store a couple of years ago I got an iP7250 with a perfect nozzle check that had done less than 150 prints at DKK40 = $6.40 = £4.61.

 

[palombian]

I used to hoard these consumer dye printers too at €20-25 for the printhead (still have a few, but local prices are too low to be tempted to unload them).
People who pay 150 for such printers only because they are refillable should look further.
For this price you have a Maxify, refillable and with pigment ink that doesn't fade after a few weeks.
Not a very good photo printer, but home printers IMO are primarily used for text.