Optimizing ink costs for Canon Pixima Pro 100

[mikling]

I definitely will have something by this weekend. I could throw something out. I am trying to knock this one out of the park as I am determined to get the monochrome aspect working as well.

I don't know if anyone has figured out the big issue, it is this. We know dye inks are much more sensitive to papers as compared to pigment. The challenge is to get a decent B&W given this sensitivity. The ability to emulate the Epson B&W driver with dye ink in my mind was a big step with this printer.

Even if this is compromised the Pro-100 looks to be a good successor to the 9000 and will likely prove very popular.

I just finished it today.

It's a home run. I got it so that the B&W feature is retained on this printer.

 

[jtoolman]

Awesome! Is there any news at all in the chip resetting? I know there are supposedly now some single use chips being sold on ALIBABA so if prove to work, that will be a way to finally use 3rd party system on any of the new Canon PRO printers. Hopefully a similar thing will happen with the PRO-10 and PRO-1

Which brings up a question. Has anyone had the chance to actually see results from either of these two printers? If so, is the additional 2 gray shades of the PRO-1 really out perform the PRO-10 with its single shade of gray.

The PRO-1 would have to produce vastly better images compared to the PRO-10 to justify the 50% higher cost.

 

[rodbam]

Looking at he great prints we get from affordable printers like the pro9000 & pro 9500, pro 10 & pro 100 plus the Epson printer range I doubt if even the most expensive printer will be "vastly" different Jose. I think it's like high end Hi Fi we can pay thousands of dollars for just a 5% improvement & that improvement is subjective.

 

[mikling]

Looking at he great prints we get from affordable printers like the pro9000 & pro 9500, pro 10 & pro 100 plus the Epson printer range I doubt if even the most expensive printer will be "vastly" different Jose. I think it's like high end Hi Fi we can pay thousands of dollars for just a 5% improvement & that improvement is subjective.

I still have my B&W 802F speakers I purchased since 1981. I will not give it up as nothing has come along that gives or does not offer something a little better somewhere but also gives something up. That 5% is just rotated in the high end. All my high end amps are self made with quality parts I chose to use. The fundamental engineering and proper design remains true decades later.

The Pro-100 chips or the ones I have researched for the ones offered are teasers, they don't exist at this point jtoolman. One thing, the Pro-100 looks like it cconsumes less ink than the Pro9000. I attribute this to the Gray inks. Where the 9000 uses a combination of colors to mix down into the darker shades, the Pro-100 uses the gray inks to get the job done with less liquid. As a result, you'd be surprised at the number of prints you can get done with one cartridge. Topping up is not as big an issue actually.

The other benefit from this is that the tonal quality when using gray inks will tend to remain more consistent from paper to paper. Not as tight as pigment but better than the sensitivity of the 9000 to papers. I also was skeptical but now after using it for a bit, given the choice of between a Pro-100 and Pro9000, I'd give the nod to the Pro-100 now. If there was a resetter, and I hope there will be, it would be an open and shut case for the Pro-100. It's probably not worth upgrading but if one had needed to buy a new high performance dye ink printer, it would have to be one of the shortlist candidates. If I was stashing printers away, I would stash these ( you'd need lots of space!!!) rather than the 9000 and take the gamble on the availability of a resetter down the road.

All in all, I saw an offer last week from B&H photo with a net price of $89 with 50 sheets of 13x19 paper thrown into the deal. If anyone was thinking of a photo printer, this is better than craigslist. I imagine that for many users, the non availability of proper aftermarket inks for the Pro-100 up to now made that deal to be a potential trap. That's not the situation anymore. If the deal is still available go grab one.

 

[mikling]

Awesome! Is there any news at all in the chip resetting? I know there are supposedly now some single use chips being sold on ALIBABA so if prove to work, that will be a way to finally use 3rd party system on any of the new Canon PRO printers. Hopefully a similar thing will happen with the PRO-10 and PRO-1

Which brings up a question. Has anyone had the chance to actually see results from either of these two printers? If so, is the additional 2 gray shades of the PRO-1 really out perform the PRO-10 with its single shade of gray.

The PRO-1 would have to produce vastly better images compared to the PRO-10 to justify the 50% higher cost.

The Pro-1, is priced too high relative to Epson for what it offers. It has had no real traction in the market. At what the Pro-1 commands, the potential purchaser is teased by the 3880 with larger prints and much larger ink tanks. Relative to the pricing of the R3000 which is less expensive many would go for the 3000. Don't forget that though the cartridges for the Pro-1 look large there is a lot of air (space) inside that cartridge as the cartridge uses a pressurized system.

Hence why Canon chose to reintroduce the Pro-10 but that printer needs another price adjustment still before it gains traction.

Looking at the carriage assembly and printhead of the Pro-100 you can tell it was made to accommodate 10 tanks. Canon inserts spacers to block off the space for the additional 2 tanks. The Pro-10 and Pro-100 probably is different by three assemblies, the logic board, the printhead, and the printhead carrier. I might be off but the Pro-100 package is sturdy and impressive for what it is being sold for today. It actually feels better than the 9000.

 

[The Hat]

The Pro-1, is priced too high relative to Epson for what it offers. It has had no real traction in the market. At what the Pro-1 commands, the potential purchaser is teased by the 3880 with larger prints and much larger ink tanks. Relative to the pricing of the R3000 which is less expensive many would go for the 3000. Don't forget that though the cartridges for the Pro-1 look large there is a lot of air (space) inside that cartridge as the cartridge uses a pressurized system.

The Pro 100 was way over priced in the beginning but now the price has dropped so low its ridiculous
and I just dont know how they can afford to sell this fabulous printer at that price,
maybe they figured they would get it back on ink sales.

The pro 1 on the other hand is just way to pricey for the average guy and the fact that it doesnt have a removable
maintenance tank either makes the printer a potential nightmare 2 years down the road..

 

[websnail]

Awesome! Is there any news at all in the chip resetting?

I've been tackling that side of things and had some news that my resetter contacts are looking at the CLI-42 chips as of today. Depending on what they discover about the chip they'll be thinking about whether to pursue production of a resetter or not.

Any information on sales of these printers, interest in refilling, etc... would help convince them though.

 

[jtoolman]

If that comes to fruition, it will seal the deal for me and I would snap up a pair of these fine printers without hesitation.

Joe

 

[websnail]

If that comes to fruition, it will seal the deal for me and I would snap up a pair of these fine printers without hesitation.

To be honest Joe, even if it didn't, you could easily get at least one to leave in storage to see how things pan out. It's not as if you have any desperate need to have one up and running short or even medium term so worst case scenario you get to sell it later when the prices probably go back up?

Of course, I'm assuming you actually have any space to store any spare printers

 

[jtoolman]

It is getting tight! LOL!