Printer for son

[mccoady]

I need a printer for my son that will get the best ink mileage and he's not interested in refilling at all. He mainly buys cds from itunes but then prints inserts for them using Meritline perforated glossy cd inserts. I've had good luck with Canon so I would prefer to stay with them and hope to stay under $100 if possible. So if he goes with with one that uses separate cartridges am I limited to a ip4200, ip4300 or ip4500 and does one have an advantage over another? Anyone know where I can get a good price on any of them?

How about Canon all-in-ones MP470 or MP310 which only use two cartridges, would they get more ink mileage than the above Canons?

 

[fotofreek]

The tri-color cartridges (in the two cartridge printers) get much less "milage" as each color has a very small amount of ink. I don't know about the pages per cartridge data, but the separate cartridges have about 13-14 ml. of ink each of which a small amount is unusable when the cart shows empty. That is to protect the printhead from firing without ink in it - a potentially fatal occurance for Canon printheads.

Too bad he won't consider refilling as he will reduce his cost from about $14 per cart to about $1 per cart.

 

[cinnacar]

Check out your local Staples store. Canon is discontinuing the Pixma iP4300 (5 color: pigment black and dye based k, c, m, y). I found one at my local store for $69, brand new in the box with full set of cartridges. Great printer, although it does take the chipped cartridges.

 

[fotofreek]

Last week I checked two Staples stores in the San Francisco Bay Area and they were out of the ip4300. They did have the ip4500 discounted - I believe it was $89. On rare occasion you can drop into Staples and nose around to find a printer that had been a closeout and is in the box with no demo model on the shelf. It pays to ask!

 

[mccoady]

I didn't know I had to go to the stores themselves to find a bargain I was hoping I could shop online but will do some searching.

 

[mccoady]

Well I called around to my local Staples stores and no one has anything. How would the ip3500 compare to the ip4200, ip4300, or ip4500 as far as ink usage?

 

[Manuchau]

The cheapest for your son would be an ip3300...a low-end printer for sure, but would suit his needs. If you want something better, try to find an ip4300 on sale.....