Which Canon Printer.

[duncan22]

I am looking for advice on which Canon inkjet printer to buy but it must match the following criteria,

Must be Wi Fi enabled
Must have cartridges that can be refilled and reset
Must be able to be used with Windows and if possible Linux OS

It will be used for documents but not photographs (I already have a IP 4500 & MP 610 which are used for photos)
Only be used for printing so scanner facility or card reader etc are not important.

Prefer to stick with canon as I am impressed with the existing printers but would consider other makes if they are highly recommended by other forum users.

Have researched models like Canon MP495 but some reviews are not too good and I have no idea if the combined carts can be refilled or reset.

I am in the UK

 

[stratman]

It will be used for documents but not photographs

Why not get a laser printer?

 

[duncan22]

I Did have a laser printer (Lexmark 510)
What a nightmare I ended up taking it to the local rubbish tip.

Perhaps I should rephrase my question and ask what carts can be refilled and reset and then check out if any printers using these carts are also wi fi.

 

[inkoholic]

I Did have a laser printer (Lexmark 510)
What a nightmare I ended up taking it to the local rubbish tip.

Perhaps I should rephrase my question and ask what carts can be refilled and reset and then check out if any printers using these carts are also wi fi.

Interested in that as well: user friendly refilling is priority for me. I already have an MP610 with CLI-8 carts, not sure if those are the easiest to refill out there.

 

[panos]

Food for thought: http://www.amazon.com/Canon-BU-30-Bluetooth-Adapter-PIXMA/dp/B00164822W but apparently ANY standard (eg. not atheros boot room) bluetooth adapter can be used: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkEWycAFB0o

I'd say, research that possibility. Avoiding a second printer is avoiding a headache of maintenance.

 

[inkoholic]

Food for thought: http://www.amazon.com/Canon-BU-30-Bluetooth-Adapter-PIXMA/dp/B00164822W but apparently ANY standard (eg. not atheros boot room) bluetooth adapter can be used: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkEWycAFB0o

I'd say, research that possibility. Avoiding a second printer is avoiding a headache of maintenance.

I bought a cheap bluetooth thingy by Trust, popped it into the front of the 610 and worked right away. 5x cheaper than the Canon adapter as well, hasn't failed me once for the past 3 years

 

[stratman]

I have a laser printer and it is essentially maintenance free. I can go months without printing anything and it remains trouble-free. It isn't WiFi though.

I have been in the market for a new wireless router. Netgear has two that interest me, the WNDR3800 and the WNDR4500. Both have USB port(s) for either a USB external harddrive or a printer. The 4500 has two USB ports while the 3800 has one. For the price of the router now I would have wireless printer access, no muss no fuss.

While the wireless routers are expensive, they might be a solution for someone who is looking for a new router and WiFi printing.

 

[ThrillaMozilla]

While the wireless routers are expensive, they might be a solution for someone who is looking for a new router and WiFi printing.

This is off the subject of the thread, but consider a used or bargain-bin Linksys WRT54GL. They're robust, extremely popular (check the feedback on newegg.com), and you should be able to get one for a song on E-bay. Lots of people are dumping them to get the latest, snazziest N network, which is allegedly faster than G. But the router is plenty fast for almost anything, unless maybe you want to run a file server.

Avoid the routers that do not have the original Linksys firmware. This router has great open source firmware available, but you can install that yourself if you ever need to, but you can't go the other way.

 

[stratman]

This is off the subject of the thread, but consider a used or bargain-bin Linksys WRT54GL.

Yes, the WRT54GL are great, rock solid wireless routers, all the better with the added functionality of third-party DD-WRT or Tomato firmware installed. But these routers have weaknesses compared to current technology. The WRT54GL is only 54 Mbps B/G wireless, has no "N', no 5 Ghz band, no Gigabit port(s), and no USB port. All of this is OK as long as you do not have devices that can take advantage of technilogical improvements or are satisfied with the performance of the wireless router. But I do have devices that are capable of more, and am about to get a wireless adapter for my notebook capable of using 450 Mbps, 5 Ghz dual band, N wireless. Many people can take advantage of 2.4 Ghz singel band N wireless. Also, the Netgear wireless routers I mentioned have one or two USB ports which can be used to connect a USB drive or a USB printer without requiring you to perform a bunch of settings manipulations. A non-WiFi USB printer can then be used as if it were a WiFi enabled printer - no muss, no fuss.

I am already using the WNDR3800 wireless router. It functions flawlessly and the advanced technology (for its class) is best in class. I am considering a jump to the even newer WNDR4500 because it will support the 3T3R functionality of my soon to be notebook wireless adapter, plus it has added range and 2 USB ports for both a printer an external drive (or two of either). Features are different, so it comes down to raw power versus additional functionality.

Your points are key considerations, and there are more. If you are happy then there is no reason to change. For me, I have devices that can take advantage of more than the WRT54GL offers. The reason I brought up these two wireless routers is because you can plug in a non-WiFi USB printer and make it available wirelessly, and do it almost effortlessly. The rest of my text was gravy.

 

[The Hat]

The rest of my text was gravy.

Please Sir Can I have some more