canon mp500 vs mp780

[you2]

Do you all recommend the canon mp500 or mp780. As I see it the 780 has a feeder for scanning and the 500 has the new '30 years' inks (I'm not concern about the chip). Does the ink in the 780 fad that rapidly? Are there other differences of note? Any other general rambling or comments between the two printers?

Cost wise the 780 is approx 220 and the 500 is 190 (though the 500 is likely to drop a bit in the next month or two and the 780 is likley to vanish from the market as it has been discontinued).

Thanks!
You2

 

[13Gigatons]

The downside to the MP500 is that the ink has a chip in it now and that takes up space were ink use to go so you get less ink with each cart. I can't say what difference there is in the supposed 100 year ink because I have yet to see a review of it.

Never had a problem with ink fading on the MP780.

I think I would go with the MP780.

 

[Zepper]

The size of the ink tanks may be different too. Some of the lower end Canon AIOs use the BCI-24 series (or whatever the equivalent is in the new inks) of ink tanks (one black tank and one tri-color cartridge for color) and the volume of ink per tank is very low and the black for text and photo is the same dye based black. While the 780 uses the same set of tanks as the iP4000/3000 which last me 4 or 5 months and has pigmented black for text, dye-based for photo prints/copies. The color tanks are separate. Mainly depends on the volume of printing you are going to do and how much you like to do things like change ink tanks. I doubt that the output will look much different for all practical purposes.

.bh.

 

[you2]

I'm not concern about the size of the ink cartridge (btw the 500 takes individual cartridges like the 780 and 800). I am a little concern about the longevity of the colour inks if I use the printer for an occasional photo - but I'm not sure how real this 'fading' issue is...

 

[Zepper]

Well, you also have to use Canon paper for max longevity w/ the new ink (or the old for that matter). Since canon paper is too expensive for me to use regularly, I can't say much about longevity. But I have noticed some fading of stuff I've printed on Kodak Presentation Plus paper about a year ago. OTOH, I don't do much to protect my prints either and most of the lighting around here is fluorescent...

.bh.

 

[13Gigatons]

Originally posted by: you2
I'm not concern about the size of the ink cartridge (btw the 500 takes individual cartridges like the 780 and 800). I am a little concern about the longevity of the colour inks if I use the printer for an occasional photo - but I'm not sure how real this 'fading' issue is...

They will look good for about 25 years before fading. The new ink is suppose to last 100 years.

 

[Comp625]

According to Canon's own tests, the new "ChromaLife100" inks are suppose to last up to 10 years under no protection whatsoever. Under glass, you get 30 years. Under an acid-free photo album, you get 100 years. Again, this is all under Canon's own testing.

 

[Zepper]

And the new in will cost you at least $11. per tank at least until the 3rd party ink suppliers reverse engineer the new tanks and inks. While the current 3rd party canon ink tanks are $2.95-3.95 each on the high end. So the older model can save a lot of money over a year of use.

.bh.

 

[n7]

If you are really concerned about longevity, you should be using HP, with their Vivera inks.

HP Vivera Inks have also been developed to resist fading for a lifetime. Tests by Wilhelm Imaging Research (WIR) showed that the latest HP Vivera Inks used in conjunction with HP printers and HP papers resist fading when displayed for up to 82 years for 3-ink printing, up to 108 years for 6-ink and 8-ink colour printing, and 115 years for black and white printing1. HP inks and media are scientifically designed together to guarantee fade resistance.

Now, for ink cost, Canon > HP by a huge amount, but HP does do well with their ink systems.

 

[13Gigatons]

Someone did an experiment with his Canon Printer. He used Canon Paper and HP Paper and printed a photo using each. He then took the photos and sat them in the window in the sunshine. The Canon paper showed fade in 9 months while the HP paper was still crisp and bright.

He bought the HP paper since it was onsale. The Canon paper was some that came with the printer. Canon makes nice printers but it seems their paper is not the greatest.

Many of us buy DVD burners and then buy the Verbatim or Fuji DVD's to burn. Using the OEM paper is not always the best solution.