New printer to replace canon i850?

[de8212]

Not looking for an all-in-one. I haven't followed printers in years but noticed the PIXMA iP4500. Does it do a decent job at printing occasional photos? If anyone has owned an i850 as well as the iP4500 I would love to hear how they compare.

One thing that makes me a bit leary is the price. The iP4500 is only ~$90 at newegg but my i850 was ~150 or more when I got it. I guess I am just curious if a 90 printer can do a good job or has the price level on printrs dropped alot.

 

[Mem]

Originally posted by: de8212
Not looking for an all-in-one. I haven't followed printers in years but noticed the PIXMA iP4500. Does it do a decent job at printing occasional photos? If anyone has owned an i850 as well as the iP4500 I would love to hear how they compare.

One thing that makes me a bit leary is the price. The iP4500 is only ~$90 at newegg but my i850 was ~150 or more when I got it. I guess I am just curious if a 90 printer can do a good job or has the price level on printrs dropped alot.

I had a Canon i865 printer and upgraded to the iP4500 printer,the quality is excellent so you should be more then happy with your photo prints.

Only negative is cartridges are the chipped type.

 

[Zepper]

If you subscribe to the Newegg deals newsletter, then the iP4500 is only $80. shipped thru the end of the month. I've had a 4200 and 4300 and they keep getting more flimsy feeling but the output is still right up there with anything at two or three times the price. Plus the paper feeding is rock solid reliable. Not like this HP k5400 misfeeding maniac I'm using now...

Here is the link to subscribe to the newsletter (if you already have an account with Newegg, use the same email address as with that):
http://email.newegg.com/a/hBH6...IjB42cohA44Mvmfu/nweg3

And the promo code for the iP4500 is EMCADCFAC once you have subscribed.

Now that they have their customers more tightly locked in to their ink (which is where the real money is as the ink is almost pricier than Chanel No. 5), they can afford to drop the price on the printers. And there is always the possibility that the iP4600 is in the wings and they want to clear the channel.

.bh.

 

[de8212]

Thanks. What is a chip cartridge?

And on newegss site it shows two black ink cartridges. Why is that?

Zepper - :thumbsup: Thanks. I got the email and completeyl forgot about it. I really appreciate it.

That's one thing I hate. As soon as I buy one the new one will have better features. Actually I wanted to get a network printer (wireless would have been cool) but I only see that on some of the all-in-ones. i guess I could make room for it but I hate to have a big bulky thing like that in my pc room. I'm already limited on space.

 

[Zepper]

Chipped cart. - each tank has an electronic device on it which is involved in level monitoring and other functions. Without it, tank no worky. So you're pretty much locked into OEM ink though some clones are coming with a one-time chip on them. The higher end Canon general purpose printers have two blacks: one for text only (pigmented ink) and one for photos and graphics that is dye-based to team better with the dye-based colors. You can always get a separate print server box - those aren't too large.

.bh.

 

[de8212]

thanks for the info on the catridges.

Does anyone know if canon is close to launching a new line of printers?

 

[Zepper]

If they do, there won't be much difference, just incremental and the 4500 replacement (if any) will be even flimsier yet. IOW, be happy to get a $130. printer for $80. shipped free. No one else is selling it for less - except perhaps on eBay.

.bh.

 

[Peter]

What's wrong with your 850? If it's just a dead print head, consider getting a new one ... if only so you can continue to use 3rd party ink.

 

[Lemon law]

I have to agree with Peter. Its amazing how good the third party ink is. And its just a tiny fraction of the price. For the user
who does not print much and wants to use only OEM cartridges, the new Canons are the way to go. As for me, I am going to hang on to my non chipped Canon printers.

Its still possible to refill the chipped Canons, but it just turns into a big hassle not present on older and equally good Canons.

 

[de8212]

Originally posted by: Peter
What's wrong with your 850? If it's just a dead print head, consider getting a new one ... if only so you can continue to use 3rd party ink.

It's been acting up for a while and now just flashes 7 or 8 times. I looked online and tried a few things I ran across but nothing worked.

 

[Mem]

Originally posted by: Lemon law
I have to agree with Peter. Its amazing how good the third party ink is. And its just a tiny fraction of the price. For the user
who does not print much and wants to use only OEM cartridges, the new Canons are the way to go. As for me, I am going to hang on to my non chipped Canon printers.

Its still possible to refill the chipped Canons, but it just turns into a big hassle not present on older and equally good Canons.

It's not too hard to refill my Canon ip4500 carts since I use the syringe method ,so far I have refilled all colours about 8 times (do a lot of printing),I don't even need to take the cartidges out of the printer now since I find it pretty easy to refill while still in the printer,also no chip swapping involved if you use the original carts for refill.

 

[de8212]

Mem, since you own it can you answer me this. I thought I read a review that said you can load paper either through the rear or front? Is that true?

 

[Mem]

Yep you can.

Just about all Canon's printers and all-in-ones have the same silver and gloss-black livery, which is smart without being showy, and the iP4500 is a simple machine to set up and run. You fold up the rear section of the top cover for a 150-sheet paper feed tray, or slide out the 150-sheet cassette from under the front of the machine as a secondary paper source, and fold down the front cover to produce a very serviceable output tray.

ip4500 review .

 

[Zepper]

Yup, the 4000 and up models have had a bottom cassette plus the top bin and you can keep two different types of paper stocked or both the same and have it automatically switch bins when one runs out. But you have to keep the output tray cleared as they are capable of more source paper than output tray capacity. Of course, if you are regularly going thru that much paper, then this line of printer really isn't for you anyway...

.bh.

 

[de8212]

I went ahead and ordered the 4500. It costs alot less than I was willing to spend and sounds like it will do a great job.

Any recommendation on printable DVD's or CD's? I didn't even consider that as a factor in buying but if there's a deal on some somewhere i would like to give it a shot.

 

[bruceb]

They are all about equal. But how about considering a Lightscribe Drive
and discs ? They are a bit more costly, but the print quality is superb
and it can not run or smudge. Looks very professional, but so far they are
not in color (if I am wrong, someone will correct me)

 

[Zepper]

Canon printers sold in the US of A won't have direct CD/DVD printing w/o a bit of modding on the owner's part (Epson has a US patent), but the needed parts are out there. In Europe, the iP4500 has the CD/DVD print feature as there is no restrictive patent there. And another point the "Trusted" review site (a Brit site) made was about the auto duplexing. I almost never used that feature except for very small documents - it is Very slow. For large documents, the "flip the stack and put it thru again" duplexing method still works very well and is Much faster. I suppose of you had a large document you wanted to print while you were away on an errand, then that may be a way to leave it working while you're gone and can't flip the stack.

.bh.

 

[de8212]

Already have a lightscribe burner, just htought this would be a neat thing to try out.



So, you mean, the USA model canons will not be able to print on cd/dvd's?

 

[13Gigatons]

Originally posted by: de8212
I went ahead and ordered the 4500. It costs alot less than I was willing to spend and sounds like it will do a great job.

Any recommendation on printable DVD's or CD's? I didn't even consider that as a factor in buying but if there's a deal on some somewhere i would like to give it a shot.

Verbatim @ Newegg are pretty good

 

[Zepper]

de8212 wrote:

So, you mean, the USA model canons will not be able to print on cd/dvd's?

That is correct, without some extra effort by you in locating some needed parts and perhaps a different driver. The modding info is out there if you want it.

.bh.