Quote:
.. Canon Pixma 4000, and it's the best printer I've ever owned. It's great at text and graphics, and also fantastic for photos. It has a duplex capability for double sided printing, two paper trays (so you can have your A4/letter and photo paper loaded at the same time) and CD/DVD printing (in the UK, anyway. I believe the US models, don't have this.)
...
There is a new version of this printer (IP4200), which is supposed to deliver even better results. The only downside is a new ink tank system, which means the existing cartridges aren't compatible.


The duplex capability is worthless -- it scrubs/cleans the printheads between paper-flips (every sheet), wasting tons of ink. Don't bother using that feature. But the rest of it is wonderful

I have been using an Epson 1270 wide carriaged inkjet for the past 4 years or so. Really good photo prints, in hefty sizes, too. But the single combined colour cartridge was expensive, especially since the printer forces me to replace it before it is actually empty -- "chipped" cartridges, rather than a real low-ink detection system. And this is one SLOW printer. 5 minutes or so for an 8x10", and no "borderless" capability.

So I just (last week) bought an 8-ink (individual cartridges) Canon Pixma ip8500 -- top of the line 8.5" carriage photo printer. VERY VERY fast compared with the Epson -- about 90 seconds in real life for an 8x10" glossy photograph. Better quality than the Epson (kinda expected, since it is a couple generations newer than my ancient 1270). Same paper handling features as the Pixma ip4000, and the same cartridges too -- though mine also uses additional colours over the basic ip4000 set. And like the ip4000, it has an optical ink-low detection system, which does NOT force me to change cartridges unless I choose to. Fantastic!

But the best feature is, it lives on my bookshelf over my desk -- completely front-access for paper handling and general operation, so it sits with a mere 10mm clearance under the shelf above. At least until I need to replace an ink tank..

Now, what to do with the 1270.. ?? I still like being able to print large format photos, but it's pretty easy these days to have those done at the local camera shop for CAD$10 or so. And I can free up half a table top by getting rid of the beast..

Cheers


Edited by mlord (31/10/2005 22:15)