HELP! Ink refill kits & Canon Pixmap MP830? Which all-in-one?

[rpseguin]

Ok.
Our HP PSC 2210 broke down and refuses to do anything useful.
I'm not a big fan of all-in-one printers, but I've been told the newer
ones are a lot better.
I'm planning on printing a fair number of pictures on photo paper, and
do the occassional fax/copy.

I like the Canon Pixma MP830 since it is a 5 color system, is
theoretically refillable, does duplex and has an ADF.
Unless someone tells me otherwise, I am almost dead set against getting
another HP due to bad experiences with their ink costs, shelf life and
lack of refillability.

Anyhow, the Canon Pixma MP830 looks like a nice printer and I'm
considering it, but I have a couple of quick questions:

-What other all-in-one printers should I consider in the $250 or lower
price range that will provide excellent photo printing?

-Where should I get refill kits that are both inexpensive and have
great output and high durability (like Canon's 100 year)?

-I've read that if you refill the new CLI-xx and PGI-xx cartridges that
the ink level readout will not work after you do the 5 or more second
"reset". Any way to fix this?

 

[zakezuke]

Anyhow, the Canon Pixma MP830 looks like a nice printer and I'm

considering it, but I have a couple of quick questions:

-Where should I get refill kits that are both inexpensive and have
great output and high durability (like Canon's 100 year)?

Great output is easy. I've used www.inksupply.com... others buy
formulabs or hobbicolors. Hobbicolors is available on e-bay.
As far as durability, the canon claim is 100 years in an album, 30
years under glass, 10 years on their premium paper if exposed to air.
Most of the tests i've seen show that the aftermarket solutions I spoke
of are not as lightfast as Canon, and canon isn't all that great. More
premium ink which claims to be lightfast i've not seen tested.

At least with Image Specalist's ink the only color change on the new
printers is in the red, the other ink is the same.

If you really want long life prints, go epson, go pigments. Fickle
printers IMHO but printlife is outstanding, and a vast choice of
aftermarket solutions which are also rather durable. I'm told that
canon does much better on swellable papers but i've not tried these.
HP is at least geared for this. Spraying your prints should help as
well.

-I've read that if you refill the new CLI-xx and PGI-xx cartridges that
the ink level readout will not work after you do the 5 or more second
"reset". Any way to fix this?

I've not encountered this yet so I can't say first hand, but to refill
your self you simply have to disable the meter, and the meter will not
function till you replace the cartridges with fresh chips. Near as i'm
aware there is no resultion for this at present.

At present, if you want refilling and metering, you gotta go with the
mp780 which is often available for sub $250.

 

[Martin]

Great output is easy. I've used www.inksupply.com... others buy
formulabs or hobbicolors. Hobbicolors is available on e-bay.
As far as durability, the canon claim is 100 years in an album, 30
years under glass, 10 years on their premium paper if exposed to air.
Most of the tests i've seen show that the aftermarket solutions I spoke
of are not as lightfast as Canon, and canon isn't all that great. More
premium ink which claims to be lightfast i've not seen tested.

At least with Image Specalist's ink the only color change on the new
printers is in the red, the other ink is the same.

I too can vote for Image Specialists inks (MIS, etc..).. They work just
fine

If you really want long life prints, go epson, go pigments. Fickle
printers IMHO but printlife is outstanding, and a vast choice of
aftermarket solutions which are also rather durable. I'm told that
canon does much better on swellable papers but i've not tried these.
HP is at least geared for this. Spraying your prints should help as
well.


I've not encountered this yet so I can't say first hand, but to refill
your self you simply have to disable the meter, and the meter will not
function till you replace the cartridges with fresh chips. Near as i'm
aware there is no resultion for this at present.

Whilst not on the MP830 (One for me to save up for so I can play) I have
experienced it on the iP4200 which uses the same cartridges.. You do
indeed get a warning and it's vital that if you do opt for refilling
that you check the levels regularly and top up often to avoid any carts
running dry and burning out the printhead.

Normally I'd start spouting about CIS kits to avoid this problem but
truth be told I've not found a good CIS design to handle the MP models
of Canon yet, although I am now in posession of some better kit to build
my own.

At present, if you want refilling and metering, you gotta go with the
mp780 which is often available for sub $250.

In a nutshell, if you want a lot less hassle and worry then this would
be my recommendation too.. There really isn't a lot of difference in
quality between the iP4000 compared to the iP4200 so I doubt you'd see
much between the MP780 and MP830, besides for some colour photos.

 

[measekite]

I HAVE WRITTEN TO THESE RELABELERS AND HAVE LOOKED AT THEIR WEBSITES.
ON TGHEIR SITE THEY DID NOT DISLOSE WHAT THEY ARE SELLING SO YOU DO NOT
KNOW WHAT YOU ARE GETTING.

WHEN I SPOKE WITH THEM THEY SAID THEY DO NOT DISLCOSE BECAUSE THEY ARE
AFRAID OF A USER GOING DIRECT TO THEIR SUPPLIER AND BYPASSING THEM. I
AM SURE THAT THE MFG/FORMULATER WANTS TO SELL IN ONLY LARGE BATCHSX.
THE BOTTOM LINE IT YOU DO NOT KNOW WHAT YOU ARE GETTING. YOU DO NOT
KNOW WSHEN THE RELABER WILL SELL YOU STUFF FROM A DIFFERENT OUTSOURCE.
YOU DO NOT KNOW WHAT YOU ARE BUYING AND WHEN YOU HAVE TROUBLE WSITH ONE
FORMULATION YOU MAYU GO OUT AND BUY THE SAME THING FROM ANOTYHER SOURCE
WITH OUT BEING ABLE TO TELL.

I DO WISH THAT THERE WAS A HIGH QUALITY MFG WHO BRANDED THEIR PRODUCT
AND SOLD IT IN ALL VENUES LIKE STAPLES, COSTCO, OFFICE DEPOT AS WELL AS
LARGE ONLINE ORGANIZATIONS LIKE BUY.COM OUTPOST.COM AND THE ONLINE PHOTO
SITES. UNFORTUNATLY THIS IS NOT THE CASE. SO THERE ARE A WHOLE LOT OF
UNREPRESENTED CLAIM GOING ON. THE BOTTON LINE IS READ THIS NG FOR A FEW
MONTYHS AND YOU WILL FIND VERY FEW PEOPLE WHO USE EXCUSIVELY OEM INK ARE
HAVING PROBLEMS. IT IS USUALLY THE ONES THAT CONSTANTLY TRY TO BEET THE
SYSTEM.