Question to Ron C. i960 print head shot?

[JPD]

Hi Ron. I still have my i960 and had been using both generic ink tanks
and refilling both them and the Canon cartridges. About a few months
ago I started to notice photos of people having red fleshtones. I have
tried everything from 4-5 cleanings, then a few deep cleans, I even
took the print head out and using compressed air cleaned the little
round intakes as recomended by Neil Slade. Still no luck. The same
generic inks work fine in my old i550, so I know it's not an ink
problem.
I saw in one of your posts about refurbished i960's at Tiger Direct
and I did see them for $69 plus shipping. Not a bad deal if they come
with full Canon cartridges. My question to you is are the new Pixma
4000 or 5000's on a par with the i960, and if so, are they worth the
extra $50+ bucks.

As always, thanks for your help!

John D.

 

[Ron Cohen]

Did you run a nozzle check to see the condition of the print head? If you
have entire blocks missing, that would indicate the print head has failed -
which isn't an uncommon occurrence on Canon printers. If the print head
hasn't failed then the problem could very well be double profiling which is
known to cause the red flesh tones. I don't know much about it other than
what I've read on this newsgroup, but before spending money on a new
printer, you should do some googling and check out that situation.

As to the iP4000/iP5000 vs. i960 it all comes down to personal preference. I
had (still do) an i950 which I replaced with an iP4000. I like the iP4000
better, but if there is much of a price difference between the two printers,
I'd go for the lesser cost. I can't speak to the iP5000 since I haven't used
one, but others such as Taliesyn give the printer very high marks. The one
factor to remember is that with a refurb the mfg. warranty is only 90 days
vs. one year for a new printer. Buy it with most credit cards and the
warranty is doubled. If the unit is a Canon mfg. refurb it will have a new
print head and ink cartridges, so essentially the only difference between a
refurb and a new printer is cost and length of warranty.

 

[Burt]

Tiger direct did have a new i960 at $79 after rebates and a refurb at $69.
If they still have the new ones that would be a better deal by far.

 

[measekite]

On a few photos you might get better results with the i960 because of
the 2 light dye load inks but light dye load inks do have a tendency to
fade faster. Most of the time the IP4000 will produce prints on a par
with the I960 and do it faster. In addition you have dual paper feeds
and the printer can print duplex automatically. The IP4000 is on sale
July 4th weekend at Fry's for $79.00 after rebate. Fry's online store -
outpost.com - may also have the same sale. That is a real deal.

 

[measekite]

Tiger direct did have a new i960 at $79 after rebates and a refurb at $69.
If they still have the new ones that would be a better deal by far.

Fry's has a new IP4000 on sale for $79.95 after rebate. A better deal.

 

[JPD]

Ron, no blocks missing. I will check out this double profiling issue
and let you know what I find out.
Thanks to the other posters for their comments on the iP4000.

John