I have both HP and Cannon. HP45a black cartridges for my 970 are about $26
each, refill spec say 40 ml ink.
Cannon BCI-6 Black are $11 each for 13 ml ink.
Work it out yourself!!
Doug

"Bill" wrote in message ...
mpx wrote:

I suppose you simply can't expect reliablility from an inkjet printer
nowadays. They are not build to last. Some time before, when inkjets were
more expansive quality seemed to be higher, now it's all shoddy. From my
experience quality starts with office-class laser printers that have 500
sheet paper tray and 30+ pages per minute speeds. This kind of hardware
is
build solidly and works without problems even on high load.

While I tend to agree somewhat, I don't think you have to spend a lot of
money to get a decent printer. I've owned several printers, both inkjet
and laser, over the years, and I've found that durability is not always
linked directly to purchase cost, but there does seem to be a negative
curve of diminishing returns.

I recently had to replace a dead Canon i850 with another printer. I went
back to HP since I've had better reliability from their hardware. When
shopping, I compared several models and found I preferred the design and
build quality of models starting around the $200 price point. Some
models below that felt flimsy and cheap, while some more expensive
models also felt flimsy.

Just a few of the things I look for in a durable model that I expect to
last are expandability, solid case and chassis, weight, and logical
design.

I wouldn't count on HP to provide reliable inkjet. All HP inkjets I dealt
with had some problems with paper handling mechanism - jamming, pulling
multiple sheets or no sheet at all, pulling paper at an angle instead of
straight etc.

I've never had paper handling issues with HP, nor any brand really. I've
dealt with models that have had 50,000+ sheets put through them, and no
signs of paper handling issues. However, I've also maintained the
printers by ensuring the rollers don't get excessively dirty. Cleaning
the pick-up rollers a few times a year with a damp cloth does wonders.

On the other hand they were all printing
very well looking text, and their heads rarely clogged even when left for
a
few weeks of non-use.

That has been my experience as well. Their inkjet printers have
traditionally been able to endure long periods of in activity without
clogging. I had an old HP Deskjet 520 printer sit in a closet for an
entire year unused, and when connected to my parents computer, it
printed just fine.

I wouldn't recommend HP for graphics printing mainly
because of too high cost of color ikjet cartridges.

After using a Canon i850 printer for 16 months, I don't agree with that
statement anymore.

I have first-hand experience that shows ink usage is similar to HP and
costs are also similar, under typical use. For instance, the Canon ink
tanks cost less per colour, but about the same when you buy all three.
In another recent post I mentioned this:

While the Canon individual ink tanks are cheaper PER COLOUR, they're not
cheaper when bought in sets of three, which is required if you intend to
print in colour or make photos.

For example, here in Canada a large colour cartridge (#97) for my HP
6540 from Staples is $49.96. Yet an equal set of three Canon ink tanks
is $53.88 (3x$17.96) for about the same page yields.

So when you go to the store and buy a Canon ink tank, you THINK you're
saving money because it only costs you about $20 that one time. But the
next day when the other colours run out and you buy two more of the ink
tanks, you've spent the same amount of money on ink.

Canon is using the ILLUSION of lower individual prices to make is seem
like you're saving money, when in fact you're not. It's all marketing
hype.