Epson R380 or Canon ip4300 or ip6700D

My Canon i560 that up until now has been my photo printer is now a workhorse
color brochure printer. Refilling the cartridges is a snap and it works
well. But now I need a good photo printer that I can use only (mostly) for
photos and one that I can continue to refill the cartridges.

This week Staples has the following on sale or clearance:
Epson R380 $110 after rebate
Canon ip4300 $90 clearance
Canon ip 6700D 90 after rebate

Any clear winner here? At this point I'm about ready to make a decision by
coin toss. I've read several reviews and looked at ink refill sites, but
still don't have a good feel for one is better than the others.

--
Ben

"Plan9" wrote in message
...
My Canon i560 that up until now has been my photo printer is now a
workhorse
color brochure printer. Refilling the cartridges is a snap and it works
well. But now I need a good photo printer that I can use only (mostly)
for
photos and one that I can continue to refill the cartridges.

This week Staples has the following on sale or clearance:
Epson R380 $110 after rebate
Canon ip4300 $90 clearance
Canon ip 6700D 90 after rebate

Any clear winner here? At this point I'm about ready to make a decision
by
coin toss. I've read several reviews and looked at ink refill sites, but
still don't have a good feel for one is better than the others.

--
Ben

I don't know anything about the Epson printer. I have not used the two
Canon printers as my previous generation Canon printers are still going
strong - just like your i560. The Canon ip4300 has four photo ink carts,
CMYK, and a larger pigment-based black ink cart used only when plain paper
is selected and designed for text printing. The Canon ip6700 is a six
color printer - CMYK plus a photo magenta and photo cyan which are lower
dye-load inks. I use a Canon i960 which uses the same six photo color inks
(previous generation inks for the bci-6 carts), and my wife has a Canon
ip5000, with bci-6 CMYK carts plus lthe larger black pigment-based bci-3ebk
cart. The ip5000 has one picoliter nozzles for the dye-based bci-6 carts
and would be close to the ip4300 in function. The i960 was rated, in its
day, as the best photo printer in the Canon line. I must say, that color
photo prints from the ip5000 are also beautiful. I use MIS inks to refill
carts for both of these printers and have great results.

The Canon printers you noted both use carts with "chips" on them which
register empty when the inks are used up. They can be refilled exactly the
same way as your printer carts, but the chip can not be reset to read full
for the printer. Canon has done this, I am sure, to thwart refilling or the
use of aftermarket prefilled carts. If you refill and insert a cart that
has been emptied you get a "nag" message that tells you that you will void
your warranty if you continue. People who refill their carts know that they
save so much using aftermarket inks that the warranty loss is less a problem
than having to pay for OEM carts.

There are now inks that are formulated for these printers by a few of the
online vendors. I have read that the Magenta ink is a slightly different
color and the others are essentially the same. Canon touts the newly
formulated inks as being substantially more resistant to fading over time.
If that is not a major issue for you, both of these printers would be a good
choice, and the prices are reasonable. The ip6700D is very well priced. I
would read the reviews on photo quality and make my choice between the
ip4300 and the ip6700D based on which would do the best photo prints since
that is why you are buying your next printer.

Pay no attention to Measekite, our very own troll, who puts down anyone who
posts messages about aftermarket inks. He has no experience with these
inks, nor does he have hands-on experience with these two printers
sufficient to give you advice. Your experience of refilling carts for your
i560 is testimony to refute anything Measekite would say about good quality
aftermarket refill inks. Quite obviously, it hasn't destroyed your printer,
and this printer is an older generation from the ip4000 that Measekite has
been using for four years. Thankfully, he and many others continue to use
OEM Canon inks so Canon will maintain its business model of pricing their
printers low and selling their inks at excessive prices.

Plan9 wrote:
My Canon i560 that up until now has been my photo printer is now a workhorse
color brochure printer. Refilling the cartridges is a snap and it works
well. But now I need a good photo printer that I can use only (mostly) for
photos and one that I can continue to refill the cartridges.

This week Staples has the following on sale or clearance:
Epson R380 $110 after rebate
Canon ip4300 $90 clearance


There has been many occassions that the IP4300 has been on sale with a
rebate for around ^$60.00/ If you really want a Canon printer then you
have to use Canon ink. Using anything else makes it not a complete
Canon printer.
Canon ip 6700D 90 after rebate

Any clear winner here?
Canon
At this point I'm about ready to make a decision by
coin toss. I've read several reviews and looked at ink refill sites, but
still don't have a good feel for one is better than the others.


Refills who cares. USe Canon ink.

Burt wrote:

"Plan9" wrote in message
...
My Canon i560 that up until now has been my photo printer is now a
workhorse
color brochure printer. Refilling the cartridges is a snap and it works
well. But now I need a good photo printer that I can use only (mostly)
for
photos and one that I can continue to refill the cartridges.

This week Staples has the following on sale or clearance:
Epson R380 $110 after rebate
Canon ip4300 $90 clearance
Canon ip 6700D 90 after rebate

Any clear winner here? At this point I'm about ready to make a decision
by
coin toss. I've read several reviews and looked at ink refill sites, but
still don't have a good feel for one is better than the others.

--
Ben

I don't know anything about the Epson printer. I have not used the two
Canon printers as my previous generation Canon printers are still going
strong - just like your i560. The Canon ip4300 has four photo ink carts,
CMYK, and a larger pigment-based black ink cart used only when plain paper
is selected and designed for text printing. The Canon ip6700 is a six
color printer - CMYK plus a photo magenta and photo cyan which are lower
dye-load inks.
snip

The ip4300 won my coin toss. :-)

I bought two today, $70 each at Staples ($20 less than two days ago).
Buying a second for a printhead backup and a full set of cartridges was a
no-brainer; a full set of cartridges alone cost over $80. I plan on
refilling the cartridges and if I destroy the printhead (I don't think so)
then so-be-it; I have a backup and will know better next time.

--
Ben

Plan9 wrote:

Burt wrote:



"Plan9" wrote in message ...



My Canon i560 that up until now has been my photo printer is now a workhorse color brochure printer. Refilling the cartridges is a snap and it works well. But now I need a good photo printer that I can use only (mostly) for photos and one that I can continue to refill the cartridges. This week Staples has the following on sale or clearance: Epson R380 $110 after rebate Canon ip4300 $90 clearance Canon ip 6700D 90 after rebate Any clear winner here? At this point I'm about ready to make a decision by coin toss. I've read several reviews and looked at ink refill sites, but still don't have a good feel for one is better than the others. -- Ben



I don't know anything about the Epson printer. I have not used the two Canon printers as my previous generation Canon printers are still going strong - just like your i560. The Canon ip4300 has four photo ink carts, CMYK, and a larger pigment-based black ink cart used only when plain paper is selected and designed for text printing. The Canon ip6700 is a six color printer - CMYK plus a photo magenta and photo cyan which are lower dye-load inks.



<<< snip >>> The ip4300 won my coin toss. :-) I bought two today, $70 each at Staples ($20 less than two days ago). Buying a second for a printhead backup and a full set of cartridges was a no-brainer; a full set of cartridges alone cost over $80. I plan on refilling the cartridges and if I destroy the printhead (I don't think so) then so-be-it; I have a backup and will know better next time.


It is not just the risk of ruining the printhead.  It is the fading and the lower quality that you have to be willing to accept.

measekite wrote:

It is not just the risk of ruining the printhead.

Idiot!!!

It is the fading and
the lower quality that you have to be willing to accept.

More from out resident idiot!
Stop lying you moron!
Frank

"Plan9" wrote in message
...
Burt wrote:

"Plan9" wrote in message
...
My Canon i560 that up until now has been my photo printer is now a
workhorse
color brochure printer. Refilling the cartridges is a snap and it works
well. But now I need a good photo printer that I can use only (mostly)
for
photos and one that I can continue to refill the cartridges.

This week Staples has the following on sale or clearance:
Epson R380 $110 after rebate
Canon ip4300 $90 clearance
Canon ip 6700D 90 after rebate

Any clear winner here? At this point I'm about ready to make a decision
by
coin toss. I've read several reviews and looked at ink refill sites,
but
still don't have a good feel for one is better than the others.

--
Ben

I don't know anything about the Epson printer. I have not used the two
Canon printers as my previous generation Canon printers are still going
strong - just like your i560. The Canon ip4300 has four photo ink carts,
CMYK, and a larger pigment-based black ink cart used only when plain
paper
is selected and designed for text printing. The Canon ip6700 is a six
color printer - CMYK plus a photo magenta and photo cyan which are lower
dye-load inks.
snip

The ip4300 won my coin toss. :-)

I bought two today, $70 each at Staples ($20 less than two days ago).
Buying a second for a printhead backup and a full set of cartridges was a
no-brainer; a full set of cartridges alone cost over $80. I plan on
refilling the cartridges and if I destroy the printhead (I don't think so)
then so-be-it; I have a backup and will know better next time.

--
Ben

Good price on the ip4300's! Sounds like a good decision to buy two. Keep
the spare set filled, trade out the whole set when one is near empty, and
refill the set you removed later. Important to keep the cover from the ink
outlet and rubber band it onto the carts you take out to refill. After
refilling them keep the outlet cover on and store them in a baggie or sealed
food storage carton.

You will lose the ink monitoring system as soon as you start refilling
carts. Be sure to visually check the carts as you can damage the printhead
if you run a cart dry. Too bad Canon built into their new monitoring system
a self-destruct mechanism for those of us who refuse to buy their overpriced
ink! I refill the i960 and ip5000 before the low ink signal comes on as the
cart doesn't dry out as readily and will support more refills before
purging.

AND - pay no attention to our resident troll who hates the fact that we save
lots of money using good quality bulk refill inks while he dutifully goes to
his favorite Costco store and buys carts for his ip4000. His cost? about
$8-$9 a cart in multiple cart packages. Our cost per cart refill? About
$1.

On Aug 17, 3:45 pm, Plan9 wrote:

The ip4300 won my coin toss. :-)

I bought two today, $70 each at Staples ($20 less than two days ago).
Buying a second for a printhead backup and a full set of cartridges was a
no-brainer; a full set of cartridges alone cost over $80. I plan on
refilling the cartridges and if I destroy the printhead (I don't think so)
then so-be-it; I have a backup and will know better next time.


I'm rather pleased with my ip5200, which is basicly the ip4300 but
weighing in slightly heavier. The only complaint I have is using HP
paper which it's known to not work well with canons in general. The
ip6700 is slightly better in this regard... but I would only go ip6700
if I didn't need a general purpose printer. The big difference with
the ip6700D is an even distrubtion of ink nozzles, where the ip4300
has only 5pl drops of the yellow and black, a difference I can only
really see if I use swellable swellable polymer paper.

I've had decent luck with hobbicolors and MIS (inksupply) on this
printer, though I didn't enjoy hobbi's "pigment black". 4 oz of the
MIS pigment black and still going strong.