Please help this non-tech techie.... thanks!

I know technology gets better and better but I had a quick
question... would a Canon PIXMA MP600 have considerably better
prints/scans than my Canon S800/CanonScan 5000f? I could search thru
specs but I was hoping for some 'real world' opinions.. Money isn't
really an object if other options better... thank you very much!

Kevin Miller

On Aug 19, 8:24 am, Me wrote:
I know technology gets better and better but I had a quick
question... would a Canon PIXMA MP600 have considerably better
prints/scans than my Canon S800/CanonScan 5000f? I could search thru
specs but I was hoping for some 'real world' opinions.. Money isn't
really an object if other options better... thank you very much!

Kevin Miller

Hi Kevin. Specs are everything- period (with regards to the finished
product)

Since they are both Canon products, the difference in the prints
would only be if they are using different ink, (pigment vs dye) and
how many colours. If the specs are the same, and they use the same
ink, than there would be little difference.

Question you should be asking is what you want to scan, (text,
photos, slides, negatives) to what quality and what kind of prints are
you expecting. (also, have you considered printing on DVDs or CDs? In
my "real world" trials, I find a separate scanner and separate printer
yield the best results.

And a question for you~ Would you like to do the absolutely best
photographic prints possible? Would you like to do lots, at the best
possible price? I would look into what alternatives there are for ink
supplies (continuous ink systems, refillable spongeless cartridges,
refill kits etc) and find a printer that is the easiest to adapt to
these money/ environment saving devices. Since you are willing to
start over, why not do your wallet and the environment a huge favour?

.... Rudi

wrote in message
ps.com...
On Aug 19, 8:24 am, Me wrote:
I know technology gets better and better but I had a quick
question... would a Canon PIXMA MP600 have considerably better
prints/scans than my Canon S800/CanonScan 5000f? I could search thru
specs but I was hoping for some 'real world' opinions.. Money isn't
really an object if other options better... thank you very much!

Kevin Miller

Hi Kevin. Specs are everything- period (with regards to the finished
product)

Specs are *not* everything. Most of the things that will be spec'ed such as
DPI or bit depth are only marginally important, rather meaningless
parameters put forth by marketing to puff up the product. An example is the
DPI game - printers claim 1200 or 1440, then 2400/2880, then 4800 or 9600
dpi. Does this mean the prints will look better? Not likely. What you
need are some real prints or scans on different hardware to compare side by
side. Do not be fooled by specmanship.

- Bob Headrick, MS MVP Printing/Imaging

On Aug 19, 5:24 am, Me wrote:
I know technology gets better and better but I had a quick
question... would a Canon PIXMA MP600 have considerably better
prints/scans than my Canon S800/CanonScan 5000f? I could search thru
specs but I was hoping for some 'real world' opinions.. Money isn't
really an object if other options better... thank you very much!

Kevin Miller

Firstly, the s800 is a 6 tank printer with with an even number of
nozzles per ink cartridge. 256 4picoliter nozzles per tank. This is
typical of their photo printers. Text should be OK enough, but it's
not really it's best application.

The Pixma mp600 is a 5 tank printer, 1 pigment black 4 dye, but with
an uneven nozzle distrubtion. Dye Black and Yellow use 5pl nozzles,
Cyan and Magenta use both 1 and 5pl nozzles. The pigment black used
in plain paper mode takes up a larger strip and uses a higher drop
size offering fewer strokes per page. On some papers, you really
notice the difference with the larger drop size of the yellow, but not
on your typical microporous papers. I noticed this affect using HP
papers on my ip5200 and mp760. In my case, I wanted a general purpose
printer.

If you are looking for a better photo printer, it's nice to be able to
take your memory card or pictbridge camera into the store and with
their permission crank off a photo from let's say the mp600, the
ip6700D (photo printer). They usually agree so long as you don't take
the prints home. Also don't discount the HP and Epson options as
well. Canon isn't really stellar in the longevity department.

But as bob printed out, specs are not everything.