Wow! Thanks for the quick reply. What would you recommend? I've had two Ip4000
which broke down after tens of thousands of prints (really. The older putout 30
000 prints, two print heads). I really put them thu the paces! I've also had a
couple of hps and epsons.
What would I recommend? Which ever one you can get. It's hard to
give advice without knowing your needs.
[source image]
http://www.pbase.com/igepanda/yucatan
[mp960]
http://www.pbase.com/igepanda/mp960
For example you have the mx700 and mp520. Both are equal to the
ip3000 in terms of nozzles and tank compliment, but take the cli8/pgi5
tanks. I wouldn't recommend them unless your main application was
text, which is pretty much the same since the i550 some years ago.
They also don't support CD printing.
The latest and greatest is the mp610, which is as stated the aio
equilivant of the ip4500. This would also include the mx850 which
sports ethernet, fax, and a sheet feeder. This would also include the
mp810, which to be honest is not a model I've even met. I think the
mp810 is like the mp610 except with a CCD based scanner, slide
scanner.
The mp960/970 are the 7 tank models. In Europe and the Americas, we
didn't get the ip7500/7600, which is like the ip6600 without the
screen but has the extra text black. The 970 added wifi. To be
honest, I don't find that the mp960 adds much more with two extra
tanks to justify ditching my mp830, even though Canon is offering
refurbished models for $100 with a stack of photo paper. It's
obviously a better printer for photos, most notable how skys are
rendered. I don't know how they will compare to the mp980, which
ditches light cyan and light magenta in favor of a grey cartridge.
Technically a good idea since canon mixes dye color when black is less
than 60 or so.
The mp830 and mp800 and mp600 are slightly older models, featuring a
print head with only the 20/30pl big black, and the 5/1pl color.
Missing is the medium sized nozzle. These are like the ip5200/4300.
I own the ip5200 and mp830 so I can at least speak directly about
those models. Obviously not as good as the 960/970 but more than
acceptable.
PIXMA MP500
PIXMA MP510
PIXMA MP520
PIXMA MP530
These are where I get confused.
The mp500 and mp530 (fax) are obviously ip4200 aio models. 320 text
nozzles rather than 512. Obviously more is better, but a minor
performance hit in reality.
The mp510/520 is a step backwards to the ip3000. 4 tanks not 5, and 2
and 5pl, not 1 and 5. Still a very passable printer.
http://www.vaivaton.com/en/product/1538-1-1906
What I recommend is obviously the most for your euro, but not spending
for things you can't use. 127.00 € for a mp610, presuming it's new,
to me seems like a great deal. The head is worth at least 50 €, the
ink another 70 €. It doesn't have the best scanner, that's reserved
for the 800s and 900s. It's also one of the smaller units, in case
you didn't want a big unit and are only buying this because you can't
find any ip4500s.
However, if we were in the states, I'd bring up the mp960 which is on
sale for USD$99 on the Canon e-store. It's cheaper than a new ip4600
and likely produces better photos. It has a ton of snazzy little
features like being able to copy a CD face to a blank CD. But I
wouldn't spend $300+ on it.
But if you need a sheet feeder, your choice is limited to the mp530,
mp830, or the mx series like the 700, 850.
Hopefully this helps you out. Again the ip7500/7600 models didn't
exist for us.
ip7500/7600 models = mp960/mp970 7 tanks
ip4500 = mp610/810/mx850 5 tanks 1/2/5pl nozzles 20/30pl text 512
nozzles
ip4300/5200 = mp600/800/830 5 tanks 1/5pl nozzles 20/30pl text 512
nozzles
ip4200= mp500/530 5 tanks 1/5pl nozzles 20/30pl text 320 nozzles
ip3xxx = mp510/520 4 tanks 2/5pl nozzles
