Can anyone say anything positive about generic inks in the canon
printers?
Yes, I'm positve about generic inks in Canon printers - providing your
generic ink is reputable, they don't seem to be the cause of major
problems - *but* ... read on!
I too, dumped Epson after my Photo 700 head expired. It worked
extremely well for several years before the head clogged beyond my
ability to recover it (generic refills, I cut away a part of the
printer case to allow refilling whilst the heads were parked).
I then purchased a BJC-6200 around 2 years ago and refilled with
generic inks. Since then, my hi res paper purchases indicate our
BJC-6200 has printed no more than 1500 to 1700 pages of around an
estimated 10 to 15% coverage.
I use the 6200 with a Photo Cartridge and a CMY Cartridge installed.
The killer has been the number of head replacements (cartridges)
required and their high costs. I've had to replace 7 heads (4 CMY and
3 Photo cartridges). One of those six head failures was possibly my
own fault - in a last ditch attempt to recover a failed cartridge, I
most likely caused the second one of the pair to also fail.
I've just had another CMY cartridge/head fail two weeks ago - the
fifth CMY (including the original supplied with the printer). The
printer no longer recognises the failed cartridge (error message: "no
cartridge fitted"). At AUS$175 average price for the pair of
cartridges (BCI-31 and BCI-32), the head costs have eclipsed the cost
of inks by far. The cost of the printed pages has been uneconomic.
Head failures caused by bad ink, perhaps? Possible, I suppose, but
several head replacements occurred when the printer failed to
recognise its own cartridges, which I believe is caused by an
electronic failure inside the printhead/cartridge. My inks were
obtained from an Australian supplier, Stroudco, which I understand has
a good reputation for ink.
I needed to buy an i865 earlier this year, for the printable DVD
ability. I read in the ng that many are having to replace heads in
this printer too, so I'm trying to keep this printer for DVD's only.
I guess I've reached the point where I'll eventually dump ink jets for
everything except printable DVD's (and the occasional photo). A
colour laser would make much more sense for printing brochures (with
small photos incorporated), notwithstanding the less pleasing visual
appeal compared to inkjet printed pages.
I won't ever touch Epson again, the "chipping" of their cartridges
sees to that, yet for us, Canon elevated inkjet print costs to obscene
levels with their poor printhead durability, far above Epson print
costs. There's a real opening for a printer company to make and
market an upper end printer at relatively high cost, but with
consumables at a realistic level. For the moment, the inkjet
companies are making far too much profit to change their strategy.
It's hard to see how this might change any time soon, because for the
moment, the inkjet companies have us by the short and curlies.
Regards,
Hughy
