I publish a web site that's a shopper's guide and fraud alert. I don't identify products or suppliers by name As my site is not a complaint department nor is it intended to punish offenders. It is meant to keep readers informed so as to avoid fraud and get the most value for their money. I advertise numerous products and vendors and obviously cannot buy and test all of them. Consequently I rarely endorse a particular product or supplier. I do however make sure that those that are advertisedon my site are reputable. On occasion I feel it's appropriate that I do endorse a product that I have purchased and tested, and that I feel comfortable reviewing. This is one of those cases. For a little background: I bought my first PC with a Lexmark 1100 entry level printer about six years ago and subsequently became a printer buff. I have had many printers since then including a $350.00 Photo printer. The min issue with just about all of them was the cost of ink. I never found refilling to be worth while. I had relative success with black ink but color refilling created too many problems and can bequite messy.Even good qulity compatibles are quiteexpensive and third party refills are often faulty. I'm not into sophisticated photo printing, but I do a lot of printing such as greeting cards and various types of fancy documents for a small business that we own. The cost of ink is a major factor in my printer purchasing decisions. I've written several articles about printers and the cost of ink. I favor the type printer that uses ink tanks instead of cartridges. The tanks are inexpensive and although I don't refill them, it's easy to do. The draw back with this style printer in the past was that the print head was built into the machine and they were prone to failure. The cost to replace them was prohibitive; it wasn't something you could do yourself. When the print head failed you junked the printer. I just disposed of a printer that was based on the separate tank technology; I won't mention the name. It was replaced three times in the year that I had it. The last replacement was just before the warranty expired and the last one prints half a page and quits printing. I did a search on PC World's Product Finder and found a printer that seemed to suit my requirements. There were many positive reviews on this particular printer and although it has been replaced by a newer model this one was still available and at a discounted price. The printer I bought is a Canon Pixla ip3000; the newer model is ip4200. The difference is the new one has chips in the tanks to indicate the ink level. A disadvantage for refillers. I had a couple of Canon printers in the past, which I liked, but the print heads failed. I have to admit they weren't Canon's tops of the line. I've found that most printers print fairly well for the average user. Photo printing is another story... There were a lot of reviews, all positive and according to reviewers it does an excellent job of photo printing. You can print right from your camera, if it's compatible, without going through your PC. I've only had this printer for a month so I can't vouch for its longevity. However it's by far the best printer I ever had. It exudes quality; it's quite heavy, which to me is an advantage. It does move around and it's virtually silent. It has a removable print head, which can be replaced. It's extremely fast. And very stingy with ink. This machine has two paper feeds, one from the top and the other from a cassette underneath. You can load two different types of paper. It has a rather large footprint and I think its appearance is stunning. I'm sure many will disagree with me on that score. This printer automatically prints both sides, a feature only found in high priced machines. I paid less than $75.00 including shipping charges. I just printed 300 5 " x 8" Christmas notes in color and when I checked the ink tanks which are transparent they still appear full. A set of four compatible tanks cost $10.00. A set of traditional cartridges in Walmart cost just under $75.00. The whole 300 went through without a paper jam. All I can say is: "Fantastic!" |
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