Spec me a photo printer please.

Messiah Khan · 13 Apr 2007 at 18:48

Im after a Photo printer for my parents as their Epson R300 has died. Max budget about £100-£150. Im leaning towards a Canon Pixma series, as I use a Pixma ip3000 and an ix4000. Any suggestions in terms of what model numbers I should be looking at?

Cheers.

basmic · 13 Apr 2007 at 18:56

Canon IP4200 (which I have) is pretty much the same as the 4000, but slightly better performance and prettier to look at.

Now don't get me wrong, the print quality is pretty good. But I detest paying for over-priced ink - which is what you will be doing if you do buy an IP4200.

You could go for compatible ink for the 4200, like I have done (but have yet to use the cartridges) - but it's a risk, because you don't get an ink level warning, you void your warranty, and you risk blocking the printer's head if you use extra cheap stuff.

The ink I bought was about £10 altogether, for a full set of cartridges.

RobinH · 13 Apr 2007 at 22:30

I've got a Canon ip4000 - got one when they first came out and it's a superb photo printer, so anything that improves on that like the ip4200 has got to be a good bet.

I've stuck with using original Canon inks, cheapest I can find is Euroffice.co.uk which is about £6.50 per cartridge and it takes 5 of them! Even so, this cost issue is not unique to Canon. Having heard mixed reports about 'compatible' cartridges and issues with mixed results, print head clogging and colour fidelity & fading issues over long periods of time, I figure it's worth paying the extra for the genuine Canon ones.

Someone told me that £'s per litre, inkjet printer ink is dearer than the most expensive vintage champagne!

Messiah Khan · 13 Apr 2007 at 22:36

I think my dad has decided on a Canon Pixma ip6700. Looks like a really nice printer. I always get Jettec ink for my printers, they are a fair bit cheaper than official ones, and very good quality.

melbourne720 · 13 Apr 2007 at 22:37

I have the canon pixima ip6600D. Really good quality, plus the cartridges can be bought for £9 each. I recommend it.

RobH · 13 Apr 2007 at 23:17

I have the Pixma 4300 and it prints beautiful pictures. It uses ink tanks which aren't that expensive to replace. It has an cartridge feeder to so I don't have to take out the A4 to print photos, I just use the top feeder.