I have a Canon Photo Printer which takes six CLI-8 Canon Ink Cartridges. The cost of each individual ink cartridge ranges from around $12.50-15 (on Amazon) to 18.99 in Staples. So no matter how you buy the genuine Canon Ink Cartridges keeping yourself ready to print photos is expensive.
You can get a better per cartridge of you buy them in Canon CLI-8 4-Color Multipack Ink Tanks. In that case each individual cartridge is a little less expensive. Canon package CL-8C (Cyan), CL-8M (Magenta), CL-8Y (Yellow), and CL-8BK (Black) as a pack ($40-44 on Amazon). When cartridges are sold in packs you might think those colors are used at similar rates... but that is not so.
I have kept track of the usage of the cartridges over a long period of time and would like to share these results with you.
Number of cartridges used
CL-8M Magenta = 5
CL-8Y Yellow = 8
CL-8B Black = 6
CL-8PC Photo Cyan = 6
CL-8PM Photo Magenta = 8
CL-8C Cyan = 4
My usage shows that yellow is used the most, followed closely by Photo Magenta, followed next by Black and Photo Cyan, and trailed by Cyan and Magenta. Note that I have a laser printer that I used for text otherwise the usage of the Black Cartridge would have been a lot higher.
I buy most of my color photo ink on-line from Amazon. However now that Staples began (again) accepting CL-8 cartridges for Staples Rewards in their recycling empty cartridges program, I wanted to analyze my usage to see which cartridges I should buy at Staples using my Staples Rewards.
My original thought was to buy Canon CLI-8PC Photo Cyan Ink Tank and Canon CLI-8PM Photo Magenta Ink Tank since they don't come in a pack. But given the usage chart above, it is clear that I should buy extra Yellow and Photo Magenta.
What can you say about ink? I found no problems with it... it arrived quickly, was about $30 cheaper for all 6 than buying them at the store. As long as you ready your printer manual to find out exactly what ink you need, and check the product to make sure you're buying the right thing, there shouldn't be any problems.
My Environment: 100% Windows 7 PCs, an iPad and two iPhones.
As a professional consultant within the print industry, I did a lot of research for what to put in my own home office related to print devices. I reached out to vendors, got corporate VAR pricing, but in the end, I saw that this was sold for $212.00 online with no shipping cost and jumped on it.
The device is fast, quiet and efficient. The toner won't last too long, but there are plenty of options for buying new or reman toner for the device at a fair price so I am less concerned with that as I typically do more scanning than printing.
The rating is for the device itself. The quality is excellent and the speed from energy saver is very fast (which since I pay for the power in my home, is important to me).
PROS:
Included duplex is fast and quiet(ish) and I haven't had a jam yet (and nearly all the prints were duplex)
First Page Out time is short
The wireless network was fairly easy to configure and is reliable.
Network Scanning utility is very good. I love being able to scan to my computer from the MFD without needing to do anything at the PC itself.
Good Scan, Print and Copy quality (haven't used fax...)
Its small and doesn't make strange noises when I don't expect it (some MFDs do annoying things, like calibrate, when idle).
CONS:
Does not have Airprint support. I use a small laptop as a server, so its not an issue after I installed Fingerprint (google it, its a real great solution)
Low Toner Yield (always an issue at this small device and this low a price)
Installation required disable of UAC
As good as I feel about this device, if this device was being sold for more than say $275 (shipped) I would have possibly chose a different model. The lack of Airprint is a big deal for me as my family and I use my iPad quite a bit.
TECHNICAL NOTE: The setup, once I turned off User Account Controls (which is on by default in Windows Vista and 7), worked great. That lesson, however, took over an hour to figure out. If you are going to install this device on a Windows Vista or 7 PC, turn off UAC (search for UAC in the start menu), reboot and install. You can turn UAC back on after the install completes.
This is a great printer/copier/fax machine and it's much smaller in size than the brother laser printer we used to use. So it's saving us on space and does the same exact thing the Brother did. This new machine says the toner is rated for 2100 copies. The brand new canon 128 cartridge we just bought last month is already out (a real one not the refurbished kind) and it only lasted 1675 copies! If that's the case and if each cartridge is going to be like that then I'm gonna need a new cartridge about every month for my busy small business. That's ~12 new toner cartridges a year and at $80 each and that seems like a lot of money. Everything else about this laser printer is great. I just wish the toner cartridge lasted longer.
I'd finally had it with my 4-year-old Canon Multifunction (C555). The fax worked fine but the printer was unreliable, torpid and, because the cartridges kept drying up, frightfully expensive. Despite my wife's warning (she's been having trouble with HP-OSX compatibility issues), I opted for this HP 4215.
When it arrived, I was immediately cheered by a box that was less than half the size of the Canon's. Upon opening it, I was further encouraged by a handy yet complete printed manual. (The Canon's was all online, and the printed-out materials seemed like a life-time of reading.) In 10 minutes I was ready to go--cartridges installed, program installed on my Powerbook, telephone line, USB cable, power cord all hooked up. The unit seemed too light and compact, the set-up too easy and automatic, but I went to a Word document, clicked and waited. Not for long, because the printer not only handled the document in record time but presented me with copy that was sharper than any I'd ever seen.
Next I went on the internet, found a richly textured, page-sized color photo and clicked "print." Same result. The machine speedily delivered a bright yet detailed and subtle color print that was an improvement on the original, even with the cheap copy paper I was using.
My plan was to keep my workhorse Epson for the bulk of my printing and use the HP for faxing, copying, and scanning (all of which it does both better and more efficiently than my old Canon). But the HP is simply too good to be anything less than a starting player. I can't remember ever being more impressed with a device, especially one this complicated, and happier about a computer or office-related purchase.
In spite of my singular success with this particular model, I've learned not to make blanket judgements about a brand or manufacturer based on one particular experience, especially in this field of competitive, rapidly changing technology. My wife just gave up on her HP printer and exchanged it for a Canon.
My husband bought me this All-In-One for Mother's Day of 2005. He knew how much I wanted an All-In-One but did not want to lay out too much money. I own a rental company and work from home, so I thought this would make my life a lot easier, well I was wrong! This printer worked great for one whole month. Then the problems started.
1) The ink cartridges are way too small for something that is supposed to scan, copy and print.
2) Printing envelopes is almost impossible. Stamps.com could not format to print postage on my printer.
3) You cannot send more than a 2 or 3 page fax unless you want to feed it one page at a time. This was fun in my last real estate transaction. Most of the time I have to fax three pages, hang up, fax three more, and so on...
4) It CONSTANTLY says that "The cradle cannot move" It suggest you open it and free the jam. Problem is there is no jam. All you have to do is press ok, and it keeps going. This may seem like NO BIG DEAL, but for the last 6 months is has done it on every SINGLE page I printed, or fax I received! Every single one. NO JAM you just have to press OK and it takes FOREVER to print one page, with this problem. About 2 pages a minute! AWFUL!
5) When it pulls in paper it sounds terrible. It makes almost a screaming sound. Sounds like it is going to break any day now!
It is small, and if it weren't for the screaming paper feeding problem, and the constant pressing of the OK button, it would be a great addition for someone who receives or send 1 or 2 page faxes. Otherwise, save your money and buy a nicer model.
HP ink cartridges are notoriously overpriced. I have the photosmart plus. It's a good machine but drinks more ink than a drunken sailor drinks. The cost to keep replacing the ink makes this machine not worth it! The only way to stay out of the poor house with HP printers is to buy aftermarket ink to refill your cartridges. HP protects against this (because they dishonestly make their cartridges run down so fast) by not allowing the computer chip to be reset (can someone out there make a device to do this please). So, you can use aftermarket ink to fill your cartridge but you won't get a read-out on how much ink is left...this is really annoying.
This will likely be my last HP printer...I'm sick of paying them so much for their ink when other companies are so much cheaper and offer the same or better quality products...
This ink is fine. I am sticking to the manufacturer's ink since I have had problems using non-proprietary ink with printers in the past. I just wish it was less expensive. I have switched my printer setting to the economy mode which helps the cartridge last longer. If I want better quality printing I switch it to a different setting and then put it back on the economy setting.
Needed a printer for my notebook PC while on vacation. This was just what I needed. With USB was an easy setup, no special drivers required, just "plug-n-play". Slow printing, but good quality. Small footprint, easy to carry. Even fits in my notebook case.
This printer is great! It came with 110 and 220 cords and is very small. I am in the army and do not have a lot of space where I am so I couldn't have ordered a better printer!
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