Which printer ????

[plantpotpuppy]

We at present have got a Pixma IP4200 but are finding the costs of the original ink are going up and up each year. We would like to swap to compatible ink cartridges but are wary of clogging up the printer. Can anyone advise as to whether its worth risking getting compatible ink and poss clogging up the printer ( this happened before with an Epson one we had ) or whether they can suggest another printer that they know is ok on certain compatible ink cartridges they buy. My son has just started secondary school so is using the printer more for doing colour presentations for school. We dont print off photos (maybe the odd one or two) at home preferring to go to Asda or somewhere else in town, mainly as our ink is so expensive, so we have just never printed them off at home..... Help ! New printer ? Arghhhh its a minefield.
Cheers for any advice
Jo

 

[jimtonic]

Hello Jo
You printer accepts the PGI-5/CLI-8 range of cartridges. There have been compatible versions of these cartridges around for some time now and as a result the quality is generally good. I happen to work within the ink cartridge industry so deal first hand with customer queries or problems and we get very few of these returned or faulty.
You also have a choice when it comes to compatibles. You can either go for a basic unbranded cartridges, which are generally the cheapest, or you can go for a branded cartridge like Inkrite or Jet Tec. I can understand your hesitation if you experienced problems with your Epson, but a good quality compatible should work fine in your Canon. Don't forget that 3rd party produced cartridges only seem cheap when compared to the over inflated prices set by the printer manufacturers and not necessarily because they are just a 'cheap' copy
With prices at around £5 for a basic compatible vs. £13-14 for a Canon original, you could save quite a lot of money!