Filed under less ink for more money
Check out our Continuous Inking System review and installation guide here. No more cartridges!
Spotted this on Amazon and wondered why:
The iP4300 printer has been discontinued by Canon for a while now, and its replacement is the Canon Pixma iP4600 which cost a mere $87.00. Why does the new replacement cost less than the old model?
We found the answer when we saw the new CLI-221 and PGI-220 ink cartridges that the iP4600 uses. Canon has halved the size of the inkjet cartridge on the newer CLI-220, PGI-221 cartridges; we also assume that the print head assembly has changed as well. This would explain the rush on old technology. Having tested an iP4300 we can testify to the quality of the printer, very good. Two paper trays in a consumer inkjet printer is worth its original $99.00 price alone. But $295.00 is stretching it a little.
New CLI-220 Canon cartridges are MUCH smaller than the previous CLI-8 series.
The new cartridges also have a new chip to deal with, so that is also an issue. Copies of the cartridges (available as compatibles) are available, however these copies do not include the chip attached to the end of each cartridge which is required to register the cartridge in the printer. The Canon print monitor can be turned off, and you find out you are out of ink when the page you printed is missing a color. A quick look inside the printer to check the ink every now and then cures this.
Chipless compatibles are available for CLI-220 series inks, but requires a chip swap.
If you want a cartridge with a reset chip, they are not currently available. The previous Canon cartridges like the CLI-8, and PGI-5 series, which were released in 2005-2006, and it took over a year and a half until the code on the chip was broken and reset systems were made widely available. Canon locked out third party cartridge providers when they used 128-bit encryption on the ink monitor chip as to stymie remanufacturers. It took a long time to crack the original Canon code, and I would guess this would be the case this time around as well. Compatibles with chip for the CLI-8, PGI-5 series ink cartridges are readily available today, however this was not the case over the past 2 years.
Printers that use the “new” CLI-220, PGI-221 cartridges are:
- PIXMA iP3600
- PIXMA iP4600
- PIXMA MP620
- PIXMA MP980
- PIXMA MX860
So if your printer uses the newer CLI-220, PGI-221 cartridges, it looks like you will have to do the chip swap in the short term.
We will update this post as more information becomes available.
This deal on a Canon MP960 looks even better now.
Canon compatible cartridges with a reset chip will soon be available.
Filed under: Canon Cartridges, Cartridge Info, Reviews Tagged: | Canon, cli, cli-220, cli-220c, cli-220m, CLI-8, cli-8 vs cli-221, cli220y, Compare, Comparison, iP3600, iP4600, MP620, MP980, MX860, pgi, pgi-221, pgi-221bk, PGI-5, review, Reviews
