Re: Are Canon IPF printers reliable?
Re: Are Canon IPF printers reliable?
- Subject: Re: Are Canon IPF printers reliable?
- From: Barry Gorrell <email@hidden>
- Date: Sun, 29 Jan 2012 13:48:33 -0500
Hello Roger,
I manage a digital imaging lab at Cecil College and we have (3) Canon
iPF5100 and (1) iPF6100 printers all purchased in 2008. The ability
to switch from "Photo" to "Matte" black inks on the fly was a major
factor in our decision to switch from our aging Epson (4800) printers
to the Canon's. There was also a significant improvement in output
quality especially when printing with "Photo" black ink on satin and
glossy media.
On the down side the Canon's have not been as reliable over all as
the Epson's . The main issue has been print head replacements. Early
on Canon replaced a couple of our failed print heads at no charge
despite recently expired warrantees. Since then however, we've
replaced almost every print head and in some cases more than once
over the 3 years since our warrantee's expired.
One of our 5100's recently stopped printing with an error message
that ended with "Call for service". It is currently awaiting a repair
visit from Canon which they provide at a blanket rate of $700,
including any necessary replacement parts. The print head
replacements can easily be done by the user, but they are rather
expensive at approx. $500 each.
When Epson finally introduced their new 4900 printers we purchased a
pair of them and have been pleased with them so far. Although the new
models have both "Photo" and "Matte" loaded all the time and do a
much better job at switching between them, it is still not
"automatic" nor as fast or economical as with the Canon's.
We've not yet reached a final conclusion regarding the total "cost of
ownership" between the Canon's and the Epson's, but the Canon's do
seem to be more expensive over the long haul. The output quality of
both is excellent with significant improvements over previous models.
The ink costs for both also seem similar, but the Epson may have a
slight edge there as well. For us the main question is, does the
superior media switching capabilities of the Canon offset the higher
maintenance costs?
Barry Gorrell
VCP Lab Coordinator
Cecil College
___________________________________________________________________
On Jan Fri, 27 Jan 2012 19:25:47 -0500, Roger Breton
<email@hidden> wrote:
Message: 4
Date: Fri, 27 Jan 2012 19:25:47 -0500
From: Roger Breton <email@hidden>
To: colorsync-users List <email@hidden>
Subject: Are Canon IPF printers any reliable?
Message-ID: <001601ccdd53$617bf740$2473e5c0$@videotron.ca>
Content-Type: text/plain; CHARSET=US-ASCII
Now it's my turn. I can't put any more time and money on my old
Epson 4000
printer without ruining my bank account. So, I feel like someone who's
driven GM's for all his life and now wants to switch to an import.
I only hear good things about Canon IPF printers. I'm especially
considering
the 5100 as I don't really have a need for anything larger.
So my question is, does anyone have anything good or bad to say
about this
printer or Canon's in general? I intend to experiment with Canon's
supplied
Photoshop plug-in, of course, but will surely drive it mostly from
a CMYK
proofing RIP like ORIS or GMG or EFI. So I'm not too concerned
about getting
the color I want.
Some folks say they had to change print heads past warranty time?
Some say
that pages are not cut straight?
I thought Scott Martin could chime in with his experience?
Please don't try to convince me to stay with Epson -- I won't.
Best / Roger
_______________________________________________
Do not post admin requests to the list. They will be ignored.
Colorsync-users mailing list (email@hidden)
Help/Unsubscribe/Update your Subscription:
This email sent to email@hidden