Other than epson R200?

[spiffy]

What pushed me toward the 4000 was a review I read at one point that described the photgraphic performance as being better on the 4000 than the 5000, despite the 5000's higher cost. I recall that it had something to do with a characteristic of the 5000 that increased text and graphics performance at the *expense* of photo image quality. If i can find the article in the next few days, I will post a link.

I have read that too in a couple of other forums (in addition to speculating whether the 1pl head in the 5000 will clog more easily), but for some reason nobody could find the link to the actual article that talked about this comparison. I'd very much appreciate it if you can post the link when you get a chance.

Spiffy

[mccoady]

So I just want to clarify, the people who have bought from expansys and gotten the adapter plug are plugging it straight into 110 wall outlet or power strip? I guess that means I no longer need to use my voltage converter.

[jaxxboss]

yes, thats true. of course if u just hook up a voltmeter, it would be so easier. If u dont have one, u gotta know somebody that does.

[arklab]

So I just want to clarify, the people who have bought from expansys and gotten the adapter plug are plugging it straight into 110 wall outlet or power strip? I guess that means I no longer need to use my voltage converter.

That worked for me with no apparent problem, however I still will feel a little better with a more robust solution (transformer or US power supply).

Also I'd like to share another happy Expansys experience with all.
I've decided to "trade-up" to an iP4000 (due only to a sudden realization of many more photo printsin my future).
As it's only been 12 days since recieving the 3000, I called the return guy (Jessie) (and did NOT yell at him).
He listened politely, agreed to refund the full purchase price and even offered to refund the return shipping charge!!!


This is customer service even better than Newegg!

PS: The UK iP3000 was a great printer - fast, very quiet, excellent print quality, but on photos and DVD's with a large area of black it rendered it a very very dark purple.

The iP4000 with it's additional dye-based photo black should fix this.
Also just learned that the iP5000 will only use its 1pl drop size when Canon Photo Paper Pro is selected.
On everything else it uses a 2pl drop size, just like the iP4000 and iP8500.

[jaxxboss]

Wow, nobody is gonan use a volt meter. LOL. I'm going to order thenip4000 just to hook a voltmeter up to it.

[troyvcd1]

I am sorry but what is a voltmeter going to tell you. If you live in the US the voltage from you outlet will be 120VAC/60hz. If you live in europe you are going to have 220VAC/50hz. The printer should have it written where the power cord connects to the printer what voltage it will accept. If it says for example 100-220VAC 50-60hz then there is no need to worry the printer will work on whatever power you put into it.

[Captain315]

Most dual power products have a switch on the back that allows you to select the correct input voltage. Most likely, the adapter is just for the plug to adapt to the wall outlet.

[jaxxboss]

Most dual power products have a switch on the back that allows you to select the correct input voltage. Most likely, the adapter is just for the plug to adapt to the wall outlet.

You're preaching to the choir son. Ive lived in Asia and Europe while in the Navy and I know all about such things. If you have followed the thread then you would have realized why I made that comment about the voltmeter.

To make it easy for you, here is what I mean. Take a voltmeter and the adapter in hand, plug only the adapter into the outlet. Then take the voltmeter and check what the voltage is that is coming from the other end of the adapter.

If the voltage is steped up to 210/20 then we know one thing, if it is stilll 110/120 then we know that the printer is self regualting.

In the olden days (and I still have a few items) there would indeed be a switch on the back of electronic items to go from 110 / to 220. You may still see it from time to time nowadays.

Captain, yeah, on page 6 I believe, I showed an image of what you are talking about as far as a plain ole adapter. that's why I'm still asking about this, because I know that a plain ole adapter to just have the plug fit will not step up or step down the power.

[krupted]

i have a feeling it doesnt step up the voltage, since the load is so small im sure the printers power supply corrects for this.

[jaxxboss]

LOL. This sounds like nobody want to commit on this. It's mostly all " I think" or "maybe this" or "possibly it may".. etc....

here's hopw it goes..

HIM #1 I wont say yes and I wont say no !
HIM #2 Would you say Maybe ?
Him #1 I might !

[mccoady]

Well I only know one guy who has a volt meter and he works all the time and does not like to loan out his tools so catching him to run over to my house might take awhile. If I can get him to stop by I will because I would really like to know the answer myself, but as I said this could take awhile.

[Pudah]

You can get a multimeter from your local RadioShack for $10-$15

[arklab]

LOL. This sounds like nobody want to commit on this. It's mostly all " I think" or "maybe this" or "possibly it may".. etc....

here's hopw it goes..

HIM #1 I wont say yes and I wont say no !
HIM #2 Would you say Maybe ?
Him #1 I might !

have been using a UK iP3000 I purchased from expansys-usa.
Of course, it has the UK cord and huge UK 3-prong plug ... therefore it is expecting the standard UK 220 voltage.
I had assumed I would have two options when pluging it into US 120v. These are:
1) Purchase a US/UK transformer (a box that sits somewhere between the printer and wall socket) that converts 200v to 110v (actually a range fron 110v to 120v is normal).
2) Purchase the US version of Canon's iP3000 power supply (which when swaped with the UK one fits inside the printer ... easy to do $20 from Canon USA parts)

Ether of these solutions will work and be quite robust.

3) To my supprise, Expansys threw in a "Plug converter" which allows the huge UK plug to be used in a US wall socket. I have been using this exclusively for over a week now and no problems at all. I've checked the voltage with a multimeter, and it is still 120v feeding into the printer.

4) Since #3 works, this gives an additional option of using a regular US power cord!

Use all of the above at your own risk, of course, or check with a qualified licensed electrican if really nervious.

In the case of some extra nervous folks, DEFINATLY check with a qualified licensed electrican

[krupted]

union electrician here, and the printer itself probably runs on 12v dc, so the printers power supply just uses what it needs from whatever voltage.

If its been working fine for a week then its all good

[p_l]

A lot of camcorders also use a universal power supply (100-240V), so whether you're traveling in Japan (100V), North America (115-120V) or Europe, China, etc. (220-240V), you can plug it in wherever and charge up your batteries. More and more consumer electronics use this one-size-fits-all power supply to lower production costs and simplify worldwide distribution.

[sync]

What is it that makes it worth paying twice as much for a Canon printer to print DVDs?

[jaxxboss]

What is it that makes it worth paying twice as much for a Canon printer to print DVDs?

Well, if you owned the only other cd/dvd printer that's made- the epson R200/300 etc.. you would know that there are issues with the tray, with the ink and what have ya. The cannon is so much better with these things. the carts are clear so you know exactly how much ink is left, not sure if they are chipped or npt, but i think they arent which makes refiling em easy. The tray issue cannot be any worse than the epson models if not beter and its pretty much a given that cannon prints are nicer.

[sync]

What is it that makes it worth paying twice as much for a Canon printer to print DVDs?

Well, if you owned the only other cd/dvd printer that's made- the epson R200/300 etc.. you would know that there are issues with the tray, with the ink and what have ya. The cannon is so much better with these things. the carts are clear so you know exactly how much ink is left, not sure if they are chipped or npt, but i think they arent which makes refiling em easy. The tray issue cannot be any worse than the epson models if not beter and its pretty much a given that cannon prints are nicer.

So, the carts are clear and you can see how much ink is left.

The tray might be better.

It doesn't have the other issues, what have ya.

Are Canon prints better on DVD or just regular paper?

[jaxxboss]

I dont know if the prints are btter on dvd, but the epson dvd's I make are prety good, so no complaintsn there. Ive read that photo prints are better. Im on my 2nd epson cd/dvd printer and they have problems with the try sticking or not going in or going in too far or having an error after the dvd is printed making the user having to remove the tray, close dvd hatch, hit reset and slide the hatch down again and set up for the next dvd. When i print dvd discs I usually print about 10 at once and its just a pain to go thru all this. Im will to go the cannon route .

[arklab]

What is it that makes it worth paying twice as much for a Canon printer to print DVDs?

Epson R200 = $100
Canon UK iP3000 = $146

146/100 = 1.46 times more.

OR

R200 = $100 for CD's PLUS US iP3000 = $50 comes to $150 anyway.

Please check your math.

If you feel the R200 prints as well as iP3000 for general printing (on quality, noise, speed, ink costs, reliability) then just get it!

[sync]

What is it that makes it worth paying twice as much for a Canon printer to print DVDs?

Epson R200 = $100
Canon UK iP3000 = $146

146/100 = 1.46 times more.

OR

R200 = $100 for CD's PLUS US iP3000 = $50 comes to $150 anyway.

Please check your math.

If you feel the R200 prints as well as iP3000 for general printing (on quality, noise, speed, ink costs, reliability) then just get it!

I paid $60 for the R200. 146/60 = 2.43

I don't care how the R200 compares to the iP3000 for general printing. I asked about DVD printing.

You seem to think that my question was meant to say the Canon printer isn't worth the extra cost. It's really just a simple question, with no hidden motives.

[striker570]

Hello everyone.

Sorry about the delay getting this to you while I was on the road, but here is the link for the review that highlighted the difference between the Canon ip4000 and ip5000. It was done by PC Magazine on the ip5000. I direct your attention to the "pros and cons" sections, as well as the summary. The bottom line is that the ip5000 may be faster for text printing, but at the expense of photo quality. if you guys are like me and many others, you probably have another laser printer or all in one for common text printing. Because my focus is on photo and DVD printing, I saved $$ and got better performance from the 4000.

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1725812,00.asp?kc=PCRSS02129TX1K0000530

Switching gears, I'm really pleased with the photo output from this thing. Something important that I would like to impart to you is that, like our interest in DVD production, the media makes all the difference in the final photo print product. Over the years I have found that the inkjet photo printers are very sensitive to the chemistry, composition and texture of the various paper products, particularly color accuracy, sharpness and dye behavior over time. I remember going through scores of different photo paper manufacturers and grades with my Epson printer before settling on the Epson photo paper "Glossy film" brand. I went through a similar, slightly less tedious process when I switched to Canon several years ago (mainly due to the abundance of information from other users on the internet).

The moral of the story: Canon "PHOTO PAPER PRO"

This paper is a little more expensive than other name brands, and considerably more than the discount, generic stuff. However, it comes in a variety of sizes ( I particularly like the 4 X 6 cards) and is widely available in stores. I have found it on sale many times at CompUSA. Printing my digital photos at 300 dpi on this paper, I challenge you to tell the difference from a photo lab print!!

BTW, the fact that Epson paper works best on Epsons and Canon paper works best with Canon may not be a coincidence from what I have read and heard. The graphics printing world is very demanding and competitive, and to impress potential buyers, the leading manufacturers optimize the performance of their hardware with the media. I guess it is in their interest to "marry" their printers to their own media brands. As always you might come up with a better solution for less $$, and online resources are abundant. Happy hunting!

I also want to reiterate, and believe me, I understand your concerns, that you CAN plug the UK Canon printer directly into the US 120V 60 cycle power with just the physical adapter from Expansys; no conversion or transformers required. Mine works perfectly (no smoke or fire trucks present)! There was a fixation in this thread toward getting voltmeters and reading voltages. This matter is above our pay grade...the operation that you are concerned with occurs internally within the power supply, and works quite well, as I can tell you from direct experience.

[arklab]

Sorry, cranky Monday ...

From what I've read and seen myself (pixma only), the canon is much nicer looking and far less smearing.

Only those who have both can truly comment, however. The very fact that you are asking the question here leads me to believe that you may not be all that happy with your R200 (nice price, bye the way).

For anyone in that position, the only rational solution I can think of would be to "bite the bullet" and try a Pixma.
This need not be quite the budget buster it may sound, though.
Expansys-USA has a 15 day window to return products.
If your reason is just "not good enough for the money" there is (up to) a 25% restocking fee.

Should you try it, I would suggest the iP4000, rather than the iP3000, and for two reasons.
1) the 4000 is only $28 more, is faster, quieter, and has an additional ink tank.
2) it is priced just $15 more than the US version on Newegg.
3) it is more likley (IMHO) that someone in a forum like this would jump to take it off your hands reducing the pain of a failed experiment.
4) the "next best" pixma is the iP5000 with 1pl heads... but it can ONLY use them on the photo pro paper (all other prints are identical to the 4000) and it sells for $244!

Why not just take a shot, then you will know.

EDIT: The iP4000 is the onlypixma with an old-fashoned parallel port plus a USB port. Very nice if you have an older computer or print server.

And I don't want to "diss" the iP3000 ether. It was a VERY nice printer, and I still prefer the look of the case (flat grey) and simplicity of just 4 ink tanks.
Oh, well...

[sync]

arklab,

I've only had the R200 a few weeks and I do occasionaly have tray issues. From what I've read they will only get worse. Since I paid less for the printer than the cost of ink, I am considering another printer if I can get more reliable tray feeding.

I'm used to working with profiled paper and I couldn't profile a DVD disc. So I spent a lot of time figuring out how to get decent results with discs. If I get a Canon, I'll have to go thru all that again. So at this point I'll probably have to get really fed up with the R200 before I'm motivated to switch.

striker,

I get excellent results on my Canon printer with Epson Heavyweight Matte. I don't think you can get really good results on any printer/paper without profiling.

[striker570]

Thanks arklab,

Sounds like i should give the epson Heavyweight Matte a try. i've seen it around. I'd also like to sample some of the generic papers they sell in Southern Calif. here at the computer swap meets we have on the weekends. Its been a number of years since i tried some....I think I was using the Epson photo printer at the time. Some of the prices are great...it would be nice to stock up if i can find a paper that gives good reults and save some $$ for general purpose photo prints, which i am constantly handing out.

I am not a pro, and none of my light business and family use has led me into using ICC profiles, but I admire your precision...I can see where under those conditions, once you get things nailed down, switching printers could be a pain in the ass

[sync]

striker,

I don't use a heavy duty profiler. I use Profile Prism which costs $80 and requires a scanner. I initially started off without profiling but when I do something I like it to look really good.

You mention all the papers you tried. Most of those would probably look great if they were profiled. To me it's worth the $80 just to avoid all that searching and testing.

If you use cheap paper, nothing will make it look good.

[troyvcd1]

I would be interested in a comparison of how the epson vs the cannon inks do as far as smudging on the dvd when wet. I heard that the epson ink will smear when it gets wet even after it has dried for days. Does the cannon fare any better?

[mccoady]

When you print on dvds using a (UK) Canon printer, the dvds come out almost dry to the touch. I usually give it 15 to 30 minutes to dry to be on the safe side but it's pretty much dry when it comes out of the printer. You could stick it right in your dvd player if you needed to and didn't want to wait. I'm using Prodisc and TY's to print on.

[troyvcd1]

Ya but what happens when you put water on the dried dvds.

[jaxxboss]

Ya but what happens when you put water on the dried dvds.

The same thing that happens when you put water on a tuna fish sandwhich.

Dont put water on ur dvd and u wont have any probs.