TIp on buying a wireless (wifi) printer with tank on side

[luther]

As ubiquitous as printers with tanks are in Thailand, I assume there are no big issues.

Every shop I went in had the same wireless printer (W/tank it was 3200 baht)

Cannon MG3170

Any suggestions or recommendations?

[bluweyze]

There are 2 main types of printers with tanks on the side; those designed to have then and those converted by the shop. The former are more reliable but more expensive and usually require more expensive specific ink. The latest Epsom printer uses bottled ink but it is 6 times the price of the large 1 litre ink bottles. The later shop-modified printers are cheaper but the quality is not always as good and sometimes require a visit to the shop because the tubes carrying the ink airlock (usually a free repair fro the selling shop).Your choice may depend on the quality that your prefer and the amount you print.

[masuk]

I'm about to change printers, and looking carefully at Canon and Epson. I want to avoid what I bought 2 years back, and that's the Canon model which is the same as the MG317, which only has 2 ink cartridges, no duplex printing, no wi-fi. The MG317 does have these however. I'd also be very interested in getting an external feed tank.

The Canon which interests me the most right now is the MG6270, on special at ฿5990.00 just now. It has 6 ink tanks each costing ฿431. I probably don't do enough printing to warrant the external tank, but it's an option for later.

I used to have an Epson Work force printer which was excellent and still going strong at a friend's place. The current Epson WF-2538 looks good, has wi-fi, 5 ink tanks, but I forgot to ask if it does duplex printing.

This probably doesn't help you much, but I'd certainly avoid a two tank printer, as once 1 colour runs out, it stops working. Of course if you convert to tanks (if possible) that won't matter.

I'd be interested to know what you choose.

[schondie]

Steer clear of the Brother wifi printers. Crappy quality printing compared to the Canon all in ones. Even a really well qualified Ossie IT chap couldn't get the Wifi networks sorted out.

Maybe there's someone that can help you out here but Oh Brother! Don't get caught out by their cheap price.

[FolkGuitar]

I think I was lucky to find an honest sales person when I went looking. Despite the fact that the printers with the tanks were selling at a higher price, she convinced me NOT to buy it, but to buy one without the tanks. She asked me how much printing I did, and did I print every day. When I said just a dozen or so pages a week, and not printing every day, she suggested that the tanks would not be my best option. She said the ink might clog up inside the tubes unless I printed every day or printed in larger quantities. So far, I've been very happy with the Canon printer I bought. It's not the very best for photographic prints, but they are good enough, and the text printing is damn near perfect.

[luther]

I think I was lucky to find an honest sales person when I went looking. Despite the fact that the printers with the tanks were selling at a higher price, she convinced me NOT to buy it, but to buy one without the tanks. She asked me how much printing I did, and did I print every day. When I said just a dozen or so pages a week, and not printing every day, she suggested that the tanks would not be my best option. She said the ink might clog up inside the tubes unless I printed every day or printed in larger quantities. So far, I've been very happy with the Canon printer I bought. It's not the very best for photographic prints, but they are good enough, and the text printing is dam_n near perfect.

I got tired of buying 3 black and 3 color cartridges per year.

For the old malfunctioning HP I was using that equaled 3000 – 4000 baht per year.

For the Canon I just bought, it would be 3900 baht for replacing the cartridges 3 times a year.

The guy who sold it to me and installed the tanks, said for that much printing I would not replace the ink in a year. If so, colors plus black = 320 baht.

It will be interesting to see if Epson changes the market as they have 4 or 5 printers with factory installed tanks. It reminds me of the early days of LPG cars.

While I was buying the printer a Thai guy came in carrying a printer similar to mine. I asked him what the problem was.

“Ink won’t flow.”

“How long have you had it?”

“Two years with no problems.”

I asked the repair guy how easy it would be to fix it.

“Easy, about ten minutes to replace the tubes that flow from the tanks to the cartridges.”

Who knows? It’s a pretty inexpensive experiment.

[masuk]

Have you checked what generic inks are available here? I know there are folk who say they'll give you a lot of problems, but I refilled my Canon back in Australia for years and no problems.

Generic ink is about half the price of the genuine stuff. This is where the printer companies make their profits of course. Prices for a single Canon colour cartridge in Australia just now is AU$17.00 (฿476) and a generic is $7.00.(฿196). Price in Chiang Mai is ฿400 for Canon.

A good point made was by FolkGuitar about the quantity of printing done each week/year. Probably not worth the hassle of external tanks for ordinary household printing.

[FolkGuitar]

I wanted the tanks just because they looked interesting.

The salesperson told me I'd be better off just refilling the cartridges. Frankly, for the few times a year that I do run out, I'll probably just replace them.

But speaking of generic inks, what is the result using them for photograph printing on glossy paper. Some of the samples I saw in the shops didn't impress me. Black text or even colored text isn't usually a problem, but matching skin tones, flower colors, sky color, etc., can be tricky. Any photographers out there using the tanks or refilled cartridges?

[VocalNeal]

I've had a Canon with a tank for 6 years, no major problems. Did buy a set of new cartridges 3 years ago but I print everyday but I don't print photographs on glossy paper.

There are different inks for different manufacturers, I thought this was BS but some are a slightly different colour like Canon and Brother yellow. If in doubt buy the most expensive for the brand of printer you have.

I bought a Brother but had to revert back to my trusty Canon because of the paper feed. Brother is a front feeder so when I tried to print on 230g stock it jammed and ruined the printer because the stock has to bend through 180 degrees and it was too thick for the mechanism. Canon is rear feed so stock goes straight through.

Brother has the best ink feed system because there is no ink in the actual print head it is already stored in front mounted tanks. When you buy the bulk tanks they simply slot in where the disposable ones go nothing inside the printer changes

But they do stick out the front

Canon et al have to have their print cartridges modified by inserting a drip needle into the top of the cartridge.

Canon style external tanks can sometimes be susceptible to bubbles in the "lines" but this can be eliminated by pressurizing the tanks with a syringe. Canon has access to the cartridges as they are normally replaced. Brother does not have easy access to the actual print head. If Canon screws up for some reason you simply buy two new cartridges and modify them to accept the drip needles.

Also get prepared for how to cancel error messages and the like. Doesn't effect printing but can be a bit pesky. Buy some plastic gloves from 7-11

[platofrank]

Can anyone advise me WHERE to buy in BANGKOK
- cheap(est) Canon (CL&PG)741&740 cartridges

- or modifie printer (MG3170) to external tanks

- or buy (new?) printer (pref Canon) with external tanks???

Would be of great help... need to refill.. :-( so have to decide now...

thanks in advance! Frank

Edited October 27, 2013 by platofrank

[scorecard]

Steer clear of the Brother wifi printers. Crappy quality printing compared to the Canon all in ones. Even a really well qualified Ossie IT chap couldn't get the Wifi networks sorted out.

Maybe there's someone that can help you out here but Oh Brother! Don't get caught out by their cheap price.

+ 1, especially the point about the Wi-Fi set up.

Edited October 27, 2013 by scorecard

[jagi00]

Steer clear of the Brother wifi printers. Crappy quality printing compared to the Canon all in ones. Even a really well qualified Ossie IT chap couldn't get the Wifi networks sorted out.

Maybe there's someone that can help you out here but Oh Brother! Don't get caught out by their cheap price.

+ 1, especially the point about the Wi-Fi set up.

I have a Brother MFC-J2510 printer and have had no issues with it - Wi FI set up was a doddle!. Printing quality is excellent and it supports double sided, booklet and A3 printing too. So far, the standard ink cartridges seem OK for my relatively low print volume.