There is a brief story on CNN.com about the ink refilling stations which Walgreens and OfficeMax will soon introduce. We use the term “story” loosely because it is more like a blurb and it really just references an article that appeared in USA Today. Although they are a bit late on this story, it is interesting to see that this news finally became truly national. There is a quote in the article from Lexmark spokesperson Tim Fitzpatrick:

“Refillers are providing you with used cartridges with print heads that were not designed for multiple uses and with ink that is not optimized for use with the printer….”

Athough Tim should surely be our arch nemesis we do agree with what he said in one regard. These days, between all the different manufacturers and all the different types of cartridges, there are a lot of different types of ink. While it’s true that there probably isn’t much difference between the standard black ink you find in a lot of cartridges, there can be a pretty big difference between the color ink that works in your HP printer from 1998 and the color ink that works in your Dell printer that you bought last month. Ink does differ between manufacturers, and photo ink is usually going to be different from regular color ink. So you have to be aware that if you do bring your cartridges into a refilling station, you are not going to be getting the same ink that was originally in the cartridge, and therefore you might not get the same results.

For these reasons, we sell inkjet refill kits made specifically for individual cartridges. We realize that the key to getting good results out of a refilled cartridge is to make sure the ink you are refilling with matches what was previously in the cartridge. So the HP 99 has its own kit, the Lexmark 82 has its own, etc. etc. You can take a look at our refill kit instructions page to see how the process works and see a selection of some of the refill kits we sell. Or you can just search our site to see if we carry a refill kit for your cartridge.

Refillable printer cartridges on horizon [CNN.com]

Staples has a rebate on the HP Photosmart 2575 all-in-one. The rebate is for $40, which brings the cost down to $159.98. The Photosmart 2575 is one of HP’s newer models and it features built-in networking and then all the usual features of HP machines like the ability to print directly from memory cards and all that jazz. The Photosmart 2575 can use up to 6 inks at once, including the the HP 100 photo grey cartridge.

The rebate is good for purchases up until 3/11.

You can find the cartridges for the HP Photosmart 2575 here.

CNET has posted a review of the Epson Stylus CX4800 and their final verdict is not too positive. While noting that it has good features, especially for a machine in its price range, they note that the CX4800 had mediocre print quality and is one of the slowest printers they have seen in a while. Epson rated the CX4800 at 20 pages per minute (in draft mode), but based on their tests, CNET found that they only got 1.57 ppm. Other similar models in that price range which were tested by CNET printed anywhere from 5-7 ppm.

Based on the user reviews at CNET and Amazon, their disappointment with the CX4800 seems pretty valid. Some of the complaints that they had in the review didn’t seem to ring true with too many other people, like the lack of an LCD preview screen, which really nobody else seemed to mind. On a side note, we actually give Epson kudos for leaving the LCD preview screen off of a machine, since we think it is nothing more than a novelty that seems cool but has no real purpose. If people are going to view and edit their photos, they are going to do it on their computer, not on some tiny two inch screen. An LCD does help make it easier to use the menu options on the printer, but as far as its usefulness for viewing printers, we aren’t convinced.

Back to the CX4800. What most people seemed to agree on was that this isn’t a printer meant for people serious about printing photos. To be fair to Epson, this is in all-in-one machine that only costs around $100, so people really shouldn’t be expecting a machine that gives top-notch photo printing results. But based on the reviews and feedback, and the fact that most other Epson all-in-one machines have been pretty well-received, this might be a model to pass over.

On a final note, we have yet to figure out why CNET posts reviews of products six months after they are released. For instance, this printer came out in August of 2005, yet this review was first posted to their site on March 7th. Strange.

Epson Stylus CX4800 CNET editors’ review

Buy this printer Buy Epson Stylus CX4800 inkjet cartridges

In a story that is probably interesting to no one, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences used Epson printers to print the photo ID badges for everyone involved in this year’s Oscars. More specifically, they used Epson R800 printers. Now the only thing more strange than Epson putting out a press release with this information is that the Oscars used a relatively common printer to make their badges. The R800 is not some junky entry-level machine, but it is also not a machine reserved for professionals only. You can order one online for under $400, which makes it one of the more expensive machines out there, but certainly not out of everyone’s price range. But, it does have a 1.5-picoliter ink droplet. Sounds impressive, right? Ok, we know that probably no one knows what a picoliter is (it is 1 trillionth of a liter) but what is important is that 1.5 picoliters is currently the smallest drop size in the whole industry. So it does have that going for it.

It just seems a little strange to us imagining a bunch of Epson photo printers printing out badges backstage at the Oscars. Seems to us like they would have some lab where they have a huge printer that cranks out like 50 badges per second. Anyways, you can go out and buy this printer now and brag to everyone that it is the same printer model that possibly printed a badge for George Clooney…..or something.

Academy Awards(R) Presentation Uses Epson Printers [Press Release]

The deals just keep on coming from Amazon. This time it is the Canon PIXMA iP4200 on sale for $99.99. In addition to that, there is also a 5% off coupon that can be used on the iP4200 and other Canon products. The coupon SAVECANEVENT is good through 3/13.

The PIXMA iP4200 is meant for home users who don’t need professional level results. That is not to say that this isn’t a good printer, it just isn’t their top of line model. It does have some good features, including autoduplexing, which allows the user to print double-sided pages with ease. Not many models in this price range will have that feature, so that is a plus. The iP4200 also features dual paper trays to easily alternate between different types of paper. As with most reviews of the iP4200, we will sum things up by telling you that this is a good printer for someone on a budget who doesn’t want a fancy machine.

Cartridges for the Canon PIXMA iP4200.

CNET posted a review of the Canon PIXMA MP500 the other day, and even though technically this printer isn’t brand new, the review is still worth reading. The PIXMA MP500 is a pretty affordable machine, as you can purchase it for around $200 and can likely find some rebates to bring the cost down even more. It is a photo all-in-one machine which uses a five-color ink system which is a mix of four dye-based inks and one pigment-based ink. It prints at up to 9600×2400 dpi and can produce a 4×6 photo in about one minute - both pretty standard statistics for Canon models these days.

The CNET review gives the MP500 a 7.2 rating (out of 10), which is not too spectacular, but also is not as bad as it sounds. They never give out anything above a 9 and currently the highest ranked printer that they have has an 8.3 rating. According to their review, the MP500 has excellent photo and text printing, but mediocre scanning results. This is a predictable complaint, since affordable all-in-one machines are likely to skimp on features that don’t involve printing. They know that people will not accept sub par printing results, but they will likely shrug it off if their color scans don’t turn out perfect. Tested against comparable machines, the MP500 held up very well on text speed and pretty well on photo speed, so it is a well-balanced machine.

Based on user feedback (where it scored an 8.8) most people feel this is a solid machine. If you don’t care that the scanning and copying features might be a little lacking, then this would be a good machine for you. Most people spending under $200 for an all-in-one machine are not going to have high expectations for how well their scans turn out, and in reality they shouldn’t. If you are truly concerned about the quality of your scans, then you can either buy a standalone scanner or else look for a more advanced machine.

Canon Pixma MP500 CNET editors’ review [CNET]

Buy this printer Buy Canon PIXMA MP500 cartridges

Amazon has the Epson Stylus Photo 1280 on sale with both a coupon code and a mail-in rebate. You can save 5% off the starting price of $379.99 by using the coupon code SAVEPSNEVENT and then you can use the $100 rebate which is mentioned on the page. After both discounts the price comes down to $261, which is not bad considering it would probably normally cost you around $400 in an office superstore.

We won’t lie to you though - this is an old printer. At one time the 1280 was one of the best photo machines you could get and was very unique because it featured a color cartridge with five colors back before really anyone was doing that. But these days every new printer that comes out features tons of colors, so this one no longer has as much of an edge over the competition as it once did. So, don’t expect any technology that is going to blow you away. At the same time, though, this is a large format printer which can print photos at up to 13×19, something that is not easy to find. Based on this sale, it seems like they might be phasing this printer out, so anyone who is interested in more than just 8×10s should consider this deal.

The 5% off coupon is good until 3/13.

Epson Stylus 1280 cartridges.

Lexmark’s new C522n color laser printer recently won the Editor’s Choice award from PC Magazine. We know this because Lexmark put out a press release the other day stating this. While it is a nice honor, the HP Color LaserJet 2600n, the Konica Minolta magicolor 2400W and the Ricoh Aficio G700 all won them as well. Technically, the C522n is the newest Editor’s Choice, so that does mean something. Any time a machine can unseat the legendary Ricoh Aficio G700 from atop its throne, it is worth noting.

The C522n is designed for network use and has a list price of $499, which makes it relatively affordable but still more than the HP 2600n. Of course, the first time you replace all the cartridges it will cost you around $540 if you buy the Lexmark brand, but that is another story. The only downside to the printer that PC Mag makes note of is that the graphic output of the machine is “a little low”, but even with the advances in printing over the years, people still likely have pretty low expecations for how well pictures will come out on a laser printer. According to the review, the C522n is best when it comes to printing text, both in terms of quality and speed. This is one of the reasons why they give it the slight edge over the HP.

You can check out PC Mag’s review.
And their comparison of similar models.

Lexmark’s new C522n color laser wins prestigious PC Magazine Editors’ Choice award [Press Release]