Canon vs HP Printer and Number on Cartilages

[i1t4yomindi]

I wanted to know what would be a better choice,

A) HP PSC Printers 1610, 1510, or 2355

B) Canon Pixma MP 130 or 750

I will do mainly black and white printing for school work and also want a good scanner/copier.

My main concern is that if i get a canon, even though inks are cheaper that it will be harder to get. Because from what i have found from the net, only a few stores carry ink cartilages for the MP 130 and 750 compared to HP. Is that true?

I am on a limited budget so i like to spend as least as possible. Which ones do you prefer a or b.

Second part, what do the numbers on the ink cartilages mean, like 94, 97, etc? (I notice higher number is more expensive.)

[glc]

If you do very little color printing, the black ink costs between HP and Canon will be essentially similar in the long run if you use genuine cartridges. It's with color where Canon is more economical if the model uses separate color tanks. Lower priced HP's are all tricolor.

They are all pretty much the same as far as print quality goes, they both scan and copy well, but the HP scanner is usually faster.

The HP numbers are simply the model numbers of the cartridges. Some are black, some are standard color, some are photo color. There is no real "pattern". At office supply stores, Canon is just as well supported as HP these days.

[i1t4yomindi]

From what i researched at online websites, canon ink usually run from 7-20 where as HP goes from 20-25. I plan on going to retail stores to check on these prices.

With the ink cartilages number, i saw 95 black for 20, 97 black for 25 for the same model printers. Would their be an advantage in using 95 over 97?

[ror_b211]

HP PSC printers themselves are a nightmare, I have 2 (psc 1210 and 1510), they often suck in about 5 pages at a time, vibrate so much they virtually fall off the desk and make a hell of a noise, and thats just a few of the problems. I would reccommend Canon just for the printer itself.

[i1t4yomindi]

ok thanks for the recommendation, i notice that with my compaq too that it sucks in more pages than needed.

Still wanted to know:

From what i researched at online websites, canon ink usually run from 7-20 where as HP goes from 20-25. I plan on going to retail stores to check on these prices.

With the ink cartilages number, i saw 95 black for 20, 97 black for 25 for the same model printers. Would their be an advantage in using 95 over 97?

[Larry E.]

Ink number 95 and 97 are the same exept 97 has more ink. Check the page yeild in the specs it should tell you how much more. I always buy 97 I think its the better buy.

[glc]

You cannot go just by the price of the cartridge. You have to look at both the estimated page yield under the same conditions (usually stated at 5% coverage) and the amount of ink in ml.

Not trying to be the spelling police, but it's a cartridge, not cartilage. Cartilage is what your ear is made out of.

[i1t4yomindi]

sorry for the mispelling, i knew something wasnt right.

anyways, does anyone know where i can get the yield pages stats for the canon mp130 (bci-24 black and/or color)? i can seem to find it anywhere.

Also, i found out that its 500 pages for the mp750 (bci-3ebk) black, anyone know if its the same for the bci-6k black, bci-6c cyan, bci-6m magneto, and bci-6y yellow?

[glc]

Color yields are almost always less than black. Note that the BCI-24 color is a tricolor, same limitation as the HP's. The most economical one of all those machines to keep in supplies should be the MP750 because of the 4 separate ink tanks.

[i1t4yomindi]

thank you glc for all the help. i have decided to pick up the mp750 sometime next week. ill tell you guys a review of what i think soon.

[i1t4yomindi]

Update: I went to outpost.com and saw the MP750 for 130. I even called a Frys to confirm. Then when i went there, it was for 200. Now i'm back to square one.

Now i've been thinking about getting a seperate scanner and printer vs an all-in-one. Would it be better to get them seperately or an All in one?

Also, i was looking at epson cx4600 but have read many issues with epson especially that its an ink eater. Is that with all epson printers?

Thanks for the help you guys.

[glc]

If you want a separate printer and scanner, get an Epson 2480 scanner and a Canon IP3000 or IP4000 printer.

[LGT1]

just a note reguarding these two all in ones I had a CX 4600 for approximatly 7 month I went through 1 1/2 sets of tanks. and at a cost of about 80 dollars CDN per set, with mininal color printing. I found that this was common for epsons and so I called epson and demanded my money back they agreed and I bought the Canon MP130 I have had it for about 2 month and it works great I can get a whole set of cartridges for $30.00 . the ink levels havent even dropped . Canon wins!!!