Multi-function inkjet printers

[derrickgoh]

I am currently using the Canon MP545 which is starting to give problems. As its quite old I don't think its worth getting it repaired and am looking at a replacement.

Two things I noticed about my MP545 is this. Firstly If my yellow, cyan or magenta ink is out, I am not able to print at all even if I select black & white in my application and intend to print a black and white document.

Secondly, if any of my inks are out, I can't even scan.

Does anyone know if all multifunction inkjet are like this or is it just Canon or this particular model? It can be a real pain in the arse when you need to print or scan something urgently.

 

[batniss]

I am currently using the Canon MP545 which is starting to give problems. As its quite old I don't think its worth getting it repaired and am looking at a replacement.

Two things I noticed about my MP545 is this. Firstly If my yellow, cyan or magenta ink is out, I am not able to print at all even if I select black & white in my application and intend to print a black and white document.

Secondly, if any of my inks are out, I can't even scan.

Does anyone know if all multifunction inkjet are like this or is it just Canon or this particular model? It can be a real pain in the arse when you need to print or scan something urgently.

Alot. Why Canon? Quite an expensive brand of printer in the market anyway.

Anyway for Brother printer there is way to "trick" the printer so that you can always print or scan even when the ink cartridge are infact, empty

Use a black tape and stick on the ink cartridge and/etc - it will "trick" the printer that your inks are full.

IMO, change printer and don't use Canon. A printer that blocks out even scanning when the inks are empty is lame.

 

[wwenze]

That's pretty much how printers behave. My one can scan on its own but that's probably an exception and not the norm.

 

[kandinsky]

I am currently using the Canon MP545 which is starting to give problems. As its quite old I don't think its worth getting it repaired and am looking at a replacement.

Two things I noticed about my MP545 is this. Firstly If my yellow, cyan or magenta ink is out, I am not able to print at all even if I select black & white in my application and intend to print a black and white document.

Secondly, if any of my inks are out, I can't even scan.

Does anyone know if all multifunction inkjet are like this or is it just Canon or this particular model? It can be a real pain in the arse when you need to print or scan something urgently.

The unable to scan part I didn't know, never owned an inkjet MFP. But normal inkjets I've had are like that, both Canon and Epson, can't print b/w if any colour catridge is empty. General reason is that in b/w, some colour ink still gets used, either as part of the print, or to clean the printhead anyway.

Answer from HP side:

Some colour ink may be used when printing black text or graphics

There are several circumstances when colour ink may be used—primarily to improve print quality and sometimes to improve printer reliability—even if the document appears to be only black text and graphics. Many HP printers utilise chemical interactions to improve the quality and permanence of plain paper black text and graphics by adding small amounts of colour ink to certain black areas. Some dark images that look black may contain a combination of black and colour inks. For black and white images and photos, a blend of colours called "composite black" may be used to achieve significantly better image quality and smoother grey tones than can be accomplished with black inks alone. Some inkjet printers utilise pigmented black ink, which is incompatible with some inkjet photo paper. In this case, dark or black areas are made up of colour inks. (Page yield testing is conducted with all cartridges—black and colour—installed in the printer. For more information see Inkjet page yields.

For users who wish to print using just black ink (despite the reduced print quality), many HP printers offer options. For example, a driver colour setting (by selecting "print in greyscale with the black cartridge only" in printing preferences) specifies printing using only black ink. In addition, many IPH printers can operate in "reserve mode", which allows the user to continue to print with just the black cartridge when the colour cartridge is removed or not installed.In HP IIC systems, all supplies are required to be installed in the printer for the printer to function.

http://h10060.www1.hp.com/pageyield/en-150/articles/howInkIsUsed.html?cCode=il

Epson:

Note: To keep the print head clear and ready to print, the printer uses a small amount of ink from all the cartridges whenever it prints. Even if you select Black/Grayscale or Grayscale, some color ink is still being used. Black/Grayscale or Grayscale is not recommended for printing black-and-white photos.

http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/support/supDetail.jsp?infoType=FAQ&oid=201986&foid=216357

I read of one workaround for an Epson (use software vs the hardware button), maybe you can try and see if this works:

The Epson Stylus NX420 WILL Scan without ink, but not from the printer control board. You have to manually link it to your computer via USB cable and find the Epson Scan program on your computer (it should have installed with the software to run the printer on the disk that came with the hardware). I didn't know where it was saved, but I used my computer's search function to look for "EPSON Scan" and lo and behold, there it was. It's probably no longer relevant to whatever problems you were having at the time, but it's there now, at least.

http://www.cnet.com/forums/discussions/epson-no-ink-no-scan-multi-function-printers-306489/

Win 7 onwards should have Fax and Scan app built-in.

 

[yusoffb01]

I am currently using the Canon MP545 which is starting to give problems. As its quite old I don't think its worth getting it repaired and am looking at a replacement.

Two things I noticed about my MP545 is this. Firstly If my yellow, cyan or magenta ink is out, I am not able to print at all even if I select black & white in my application and intend to print a black and white document.

Secondly, if any of my inks are out, I can't even scan.

Does anyone know if all multifunction inkjet are like this or is it just Canon or this particular model? It can be a real pain in the arse when you need to print or scan something urgently.

Canon ones are like that to force u to buy expensive inks. Also ink jets cannot print when empty you will damage the print head

Get ink tank printers from epson

 

[derrickgoh]

Thanks for the replies. Looks like boh pian in that case.

 

[wacko]

why don't you consider colour laser AIO printers? laser toner will never "dry up", the printer do not run ink-wasting cleaning cycles on it's own when left in standby mode, and you will probably get many more pages per cartridge.

 

[derrickgoh]

why don't you consider colour laser AIO printers? laser toner will never "dry up", the printer do not run ink-wasting cleaning cycles on it's own when left in standby mode, and you will probably get many more pages per cartridge.

Printer is ex & also toner. Plus i think the print outs for photos are probably not as good as inkjet right?

 

[Teo Ming Ern]

Printer is ex & also toner. Plus i think the print outs for photos are probably not as good as inkjet right?

That depends on how high quality you want your photos to be and how often you actually print photos. I find the laser photo prints (A4) from a Fuji Xerox printer acceptable. I use a C1110. Incidentally, it's cheaper to buy a B&W laser AIO and a separate photo inkjet printer.

 

[wacko]

Printer is ex & also toner. Plus i think the print outs for photos are probably not as good as inkjet right?

Yes, the printer itself will cost more than an inkjet AIO, the long term savings are from the consumable replacement, where toner cost per page is typically lower than ink cost per page. and if you do not really use the scanner function, especially when any phone camera can easily substitute for a scanner, a single-function colour laser printer doesn't cost all that much.

and as for photo printout quality, I doubt you will notice the difference, consider that you are using a "non-photo" inkjet. do you print on professional photo paper? or do you print on regular A4 paper for photos? best if you see a colour laser printout for yourself, it's decent, perhaps might just match up to your expectations.