Ink Cartridges Blog

Have you ever got mad with your printer ?  I guess we all have at times. Heres one guy who had his own way of solving the problem! By the way if youre after a new Laser printer for your home, school or office give Ink Hub a call and usually we can beat most prices. We will have it delivered to your door within 24 hrs. Dont get to the stage of this guy in the video. Call us first ! After Toner Cartridges ? Checkout our brand new store, great prices Australia wide.

Buying a printer can be a very confusing task if you are not familiar with the workings of a printer or the costs invloved when it comes time to replace the ink cartridges. The following video is an attempt to try and explain to the user the benefits and pitfalls of the various printers available. PLEASE BE WARNED! There are so many CHEAP printers being sold in shops nowadays at BELOW cost price! PLEASE do your homework or call us first to find out the price of replacing the ink cartridges. It could save you big dollars in the long run !

The Canon MP630 Multifunction printer is a leap forward in printer design. If you are looking for a general purpose printer that does literally everything then look no further. While most modern printer manufacturers are opting for front tray only paper feeds the new Canon MP630 offers both front and rear tray paper loading. This is a great asset if you are constantly changing between paper, photographic paper and labels etc. You can load up the front tray with paper and the rear try with photo paper or labels etc. When you print you simply chose which tray (front or rear) you wish to print from using the Canon software (It’s extremely easy to use). Another great asset is the ability to print directly onto DVD Discs.

The control panel features a flip-up 2.5-inch colour TFT screen which is great for previewing photos before printing directly from a memory card or USB. Navigation keys and a scroll wheel under the screen provide easy access to all of the printers main functions. The scroll wheel is particularly useful when you want to print one specific image picked out from hundreds of others on a memory card. Another nice touch on the control panel is a button that immediately shows the ink levels remaining in the 5 seperate ink cartridges.

Other features the MP630 has are its Quick Start feature and its quiet operation. Although this printer drains just 2.1W of power in Standby mode, you can turn it off when not in use as it fires up almost instantly. We tested the MP630 with both the Genuine OEM cartridges and the compatible Canon PGI520 and Canon CLI521 cartridges and the only difference was the $45 saved using the compatibles.

Overall a fantastic printer, loaded with features and easily prints directly onto dvd’s etc. If  you are serious about printing we strongly recommend the MP630 !

Shop around as the price varies between $198 to as high as $265. Happy printing.
Canon PGI-520BK   More special deals on Canon Pixma MP630 ink cartridges

With such a huge choice of Printers available today deciding which one to buy can be a real headache.

There are so many printers available to choose from that it can be quite confusing as to which choice you eventually make. First decision is to decide the main purpose that the printer will be used for. Most printers nowadays are known as MFP’s (Multi Function Printers) or MFD’s (Multi Function Devices). This basically means that they will do more than simply print. Most MFP’s will print, scan, copy(same as a photocopier) and also have card readers for printing directly from your camera’s memory card. First of all let’s go through some of the basic specifications of a printer and what they all mean.

Printer speed

The speed at which the printer prints to a page will be listed under the term “pages per minute“, or ppm. The top of the range Inkjet Printers will be rated at around 20ppm in black and white (draft quality), and 12ppm in colour, but if you’re looking at a mid-range Inkjet Printer, expect to see figures from 8ppm to 16ppm in black and white, and 1.2ppm to 12ppm in colour (depending on print quality mode settings). Note: (for the average home user most modern printers print at an acceptable speed so ppm ratings are only relevant where large quantities of printing or high speed printing is a concern)

Resolution and print quality

The quality of the print from a printer is known as its resolution. Resolution is the number of “dots per square inch” or dpi. The higher the dpi means the better or finer the print quality will be. Inkjet Printers generally have a maximum colour resolution of 2400×1200dpi, with some of the more expensive printers quoting up to 4800×1200dpi. For the average full-colour 8×10in photograph, you’re unlikely to see any significant improvement once you get above 1200×1200dpi.
Why does a Photo Printer produce better pictures than a standard Inkjet Printer ?

Generally the main difference with a photo printer is that many of them use additional ink cartridges to provide better “in between colours” . They usually employ the standard Black, Yellow, Cyan and Magenta ink cartridges but they also throw in a Light Magenta and a Light Cyan ink cartridge to provide a better overall photo quality. Epson commonly employ these extra cartridges in many of their printers.

What other factors should I consider when purchasing a printer ?

One of the FIRST considerations before purchasing a printer should be the cost of replacing the ink cartridges. Many of the HP, Canon and Lexmark printers have the “Printer Head” (the part that actually prints the ink onto the paper) built into the ink cartridge. This makes replacing the cartridges very costly. Make sure that you price the ink cartridges before purchasing the printer. Often manufacturers will sell quality printers for very low prices knowing quite well that the first time the customer replaces the ink cartridges that they will redeem their money.

Conclusion: what to buy ?

If you are simply after a basic “MFD” Printer that will print, scan, photocopy and has a card reader(for digital cameras etc) it is very hard to beat the Brother Printers. They are inexpensive, reliable, produce a good quality print and the ink cartridges are reasonably priced. (in fact our Brother LC47 and LC57’s are one of our biggest sellers). For photographic printing you may like to look at the Epson or even some of the Canon printers. Remember the basic specifications wev’e looked at above and chose your printer according to the purpose you will most be using it for. As a final comment let me say that I strongly advise people against purchasing a Lexmark printer. Although they are very good printers the price and availability of ink cartridges is a large deterrent. Happy hunting !

Inkjet Printer Manufacturers sites:

The following websites may be of a help to you in finding out more about which printer will suite your needs:

Epson Inkjet Printers >> Canon Inkjet Printers >> Brother MFC Printers >> HP Printers