Do new Canon printers come with full ink cartridges?

D

DellAxim

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Feb 14, 2003
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I recently bought this Canon scanner/printer at Walmart for just $29:
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Canon-PIXMA-MG2520-Inkjet-All-in-One-Printer/28773460

I am very impressed with this printer for the price. As good as anything else for documents. It came with two ink cartridges - #245 and #246. The "value bundle" sold right next to this printer for both cartridges is $34.

Really? You save $5 if you throw away the printer? Does anybody know if the cartridges included with the printer have less ink in them than a separately purchased cartridge? I can't see any difference on the cartridges I got, they just say 245 and 246.

If they're the same I'm just going to buy a few more printers. The new printer without ink is worth $20 on ebay......;)
 
Usually the ones that come with the printer are about 20% or less, of the replacment cartridge capacity.
 
vick1000 said:
Usually the ones that come with the printer are about 20% or less, of the replacment cartridge capacity.
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Shouldn't it still have a different part number or something on it? I know I've heard they are less, but I want to confirm that 100%...
 
Usually printers come with starter cartridges that have less capacity than individually purchased ones.

Fun fact: Black printer ink costs $2700 - $9600 per gallon.
 
munkle said:
Highly doubt this and this article seems to refute that.
Click to expand...

Random Amazon ink cartridge:
HP 96 black ink
$27 per cartridge ($54 twin pack, so it would be even more as a single)
21ml per cartridge
180 carts per gallon
$4860 for this ink per gallon AT Amazon pricing, which is below retail.

Using HP.com pricing:
HP 96 black ink
$37 per cartridge single pack
21ml per cartridge
180 carts per gallon
$6660 for this ink per gallon AT retail pricing.

Yes some are less, some are much more. Yes you can buy refill kits and yes they can clog your printer head. Just saying you should sart believing how expensive ink can be.
 
HeavensCloud said:
$4860 for this ink per gallon AT Amazon pricing, which is below retail.

$6660 for this ink per gallon AT retail pricing.

Yes some are less, some are much more. Yes you can buy refill kits and yes they can clog your printer head. Just saying you should sart believing how expensive ink can be.
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Retail pricing != cost...

An iphone may be $800 retail doesn't mean it cost that much to make.
 
Welcome to that scam that's low end inkjet printers.

If one does mostly black & white it's much cheaper (per printed page) to get a laser printer and run to $copy_shop to do any color printing. (doubly so if you get an old HP laser, those things are unstoppable tanks)
 
munkle said:
Retail pricing != cost...

An iphone may be $800 retail doesn't mean it cost that much to make.
Click to expand...

I clearly also gave you Amazon's pricing which is far below retail, but whatever, I digress.

OP maybe your printer does come with full cartridges. It seems that it varies between printer and company, Lexmark seems to put started carts in a few of theirs, but it's hard to tell. Maybe you could send a message to or call Canon USA to check?
 
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FnordMan said:
Welcome to that scam that's low end inkjet printers.
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I understand they make their profit on the ink, but jesus, I'm not that stupid. The printer should cost at least $5 more than the ink bundle it comes with...

With the cost of this printer, I plan on setting up 3 or 4 of them, so I don't have to share a printer anywhere.

I think it's hilarious they are still playing the "cable not included" game. USB cables are $1 on ebay, I assume that means they cost $0.05 to manufacture.
 
Before you go buying 4 of them why don't you look into buying one nicer ones with network capability. I have a Canon laserjet that I can print to from every computer, laptop, HTPC, tablet, and phone in the house.
 
I used to work for HP and even at best inkjet cartridges were half full....

Canon was notorious as well....

Buy a laser printer instead (toner cartridges make SO much more sense)
 
horrorshow said:
Buy a laser printer instead (toner cartridges make SO much more sense)
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not so much anymore, I got a color laser printer/scanner/copier, to replace all the toners it costs more than the printer itself costs. Lasers are turning into the same model as inkjets, sell you a cheap printer and gouge you on the toner.
 
HeavensCloud said:
Before you go buying 4 of them why don't you look into buying one nicer ones with network capability. I have a Canon laserjet that I can print to from every computer, laptop, HTPC, tablet, and phone in the house.
Click to expand...

Actually they have a WIFI version for like $36. I think it takes the same ink. But I don't really need it. Mostly I print a lot of labels, I want a (cheap) printer dedicated to that. And another one for my office in the building next door.

These printers are going for $20 + shipping on ebay without ink. So, new ink value bundle = $9. :D I'll probably refill the black cartridges for a while until they clog. I'm not worried about quality.
 
munkle said:
not so much anymore, I got a color laser printer/scanner/copier, to replace all the toners it costs more than the printer itself costs. Lasers are turning into the same model as inkjets, sell you a cheap printer and gouge you on the toner.
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Only the cheap ones end up like that, it's a similar business model.
If the thing's been around for a bit then chances are good there's third party reset chips out there and you could easily get the thing refilled.

Or like in the color laser I own (samsung clp-315, hardly used as I have a B&W Multifunction), still running the starter cartridges (no chip) so all i'll have to do when it's time is a bit of soldering to add a jumper wire and a switch designed to wipe the thing's page count memory :) (i'll have to write down the drum page count though, that one's good to keep around)
having said that whenever the drum wears out on that it'll be new printer time.
 
My Epson Workforce All in one came with Full Cartridges, it was a highlighted feature on the box.
I picked up a pair of them for $29.99 each when Office Max had a mistake on their Print Ad, on sale for $79.99 and allowing a $50 credit for any printer turned in to bring the price to $29.99.
it was supposed to be $79.99 after $50 credit.
I ended up selling the second one on craigslist for $100 since it was just taking up space.
 
I'll never have another Epson again, even if it was free with the cartridges. I'm replacing a not that old $150 Epson all in one with this cheap ass thing from Walmart. The Epson refused to scan, send a fax, or print black documents, if any of the colored ink was dry. It also used color ink to print black documents, even if you choose "black only".

The reason I got this printer is I needed magenta and cyan to print a black and white shipping label. $40+. :rolleyes:
 
FnordMan said:
Welcome to that scam that's low end inkjet printers.

If one does mostly black & white it's much cheaper (per printed page) to get a laser printer and run to $copy_shop to do any color printing. (doubly so if you get an old HP laser, those things are unstoppable tanks)
Click to expand...

All of this.

Buy a cheap machine...you get what you pay for.
 
You might as well sell the old printer once it runs out of ink for $10 then buy a new one. You would probably save yourself more money by doing so; apparently, printer ink is worth more than gold and oil combined.
 
DellAxim said:
I recently bought this Canon scanner/printer at Walmart for just $29:
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Canon-PIXMA-MG2520-Inkjet-All-in-One-Printer/28773460

I am very impressed with this printer for the price. As good as anything else for documents. It came with two ink cartridges - #245 and #246. The "value bundle" sold right next to this printer for both cartridges is $34.
Click to expand...

Ink cartridges are one of the most highly marked-up peripheral accessory parts in the world. They cost a sliver of msrp to manufacture, package, and ship. The factory included cartridges may or may not be as full as their retail brethren, but the manufacturer is not taking a loss by selling the printer+cartridges for less than the replacement retail cartridges alone.

Sad, isn't it?
 
DejaWiz said:
Sad, isn't it?
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The really sad problem is that it seems to work on the majority of the sheep. They've been doing the same thing since, what, 1996?

More people need to complain, and refill their cartridges, and throw away printers after the first use like I'm going to do. If people stopped buying retail ink, they would stop selling it that way.

Too bad there aren't any good parts inside a printer to repurpose. I wonder how much it actually cost Canon to build this printer?
 
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