iP4700

Canon Pixma iP4700

Check out our review and installation guide for the Canon Pixma iP4700 inkjet printer.

CI system now available. Pre-filled (45 Canon cartridges worth), auto resetting chips.

Solid performer in this price range. Just a printer, nothing fancy. Has dual paper sources – back and a try underneath the printer.  The two paper sources is a great feature as you can have photo paper in the bottom paper try, and standard copier paper in the back.  Has a built-in auto duplexer for double sided printing.  Just a fantastic printer in the $100.00 range.

One big negative is the shrinking of the cartridges from the previous generation of Canon printers.  The Pixma iP4700’s predecessor (iP4500) used larger cartridges which contained much more ink. Cartridges for this new printer series contain about half the ink as their predecessors CLI-8, and PGI-5 – read here. The iP4500 printer (older cartridge) will give you about 35% more prints due to the lager size of the cartridges used.

Shrinking cartridges:

New CLI-220 Canon cartridges are MUCH smaller than the previous CLI-8 series.

Notice how it has two black ink cartridges. One (pgi-220) is physically larger than the other (cli-221). The larger PGI-220Bk goes out much more often (if you print a lot of text) and this will be the cartridge you will replace over and over.

iP4700 uses 5 individual ink cartridges - large black (pgi-220), photo black (cli-221), cyan, magenta, yellow.

• PGI-220 Pigment Black ($14.99)
• CLI-221 Black ($12.99)
• CLI-221 Cyan ($12.99)
• CLI-221 Magenta ($12.99)
• CLI-221 Yellow ($12.99)

That works out to be about $66.95 per replacement set. Fortunately you can get cheaper compatibles that are very good quality for about $25.00-$35.00 per set. Compatible CI systems using the same (pigment/dye base ink) configuration are also available, and can make the effective cost per page just fractions of a cent when compared to the OEM brand cartridge.  CI systems will run you slightly more than a full set of cartridges, but considering you are getting about (45 cartridges) 45 cartridges worth of ink, you never have to worry about running out of ink ever again.

Canon ip4600, ip4700, inkjet printer low cost ink solution, the CIS - continuous inking system.

Printer parts available.

This is a good choice for a multi-purpose everyday printer. Cartridges are cheap to replace (using generic cartridges), and Canon also sells replacement print heads for around $40.00 if/when they go out.  CI systems also available, and the printer is very solid in construction.

Canon iP4700 Specification Page –

Features you will like:

• Borderless printing
• Compatible with Windows 7 – Mac OS
• Auto duplexer built in (print on both sides of paper)
• Fast print speeds
• 5 individual ink tanks (smaller now)
• Print resolution black 600 x 600 dpi, and color 9600 x 2400
• Just a printer – no scanner, fax, media readers, or lcd screen
• Best feature? – 2 paper trays, one under the printer, and then the standard sheet fed source on the back of the printer

Price?

Expect to pay between $70-$130 for this solid printer.  You can check with Amazon, or try google products.