Question re Canon iP1500

Hi, I have a Canon iP1500 for the last year and so far its been working
fine till last week.
Its more of an all purpose printer and not a great printer but OK for
me. Last week, I got a
new color cart, Staples brand which I use and it has always printed
photos fine. But they had a
little too much pink in them and some were a bit dark. Not terrible, but
I've printed the same photos previously, and they were better before.
I went back to Staples with the color cart and got a Canon color cart.
But photos have an even more pink cast to them. I tried several
cleanings and it says "waste ink absorber is almost full, press Resume
button". It said this when I got the Staples new cart as well. I also
notice after
printing quite a few photos, that the ink level still shows full which
should be down a little by now.
I don't know if the cart is the problem, though seems unlikely, or is
blue and yellow clogged up in the printer? I cleaned the printer as much
as I could taking out the printhead and cleaning it gently,
according to suggestions I saw on this NG, but nothing helped. Is my
printer finished?

MaryW

The paper and ink type will have a lot to do with the 'greyscale', if
you print a b&w picture you'll find some paper brands will have a
purple cast and some with a greeny cast, same when you change ink
brands and printing on Canon paper for example, this tends to
colourise a coloured photograph.

You may be able to counteract this somewhat in the printer's driver
window, I have a ip5000 if like mine go to the printer and right
click Canon, click printing preferances, clicking colour management
to manual and then click set where a window will open and there you
will be able to set the individual colours.

For some pictures the Canon likes to have the ICM box ticked and the
intensity control set to +10, you'll get to this in the above setting
- if like mine.

Your aim is to get a decent b&w greyscale as it's called then the
you'll rid that colour cast, this means experimenting with different
brands of ink and paper if other than Canon.

One question you could ask is what ink's and paper gives a decent
'output' other than OEM, stay 'tuned' and you may get some useful
advice in this respect.

Davy

Mary wrote:

Hi, I have a Canon iP1500 for the last year and so far its been working
fine till last week.
Its more of an all purpose printer and not a great printer but OK for
me. Last week, I got a
new color cart, Staples brand which I use and it has always printed
photos fine. But they had a
little too much pink in them and some were a bit dark. Not terrible, but
I've printed the same photos previously, and they were better before.
I went back to Staples with the color cart and got a Canon color cart.
But photos have an even more pink cast to them. I tried several
cleanings and it says "waste ink absorber is almost full, press Resume
button". It said this when I got the Staples new cart as well. I also
notice after
printing quite a few photos, that the ink level still shows full which
should be down a little by now.
I don't know if the cart is the problem, though seems unlikely, or is
blue and yellow clogged up in the printer? I cleaned the printer as much
as I could taking out the printhead and cleaning it gently,
according to suggestions I saw on this NG, but nothing helped. Is my
printer finished?

MaryW



YOU FURTHER COMPLICATED YOUR PIECE OF TRASH PRINTER BY PUTTING IN A
GREATER PIECE OF TRASH INK AND YOU GOT WHAT YOU DESERVED. IF YOU FEEL
YOU LEARNED YOUR LESSON THEN GO OUT AND BUY A CANON IP5200.

"measekite" wrote in message
. net...


Mary wrote:

Hi, I have a Canon iP1500 for the last year and so far its been
working
fine till last week.
Its more of an all purpose printer and not a great printer but OK for
me. Last week, I got a
new color cart, Staples brand which I use and it has always printed
photos fine. But they had a
little too much pink in them and some were a bit dark. Not terrible,
but
I've printed the same photos previously, and they were better before.
I went back to Staples with the color cart and got a Canon color
cart.
But photos have an even more pink cast to them. I tried several
cleanings and it says "waste ink absorber is almost full, press
Resume
button". It said this when I got the Staples new cart as well. I also
notice after
printing quite a few photos, that the ink level still shows full
which
should be down a little by now.
I don't know if the cart is the problem, though seems unlikely, or is
blue and yellow clogged up in the printer? I cleaned the printer as
much
as I could taking out the printhead and cleaning it gently,
according to suggestions I saw on this NG, but nothing helped. Is my
printer finished?

MaryW



YOU FURTHER COMPLICATED YOUR PIECE OF TRASH PRINTER BY PUTTING IN A
GREATER PIECE OF TRASH INK AND YOU GOT WHAT YOU DESERVED. IF YOU FEEL
YOU LEARNED YOUR LESSON THEN GO OUT AND BUY A CANON IP5200.

What kind of newsgroup is this? I came for some help for a printing
problem, not for some jerk to insult me. And is your caps lock key
stuck? Don't you know it means shouting and is bad netiquette? Don't
bother replying if this is your best advice.

Mary

"Davy" wrote in message
...
The paper and ink type will have a lot to do with the 'greyscale', if
you print a b&w picture you'll find some paper brands will have a
purple cast and some with a greeny cast, same when you change ink
brands and printing on Canon paper for example, this tends to
colourise a coloured photograph.

I don't print b&w photos. But I am using Kodak photo paper for my Canon
printer. I always used Kodak double sided semi-gloss photo paper with
Staples brand carts and photos printed were always ok.

You may be able to counteract this somewhat in the printer's driver
window, I have a ip5000 if like mine go to the printer and right
click Canon, click printing preferances, clicking colour management
to manual and then click set where a window will open and there you
will be able to set the individual colours.

On my printer, color adjustment can be set in another area. Not under
colour management.
When I put a jpg on the screen and click on print then Properties, under
Main Tab there is a setting Automatic or Manual and you can set for
Manual and there are color adjustments you can make for magenta,blue and
yellow. I could try reducing magenta and see if that reduces the pinkish
cast on my colour photos.

For some pictures the Canon likes to have the ICM box ticked and the
intensity control set to +10, you'll get to this in the above setting
- if like mine.

There is an ICM box ticked in the same area where the colour adjustments
are, but by default its not checked so didn't put a check there as I
don't know what its for.

Your aim is to get a decent b&w greyscale as it's called then the
you'll rid that colour cast, this means experimenting with different
brands of ink and paper if other than Canon.

I am not sure what you mean by greyscale. I only know greyscale is for
b&w photos.

One question you could ask is what ink's and paper gives a decent
'output' other than OEM, stay 'tuned' and you may get some useful
advice in this respect.

Davy

I wonder if the printer has a problem, because of the message "waste ink
absorber is almost full, press Resume button". I've never seen that
message before. Also, I've used same Staples cart and Kodak photo paper
and my prints were always OK with no pinkish cast till now. I only
tried Canon cartridge to see if my photos still had the same pinkish
cast as they had with the Staples brand cart, which it did.
Thanks for your suggestions.

MaryW

"Mary" wrote in message
...
"measekite" wrote in message
. net...


Mary wrote:

Hi, I have a Canon iP1500 for the last year and so far its been
working
fine till last week.
Its more of an all purpose printer and not a great printer but OK for
me. Last week, I got a
new color cart, Staples brand which I use and it has always printed
photos fine. But they had a
little too much pink in them and some were a bit dark. Not terrible,
but
I've printed the same photos previously, and they were better before.
I went back to Staples with the color cart and got a Canon color
cart.
But photos have an even more pink cast to them. I tried several
cleanings and it says "waste ink absorber is almost full, press
Resume
button". It said this when I got the Staples new cart as well. I also
notice after
printing quite a few photos, that the ink level still shows full
which
should be down a little by now.
I don't know if the cart is the problem, though seems unlikely, or is
blue and yellow clogged up in the printer? I cleaned the printer as
much
as I could taking out the printhead and cleaning it gently,
according to suggestions I saw on this NG, but nothing helped. Is my
printer finished?

MaryW


(snipped Measekite's mean-spirited, unhelpful response to Mary)


What kind of newsgroup is this? I came for some help for a printing
problem, not for some jerk to insult me. And is your caps lock key
stuck? Don't you know it means shouting and is bad netiquette? Don't
bother replying if this is your best advice.

Mary

Mary - you've just encountered our resident obnoxious troll. I can't recall
the last time he was anything but mean spirited and rude. He has a real
thing about aftermarket inks and constantly snipes at anyone who mentions
them. Yes, your canon ip1500 is a low end printer, but if it does
everything you need it to do, there's nothing wrong with your enjoying it.
You have two problems.

One is probably some clogging of the jets which has caused one or more
colors to partially print and results in a color shift. Genuine Canon inks
(OEM) can clog the printhead also. Otherwise there would be no reason for
all inkjet printers to have built in cleaning routines. Clogs usually
happen from letting the printer sit idle for a period of time without
printing. Clogging also can occur after some months or years of use. ;You
can also have a failure of the printhead or the printer circuitry. I've
never used this printer, but it probably has a nozzle check. Run it to see
if you are getting a perfect pattern. The cleaning routine in the printer
software works for very minor clogs. It also uses up ink quickly,
especially with the small volume of ink in the ip1500 carts. Since you know
how to remove the printhead, go on to the Nifty-stuff forum, click on the
FAQ section, and read the first thread about what to do if your printer
doesn't print properly. Lots of info on cleaning a removable Canon
printhead. If, however, you are still under warranty, just contact Canon
and they will send you a new printhead.

The other problem is the nearly full waste ink tank. It isn't really a
tank - it is an absorbent pad inside the bottom of the printer. If you keep
printing now that you've gotten the warning, your printer will absolutely
shut down and you will have to take it to a repair facility to have them
replace the pad and reset the printer internal operating system. Again, on
the Nifty-stuff forum you can find the control codes for some of the Canon
priners that the technicians use to reset the counter that tells you the pad
is full. From what I've read, one reset without replacing the pad doesn't
generally cause the printer to leak ink. Unfortunately, these printers cost
more for the technician to replace the pad and reset them than it would cost
to buy a replacement! This is certainly an anti-consumer bit of technology
that Canons and Epsons employ. The printer doesn't actually measure how
much ink it has accumulated in the pad. It estimates it based on the number
of pages printed plus the number of cleaning cycles that it does, both
automatically and by you when there is a clog.

If you do have to replace the printer, Measekite's advice to get the ip 4200
or ip5200 isn't bad. It's just the mean quality of his message that is
totally inappropriate. Most of us have killfiled him and never see his
posts unless they are repeated by your response. So --- delete his garbage
with any future replies. Unfortunately, the newest pixma printers have
carts with computer chips built in and there are no aftermarket carts
available yet. Hopefully they will become available. The previous
generation pixmas - the ip4000 and ip5000 - have separate color carts and a
ready supply of aftermarket prefilled carts and refill inks. If you can
find one to buy, your replacement inks will be much cheaper. I have found
that businesses like Staples charge almost as much as OEM carts for their
aftermarket inks. Your best buys are on the internet and Nifty-stuff forum
and Neil Slade's info on papers and inks are good guides for which of these
products are safe and effective.

If you are in the San Francisco Bay Area, Fry's electronics in San Jose has
the Canon MP780, a multipurpose unit, that has, as its basic printer engine,
the ip4000. It is on sale for $100 after reduction and Canon rebate. It is
also on sale at their outpost.com for $150. It is actually worth the price
for the printer function alone. As I mentioned for the ip4000 and ip5000,
there are lots of sources for prefilled carts of good quality.

"Mary" wrote:
"measekite" wrote in message
.net...


Mary wrote:

Hi, I have a Canon iP1500 for the last year and so far its been
working
fine till last week.
Its more of an all purpose printer and not a great printer but OK for
me. Last week, I got a
new color cart, Staples brand which I use and it has always printed
photos fine. But they had a
little too much pink in them and some were a bit dark. Not terrible,
but
I've printed the same photos previously, and they were better before.
I went back to Staples with the color cart and got a Canon color
cart.
But photos have an even more pink cast to them. I tried several
cleanings and it says "waste ink absorber is almost full, press
Resume
button". It said this when I got the Staples new cart as well. I also
notice after
printing quite a few photos, that the ink level still shows full
which
should be down a little by now.
I don't know if the cart is the problem, though seems unlikely, or is
blue and yellow clogged up in the printer? I cleaned the printer as
much
as I could taking out the printhead and cleaning it gently,
according to suggestions I saw on this NG, but nothing helped. Is my
printer finished?

MaryW



YOU FURTHER COMPLICATED YOUR PIECE OF TRASH PRINTER BY PUTTING IN A
GREATER PIECE OF TRASH INK AND YOU GOT WHAT YOU DESERVED. IF YOU FEEL
YOU LEARNED YOUR LESSON THEN GO OUT AND BUY A CANON IP5200.

What kind of newsgroup is this? I came for some help for a printing
problem, not for some jerk to insult me. And is your caps lock key
stuck? Don't you know it means shouting and is bad netiquette? Don't
bother replying if this is your best advice.

Mary

Mary
Sorry you got the diatribe from the low life here.
Just to re-inforce what Burt has said about the waste absorber.
There are two of them in this printer but the printer does not report which one
is nearly full. Unfortunately I know of no codes to reset the counters, you
have to use a special piece of Canon software to reset the counters. This
software also tells you which of the waste ink counters is nearing full.
If you would like to have a go at that please e-mail me and I will see if I can
help.
Tony

"Burt" wrote in message news:ct1Yf.65766

"measekite" wrote in message
. net...

Mary wrote:

Hi, I have a Canon iP1500 for the last year and so far its been
working
fine till last week.
Its more of an all purpose printer and not a great printer but OK
for
me. Last week, I got a
new color cart, Staples brand which I use and it has always
printed
photos fine. But they had a
little too much pink in them and some were a bit dark. Not
terrible,
but
I've printed the same photos previously, and they were better
before.
I went back to Staples with the color cart and got a Canon color
cart.
But photos have an even more pink cast to them. I tried several
cleanings and it says "waste ink absorber is almost full, press
Resume
button". It said this when I got the Staples new cart as well. I
also
notice after
printing quite a few photos, that the ink level still shows full
which
should be down a little by now.
I don't know if the cart is the problem, though seems unlikely, or
is
blue and yellow clogged up in the printer? I cleaned the printer
as
much
as I could taking out the printhead and cleaning it gently,
according to suggestions I saw on this NG, but nothing helped. Is
my
printer finished?

MaryW


(snipped Measekite's mean-spirited, unhelpful response to Mary)


What kind of newsgroup is this? I came for some help for a printing
problem, not for some jerk to insult me. And is your caps lock key
stuck? Don't you know it means shouting and is bad netiquette? Don't
bother replying if this is your best advice.

Mary

Mary - you've just encountered our resident obnoxious troll. I can't
recall
the last time he was anything but mean spirited and rude.

I kind of figured that, but fell in the trap anyway

He has a real
thing about aftermarket inks and constantly snipes at anyone who
mentions
them.

Actually, my photos printed much better with the "trash ink" which was
Staples compatible carts if thats what he means by aftermarket inks,
than it now does with brand name Canon ink cart.

Yes, your canon ip1500 is a low end printer, but if it does
everything you need it to do, there's nothing wrong with your enjoying
it.

Exactly my point. I've had it a year and it has worked fine during that
time till I got a new Staples compatible but that is what I have always
used, so I couldn't figure out why my colored photos would have a
pinkish cast, when they never had that before and I only got the Canon
brand to see if it showed the same pinkish cast as the Staples
compatible, which it does, so that leaves me thinking maybe its
something to do with the printer.

You have two problems.

One is probably some clogging of the jets which has caused one or more
colors to partially print and results in a color shift. Genuine Canon
inks
(OEM) can clog the printhead also. Otherwise there would be no reason
for
all inkjet printers to have built in cleaning routines. Clogs usually
happen from letting the printer sit idle for a period of time without
printing. Clogging also can occur after some months or years of use.

The printer is not used every day but pretty frequently and this is the
first time I've had any kind of color problem with photos. Its not
terrible, but a light pinkish cast is there that was never there before.
Just enough to not look quite right when compared to a previous print of
the same photo from when I printed it a month ago.

You
can also have a failure of the printhead or the printer circuitry.
I've
never used this printer, but it probably has a nozzle check. Run it
to see
if you are getting a perfect pattern. The cleaning routine in the
printer
software works for very minor clogs.

I did a nozzle check and some of the color lines look ok except for the
second lighter blue which has lines a little broken up, but the red
which is the color I seem to have a little too much of in the prints,
looks ok. The yellow looks ok, but the lighter yellow below that is
quite hard to see.

It also uses up ink quickly,
especially with the small volume of ink in the ip1500 carts.

Thats another thing you reminded me off. I have the printer monitor on
to check to see how much ink is left in the carts, and they both still
show them as being full. By this time after printing quite a few photos
in my experiments (wasted ink of course), the carts usually suddenly dip
down to about half after what seems a very short time.

Since you know
how to remove the printhead, go on to the Nifty-stuff forum, click on
the
FAQ section, and read the first thread about what to do if your
printer
doesn't print properly. Lots of info on cleaning a removable Canon
printhead. If, however, you are still under warranty, just contact
Canon
and they will send you a new printhead.

I've never heard of Nifty stuff forum, but I'll do a search for it. The
warranty for my printer is up sometimes this month, but since I bought
it at Staples. I am in Toronto, Canada, so things might be done a little
different than in the US with Staples. I got an extended warranty for
$10.00 when I bought the printer as I thought it was worth it. I had an
Epson a few years ago and it conked out during the second year, and
Staples took my old one back and said to take another one and thats how
I got the Canon I now have. Anything that cost under $200, they dont
send for repair. They just replace it with same printer or one a little
more money and you pay the difference. So I am not sure if I would just
get another printer since I could get one the same price and not have to
pay anything more than I paid for the printer I have, or pay a little
more if I saw something else.
I saw advertised an iP 1600 which would be similar to what I have and
about the same price. I don't want to pay a lot for a printer. I don't
print photos that often. I go on photo printing binges. We probably
don't have all the varieties of printers you have in the US though we
have enough for most people. I seem to manage to buy enough stuff

The other problem is the nearly full waste ink tank. It isn't really
a
tank - it is an absorbent pad inside the bottom of the printer.

When I checked the printer, I notice on the right side where you can't
get at inside the printer (where they don't want you to get at), there
is a white plastic cup thing with small dividers, don't know what you
call them, and a lot of blue and red ink smeared around, and two small
pad things. I guess thats what you mean.

If you keep
printing now that you've gotten the warning, your printer will
absolutely
shut down and you will have to take it to a repair facility to have
them
replace the pad and reset the printer internal operating system.

I would take it to Staples and they will replace it with another printer
as that one is not in production now, or I would pay a little more for
difference in price from what I paid and get another printer.
Theoretically, during the first year, its under warranty by the
manufacturer, but often Staples will give you a new one even without
extended warranty. The extended warranty is for the second year. I've
never had to take a printer or anything for repair when buying at
Staples. I have found them good to deal with.

Again, on
the Nifty-stuff forum you can find the control codes for some of the
Canon
priners that the technicians use to reset the counter that tells you
the pad
is full. From what I've read, one reset without replacing the pad
doesn't
generally cause the printer to leak ink.

I will see if I can find that information on Nifty-stuff though I've
never been there,.

Unfortunately, these printers cost
more for the technician to replace the pad and reset them than it
would cost
to buy a replacement!

That is true, and thats why Staples just replace them and don't send
them for repair. But if you pay more than $200.00 for something, Staples
will send it for repair for you, though thankfully that has not happened
to me yet. Most things I buy are not more than $200.00 unless a digital
camera I bought there last year.

This is certainly an anti-consumer bit of technology
that Canons and Epsons employ. The printer doesn't actually measure
how
much ink it has accumulated in the pad. It estimates it based on the
number
of pages printed plus the number of cleaning cycles that it does, both
automatically and by you when there is a clog.

From what you say and from the message I got about wasted ink absorber,
I figured something is clogged.

If you do have to replace the printer, Measekite's advice to get the
ip 4200
or ip5200 isn't bad.

It depends on if they are available here and how much they cost. They
probably cost more here than you would pay though some here are fairly
cheap. I saw the iP1600 but it would be similar to the one I have.

It's just the mean quality of his message that is
totally inappropriate. Most of us have killfiled him and never see
his
posts unless they are repeated by your response. So --- delete his
garbage
with any future replies. Unfortunately, the newest pixma printers
have
carts with computer chips built in and there are no aftermarket carts
available yet. Hopefully they will become available.

So you have to use the brand name carts. Thats not what I want to do.
They are too expensive. Staples brand has been ok for me though they
have gone up in price recently and are not all that much cheaper than
brand name.

The previous
generation pixmas - the ip4000 and ip5000 - have separate color carts
and a
ready supply of aftermarket prefilled carts and refill inks.

I thought my iP 1500 was a previous generation? it does not have
separate color carts. To tell you the truth, I really don't want
separate color carts, if you mean the three separate colors plus black.
I had an Epson like that and it is marketed as supposedly you save
money, but I found I spent more money. If the blue was half way down,
and the red was three quarters, and if I got a new blue, by another week
or so I had to get red and was always running back and forth and went to
an ink refiller which was ok, but I would not buy separate color
cartridges again. I want the three in one which is fine for my purposes.

If you can
find one to buy, your replacement inks will be much cheaper. I have
found
that businesses like Staples charge almost as much as OEM carts for
their
aftermarket inks. Your best buys are on the internet and Nifty-stuff
forum
and Neil Slade's info on papers and inks are good guides for which of
these
products are safe and effective.

I've never bought ink carts online, as I use my printer steadily but not
every day. I like to buy them and get them right away. Thats just me
though. Staples OEM carts used to be a lot cheaper, but recently they
have gone up in price and not as much of a bargain any more.

If you are in the San Francisco Bay Area, Fry's electronics in San
Jose has
the Canon MP780, a multipurpose unit, that has, as its basic printer
engine,
the ip4000. It is on sale for $100 after reduction and Canon rebate.
It is
also on sale at their outpost.com for $150. It is actually worth the
price
for the printer function alone. As I mentioned for the ip4000 and
ip5000,
there are lots of sources for prefilled carts of good quality.

I am a few thousand miles from San Francisco though I would like to
visit it but I am about an hour and a half to Buffalo, though I haven't
been there in 10 years. I think I can manage to find something a little
closer.
Thanks a lot for your information. I am going to see if I can find the
codes to re-set the ink absorber, or might end up going to Staples and
see what printers they have that I can get.
Too bad, I like the printer I have. I had a Canon before, the 2100. It
was a good printer,
better made than the ip1500. It lasted for 3 years with no problems.
Finally the printhead went and it was separate and it was going to cost
some ridiculous amount to replace and was cheaper to buy a new printer,
so I did.

Mary

"Tony" wrote in message
news
"Mary" wrote:
"measekite" wrote in message
.net...


Mary wrote:

Hi, I have a Canon iP1500 for the last year and so far its been
working
fine till last week.
Its more of an all purpose printer and not a great printer but OK
for
me. Last week, I got a
new color cart, Staples brand which I use and it has always
printed
photos fine. But they had a
little too much pink in them and some were a bit dark. Not
terrible,
but
I've printed the same photos previously, and they were better
before.
I went back to Staples with the color cart and got a Canon color
cart.
But photos have an even more pink cast to them. I tried several
cleanings and it says "waste ink absorber is almost full, press
Resume
button". It said this when I got the Staples new cart as well. I
also
notice after
printing quite a few photos, that the ink level still shows full
which
should be down a little by now.
I don't know if the cart is the problem, though seems unlikely, or
is
blue and yellow clogged up in the printer? I cleaned the printer
as
much
as I could taking out the printhead and cleaning it gently,
according to suggestions I saw on this NG, but nothing helped. Is
my
printer finished?

MaryW



YOU FURTHER COMPLICATED YOUR PIECE OF TRASH PRINTER BY PUTTING IN A
GREATER PIECE OF TRASH INK AND YOU GOT WHAT YOU DESERVED. IF YOU
FEEL
YOU LEARNED YOUR LESSON THEN GO OUT AND BUY A CANON IP5200.

What kind of newsgroup is this? I came for some help for a printing
problem, not for some jerk to insult me. And is your caps lock key
stuck? Don't you know it means shouting and is bad netiquette? Don't
bother replying if this is your best advice.

Mary

Mary
Sorry you got the diatribe from the low life here.

Yeah, I should have checked his previous replies to people and I
wouldn't have bothered to answer. It always mystifies me why people want
to be trolls. Such a useless pursuit.

Just to re-inforce what Burt has said about the waste absorber.
There are two of them in this printer but the printer does not report
which one
is nearly full.

Are they the two square pad things in the white plastic container thing
with dividers at the bottom right side of the printer where you can't
get at very well?

Unfortunately I know of no codes to reset the counters, you
have to use a special piece of Canon software to reset the counters.
This
software also tells you which of the waste ink counters is nearing
full.
If you would like to have a go at that please e-mail me and I will see
if I can
help.

But would re-setting the counters help my situation if my problem is
clogged colors?
What does "waste ink absorbers almost full" mean? Do you have a hotmail
or yahoo or other email address?
Thanks.

Mary

I cleaned the printer as much
as I could taking out the printhead and cleaning it gently,
according to suggestions I saw on this NG, but nothing helped. Is my
printer finished?

First, pay no attention to measekite. He harasses anyone who makes the
choice to use non-oem ink. I know nothing about staples ink, never
used it personaly.

Secondly, Burt's advice is sound. I have the mp760 which is rather
like the mp780. Good printer and infact sold for close to $300 just
last month. $150 plus the vast supply of aftermarket ink might be a
wise investment. The ip4200 seems to fetch as little as $90ish. The
ip5200 I just ordered for $120. This is less than the mp780 for higher
resolution, but there are not any easy aftermarket cartridges for them
yet.

Do as Burt sugests, do a nozzle check and make sure the issue is the
nozzles. There is a technique using windex, toilet paper, and pushing
on nifty forums, assuming your warranty has expired. If not, don't
muck about, call canon and get that printhead replaced for free.

The ip1500 is not their best egg. My niece has an older generation BJ
that is similar in many ways, perfectly acceptable for her needs but
not the sort of printer i'd invest money in parts on. I say this
because the replacement printhead costs $50ish QY6-054-000 if i'm not
mistaken, shared with the i450 i470 iP1500 MP390. Keep in mind that
these printheads do have a limited life, and it's very likely it's
simply burnt out, esp since you've reached a full inkpad.

So we have worst case of $50 to fix, assuming your issue is the
printhead, not to speak of the diaper. The ip1600 costs $29.00 on
amazon.com using their slugish super saver shipping. Not that i'd
reccomend the ip1600 as unlike your ip1500 it doesn't use a seperate
head, but rather heads on the cartridge adding to the cost per refill.
I'd have to check to see if it's onpar with the cost of the old ip1500.
But it sounds like you print enough to justify something above and
beyond a $50 model.

Given that your waste ink pad is "almost full" after 1 year of use, I
would reccomend you at least consider upgrading to a model more geared
tward your use, either that or stick with $50 models and make sure to
use it so much that your waste ink full warnings come before the
warranty expires.

-older generation- Cheap easy aftermarket tanks
*-ip3000 Base model, $100 range on e-bay
-ip4000 Same thing but with an extra black for photos.
**-mp780 Same as above, but a beast of a multifuction, bargin at $150
-ip5000 HIgher resolution, same as the new models but take the old
cartridges

-current generation- Not so easy to refill
-ip4200 Good entry level printer $90ish to $120
***-ip5200 Heavier, faster, more nozzles, more money. $120ish to
$150ish

* I own
** I have something damn close
*** I'm waiting for

I picked the ip5200 because I print a heck of alot of CDs. While my
ip3000 is just peachy, I wanted something with higher resolution and
the price was right.

Do checkout nifty regarding cleaning, and alternative cartridges for
your printer that are cheaper than the store brand you bought.