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Configuration (6)
The Canon iP2600 prints with two ink cartridges: one black cartridge and one tri-color cartridge made up of yellow, magenta and cyan. Placement of the inks was simple but the turnover rate of the ink was rapid. After printing about 15 8.5"x11" photographs, the color cartridge became very low. Although it may be convenient and less expensive to have one cartridge dedicated to all of the colors instead of having individual cartridges per color, it may not give accurate ink levels. If you print a lot of blue skies and the blue runs out, the color cartridge won't say the blue is out and continue using magenta and yellow. It'll ask you to replace the entire color ink cartridge.
Value (5)
Ink for the Canon iP2600 uses two cartridges, one black and one color. At the cheapest the PG-30 Black ink cartridges costs $15.99 and the CL-31 Color cartridge costs $19.99. Canon also offers PG-40 Black for $19.99 and CL-41 Color for $24.99, two ink cartridge that Canon advertises to be better. Price-wise, this system ends up being a good deal compared to the Epson R2400 which takes several ink cartridges separated by individual colors. But the iP2600’s ink runs out fairly quickly and because the color cartridge holds all three colors of yellow, magenta and cyan in one cartridge, you may run out of one color before another but still need to replace the entire color cartridge. This is where having the individual cartridges wins out.
Ink Management (6)
The Canon iP2600 had good ink management. It displays a window every time a print is requested with the ink levels displayed in a graphic of two cylinders, one with black ink and the other with multi-colored ink. The driver also offered easy access into the ink levels.
Because all three inks are meshed into one color cartridge, the driver and the printer can’t tell which color is left and which needs replacing. If you print a bunch of blue skies, the cyan may run out before the yellow and magenta, but the ink management tool will request that you replace the entire color cartridge.
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