Doppelganger MX350 printer and the BC-310 Cartridge

[kmpres]

Hello all,

My wife and I live in Tokyo and we have a Canon Pixma MX350 color inkjet printer that she uses mostly as a copier for her English school.  It also gets used as a spare Wi-Fi printer for when I need to print color images from my PC or laptop but those occasions are rare.  It gets used daily and has been a reliable performer over the past ten years or so.

The 210XL and 211 cartridges, however, are not available locally so we purchase them by mail order four or five at a time to maintain a ready stock of the things.  Because they are expensive, we set the printer for its lightest print and print in draft mode whenever possible to save ink.  We found recently, however, that the stores around us do stock a BC-310 cartridge that claims on the box to be compatible with the MX350 printer so when our stock ran low we bought one to save the time and expense of international shipping.  It looks identical to the 210, and fits perfectly in the carriage like the 210, so we thought that it was simply an updated version of the 210. 

Not so, apparently, because our printer will not recognize it.  Turns out the box, which is for a genuine Canon part (not a remanufactured copy), is marked PIXUS MX350, not PIXMA MX350.  A Google search found many more websites for the PIXMA MX350 than the PIXUS MX350, but the PIXUS MX350 does exist.  If you put the two printers side-by-side you'd see that they are true Doppelgangers - identical in every way - but they are not the same.

My questions to you all are:

1. Why are there two identical machines with identical yet incompatible cartridges? 

2. How can I get my 310 cartridge to work in my Pixma printer?

PS: The store where we bought the cartridge from will not take it back because the package has been opened. 

Thanks.

[Danny · Accepted solution]

Hi, kmpres!

While Canon Inc. markets inkjet printers under the PIXMA brand name in most parts of the world, in some areas the alternate brand name PIXUS is used. Additionally, each major region of the world will generally receive a unique version of each printer model. The printer's casing and performance might be identical, but certain technical specifications may be changed to conform to the local electrical system and to adhere to local governmental regulations.

This also leads to region-specific ink cartridges which are not interchangeable with cartridges intended for sale in other regions. The PIXMA MX350 is specifically designed to use Canon PG-210 and CL-211 ink cartridges.

As you appear to have already found out, the PIXUS MX350, marketed primarily in Japan, is a distinct model from the PIXMA MX350 and thus uses its own ink cartridges.

If you plan on living in Japan long-term, you may want to consider purchasing a Canon printer from a local dealer as it would allow you to use ink cartridges you can find in local stores instead of having to ship them internationally.

We hope this helps!

[Danny · Accepted solution]

Hi, kmpres!

While Canon Inc. markets inkjet printers under the PIXMA brand name in most parts of the world, in some areas the alternate brand name PIXUS is used. Additionally, each major region of the world will generally receive a unique version of each printer model. The printer's casing and performance might be identical, but certain technical specifications may be changed to conform to the local electrical system and to adhere to local governmental regulations.

This also leads to region-specific ink cartridges which are not interchangeable with cartridges intended for sale in other regions. The PIXMA MX350 is specifically designed to use Canon PG-210 and CL-211 ink cartridges.

As you appear to have already found out, the PIXUS MX350, marketed primarily in Japan, is a distinct model from the PIXMA MX350 and thus uses its own ink cartridges.

If you plan on living in Japan long-term, you may want to consider purchasing a Canon printer from a local dealer as it would allow you to use ink cartridges you can find in local stores instead of having to ship them internationally.

We hope this helps!

[kmpres · Accepted solution]

Disappointing, but understood. I see no reason to change the 310 cartridge firmware for Japan versus the more widely used 210 cartridge for America while leaving both physically identical but I won't second-guess Canon's marketing decisions. Fortunately Amazon delivers here so I'll just continue to order the 210 from them a few at a time to keep a ready supply. Thanks for responding to my query.