Useable qty. of ink difference between regular and XL ink cartridges?

[Peva]

I have the Pixma MG5420 printer (actualy, the MG5422, which is the same thing, just labelled for sale by WalMart).  It takes the CLI-251 inks (PGI-250 for the pigmented black cartridge).

Does Canon (or anyone, like in a magazine or computer site review) make available any information that would help to quantify the difference in amount of usable ink between the regular and the XL cartridges?  I just need information in a form (like how many grams or ozs. of usable ink or how many pages of the same content can be printed before the cartridge is declared empty and printing is halted) that would allow me to make an objective comparsion between various deals on the regular and the XL cartridges.

Thanks.

[joebassman · Accepted solution]

Hi Peva,

Go to Canon ink jet page yields. http://www.usa.canon.com/cusa/consumer/standard_display/resources-and-learning-consumer/reference_ma...

The Canon regular ink cartridge lists the ink number and other important information, i.e. the color and the maximum page yield. For most canon printers, that is usually around 150 to 200 pages, depending on the model number.

The Canon XL ink cartridge will have twice the amount of ink and can be cheaper than buying two regular packages. By looking at the cartridge packaging you will find that the XL will usually print 300 to 420 pages for most cannon printers.

I just bought the XXL ink cartridge. Hard to find in stores, but found it on line at amazon.

Good luck in your search, but remember only use Canon ink in your printer. My mother once bought a generic ink to save money, and ruined her printer.

Joe

[Peva]

That's exactly what I was looking for, Joe. Thanks so much!

Since my original post, I purchased some cartridges at WalMart to keep my printer going until I could get my ducks in a row on shopping the www for the best deals (using the links you provided). I notice that the boxes that the cartridges come in have the weight of the ink in the cartridges in milliliters. Not sure if that is total, or useable amount (assuming that a certain amount of the ink in the cartridge will not be used before the printer stops use of that cartridge), but the information you provided is directly useable to compare the options available on each color cartridge.

Thanks again.

[Peva]

I also meant to say that I agree with you on buying only Canon ink.  Years ago, I was burned more than once trying to use aftermarket ink, and swore that off forever.  It's unfortunate, because there are probably honest businesses that do supply or have supplied alternate solutions for inkjet inks, but unfortunately the charlatains out there apparently outweight them, and it's just not worth it (to me anyway) to sort out the bad from the good and risk damage or deal with having to return the defective cartridges (like I was having to do when I was experimenting with that).  Never again for me.

[Archivist]

Sorry to say you are incorrect regarding the difference between XL and regular ink cartridges. XL is not twice the volume. Box for XL reads 11mls and box for regular reads 7mls. Yet cost for XL is double the cost for regular. Thus, the only thing that doubles is the price.  To add insult to injury, I am told by my Staples store that regular size (for the blue) is  only available in a multiple packet. The whole pricing scheme in the ink tank business is shameful and should be government regulated. It's a cash cow for HP, Canon, and the other big cahunas. 

[Peva]

You're right that the quantity of XL ink is not double, but if you check the Canon link that joebassman posted, for the CL-I251 inks, you do get at least twice the printed pages with the XL cartridges.  That is believable since there will be a certain quantity of ink retained by the felt in the both types of cartridge when they are essentially empty, so the usable quantity could be double.

On your statements about regular size blue (cyan) only being available in a multiple pack, check Amazon - CLI-251C is available in singles.  I think you'll also find pricing for XL is less than double, so (with double the page yield) it would represent some savings.

I do wonder if there isn't some collusion and price fixing with there being little variation in the pricing from one seller to another (no real bargains in the name-brand inks).

I do notice the "generic" inks are now identified as "compatible" when they're not the name-brand.  Not sure if Amazon requires that now from customer comlaints or if the legal system requires it to be more clerarly stated so they don't get sued by the name brand manufacturers.  It used to be that the generics were pretty much described as if they were the name brand in a very deceitful way.

[Helana]

Does anyone know the difference between the PGI-270XL black and the CLI-271XL black?  Vendor pictures show the PGI as being thicker than the CLI, but I generally don't trust vendor pictures.  My printer will use both according to Canon.  Thanks.