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I have the 9900 on backorder but no ETA, so I thought I'd do a little more checking into the Canon 8400.  Has anyone worked with these two printers - hopefully someone with experience on both.  I'm not interested in price comparisons or quality of print, but more on productivity and maintenance.

I can't help you a heck of a lot, but I have the Epson 7900 (exact same machine as the 9900 except for the extra 20 inches in width and two maintenance tanks on the 9900) and I just love it! I still have and use the 4880 for my smaller prints, having set up the 7900 for pretty much all canvas printing. So far it is maintenance free (8 months) and does not consume lots of ink like you might expect. It has never needed even a nozzle clean so far, but I do print just about every day which I'm sure helps keep it open and clean. Plus, on both the 7900 and the 9900, the ink cartridges are now pressurized helping with the clogging issue. Again, I just love Epson printers and would not change brands ever.

Thanks Mark. I've pretty much decided to keep the 9900 on backorder - hopefully it won't take too long. Were the ink cartridges not pressurized before? Is that an update to the x900?

MikeGuilbault wrote:  Were the ink cartridges not pressurized before?  Is that an update to the x900?

 Yeah, they probably were, but I know that my 4880 isn't pressurized, so that hi-tech feature is new to me!

Well.. no more time to reconsider. The 9900 is being delivered tomorrow morning!

MikeGuilbault wrote:Well.. no more time to reconsider.  The 9900 is being delivered tomorrow morning!

I hope you lined up a couple of strong backs to help you out! Are you setting this up in your home? It'll come on a palette. I had mine sent to my home (my business too) and uncrated it on my back porch and carried it in.

It was delivered to my studio and there's a loading dock in the back so no worries there. Also had a couple other guys on hand for the heavy lifting. All set up and ready to print. Wish I could afford some paper or canvas now!

Pics here: http://www.facebook.com/mike.guilbault.photography

MikeGuilbault wrote:It was delivered to my studio and there's a loading dock in the back so no worries there.  Also had a couple other guys on hand for the heavy lifting.  All set up and ready to print.  Wish I could afford some paper or canvas now!

Pics here: http://www.facebook.com/mike.guilbault.photography

Wait 'till you need ink, never mind the paper! Although the ink cartridges that came with it lasted quite a long time (as I recall they were 110 mls. I print a lot, but couldn't justify the 750ml. cartridges at around $2500! I opted for the smallest ones at 150ml, not wanting the huge ones to expire before getting used up. Good luck with your new printer Mike and I 'm sure you'll be very happy with your choice.

There are refillable carts now for the 9900 and chip setters for the carts and waste tanks. It's easy to do and you'll do a 700 ml or so cartridge for around 45 dollars. Lot of people sell the ink--but PM me and I will give you their source.

Paul

I know this is an older thread that just popped up again, and the OP already made his choice long ago. But in case anyone is looking through the archives I'll say the Canon iPF x400 series are impressing me. I've had a chance to work very closely in the past few months with a monster iPF 9400, and it's an incredibly capable machine. I like the ink set, the print quality, the paper handling, the speed, the configurability of different media types, the job accounting, the lack of clogging, the user-replaceable printheads and more.

I've been pretty much dedicated to Epson printing for my own work (either printed myself or by shops that use Epson), and still like my Epson results. But Canon truly has come on strong, and the iPF series machines are worth a close look to anybody getting into a floor-standing model of 24" or larger. The 12-ink system with a pair of 6-channel heads (means no wasted ink to switch between PK and MK), the lack of clogs, and the user replaceable heads all make for a pretty worry free operational model. I've really enjoyed working with the iPF 9400, and I'm pretty sure the experience with it would translate exactly over to the smaller 24" and 44" versions as well.

The only major hole in the Canon lineup right now is that their 17" model, the iPF 5100, has not been updated in step with its larger cousins. It's still sitting back at the ink set and head design from a couple of generations ago. For whatever reason, Canon has pushed forward considerably with the big units, but elected not to stay updated in the 17" pro desktop segment. If Canon made an iPF 5400 using the current generation ink set and head design from the iPF 6400 / 8400 / 9400, I do believe I would get one...