Canon Pixma iP3600 printer ink cartridges

Canon Pixma iP3600, ink cartridges for this printer consist of two black cartridges PGI-520BK yielding approx. 324 pages and the CLI-521BK cartridge which is used for photos. in addition there are three individual colour cartridges CL521C,M&Y each yielding around 530pages. The best value when replacing these colour cartridges is to purchase a multipack and we recommend the CLI-521CMY as a cost effecient purchase for this printer. Award winning, German quality compatible ink cartridges now available for this printer at great savings.

 Canon Pixma iP3600 Printer Review

The Canon Pixma iP3600 is part of the same range with the Pixma iP4600. It just lacks some of the iP4600's more innovative features, like automatic duplex printing, but it surely still manages to impress.

Setting up went easily. The final stage is manual print head alignment, that requires choosing the most solid looking printed rectangles on a test print then inputting the numbers printed next to them in a onscreen interface. There are actually three pages of this, which can be somewhat tiring, but it's worth doing it properly as it improves print quality substantially.

All our prints looked outstanding. In fact even the draft text was clear and very easy to read, while lettering at standard quality appeared to be as well-defined as of what is produced by the Canon LBP5050 laser printer and a bit darker. Fonts as small at 5pt were legible, though a little unclear, at normal quality. Color document prints were excellent, with precise tones and shading in our graphs as well as our business graphics.

We were likewise surprised by the iP3600's photo printing capabilities. Despite the fact that the printer works by using only four inks, the color as well as the shading of our photo prints were basically comparable to those of many six-ink printers we have reviewed. Skin tones looked like they were natural, dark colours and low contrast parts appeared to be well defined and the bright colors appeared radiant and exciting. The quality as well as the detail of our photos was among the best we have seen with a budget inkjet, with virtually no jagged dithering, graininess or fuzzy edges.

The iP3600 comes with a separate print head, which means that if the nozzles become clogged, you can easily replace the head rather than throwing away the whole printer. Even though this is a four-colour printer, this basically uses five individual Canon Pixma iP3600 printer ink cartridges, which includes both dye as well as pigment-based black ink. The clear dye ( CLI-521 cartridges) results in vibrant tones on photo paper, while on the other hand the pigment-based ink ( PGI-520BK cartridge) was designed to sink into ordinary paper and dries quickly to produce clear text with no smudges. Just like the more high end iP4600, this printer has a rear paper tray which can take standard and photographic paper and also a front-loading cartridge. The latter can hold up to a hundred and fifty sheets of standard A4 and includes a protective cover to keep dust out.

The mono print speeds are generally quick at 6.7ppm on standard quality. Draft-quality prints are even sufficiently good to use even for formal documents, and printed at 9.3ppm. Mixed-colour documents took a bit longer to print at just 2.2ppm, though this compares well with most inkjets. Mixed-colour prints are affordable at 6p, while mono costs of 2.3p per page are a little high.

Should you need an inkjet for home use, the iP3600 brings together remarkable print quality, low mixed colour costs along with an low price. It's really a great buy and, unless you really need a duplexer, is better value compared to the iP4600