HP Designjet T2300 eMFP vs Canon iPF750 MFP Review & Comparison

Multi-function large format printer has become a hot topic these days. CAD users in AEC or M&E industry are exploring the viability in investing in a large format scanner or multi-function large format printer.

From the total cost of ownership point of view, it is not viable to invest in HP Designjet T2300 eMFP as the large format scanner is integrated into the printer. The life span of the scanner could easily last for more than 10 year, but the printer may just last approximately 5-6 years before it need a lot of maintenance due to life span of the wear and tear parts in the inkjet wide format printer.

It means if you invest in a integrated multi-function large format printer like HP Designjet T2300 eMFP, very likely you will need to replace the whole system (integarted scanner and printer) every 5-year.

If you opt for a seperate system like HP Designjet T790 + large format scanner or Canon iPF750 MFP where the systems are basically made up by two separate devices (scanner + printer), you can keep the scanner as long as it is still funtioning (easily last more than 10 year) while with the flexibility to upgrade the wide format printer in every 5 to 6-year based on the print volumes.

*Note: A large format A0+ (40") scanner price is approximate 2 times the A0 size large format printer.

For functionality of both types of systems, please refer to video below:

Document Scanner vs Graphic Scanner vs Flatbed Scanner vs Sheet-fed Scanner

Since 2012, I have extended my consulting service to document scanner apart from wide format printer and industrial coder.

I have spent 3 months in mastering the required knowledge in the document scanning industry. Likewise, to fully leverage my knowledge, I will start to post articles related to document scanner in this blog.

Generally, there are 2 types of scanner in the market. 

1. Document Scanner
2. Graphic Scanner

If you are looking for a scanner, you must first determine what kind of scanner you are looking at. Document scanner, like its name, is meant for document scanning. It maximum resolution is normally at maximum 600 dpi (smaller file size) and capable to digitize the hard-copy document to OCR pdf. 

Under the document scanners, there are 3 types of paper feeding option as below:

1. Sheet-fed only （Canon P215)
2. Sheet-fed with the option to add on a flatbed device (Canon DR-M160, Canon DR-6030C, etc)
3. Sheet-fed and flatbed ready (Canon DR-2020U, Canon DR-7090C)

Canon DR-2020U Document Scanner (Sheet-fed & Flatbed Ready)

Graphic scanner is meant for photo, fine art, film scanning and etc. The maximum scanning resolution is at 2400 dpi (huge file size) and does not bundled with OCR pdf feature. Flatbed would be the only media feeding option.

Epson Expression 10000XL High End Flatbed Graphic Scanner

If you are looking for a document scanner, please insists only for a sheet-fed scanner as most of the time the retailer will normally try to sell you a very affordable graphic flatbed scanner like Canon LiDE110.

Sub tanks ink delivery system for large format printer

The sub tanks ink delivery system is a very useful feature that is neglected when comes to printer reviews. Very often the users see the sub tanks ink delivery system is to enable replacement of ink cartridges while the printer is printing. But, this is not the only feature that the sub ink tanks are meant for. The truth is a large format printer that built in with sub ink tanks in its ink delivery system will deliver better ink efficiently and it is much economical as compared to another wide format printer that does not comes with sub tanks.

If you are existing users of HP Designjet 111, HP Designjet 510, Canon iPF605, Canon iPF710 or any other inkjet wide format printer that does not built in with sub ink tanks, you will found that the empty ink cartridges that were ejected from your plotters is not really empty. In fact, there is still remaining of a few milliliters of precious ink in the so-called empty cartridges. Why?

An ordinary inkjet system consists of ink cartridges (inlet), tubing and printhead. To ensure smooth ink delivery within the system, air bubble is the culprit that the designer trying to avoid. To ensure no air bubble is captured in the ink system, the designers of the printer will not allow the ink cartridges to be fully drain because once it is done, air bubble will be created in the ink delivery system, and the printer will need to purge the ink till the air bubble is out. Hence, with a inkjet printer that does not comes with sub ink tanks, the ink cartridges will not be allowed to fully drain. In short, the users are actually throwing out a few milliliters of ink every time a cartridge in change.

With the built in of sub tanks, no bubble will be able to smuggle in the ink tubes because the ink is supplied by the sub ink tanks instead of directly from the ink cartridges. Hence, it enables full use of ink tank contents, eliminating waste ink.

A part from more economical ink consumption, the sub ink tanks system is constantly reserving a preset ink level in the sub tanks which allows users replace ink tanks without having to stop printing. Even when ink runs out unexpectedly, users can continue printing using just the sub tanks. (Example: equivalent to approximately 80 sheets of A1 plain paper for monochrome drawings).

Large Format Printers that built-in with sub ink tanks design:

Canon iPF650

Canon iPF655

Canon iPF750

Canon iPF755

Canon iPF760

Canon iPF765
Canon iPF815
Canon iPF825

Canon iPF8000S

Canon iPF8300S

Canon iPF8300

Canon iPF9000S

Canon iPF9100

Large Format Printers that DO NOT comes with sub ink tanks design:

Canon iPF510

Canon iPF605

Canon iPF710

Canon iPF5100

Canon iPF6300

Canon iPF6300S

HP Designjet 111

HP Designjet 500 (Mono)

HP Designjet 510

HP Designjet T790
HP Designjet T1200

HP Designjet T1300

HP Designjet T2300 eMFP

Cost per print job calculation for Canon iPF Printers with Acconting Functions

Cost per print is always a priority concern of the large format printer users, especially the commercial printer operators.

To capture, tabulate and manage the print cost accurately based on jobs, media and users have become easy and convenience with the Accounting Functions that bundled with selected Canon iPF models as below:

Canon iPF760

Canon iPF765

Canon iPF750

Canon iPF755

Canon iPF650

Canon iPF655

Canon iPF815

Canon iPF825

Canon iPF6300

Canon iPF6350

Canon iPF6300S

Canon iPF8300 or Canon iPF8310

Canon iPF8300S or Canon iPF8310S

Please see below video to find out how the Canon iPF Accounting Functions works.

For more detail explanation on Accounting Functions, kindly read below post:
Accounting Functions of Canon imagePROGRAF Large Format Printer

If your wide format printer model is not supported by Accounting Functions, please refer to below posts on how to calculate the cost per print or cost per square foot.
Canon imagePROGRAF Ink Cost Per Print Calculation
How to calculate the printing cost per square foot for Canon iPF8100?