will the Canon iPF5000 have a little brother?

[Lisa Nikodym]

The 90 pound, 17"-wide-carriage beast is too big for my desk.  Can anyone out there with information or guesses about Canon's product cycle suggest if there's likely to be a 13"-wide-carriage "little brother" sometime in the not-too-distant future?  (My Epson 2200 is still alive and kicking, but once of these days it's going to go...)

Lisa

[mbridgers]

Canon will have the PixmaPro 9500 later this summer, a 13x19, 10-color pigment printer.  Vincent at Photo-i.co.uk had a blurb when it was announced back in February: http://photo-i.co.uk/News/Feb06/Pro9500.htm

HP also is releasing a pigment printer, the B9180, an 8-color pigment printer, that sounds great as well.  Vincent at photo-i again as a blurb here:
http://photo-i.co.uk/News/Feb06/HP%20B9180.htm

and a video introduction here: http://photo-i.co.uk/Reviews/interactive/H...9180/page-1.htm

He's been teasing a full review for months, but is waiting for a production model, which has slipped some until August or so.  Hopefully no longer than that.

I love my Canon i9900, but I do want more longevity for my prints, not so much for me but I give away a good number of prints to friends (mostly of their kids swimming) and I'd like to feel comfortable knowing they could look back on those 20, 30, or 50 years from now and still see a quality print.

[theophilus]

"with enhanced pro grade direct print functionality"

Marketing-speak makes me laugh.  

When is someone going to make a 13" wide printer that takes large ink cartridges?  The difference in the cost of ink between these two systems is going to be large, just like Epson.  Even a 70 mL tank would be better.

[Lisa Nikodym]

When is someone going to make a 13" wide printer that takes large ink cartridges?

I hear you!  It's not just the cost, I get awfully tired of switching a cartridge just about every other print...

Lisa