I'm thinking of getting one, but was curious to know what made you change your "Do not buy" recommendation from March 2007 to a "buy" recommendation now?
Good question. First of all, this is my personal recommendation. The Wiki no longer takes a position for or against buying the printer. Instead, we point out the pros and cons of this particular printer compared to other 17 inch printers.
My personal recommendation is based on:
1) The great price, especially if you get a full set of 130 ml inks along with the printer. At $1400 for the combo, you can print for a long time. The iPF5100 may not be discounted so much, and paying full price for replacement inks could cost you at least $800 more. Will the iPF5100 be better? Probably, but perhaps not $800 better to make a heck of a lot of prints.
2) We aren't getting any more reports of Canon USA refusing to replace defective ink cartridges
3) Canon service seems to have improved so there are few reports of problems
4) The latest firmware (1.25) appears to be more frugal with ink used for cleanings than earlier versions
5) Canon now offers a "verbal warranty" of one year on the printheads (or 2.5 liters of ink each) . The newer PF-03 heads have a counter built in (or into the firmware) and come with a written one year warranty. While less than optimal given their high price, this is a heck of a lot better than no warranty.
6) Still NO reports of clogging
7) The printer just keeps working. I keep a roll of Epson Premium Luster loaded and make a print whenever I want without doing a nozzle check. The prints are great.
You can go to the front page of the Wiki and be directed to a lot more information about the pros and cons of this particular printer.
--John