For Canon the approach to clog management is different; the print head has spare nozzles and the heads are consumables, so the flip side of the cleaning cycles we experience with Epson, is print head replacement for Canon, and they cost about $500 each. I have no idea how many sq. ft. of coverage the average Canon head is good for, but if any one does, a factor that should be weighed into a rigorous comparison of printing costs.
The numbers that I've come across are.... 4 Litres of ink or 35,000 square feet. Now, if its 4 litres of ink, does this mean per color channel? I have no idea. If so, this would mean roughly 30 of the 130ml carts. But if the head is only good for 4 litres total, across 6 color channels, then this would mean only 5 carts for each color, and I'm sure this isn't the case. In terms of the square footage number, this would mean roughly 5,800 24x36 prints, which is quite a bit.
Anyway, the other way to look at it is this. With either printer, you get 1 year warranty. When the head goes on an Epson, I've read it costs $2000 for the part and service. When you head go on the Canon, lets just call it $1000 for the two. But the nice thing is that these new heads have a warranty for 1 year, so if they fail before the one year, they will be replaced for free. Even if they fail after the one year mark and you have to buy 2 new heads again and spend another $1000, this gives you another year of warranty. In my mind, it just seems like better bang for the buck. Plus of course there are no issues with switching blacks and all the associated air problems with that.
Anyway, this thread isn't about the bigger printers so sorry for the distraction.