Canon PG-280 black · standard

Canon lists the PG-280 at 200 pages for $19.99, which is 9.99 cents a page, and the PG-280XL at 400 pages for $27.99, or 7.00 cents. Doubling the ink for $8.00 takes 30 percent off every page you print, so the standard size only makes sense if you print rarely enough that ink would dry in the cartridge before you used it.

In our catalogue this cartridge fits one machine, the PIXMA TR8620, where it works alongside a CL-281 tri-colour. That partner is the expensive half of the pair: the standard CL-281 costs 13.33 cents a page and the CL-281XL brings it to 10.00 cents, a saving of 25 percent. An XL pair of both lists at $57.98 against $41.98 for two standard cartridges.

The TR8620 carries no firmware lock in our records, so compatible and remanufactured PG-280 cartridges are a fair option and a rejected cartridge is not the risk you are running.

This is a FINE cartridge, which Canon describes as ink and print head combined in a single unit. That is why it costs what it does, and it is also why a bad print is often recoverable: lift it out, wipe the copper nozzle plate on the underside with a damp lint free cloth, let it dry and refit it. Canon warns against touching the contacts and nozzles with your fingers, so hold it by the sides. A cartridge that still prints nothing after a careful clean has a failed head, and no cleaning cycle run from the printer will bring that back.