Yes, three printers – that’s how many I bought this year. That’ is three of the same model – the Canon MX922. Why would I do that? Here is why.

This new model from Canon is unlike previous Canon printers. There is no need for me to “cap off” the cartridge once I have re-filled it with ink. This is because I now inject the ink into the sponge part of the cartridge, not into the ink chamber. The ink does not evaporate or leak out from the cartridge after the cartridge is refilled.

Because I don’t have to fiddle with super tiny screws to cap off the cartridge, the whole ink-filling process goes super fast. In less than one minute I can fill all five cartridges with ink – something I do up to three times each day when I am busy making my popup cards. Each filling cycle gives me 15 to 20 beautiful glossy color prints.

More good news. Each printer comes with a set of ink cartridges. On the rare occasion when a cartridge must be replaced, I only have to go as far as the closet to retrieve a new cartridge. I have had to resort to this tactic only once this year. With the first of these printers, I inserted the ink syringe too far into sponge part of the cartridge. Consequently, that cartridge dried out, and just this week I had to replace it.

It looks as if I will have three good years of printing. Since I purchase a new 150-sheet pack of glossy paper every six weeks, that amounts to 1350 glossy pictures to enjoy. Since I use five glossies for each popup card – three for the card setup, and another two for the pictures that I cut out and attach to the card – I figure that I will make 270 popup cards before I need to purchase the new model printer.

Oh, yes, another good reason for me to purchase a number of these printers now. Costco has the printer for a good price. When the printer is out of stock, the price skyrockets. The $119 printer becomes a $250 printer – if you can still find it online. Who knows when the Canon Company will find a way to prevent people like me from refilling the cartridges. I can see the day when a warning is placed on the printer:

THESE CARTRIDGES WILL EXPLODE UPON REFILLING. REFILL CARTRIDGES AT YOUR OWN RISK.

Mr. Ebsen, who never blows up, may be contacted at robertebsen@hotmail.com