Club Printer

Regardless of what you need a printer for (home, small office or maybe even photo printing) the most convenient type at this moment would be the all in one color printers. On top of its obvious printer capabilities the user will also be getting, in the same price tag, copying, scanning and in most cases faxing capabilities too. The benefits to this are obvious.
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The first of them is space saving. Adding a copier, printer, scanner and fax machine to the same room obviously takes up a lot of space. Furthermore the user is constantly stuck moving around between the devices depending on what features they mean to use. The last argument is obviously cost efficiency. An all-in-one printer will surely be more affordable than purchasing all of the standalone devices and will eat up less money for maintenance too.

So it’s really no surprise that most manufacturers are in a hurry to offer many multifunction models. They come in various prices, with better features and a nicer design. Since the demand for them is also very high, companies like Canon release such devices to the market rather often. Towards the more affordable end of the scale is the Pixma MP490 all-in-one printer. But don’t let its lower price fool you; it still comes with a nice set of features.

The MP490 all-in-one printer is part of a mini-series of printers that share the same design. The case is made up of light gray and black and comes with rounded edges. The MP490 measures 450 x 335 x 155 mm and weighs 5.5 kg so can be considered a reasonably light device with a decent footprint. Keeping the printer rather small obviously means a little bit of compromise. Low paper capacity of 100 sheets and no networking capabilities makes the MP490 best suited for a home office with low printing needs.

It may also work well on the desk of some students for occasional printing of reports, copying of documents and scanning. The MP490 can print directly from memory cards or PictBridge compatible digital cameras. Memory card types it supports include SD, xD Picture Card, Memory Stick Pro Duo and Compact Flash.

So, what’s the catch and why does this printer cost under a hundred dollars? Aside from the extra features that you’re not getting (one could mention a duplexer, wireless support or ADF) because you’ve decided that you don’t need them, the price of ink somehow makes up in the long run for the affordable initial price.

This means that the cost of consumables is rather high and the mother company may be making more money off selling ink than the actual printer. Overall these all in one color printers are a great buy if you don’t print very often or expect high speeds. It’s small, lightweight, easy to set up and produces good quality photo prints so it’s an ideal candidate for a small office environment, assuming, of course the user is prepared to spend slightly more on replacing the ink than some of the competing devices would require.

Back in the day when it was released, the Canon S9000 color printer was an amazing large format printing device. The Canon BubbleJet S9000 was introduced to the market at the start of the year 2002. This was a time when it was hard to get a good device for photo printing unless you were a professional and prepared to spend a large amount of money. Because more users were interested in a device that supported larger media, Canon built this printer to offer A3 printing.

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It produces high quality photo prints at a faster speed that most of its rivals. The drying of the ink is also significantly better due to a finer spraying of ink.

As for design, the S9000 is rather stylish, features a gray and silver casing and should fit quite well on any size of desk. Setting this printer up is as easy as it gets and you’ll even get a big instruction manual to make it even easier. The Canon S9000 color printer comes with six ink tanks that you’ll have to unwrap and stick into the print head cartridge. Then you’ll install the cartridge in the actual printer, connect the USB cable to the back of the printer as well as the PC and install the software. Within one-two minutes your printer will be installed and ready to work. Another good point of the S9000 is that it is a pretty quiet printer.

The main strength of this printer is printing speed. Compared to models released and available on the market in the same period of time, it’s extremely fast. It can in some cases print A3 quicker than its competitors print in A4. Printing quality is very impressive and well worth the money you are paying for it. As mentioned before the printer uses six-color ink and will achieve maximum resolutions of 2400 x 1200 dpi. The print head has 3,072 nozzles and is part of Canon’s Advanced MicroFine Droplet technology. It offers a lot of versatility when it comes to media size and can print on 4 by 6 up to 13 by 19 inch paper. With a 100 sheet paper feeder, you won’t run out of paper very fast, especially if you’re keeping this device for photo printing (which is what it’s best at). Media types include glossy paper, photo paper, high-gloss photo paper, transparencies, envelopes and more.

As an extra convenience the printer ships with a complete bundle of software that includes PhotoRecord, Image Browser or ZoomBrowser (depending on if you’re using Mac or PC0 and PhotoStitch. Software helps a lot for editing your images and will make the end result look more vivid and bright. The separate cartridges allow easy replacement and since you won’t have to replace them all at the same time you’ll end up saving some money. So if the printer’s price tag seems affordable to you, there isn’t really a good reason to avoid this printer. There are a lot of good parts to it and it’s high printing speeds will keep most users satisfied.

The way technology is evolving we’ll soon have computing, printing, faxing and internet in our pockets. Some companies already brag about offering that, while it’s true that in reality all they are offering is a smarter mobile phone, for example. But this is the general trend of the market, shrinking powerful technology so that it can easily be carried along.

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The same can be said for printing. Long gone are the days when your printer would only produce mono prints and take up half of your room. Now you can just pick it up by the handle, drop it on the back seat of your car, and print the photos you’ve just taken on a field of flowers in the middle of nowhere.

If you’re looking for a rather simple, compact and good quality printer for 4 by 6 prints then you’ll have yourself an epson vs canon photo printers dilemma to solve. Specifically for that type of user, Canon developed the Selphy compact photo printer line, that is meant to give you the freedom to print high quality photos at any location, straight from a compatible Memory card, digi cam or mobile phone.

They also tried to keep the design of the printers as fun, colorful and family oriented as possible. The whole range uses dye-sublimation thermal transfer printing. Epson’s PictureMate range is a bit more serious than the competition. The design, while still ultraportable is a bit more similar to you regular desk printer. The technology used for PictureMates is inkjet. These tiny Epson printers also have a variety of great features to offer and they’ve been awarded editor’s choice, compact printer of the year and so on.

So which would be a good choice between the two ranges? First off, Canon’s little photo printers use the dye-sublimation technology whereas the Picturemates from Epson are inkjets. So if you’re thinking epson vs canon photo printers, you’ll be thinking dye-sublimation versus inkjet as well. Dye-Sublimation means you can leave the printer around, unused, for a long period of time and it won’t clog.

The same can’t be said for inkjets which do clog if not used at a reasonable interval of time. Canon’s dye-sub printers produce photos that have a clear laminate layer over the ink. The result is rugged, water-proof and highly resistant over time prints. The technology used is the most important thing to consider when picking from canon vs epson.

Aside from that, each model comes with it’s own specific features. What they all have in common is that they can all print directly from a digital camera through PictBridge technology, from memory cards (all models support most types of cards) and they all produce quality prints. The size of both Selphy and Picturemate printers is more than great and you can easily take any of them along on trips.

Selphy’s usually include a batter, whereas for Epson’s PictureMate printers you’ll have to purchase both the battery and the adapter separately. Selphy printers offer more than one print size, while PictureMate printers usually only offer 4 by 6 inch photo printing. With all these considerations, hopefully it will be easier for any user to pick either Canon or Epson, based on what they need from a portable printer.

The Pixma MP830 retails for considerably less than its older brother the MP950. However, there are several very useful feature that surprisingly the MP830 has and the MP950 doesn’t. Because it was designed more for small-business and home office use, the MP830 comes with faxing capabilities as well as an automatic document feeder. Color inkjet printers weren’t the ideal candidates for offices since lasers were more cost efficient and generally faster.

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Higher capacity of paper also recommended them. But something about the Canon Pixma MP830 might just make you change your mind on the whole laser vs. inkjet situation. It takes the name of all-in-one very seriously and provides high quality printing, copying, scanning and faxing. Due to the ADF all of the above are made even more easy and convenient and the user.

A built in duplexer insures that you save more paper and money while you’re printing on both sides of a sheet of paper. What you’ll not find so great is WiFi and Ethernet, or the complete lack thereof. While it may fit best in a small office, it will only work through the USB 2.0 interface. This obviously limits your options when it comes to holding up a workgroup.

One of the strong points of most Canon printers is the quality of photo printing. While it may target the business environment, the Pixma MP830 can print photos at a great quality. To make photo printing more convenient the printer also includes a 2.5 inch LCD screen for navigation and previewing and slots for memory cards with direct printing. Because it has two paper trays it’s also easy to shuffle between photo and regular printing paper.

One of the strong points of the Pixma is the printing speed. It will go up to 30 pages per minute for grayscale and 24 pages per minute for color printing. It can handle most types of media including labels, envelopes or transparencies. A 4 by 6 inch photo will print in just around 35 seconds and the quality will not disappoint the majority of users. Text printing is sharp even in draft mode.

If you’re looking for a printer to seriously get the job done as speed and quality, this is one device that you’ll most likely treasure. In addition to the pigment black ink cartridge the MP830 also features dye-based yellow, magenta, cyan and black. Each cartridge comes with it’s own personal LED that will begin to flash if the ink is running low.

The only bad point of this printer seems to be its larger size. It weighs around 32 pounds and has a footprint of 20 x 20 inches which makes it a little on the chubby side among color inkjet printers. The price of the Pixma could be interpreted as a little high by some users, but taking into account that it’s versatile, quality and fast, it might just be a worthwhile purchase.

One can’t help but be a bit fascinated with the Selphy line of Canon photo printers. They are among the smallest, most portable photo printers out on the market, and despite their size they don’t really compromise on quality. A part of the Selphy line, the Compact Photo Printer CP600 is a lightweight and quite portable dye sublimation printer.

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Because it comes with an external battery pack it’s one of the candidates as a companion for a digital camera.  Before you decide to purchase this device, be warned though, that there is no LCD for previewing what you are printing. So it’s mandatory that you have a PictBridge digi cam. Otherwise you will be stuck having to print from your computer. In fact, despite its portability, it would be more enjoyable to keep the Selphy CP600 on your desk at home, and just on the rare occasion you should treat it as a mobile companion.

When closed, the Selphy CP600 does actually remind you of a digital camera as design. It’s metallic silver with just about the same accents and the same boxy shape.  Because it prints by sliding the paper out in the back then re-feeding it three times, you’ll have to provide some space behind the printer. Size-wise it’s very compact and lightweight, measuring 178 x 131 x 58.5 mm and weighing just around 875 grams. You’ll find the cassette for the ink on the right of the printer under a cover and port connections on the left side.

The CP600 allows the user to print 4 by 6 inch photos at 300 x 300 dpi and has some pretty standard features for a compact photo printer. It’s equipped with PictBridge compatibility, USB and IrDA for connectivity. Sadly what it fails to offer is direct printing from a memory card. So in the end it may be nice that it’s a good companion to a digital camera or PC, but it’s unfortunate that it’s limited to that. As in the case of other Selphy printers, paper comes in a kit with the ink, so when you run out, you’ll have to replace both.

Since dye sublimation usually eats up a lot of ink, the CP600 isn’t very affordable. However, setup is nice and easy, you’ll just have to open the flip on the left side and insert the dry ink ribbon cartridge. You then load the paper in the tray and open the flip in the front. After you’ve connected the digital camera to the printer, you can go ahead and print your photos.

The external battery is a 1200mAh Li-Ion rechargeable and attaches to the back of the printer. A full battery will last for printing 36 4 by 6 inch photos. To fully recharge the battery you’ll have to plug it in for about 150 minutes. As a conclusion, if you own a PictBridge digital camera and want one of the quality Canon photo printers that you can pack along on your trips, then the Selphy CP600 may as well be the thing you need.

Canon’s Selphy line was designed to be fun, colorful, easy to use and fit for a family. It sits quietly on the shell waiting to be bought by the user that wants an easy photo printer, without all the headache involved in setting up a complex device, installing drivers, setting up a workgroup and so on. That same user will have lots of benefits when purchasing a Selphy. One of them is mobility. It’s made for the family that wants to go out on a picnic on a Saturday and take along the digital camera and the printer, for some quick photo fun.

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To make this even easier, the Selphy CP790 comes with an unique storage basket that can conveniently hold the paper, the ink and the printer itself. You could also fit in there the AC adapter, cable or optional battery pack (if you’ve purchased one). But more importantly, it’s easy to carry around since it features a handle. A special locking mechanism guarantees that everything is in place in the basket.

Due to the dye sublimation technology, the printer might end up eating a lot of ink. But Cannon also claims that prints produced by the Selphy CP790 are water resistant and will last for 100 years before starting to deteriorate. And the quality the printer provides, combined with it’s portability, might make it worth spending all that money on ink. The printer comes with two paper casettes. One is business card sized while the other one is for 4 by 6 inch postcard paper. Other sizes of cassettes and paper are also available for purchase, including 4 by 8 inches and 3.5 by 4.5 inches.

As design, the printer comes in a bright green color, and features a set of conveniently placed buttons. Controls include an on/off button, menu, a directional control key, edit and back buttons. Right in the center of the directional ‘wheel’ you’ll find an ok button as well. Right above the buttons you’ll find a 3 inch LCD that will display useful information like what memory card slot is currently in use, how many images are ready to be printer, the size of the images and so on.

Canon’s Selphy CP790 is very versatile when it comes to devices it can print from. It works as a stand alone unit, and will print from memory cards or digital cameras. It can also be connected to a PC via USB. If the user is interested in printing straight from a mobile phone, there’s also an optional Bluetooth module offered by Canon. When it comes to speed, the CP790 does a little better than previous model CP780. It will produce a 4 by 6 inch photo in 55 seconds. Not so fast yet not too bad either, for a portable dye-sub printer.

The only inconvenient to the Selphy CP790 is how fast it runs trhough ink and paper. On the bright side, paper and ink are sold as a kit. A 36 sheet set will cost $15 . If you print a lot and want to save a few bucks, the 108 kit goes for $35. All in all Canon’s Selphy CP790 is one of those easy photo printers that offers great quality as well.

A laptop is a great addition to any person’s life. It doesn’t really matter where you plan to travel, whether it’s for business and pleasure, you’ll know for sure you can take movies, music, spreadsheets, e-mail and internet with you.

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Actually, even if a printer will only work for 3-4 hours before it’s battery goes dry, it’s also portable in the sense that you can take it along in a backpack and plug it in at your destination. But what if you’d like, alongside your portable computer, to have a portable printer?Then, you’d have to check out what Canon is currently offering, their mobile laptop printers named i80.

Aside from its gray cover, the i80 is practically copied as design from it’s previous model, the i70. Since the i70 was so popular amongst customers, there was really no point to improve its design. But don’t be fooled, there is a reason why the i80 is out, as it brings a ton of new features under that pretty shell. Photo quality is even better, printing speed has also been improved. The main target for this printer is the worker on the go that actually needs to print outside the office/home. For this, Canon ensured that the i80 can print straight from a digital camera with no need for a computer. But the printer is also a great companion to any notebook. The company is also offering some optional accessories for the mobile laptop printer, a Bluetooth module and a car adapter.

The Canon i80 is probably one of the smallest and most lightweight printers currently on the market. This doesn’t stop it from offering almost everything a customer would need from an inkjet photo printer. It supports various sizes of paper included letter, legal, A4, envelopes, 4 by 6 inch and 5 by 7 inch. If you’re wondering where the paper tray is, on such a small device, you’ll be pleased to know that the top of the printer turns into one when it’s opened. It can hold around 30 sheets of paper, which is not that much, but I doubt you’d be carrying along more with you.

For connectivity, you’ll get a USB port, and PictBridge technology ensures that you can print directly from your digi-cam. It also features a IrDa port for some odd reason.

The main inconvenience to this printer is that you need to buy accessories. Unless you want to go back to your office every couple of hours to recharge it, you’ll definitely need either a car adapter (so that you can charge it through the car’s cigarette ligher) or a Li-Ion portable battery. Moreover, you’ll need to get yourself a USB cable as the manufacturer doesn’t supply you with one.

The price tag of the Canon i80 is not very modest, you’ll find it for sale at about $250. Add to that about $90 for the car adapter and/or $100 for the battery kit, and it won’t be very affordable. But on the bright side, a professional can easily carry it along, in the same bag with the laptop and be able to print anywhere. So the i80 is an excellent choice for mobile workers.

The days when you would own a separate device for printing, scanning and copying are pretty much gone. When looking for a printer now, the consumer requires all of those features in one device. Requirements don’t end here though. Depending on the needs of each user, the all-in-one printer should also be pretty small, easy to use, at an affordable price or with plenty of extra features. Since multifunction printers have become a reasonably common thing, they now obviously come in a variety of shapes, sizes and most of all prices. Some offer wireless connectivity, others boast bigger and brighter LCD screens. Most manufacturers have noticed this trend, so most of them now have a whole series of devices, for all budgets and demands.

Cannon’s Pixma MP490 photo all-in-one inkjet color printer is towards the more affordable, and simple to use end of the scale. When buying a lower end device, you generally expect to get a lot less features than if you were buying a high end printer. But realistically speaking, the main features (like printing, scanning and copying which is what the consumer is interested in, in the first place) are pretty much the same, regardless of the price of the device.

In the case of the MP490 what you get is a compact, stylish printer that gets the job done. On the bright side, the MP490 is rather inexpensive (under 100$), simple to use as well as to set up, and has a pretty intuitive control panel. It’s also small and lightweight, measuring 450 x 335 x 155mm and weighing just 5.5kg, so it won’t take up all of your desk space. The print resolution is pretty high, at 4800 x 1200 and the printer incorporates Canons’ patented FINE technology.

To the right of the scanner lid, you can find a smaller top lid that uncovers a 1.8 inch LCD screen serving as a control panel. While it is mainly used for navigation and to display the menu, it also works pretty well for previewing photo thumbnails. On the front right side of the printer you can also find a memory card slot. The MP490 supports a pretty wide variety of media-cards including SD, MemoryStick R, Memory Stick Pro and Memory Stick Duo. Design-wise, the only thing the customer can complain about would be the slightly flimsy plastic paper tray. Other features include : Auto Photo Fix II (software that automatically corrects your images), Borderless Printing, Document Printing, Photo Printing, Photo Index Sheet, Template Print.

So far Canon Pixma MP490 photo all-in-one inkjet color printer sounds like an amazing device for 100$, but like many other printers in that price range, it obviously has some bad points as well. In the case of this printer, what you don’t get is an automatic document feeder and wireless support.  Disadvantages also include its rather slow printing speed as well as the high cost for replacing the black ink cartridge. In other words, what you save when you buy the device, you might just end up paying for actually using it frequently and having to replace the ink.

Jet Tec, manufacturer of compatible inkjet cartridges, has launched a new range of compatible cartridges for the recently announced Canon Pixma ip4200.

The Pixma printer is one of the most advanced high performance photo printers in the market. Jet Tec says with consumers able to print up-to 20 per cent more than with equivalent OEM cartridges, the new SKU’s will provide the dealer and reseller with an opportunity to focus on margin and profit. (more…)

Canon’s new Pixma iP6700D photo printer is the successor to the company’s iP6600D, one of our 100 Best Products of 2006. I was eager to see what Canon added to our midrange favorite, but found it largely a case of evolution, not revolution.

The $200 iP6700D is first and foremost a photo printer, and in our tests it produced high-quality prints, worth a Very Good score, on photo paper. However, although the images looked vibrant, our jury noted that skin tones often appeared a little too bronzed.

The device is less adept at printing text. Unlike the $230 Canon Pixma iP5200R photo printer, it doesn’t use pigment black ink; as a result, its text output wasn’t as dark, and we also noted fuzzy edges on some characters. (more…)