Shopping for a printer has suddenly become complicated. Does it have networking features, and do you need them? What resolution can it print and how well does it do for photo printing? Choosing a printer for your office now means trying to figure out if you’d be better off with a color laser printer or a multifunctional inkjet. And of course the prices are also extremely varied. And not on the low side at all. So what if, for the sake of argument, you are the kind of person that wants an extremely affordable printer that just prints (without the usual assortment of extra features)?

A device like they used to make a couple of years ago, that simply gets the job done without much complication.  Then you take a look at Canon’s lineup of printers because they have a model that does exactly that, print. For £35. Not the ink, or the maintenance cost, but the printer itself comes with this price tag. Having said that, this article won’t be about networking capabilities, huge LCD displays or such other details.  cheap color printer like this doesn’t offer any extras.

You won’t find a PictBridge port for direct printing from your compatible digital camera or any memory card slot. What you probably did expect to find and you won’t is the output tray. Canon has been so cost efficient that it figured you might as well place the printer on the desk, where it will always sit, and just let the paper drop out from it. When choosing a spot for the Canon Pixma iP1900 do consider that it needs some unoccupied space in front.

Other than these minor inconveniences, the quality of the printer is very close to much more expensive models on the market. It makes perfect use of Canon’s ChromaLife 100 technology and prints come with a warranty of 100 years if stored in a photo album. The quality of text prints and graphics is good but not exceptional, as is the case with most inkjet printers. Printing speed is not bad at all for such an affordable standalone printer. Canon claims speeds of 21 pages per minute for black printing and 17 pages per minute for color. A 15 by 10 inch photo will take just about 1 minute and a half to print out, in best quality. This is not bad at all, even compared to expensive photo printers.

As a conclusion, the Pixma iP1900 is great value for money. It targets the simple user who doesn’t want all the fuss an expensive printer involves. The same user who wants to connect the printer to a PC through USB and then see it work.  The replacement of consumables may be a bit on the pricey side of town, compared to other inkjets, so this is one thing to keep in mind when thinking about purchasing a IP1900. Other than that, this cheap color printer comes close to costing less than a toner and for that kind of money it surely delivers.

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