Almost as good if not better than Wally World's photos!!!!!
Written: Feb 13 '03
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Pros: Relatively fast printing, Quiet, Nice Conservative Styling, Ink Tanks
Cons: Didn't buy it sooner
The Bottom Line: A great home printer at an affordable price with EXCELLENT quality! Buy it!
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| junebugz's Full Review: Canon i 550 Ink-jet Printer |
Recently, I sold my old computer after getting a new one and gave my printer away with the old computer. I took advantage of this time away from a noisy printer with print head problems to look and compare different printer models. After checking on epinions and then looking around on different store websites I found two printers which looked like they would "fit the bill" ... the Canon i550 and the Canon i850. The main/only difference between the two (besides $50) that I could find is the memory which the printer has.
Well, I finally went out and picked up a Canon i550 about a week ago and by the second day I was already impressed. The first day I got it, I installed it on the pc (emachine T1840...read my review if you would like it is a good pc) and it went very smoothly. There were six step directions that came inside the box which made it very easy.
The next day was the print test. I have an Olympus camera and had previously taken pictures on my computer which I wanted to print out. One of them was a sepia tone ... to make the photo look "old style" ... this picture came out great even in the two sizes (4x6 and 8x10). I did try printing it out with high resolution on a piece of Matte Photo paper which I think may have been a little too much resolution because of some dark black spots which didn't dry quite right. But even the standard resolution looked great .. in fact so good we took the 8x10 picture of our son out of the frame and put this one in it. Then we took one of the sample 4x6 photo paper plus glossy cards (which come in the printer box - quantity 5) and printed out a full color picture of him. This picture was done on high resolution and it looks great. In fact, it looks to me like a picture which came from a photo developing store. My wife (who worked at a Fuji film developing store) even said it looked great.
Well, we tried printing out a sheet of paper with just some type on it (black type) and it spit the sheet right out. All my wife said was, "WOW!" It was quite a bit faster than our old printer (a Canon BJC4400). It is supposed to produce about 18 pgs/min with black type and 11 pgs/min with color.
WHY DID I PICK THIS PRINTER?
First, I have had a canon printer in the past and was satisfied with it (I have also owned HP, Epson, and Lexmark). This one is by far my favorite (it is also the first one I have purchased new).
Second, the resolution for color goes up to 4800 dpi x 1200 dpi which makes for a great looking picture.
Third, separate ink tanks should eliminate some ink costs because when you print in color the red may run out before the yellow and vice versa, but here all three colors are separate ink tanks so you only replace one when necessary.
Fourth, borderless printing capabilities .. haven't tried this one out yet.
Fifth, price .. it is definitely one of the better deals out there for the quality right now. I bought it at Best Buy for $150 and there is a $30 Canon rebate which is up the end of March I believe.
The Canon website claims this printer will print out a borderless 4x6 in less than 48 seconds and I believe it. I remember the days of printing 20 pages of black text and being able to go get a coffee at a store before it was done .. ok, maybe a little exageration.
This printer is compatible with Windows 95/98/2000/Me/XP and various Macintosh versions as well. It has a USB hook up and also a serial hook up, but does not come with a cable of either kind. If doing any kind of color work I would recommend the USB cable since it will transfer data faster and will give less chance for holds ups on bigger jobs. I won't even use my printer for bigger jobs since it is truly a home printer and more for the occasional need than the photo nut (although it may turn me into a photo nut). This printer has a memory buffer of 56kb which helps along these lines too.
The printers dimensions are as follows: 16.5" wide by 6.3" high by 10.8" deep ... not a bad size for a home printer. It weighs a little more than 7 pounds.
Well, I am so far completely satisfied with this printer and what it is printing. Especially for the price. The resolution beats any printer in it's price range hand's down. It is a good deal, especially with the rebate.
Happy Hunting!
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 120
Operating System: Windows and Macintosh
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Epinions.com ID:
junebugz
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Location: Mansfield, OH
Reviews written: 73
Trusted by: 2 members
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