You mean it doesn't make toast?
Written: Jan 20 '06
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Pros: Top Notch Photo Printing
Cost Effective
Built in Duplex unit
Dual paper sources
Cons: Shiny Black unit shows dust easily.
The Bottom Line: The best of all worlds, photo printing and standard printing in one great package.
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| tucknroll's Full Review: Canon PIXMAâ„¢ iP5000 InkJet Photo Printer |
Overview
While the boxy body style may make this printer look like it belongs more in the kitchen than the office, this is unit that delivers the goods and then some...
Background
In the early 90's I replaced my aging IBM dot matrix printer with a new brand of printer that had recently been introduced...the ink jet printer. This little unit that took up half the space of my bulky IBM was called a Canon Bubble Jet printer, and the output from this mighty marvel was amazing for the time. There was only one way to describe this printer, it worked and worked and worked. Unfortunately time caught up with my little printer and color ink jets became the new thing. When the time came I read all the reviews and went with the highly rated Epson Stylus color printer. Within a year I would learn to deeply regret this choice. The Epson clogged continuously, making printing an ugly chore, and the unit went through ink like a HUMMER goes through gas... Fast forward to the present. Last year while purchasing a new computer I made the decision to dump my old Epson at the same time. Remembering how well that simple Canon BubbleJet worked, I decided that I wanted a Canon, and that I would never buy an Epson again.
Canon had recently announced a new line of printers called it's Pixma line. Although 6 and 8 ink systems were being touted as the ultimate in photo quality, I was hearing some very interesting claims from users of the Canon IP4000 and IP5000, the overwhelming response was that this printers were using 4 inks to put out images that rivaled 6 ink systems and gave 8 ink printers a run for their money. After viewing the output myself I had to agree these printer had the goods.
The 4-ink Advantage
So why 4-inks instead of 6? The obvious advantage is cost. A four ink unit is cheaper to make (and therefore purchase) and operate, since you have less consumables to buy. However, Canon actually has a trick up it's sleeve as well. Canon's 4-ink IP4000 and IP5000 are really 5-ink systems. Each printer uses 2 separate black cartridges. What? Why would they do this you may ask... Easy. One of the greatest things about the Pixma line is that they are not a dedicated photo printer, they are an all purpose printer that just happen to excel at photo printing. These units contain a dedicated Photo Black ink and a dedicated Standard Black ink. This way you can print Word documents and web pages, etc without wasting your photo quality black ink.
But Wait There's More...
Additional black ink is not the only special feature that sets this printer apart from the other printers. The unit also contains a built in duplexing unit that allows the printer to print on both sides of a piece of paper, which in addition to being a great paper saver, is an option generally only found on high-end office printers. Not only that, but the unit has two configurable paper sources. The standard paper tray is located behind the printer and an addition paper cassette is located in front. Either unit can hold different paper sizes and types, which means you can print a letter and address an envelope without ever having to change the paper in the printer.
Personal Photo Lab
As I mentioned above, although the Pixma's are considered all purpose printers, they produce amazing photo prints. I'm serious about my digital photography, to the extent that 90% of my digital photo's are printed from a custom photo lab. However, there are always those times when you need a print "Right Now". The prints from the IP5000 have to be seen to be believed. The printhead on the IP5000 is capable of producing ink droplets as small as 1 picoliter. This allows for superfine mixing of colors to achieve incredible color rendition with no color banding or printing artifacts. Not only that but the print speeds are fast and quiet, maximum quality prints do take longer to print but the results are worth it.
The printer can print borderless 4x6 and 8x10's.
Cost of Ownership
One of the things that amazed me the most about this printer is how incredibly efficient this unit is regarding ink usage. I had this printer in regular use for about 6 months before I had to change a single ink tank. Additionally the ink cartridges are transparent, so you can easily see that the printer is telling the truth when it says a tank is running low.
The ability to duplex is also a great cost saver. It used to drive me crazy when printing a single webpage, the the printers would generally print 2 pages and all the second page would contain was the printed website address. With duplexing turned on I don't waste a page on things like that anymore.
Conclusion
Too often in life we are forced to make choices, in the world of printers it usually comes down to the ability to print great photos, or the ability to cost effectively print under general office requirements. It's nice when a product like the IP5000 doesn't make you compromise one to achieve the other.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 150
Operating System: Windows
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Epinions.com ID:
tucknroll
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Reviews written: 27
Trusted by: 1 member
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