Canon Pixma iP4500 Photo Inkjet Printer (2171B002)
by Canon
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Canon Pixma iP4500 Photo Inkjet Printer (2171B002)
Customer Review: Canon iP4500 and HG10
Summary: 5 Stars
First, let me say that I'm using both the HG10 and the iP4500 printer within an All-Mac environment (10.5.) I was ecstatic about the hi-def movie results from my HG10 camcorder. But the results from printing the photos from my HG10 to my new iP4500 printer are sick! I had an HP Deskjet for a couple of years (it was never good for much besides printing B&W plus the occasional google map, and even that took minutes to get printed.) This thing is insane--I printed 8.5x11 pics from iPhoto and the results are stunning. I've never seen anything like this except from a Pro studio!! Believe me when I say all I did was point the HG10 at the scene and shoot the picture, then print it (I'm not a camera Pro, but I know what "good" looks like.)
A brief word about the HG10: The pics coming out of this thing are nothing short of miraculous in resolution, depth, clarity, and ease-of-use. It makes me look like a much better photographer than I am :) I had previously bought into the "megapixel myth" ("it MUST be a better camera! Look how many megapixels it has!). This 3.0 megapixel camera makes my other 8.0 megapixel camera look like it was shot by a five-year-old with a very bad drugstore disposable camera!! The resolution and clarity of the HG10 are breath-taking! I suspect it has something to do with Canon's proprietary video chipset.
The full-page prints (hi-res) came out of the printer in about 12 secs! But I'm really torn about which is my second-favorite feature: 1) having a printer that can do duplex (two-sided) prints for under $150 OR 2) having two paper feeds (one hidden cartridge for everyday plain B&W printing and one rear tray for hi-res photos).
Some other compelling features (that really do work well) are: power-saving mode (turn the printer off until it gets a job, then it turns itself on and happily prints your work), quiet mode (the printer sits right outside my son's room, and the Canon iP4500 allows me to select certain hours in the evening when it's required to be quieter than usual--I have to mention that it's whisper quiet already, but this makes it so you have to physically look into the printer to see if it's even printing because it's so quiet!!!)
I used Canon's driver (from the CD); I could have used the built-in driver from Apple (the iP4500 is listed in 10.5's "supported" list, but I've heard--particularly with Canon Pro Printers, that there's a dramatic difference between the Apple and Canon drivers.)
What I haven't tried yet:
--I'm not using the printer plugged into an Airport Extreme/Express port (though I own both.) I just share it through my desktop Mac Pro tower to everyone else in the house (thereby ensuring that the Canon drivers are used, and that picture quality is phenomenal.)
--I also haven't tried the PictBridge function (printing directly from the camera.) I'm not a good enough photographer yet to get away with assuming my pictures are always in-focus and there's no "red-eye." So, I review the pics in iPhoto and print the ones that came out well. I have to admit, this says more about my mediocre photography skills than about either the printer or the HG10.
My overall impressions are that Canon (whom I've never bought a single thing from) makes such fantastic products that it will take a lot to pry me away from their photo line. Rock on, Canon!!!
Customer Review: Outstanding printer, great value
Summary: 5 Stars
I had a Canon BubbleJet BJC-4200 long ago, and after that printer I was very hesitant to even consider another Canon printer. When my most recent printer died, an HP DeskJet 970cse, I needed to find a good printer that could print duplex and produce quality output. After reading many, many reviews I decided to give Canon another chance. I am very glad that I did so.
The Pixma iP4500 arrived in a huge box, and as it turns out it needed the space. This is a larger printer than I expected, and as a result I had to rearrange my desk to find room for it. That's a small oversight on my part. The printer itself is an unassuming-looking box of a machine, though it resembles more of a printer when the paper trays are populated.
Setup was easy and straightforward, though I do recommend using the "getting started" insert before setting everything up. Though setting everything up is relatively self-explanatory, it is helpful to see the illustration of what to do in order before making the leap. Overall, setup took maybe 20-30 minutes once the parts were all out of the box and everything was set up.
Once configured, installing the drivers is simple. Drop in the CD, follow the prompts, and turn on the printer at the right time. No fuss.
Once set up and powered on, the printer is ready to go to work. I print a majority of my things in duplex mode so I tweaked the driver configuration to make it the default, after which the setting is more or less invisible. Everything in the driver configuration is very easy to find, straightforward, and simple.
There are two ways to feed paper into the iP4500. There is a top-loader which is the default paper source and there is a front-loading paper tray ("cassette" according to Canon's documentation). Heavier papers such as card stock should be loaded from the top-loader.
So, how does this printer perform? I'll break it down into two parts, speed and quality.
Speed - this is a relatively fast printer! Feeding it a print job that conists of a two-sided black and white print this printer can churn out the pages, including the dry time for the front page, in about 20 seconds. Granted, this is my experience and your mileage may vary but it's a good starting point from which to base your evaluation of the speed. My previous printer would take at least a minute to print the very same documents, and it still couldn't keep up when in draft mode. For photo printing it churns out a full-page 8.5"x11" borderless photo in roughly 45 seconds.
Quality - what good is speed without quality? This printer backs it up. The text and basic image quality is acceptable, though it could be a touch better. This is not noticeable in day-to-day print jobs. On photo printing, though, this printer is an absolute showstopper. The photos it prints, on photo paper, are better than most magazine prints and could easily be used for photo studio gallery shots.
It would be nice if the printer actually had a USB cable in the box, but this is a small thing.
Overall, this is a high-quiality, high-performance printer that is sure to please even the staunchest of critics. It is fast, creates beautiful output, and is very easy to set up.
Customer Review: Best bang for the buck....
Summary: 5 Stars
My last printer was a Canon i960, which I thought at the time was the last word in performance for around $100, and it truly was. It had 6 ink cartridges, and a miniscule 2 picolitre droplet size -- and rendered the best and fastest photos I'd ever printed (4x6 in 34 seconds). But I made the mistake of buying cheaper ink replacement cartridges, and not using the printer regularly. People, here's a freebie on me, cuz it cost me my last printer: If at all possible, stay with Canon ink cartridges (yeah, I know they're expensive)....and if you're gonna buy discount cartridges, MAKE SURE YOU PRINT PHOTOS OR COLOR COPY EVERY WEEK!!!!!! I'm not sure if the channels that the ink travels through to get to the printer head became clogged, or maybe it was the brand of ink I used to replace Canon, but I do know that after not printing anything for a few months, it simply didn't work. I researched the problem on multiple forums; found my experience was fairly common; tried every known remedy to clean/soak/fix the print head and cartridge dock -- bottom line is I had to toss a perfectly good printer in the garbage.
OK, a long-winded preamble/caveat to a (hopefully) shorter review:
Yes, it is larger than I expected, but nicely laid out, with a full 100 sheet tray (cassette) feeding from the bottom. This allows me to load the top feed with my photo paper, and simply touch a button for which source I want to print from -- either way, paper is always loaded.
Yes, it's fast, and surprisingly so. I'm getting 4x6 prints in 20 seconds, and full page copy off the web (black and white w/ some color -- borders, bylines, and author headshots) at 6 seconds per page. Very respectable at any price. Black and white printing resolution is fairly sharp to the naked eye, but under a magnifying glass there's some bleedout noticeable. While that may be a function of the paper I'm using, it's definitely suitable for any business application.
No, it doesn't come with a USB cable....I simply used the one I had for my last printer....(hello? not a big deal folks)
But the real surprise is the quality of the photo printing. In a word, it's spectacular! I'm an avid digital photographer, and the color saturation of the prints I've made with the OEM ink is studio quality. The pics I printed of some concept cars from last year's North American Auto Show look digitally enhanced, and suitable for any magazine.
Setup really is a breeze. Anybody with a pulse and a third grade reading proficiency will do just fine with the Easy Installation Instructions. The CD is self-installing (aren't they all nowadays?), and yes, the print head alignment takes a bit of time (12 minutes for mine)....so read a book, watch TV, make out with your girlfriend -- it's well worth the wait.
Bottom line: This is really a no-brainer. A great printer for a great price -- just remember to use it regularly!
Customer Review: Quality Photo Printing at a low price
Summary: 5 Stars
After my Epson color printer became junk due to clogged heads (something that is common with Epson and one reason I try to avoid them now) I was having to make due with my Canon Multipass MP730 copier/fax/scanner/printer for photo printing. Now the MP730 does a very passable job of color printing. But I found myself getting more and more frustrated with try to get accurate color rendition when printing from high-end graphics software like Adobe Photoshop. Basically you simply cannot get good results unless you have a color profile that matches your printer and paper and these just aren't available for that printer. So I needed a newer printer that gave good, accurate results and wouldn't cost me an arm and a leg. I liked Canon's method of doing print cartridges and found it less costly than Epson's and my MP730 has been a great workhorse, so this Pixma was a perfect choice. I also wanted one that could do CD label printing and an accessory for doing this is available on Ebay, so that helped in the decision.
So, after setting up the printer, installing the software, loading in some Canon Pro Photo paper and selecting the right profile in Photoshop, I was able to print one of my more challenging photos...and got a nearly perfect print. What a difference from my old Multipass. I was able to find custom printing profiles for this printer from my favorite source for photo paper (Red River Papers) and the results are quite pleasing. The Canon software allows me to save my profile settings so when using one of these custom profiles it's a piece of cakes to change from the default settings that I use for normal printing to my custom settings for high-quality photo prints. If you are serious about having great looking photo prints, and don't need a larger format printer, this is an excellent printer to go with. The only negatives are the lack of a USB cable and also that the CD tray doesn't come with it, but for the price, it's hard to quibble. Highly recommended.
Customer Review: The last of Canon's legacy printers
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought this printer to replace a previous Canon model which had been serving me faithfully for the past 3 years, then developed a fatal fault and refused to function further. My primary print jobs are basic everyday documents, the occasional photo on glossy paper (always beautiful and FAST)and, most important of all, printable DVDs. I used a 3rd-party print tray and online instructions to enable the hidden feature within older Canon Pixma models.
After discovering that Canon has unfortunately discontinued this very important feature from their product line, I had to find a replacement NOW. The last model supporting disc printing is the Pixma iP4500. Originally, they retailed for about $99. Now they are worth their weight in gold. I barely managed to obtain one, having to pay almost 3 times the original price to get it. A dealer had some unopened stock remaining in inventory, and I got lucky.
The other great reason to own one of these gems is the ink cartridges. They are easily refillable, high capacity (newer cartridges have 30% LESS in them!) and their ink-monitoring chips can be defeated or reset. Just use quality 3rd-party ink, syringe-fill thru a small hole drilled in the lower rear area of the cartridge, and save major $$$ on consumables. No mess, no regrets! No clogs or leaks. I use Hobbicolors inks purchased via eBay, very economical.
Currently, no other manufacturer except Epson offers a home printer with disc print capabilities. With printable DVD media such as Taiyo-Yuden Watershield(tm) discs Taiyo Yuden WaterShield - 50 x DVD-R - 4.7 GB 16x - white - ink jet printable surface - spindle - storage media, paper labels and smudged inks are a thing of the past. If you've never tried them, these glossy, waterproof discs are perfect for your disc needs.