I purchased this to replace my (at just 3 years old !) ageing Epson R300 which had leaked ink all over its' insides causing a short circuit which stopped it working, despite having only ever used genuine Epson cartridges, all Epson could offer was to repair it at £70 plus postage !
After studying lots of reviews it was clear that the iP4500 featured here represented just about the best value for money for this type of printer (and from Amazon it cost less than repairing the R300) coupled with one of the highest resolutions of 9600 x 2400.
I am not going to knock the R300 as it had always produced excellent results but the Canon offers the same CD printing facility which works first time every time - Epson users will understand ! - and similar individual ink tanks together with automatic duplex (double sided) printing, automatic booklet printing and a generally quieter and much faster output.
The extra resolution means you get laser quality text on plain paper - this is no doubt helped by a large jet black pigment ink cartridge, photos are very good on plain paper and simply stunning when printed on photo paper, I feel that there is less pixel bleeding than on the Epson.
It is well documented elsewhere that Epson's slurp ink like it is going out of fashion but, after 4 months I have just replaced my first cartridge (I would have replaced at least one complete set on the R300 by now), of the other 3, one is approaching replacement, the others are at about 50%, if you shop around (ebay USA) you can get genuine Canon ink for nearly the same price as compatible ink here in the UK.....so why use compatible ???
There is a very useful "sleep mode" that turns the printer off after a user selectable delay (it will turn itself on without user intervention when required) but, unlike the Epson, it does NOT do a head clean every time it turns on, in fact it very rarely does a head clean hence the lack of wasted ink.
Like other reviewers I have to point out that it does take a large chunk of desk space, it is a bit wider than the R300 but the main cause is the under belly paper tray, however this does mean the paper is kept totally flat and they thoughtfully provided a lid to keep the dust out....talking of dust it seems a shame that the finish is glossy black - it does look very smart.......WHEN IT IS CLEAN !!!
The rear (top) feed slot can be selected via a push button or in software so you can for example top feed envelopes and cassette feed paper BUT YOU CANNOT DO BOTH IN THE SAME DOCUMENT (i.e. you can't print an envelope from the top and then print the letter from the tray), this is really my only complaint for the whole printer, I did mention it to Canon but they weren't at all interested.
Another useful feature is the "quiet mode" printing which slows things down a bit but prevents virtually all of the clunking noise (which is commendably low anyway) - useful if you don't want to disturb the Mrs.!!!....
I just had a thought....... haven't we come a long way since the first dot matrix impact printers .......
| Max input sheet capacity | 150 |
|---|---|
| Compatible devices | Camera |
| Sheet size | A4 |
| Product Dimensions | 30.3 x 44.5 x 16 cm; 6.9 kg |
| Item model number | 2171B008AA |
| Manufacturer | Canon |
| Number of USB 2.0 Ports | 1 |
| Wattage | 13 watts |
| Item Weight | 6.9 kg |
| Guaranteed software updates until | unknown |
