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Canon PIXMA iP4600 Printer
Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days *Best price found from Amazon Marketplace seller
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*Amazon: £64.99
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Product Description
Budget-minded consumer looking to produce beautiful photos at home need look no further than the PIXMA iP4600! The PIXMA iP4600 fits the bill perfectly, coming with 5 individual ink tanks, including a black one for photos, so you can print documents in resolutions of 9600 x 2400 dpi. The iP4600 is bundled with an advanced Easy-PhotoPrint EX and Auto Photo Fix software package to help even the novice user to produce stunning, long-lasting prints. Functions such as automatic duplex printing ensure results turn out just as you imagine, while the CD-LabelPrint program means you can print documents directly onto DVD or CD. The Pixma iP 4600 is compatible with both plain and photo paper and is equipped with PictBridge technology, so you can print files straight from a camera, camcorder, or even a mobile phone.
Customer Reviews
Very pleased with this printer, 18 Nov 2008
I was looking to replace my Dell printer as it was not compatible with my new mac computer. This Canon was highlighted as a good deal on Amazon - I ordered it and it arrived by return. It was beautifully presented, easy to set up and had the added advantage for me of been compatible with the Canon Image Gateway which I use for my camera. I am pleased with the quality - all that remains to be seen is what it costs on consumables.
Based on my experience so far this is the one to go for if you don't want an 'all-in-one' printer fax copier etc.
A lot of printer for the money, 10 Nov 2008
I purchased this as an upgrade to a very tired Epson R300. I needed a good quality photo printer which could also handle disc printing.
My obvious choice was another Epson but after trawling the net I found very hit and miss reviews on similar priced ones (R285 for example).
I decided to go for this one and can say I am VERY impressed. Its very easy to set up, smaller than my old printer, good looking and very quiet. Also the software appears nice and straight forward.
The reason I am only giving 4 starts is because I have found if I am doing a batch of discs and burning whilst printing off another, if I take a few minutes in between printing the CD it appears to go into some sort of standby mode which then takes a bit longer to start up again. The way round it is to burn all my discs first then just run them through the printer which is then fine.
Apart from that can't fault it (just hope someone makes compatible ink carts for it soon!)
Incredible, fast, professional. Deserves 5 stars for sure., 17 Oct 2008
An brilliant piece of top quality kit.
Easy to setup, use and work with. I bought this to replace an aged but still good Epson CX6600 which was recenlty rendered useless due to a refilled cartridge. The iP4600, on the other hand is something else. Out of the box and working in no time. As usual, no USB cable but no issue there as I have plenty. I downloaded the latest drivers prior to delivery incase of any installation issues but was not required.
Installation program was very easy to follow. Clear and simple as always with Canon.
Initially, I expected to pay around 200GBP and get an realtively good printer. When a friend suggested I consider the iP4600 I was unsure considering the price. All I can say is, you would be hard pushed to tell the difference from a lab print and one from this printer... very hard pushed.
Since it's arrival 24 hours ago, I've done around 50 prints on 6x4 glossy and satin and the quality is incredible. The print speed is brilliant too. I was very surprised to see my print on the tray and still achieve truly professional results.
Upkeep is cheap too. An ink set is around 33.00GBP and refills are expected to be fractionally less (although I won't be using them for a good few years - just prefer having confidence in branded goods, that's all.)
It's also worth noting that Canon allow you to replace/repair the print head too contrary to other brands. Should this ever fail it won't require a new printer, just a new head.
In all, best purchase for a long, long time. Truly excellent value for money, awesome speed with no compromise on quality both technically and functionally.
Excellent first impression, 09 Oct 2008
I've just bought this from Amazon - speedy service and nearly the best price online -many thanks. I am mighty impressed by the iP4600 already and don't think anyone need look further than this unless they need A3 printing.
I bought this mainly for my consulting work, and was after a printer that could produce the best quality colour documents. It has been very hard finding useful reviews on business-grade ink-jet printers, as most reviews seem to concentrate on photo printing ability rather than plain paper performance. However, although this may primarily be a photo-printing machine, it is absolutely outstanding at plain-paper documents too.
Setting up was straightforward - it all fitted together fine and there was nothing complicated in the 6-stage process that is clearly set out in the documentation. As usual, no USB cable is included so if you don't already have a spare one, you will need to buy one to use this printer. One very minor gripe was that as part of the setup process, it walks you through the installation of drivers from the CD, followed by a restart, and then configuration of the system. Part of this includes a clever printhead self-alignment procedure, but when presented with the on-screen option to carry this out, you have to press 'Execute' rather than 'Next'. If you do the latter, it doesn't carry out the alignment process, and there is no back-button to allow you to re-select it. I couldn't find any way to manually start the alignment test, and in the end had to reinstall the drivers to trigger the whole installation process again. That being said, it seems to calibrate itself automatically so there is no user-involvement required other than feeding the paper in and running the alignment test.
Printing documents at normal quality on basic paper produces excellent results - plenty good enough for presenting to clients for routine documents. Using good paper and high-quality printing, it is still surprisingly fast and the quality is superb - close to 'proper' litho-printed standard -and just the job for when you want to really impress. Text is crisp black and very well defined indeed - unless you get the magnifying glass out, it really is very hard to tell that it hasn't been professionally printed. White text on colour backgrounds is superb, and blocks of colour are impressively solid with no speckling or banding. It really is excellent, and I prefer the matt finish of the ink to the slightly glossy output of some colour lasers. Certainly anyone else looking for a printer to produce really professional documents will be delighted with this - you just can't fault the output at all. I was prepared to spend £100's if necessary to get top-grade document printing, but truly there is no need - this does the job beautifully.
I don't normally use my own printers for photos as I prefer the quality and price of online services. Having said that, I have printed some photos with the iP4600 to see how it does, and again it is very impressive. The quality is absolutely excellent and it is also remarkably quick. You would be very hard pushed to spot the difference between a lab-print and one of these - it certainly does not look like it has come from a sub-£100 ink-jet. Price per print is a little tricky to estimate, but 6x4 paper sells for c.7.35p per sheet on Amazon, and if you could print an average of say 300 prints per set of inks (£40ish) that would add 13p or so of ink cost, so a total price of about 20p per print sounds about right. Online services charge 5-10p + postage, so still represent better value if you're printing off a decent batch, but for speed and convenience, these printers are an excellent choice.
I was a little nervous about buying this printer as it seemed too cheap to deliver the quality I wanted. I was totally wrong - this is a superb machine and worth every penny. It looks great and performs brilliantly. My last machine was, I suspect, harmed by using cheap non-branded inks. The quality of print output noticeably improved when I switched back to Canon inks, but damage had already been done. I use a lot of illustrations and graphics in my reports, and the vibrancy and quality of the print output from the iP4600 is really impressive - way better than any printer I've seen for under £1,000. And this time, I am going to stick to using Canon own-brand inks....
so far so good - brand quality & simplicity, 06 Oct 2008
For those of you who are seeking a product that will 'just work' / is great VFM / relatively quiet / easy to set up = for a domestic machine look no further. Seriously.
Being a Mac user (and working for Apple) I've come to expect the obvious rewards of looking for Quality, Simplicity, VFM, Ease of use etc etc = Having had an Epson Stylus Photo 950 for years, then doing the tempting exercise of cutting corners and using non standard inks (at upwards of £11/cartridge for genuine inks & £60 for the set) and eventually descending into a farce of thinking it would work as well - sorry to say the heads clogged and I stopped using the printer - you could say: "your own fault", I would agree...
Then having bought one of the Canon Selphy 'Dye Sub' machines a couple of years ago (mainly 4x6 snaps) and realising the incredible quality at this level, and recently trying to resurrect the Epson after cleaning the heads myself and again trying to get it going with Jet Tec ink, to no avail - and pretty much wasting £21 on a full set of their inks (permanent gaps appeared) - I thought to myself it's time for a replacement.
Having read the (mostly) glowing review for the ip4500 I noticed this one had not long emerged...so bought it I did!
The box arrived wrapped in plastic, no dents, perfect.
Thank God Canon are listening to their feedback as the instructions were super easy to decipher - bear in mind I started unwrapping this thing at just before midnight.
Within 30 - 40 minutes I had installed the print head (GENIUS CHOICE OF DESIGN = why replace the whole printer if the head has worn out...?), All the inks, in the correct order, etc = (it pays to be ultra careful with the above items as it does say on more than one sheet not to knock the print head and don't force it in - be careful here), and after the initial noises etc, and simply installing the drivers I was up and running.
So far I've done mainly 4x6 tests, on the highest quality on varying papers - HP and Fuji among them, I have to say I'm really pleased SO FAR ! A bit of advice here - it's advisable not to use paper below 170GSM for prints as the paper just can't handle the optimum quality but if you want to test out on cheaper paper, then use the plain paper setting.
Software has a nice interface and there are various tweaks you can play around with. Printing out of iPhoto is straightforwards.
Plain paper printing so far looks very impressive too - the reason I bought the printer is mainly for Photo Quality
Why 4 stars? = early days yet AND I've had a couple of instances of the odd scratch over the surface of paper - I'll persevere and if it becomes serious = = HELLO CANON SUPPORT!
Overall VERY satisfied!
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Product Description
The HP Photosmart C5280 All-in-One Printer, Scanner, Copier is designed for people who need the flexibility to be able to print photos, documents and even directly onto CD/DVD, while also making photo reprints, colour copies and high quality scans. Print lab-quality photos and laser-quality documents quickly, easily and affordably. Create personalised CD/DVDs with direct on-disc printing add photos, graphics and text. Get even more affordable printing/copying and fewer cartridge changes with optional high...
Customer Reviews
Very pleased with this printer, 18 Nov 2008
I was looking to replace my Dell printer as it was not compatible with my new mac computer. This Canon was highlighted as a good deal on Amazon - I ordered it and it arrived by return. It was beautifully presented, easy to set up and had the added advantage for me of been compatible with the Canon Image Gateway which I use for my camera. I am pleased with the quality - all that remains to be seen is what it costs on consumables.
Based on my experience so far this is the one to go for if you don't want an 'all-in-one' printer fax copier etc.
A lot of printer for the money, 10 Nov 2008
I purchased this as an upgrade to a very tired Epson R300. I needed a good quality photo printer which could also handle disc printing.
My obvious choice was another Epson but after trawling the net I found very hit and miss reviews on similar priced ones (R285 for example).
I decided to go for this one and can say I am VERY impressed. Its very easy to set up, smaller than my old printer, good looking and very quiet. Also the software appears nice and straight forward.
The reason I am only giving 4 starts is because I have found if I am doing a batch of discs and burning whilst printing off another, if I take a few minutes in between printing the CD it appears to go into some sort of standby mode which then takes a bit longer to start up again. The way round it is to burn all my discs first then just run them through the printer which is then fine.
Apart from that can't fault it (just hope someone makes compatible ink carts for it soon!)
Incredible, fast, professional. Deserves 5 stars for sure., 17 Oct 2008
An brilliant piece of top quality kit.
Easy to setup, use and work with. I bought this to replace an aged but still good Epson CX6600 which was recenlty rendered useless due to a refilled cartridge. The iP4600, on the other hand is something else. Out of the box and working in no time. As usual, no USB cable but no issue there as I have plenty. I downloaded the latest drivers prior to delivery incase of any installation issues but was not required.
Installation program was very easy to follow. Clear and simple as always with Canon.
Initially, I expected to pay around 200GBP and get an realtively good printer. When a friend suggested I consider the iP4600 I was unsure considering the price. All I can say is, you would be hard pushed to tell the difference from a lab print and one from this printer... very hard pushed.
Since it's arrival 24 hours ago, I've done around 50 prints on 6x4 glossy and satin and the quality is incredible. The print speed is brilliant too. I was very surprised to see my print on the tray and still achieve truly professional results.
Upkeep is cheap too. An ink set is around 33.00GBP and refills are expected to be fractionally less (although I won't be using them for a good few years - just prefer having confidence in branded goods, that's all.)
It's also worth noting that Canon allow you to replace/repair the print head too contrary to other brands. Should this ever fail it won't require a new printer, just a new head.
In all, best purchase for a long, long time. Truly excellent value for money, awesome speed with no compromise on quality both technically and functionally.
Excellent first impression, 09 Oct 2008
I've just bought this from Amazon - speedy service and nearly the best price online -many thanks. I am mighty impressed by the iP4600 already and don't think anyone need look further than this unless they need A3 printing.
I bought this mainly for my consulting work, and was after a printer that could produce the best quality colour documents. It has been very hard finding useful reviews on business-grade ink-jet printers, as most reviews seem to concentrate on photo printing ability rather than plain paper performance. However, although this may primarily be a photo-printing machine, it is absolutely outstanding at plain-paper documents too.
Setting up was straightforward - it all fitted together fine and there was nothing complicated in the 6-stage process that is clearly set out in the documentation. As usual, no USB cable is included so if you don't already have a spare one, you will need to buy one to use this printer. One very minor gripe was that as part of the setup process, it walks you through the installation of drivers from the CD, followed by a restart, and then configuration of the system. Part of this includes a clever printhead self-alignment procedure, but when presented with the on-screen option to carry this out, you have to press 'Execute' rather than 'Next'. If you do the latter, it doesn't carry out the alignment process, and there is no back-button to allow you to re-select it. I couldn't find any way to manually start the alignment test, and in the end had to reinstall the drivers to trigger the whole installation process again. That being said, it seems to calibrate itself automatically so there is no user-involvement required other than feeding the paper in and running the alignment test.
Printing documents at normal quality on basic paper produces excellent results - plenty good enough for presenting to clients for routine documents. Using good paper and high-quality printing, it is still surprisingly fast and the quality is superb - close to 'proper' litho-printed standard -and just the job for when you want to really impress. Text is crisp black and very well defined indeed - unless you get the magnifying glass out, it really is very hard to tell that it hasn't been professionally printed. White text on colour backgrounds is superb, and blocks of colour are impressively solid with no speckling or banding. It really is excellent, and I prefer the matt finish of the ink to the slightly glossy output of some colour lasers. Certainly anyone else looking for a printer to produce really professional documents will be delighted with this - you just can't fault the output at all. I was prepared to spend £100's if necessary to get top-grade document printing, but truly there is no need - this does the job beautifully.
I don't normally use my own printers for photos as I prefer the quality and price of online services. Having said that, I have printed some photos with the iP4600 to see how it does, and again it is very impressive. The quality is absolutely excellent and it is also remarkably quick. You would be very hard pushed to spot the difference between a lab-print and one of these - it certainly does not look like it has come from a sub-£100 ink-jet. Price per print is a little tricky to estimate, but 6x4 paper sells for c.7.35p per sheet on Amazon, and if you could print an average of say 300 prints per set of inks (£40ish) that would add 13p or so of ink cost, so a total price of about 20p per print sounds about right. Online services charge 5-10p + postage, so still represent better value if you're printing off a decent batch, but for speed and convenience, these printers are an excellent choice.
I was a little nervous about buying this printer as it seemed too cheap to deliver the quality I wanted. I was totally wrong - this is a superb machine and worth every penny. It looks great and performs brilliantly. My last machine was, I suspect, harmed by using cheap non-branded inks. The quality of print output noticeably improved when I switched back to Canon inks, but damage had already been done. I use a lot of illustrations and graphics in my reports, and the vibrancy and quality of the print output from the iP4600 is really impressive - way better than any printer I've seen for under £1,000. And this time, I am going to stick to using Canon own-brand inks....
so far so good - brand quality & simplicity, 06 Oct 2008
For those of you who are seeking a product that will 'just work' / is great VFM / relatively quiet / easy to set up = for a domestic machine look no further. Seriously.
Being a Mac user (and working for Apple) I've come to expect the obvious rewards of looking for Quality, Simplicity, VFM, Ease of use etc etc = Having had an Epson Stylus Photo 950 for years, then doing the tempting exercise of cutting corners and using non standard inks (at upwards of £11/cartridge for genuine inks & £60 for the set) and eventually descending into a farce of thinking it would work as well - sorry to say the heads clogged and I stopped using the printer - you could say: "your own fault", I would agree...
Then having bought one of the Canon Selphy 'Dye Sub' machines a couple of years ago (mainly 4x6 snaps) and realising the incredible quality at this level, and recently trying to resurrect the Epson after cleaning the heads myself and again trying to get it going with Jet Tec ink, to no avail - and pretty much wasting £21 on a full set of their inks (permanent gaps appeared) - I thought to myself it's time for a replacement.
Having read the (mostly) glowing review for the ip4500 I noticed this one had not long emerged...so bought it I did!
The box arrived wrapped in plastic, no dents, perfect.
Thank God Canon are listening to their feedback as the instructions were super easy to decipher - bear in mind I started unwrapping this thing at just before midnight.
Within 30 - 40 minutes I had installed the print head (GENIUS CHOICE OF DESIGN = why replace the whole printer if the head has worn out...?), All the inks, in the correct order, etc = (it pays to be ultra careful with the above items as it does say on more than one sheet not to knock the print head and don't force it in - be careful here), and after the initial noises etc, and simply installing the drivers I was up and running.
So far I've done mainly 4x6 tests, on the highest quality on varying papers - HP and Fuji among them, I have to say I'm really pleased SO FAR ! A bit of advice here - it's advisable not to use paper below 170GSM for prints as the paper just can't handle the optimum quality but if you want to test out on cheaper paper, then use the plain paper setting.
Software has a nice interface and there are various tweaks you can play around with. Printing out of iPhoto is straightforwards.
Plain paper printing so far looks very impressive too - the reason I bought the printer is mainly for Photo Quality
Why 4 stars? = early days yet AND I've had a couple of instances of the odd scratch over the surface of paper - I'll persevere and if it becomes serious = = HELLO CANON SUPPORT!
Overall VERY satisfied!
Great Product , 16 Nov 2008
This is an exellent product, with very good quality prints and scans. It also feels well-designed and easy to use. It was simple to set up and it is now working very well with my Apple Mac.
However, Mac users should note that the CD/DVD printing software only works with Windows. As it happens, I already my own Mac-friendly CD printing software (Disc Cover), and I can tell you that this works well with the printer.
This is a lovely printer, and it's a shame about the Windows-only piece of software. For this reason I have given it 4 stars, but would happily upgrade to 5 stars if HP were to make it totally Mac-friendly.
Excellent!, 10 Nov 2008
This printer is the best one i have ever owned and i higly recommend it anyone who is interested in getting a new one! The price for this is amazing and all the stuff it does it amazing also!
Took only 10 minutes to install, (comes with disks) and worked instantly giving very good photo prints!!
Prints in no time at all and is very quiet compared to so other printers i have owned!
recommend A ++++
A fantastic little printer once it works., 09 Nov 2008
I bought this Printer about a week ago and I've been using it a lot, as have my friends, so I've been able see the printer working on a variety of different computers.
First of all, the printer is fantastic value for money, the ability to print photos from an SD Card, print on CDs, Scan, Photocopy, etc are all incredibly useful for a student like myself.
When reading reviews for this printer I was initially concerned about installing drivers - and dedicated a whole day to installing it - and found it to be - at least on my computer - a quick and painless process on behalf of the printer. Having already installed the inks to print of photos - you don't need to use your computer to do that if you have a suitable memory card - I quickly found myself installed and ready to go in less than ten minutes. My laptop is dual boot with XP, and so far I've only tried XP, I am not sure how Ubuntu (Linux) works with the laptop, but having had no problem in the past with printers on Ubuntu (Linux) I don't really see myself as having much of a problem.
Vista on the other hand was a nightmare. Having initially having high hopes for installing the drivers after success on my XP laptop, the installation ran fine until I had to link up my printer to the Vista Laptop, which caused the laptop to crash and the installation to be corrupted. This has happened several times and I'm at my wits end about it. However I've not yet got around to poking around the internet for drivers, so we'll see how that goes later on.
Unfortunately this printer doesn't come with a USB cable, so that and the problems with installing it on Vista, along with the amount of ink that it eats up - and the inability to buy the separate colours meaning that I'm wasting colour ink - have meant that its not got the full 5 stars. However I Thought it would be a bit too cruel to give it any less than 4 stars since I am very happy with the end product. The images are a good quality, the photocopying and in built photo printing software are an added bonus for someone like me who lives in Student Halls and is constantly photocopying pages of books and printing off photos to put on up on walls.
So over all, it could be improved, but its very easy to use once installed and ready to go. :)
Avoid at all costs, 08 Nov 2008
This really is an appalling machine. I have so far spent upwards of 12 hours trying to install it, with increasingly wacky suggestions from the HP help facility. I am running Windows XP SP3, so there is no reason why it shouldn't install, but there you are - problems all the way. Heed the warnings on this and other sites and steer clear of this disaster - I wish I had - going back tomorrow!HP Photosmart C5280 All-In-One Printer - 32 ppm, USB, 4800dpi, LCD Display
A Good Bit Of Kit., 28 Oct 2008
RIP my old Epson R200. So decided to go the whole way and get myself one of these babies.Standard FREE delivery from Amazon was OK. Read the installation/instruction booklet before you jump in with both feet and you can't go wrong. The software is a little to large for my liking but it does the job ok. Print quality is outstanding and , despite other reviews, quiet during operation. Ink use is little more than Epson so I would recommend ordering the XL350 cartridge as well. Card reader on front is a real bonus and does an excellent job even when not connected to PC. Looks good setup and in my opinion is " A Good Bit Of Kit" .
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Customer Reviews
Very pleased with this printer, 18 Nov 2008
I was looking to replace my Dell printer as it was not compatible with my new mac computer. This Canon was highlighted as a good deal on Amazon - I ordered it and it arrived by return. It was beautifully presented, easy to set up and had the added advantage for me of been compatible with the Canon Image Gateway which I use for my camera. I am pleased with the quality - all that remains to be seen is what it costs on consumables.
Based on my experience so far this is the one to go for if you don't want an 'all-in-one' printer fax copier etc.
A lot of printer for the money, 10 Nov 2008
I purchased this as an upgrade to a very tired Epson R300. I needed a good quality photo printer which could also handle disc printing.
My obvious choice was another Epson but after trawling the net I found very hit and miss reviews on similar priced ones (R285 for example).
I decided to go for this one and can say I am VERY impressed. Its very easy to set up, smaller than my old printer, good looking and very quiet. Also the software appears nice and straight forward.
The reason I am only giving 4 starts is because I have found if I am doing a batch of discs and burning whilst printing off another, if I take a few minutes in between printing the CD it appears to go into some sort of standby mode which then takes a bit longer to start up again. The way round it is to burn all my discs first then just run them through the printer which is then fine.
Apart from that can't fault it (just hope someone makes compatible ink carts for it soon!)
Incredible, fast, professional. Deserves 5 stars for sure., 17 Oct 2008
An brilliant piece of top quality kit.
Easy to setup, use and work with. I bought this to replace an aged but still good Epson CX6600 which was recenlty rendered useless due to a refilled cartridge. The iP4600, on the other hand is something else. Out of the box and working in no time. As usual, no USB cable but no issue there as I have plenty. I downloaded the latest drivers prior to delivery incase of any installation issues but was not required.
Installation program was very easy to follow. Clear and simple as always with Canon.
Initially, I expected to pay around 200GBP and get an realtively good printer. When a friend suggested I consider the iP4600 I was unsure considering the price. All I can say is, you would be hard pushed to tell the difference from a lab print and one from this printer... very hard pushed.
Since it's arrival 24 hours ago, I've done around 50 prints on 6x4 glossy and satin and the quality is incredible. The print speed is brilliant too. I was very surprised to see my print on the tray and still achieve truly professional results.
Upkeep is cheap too. An ink set is around 33.00GBP and refills are expected to be fractionally less (although I won't be using them for a good few years - just prefer having confidence in branded goods, that's all.)
It's also worth noting that Canon allow you to replace/repair the print head too contrary to other brands. Should this ever fail it won't require a new printer, just a new head.
In all, best purchase for a long, long time. Truly excellent value for money, awesome speed with no compromise on quality both technically and functionally.
Excellent first impression, 09 Oct 2008
I've just bought this from Amazon - speedy service and nearly the best price online -many thanks. I am mighty impressed by the iP4600 already and don't think anyone need look further than this unless they need A3 printing.
I bought this mainly for my consulting work, and was after a printer that could produce the best quality colour documents. It has been very hard finding useful reviews on business-grade ink-jet printers, as most reviews seem to concentrate on photo printing ability rather than plain paper performance. However, although this may primarily be a photo-printing machine, it is absolutely outstanding at plain-paper documents too.
Setting up was straightforward - it all fitted together fine and there was nothing complicated in the 6-stage process that is clearly set out in the documentation. As usual, no USB cable is included so if you don't already have a spare one, you will need to buy one to use this printer. One very minor gripe was that as part of the setup process, it walks you through the installation of drivers from the CD, followed by a restart, and then configuration of the system. Part of this includes a clever printhead self-alignment procedure, but when presented with the on-screen option to carry this out, you have to press 'Execute' rather than 'Next'. If you do the latter, it doesn't carry out the alignment process, and there is no back-button to allow you to re-select it. I couldn't find any way to manually start the alignment test, and in the end had to reinstall the drivers to trigger the whole installation process again. That being said, it seems to calibrate itself automatically so there is no user-involvement required other than feeding the paper in and running the alignment test.
Printing documents at normal quality on basic paper produces excellent results - plenty good enough for presenting to clients for routine documents. Using good paper and high-quality printing, it is still surprisingly fast and the quality is superb - close to 'proper' litho-printed standard -and just the job for when you want to really impress. Text is crisp black and very well defined indeed - unless you get the magnifying glass out, it really is very hard to tell that it hasn't been professionally printed. White text on colour backgrounds is superb, and blocks of colour are impressively solid with no speckling or banding. It really is excellent, and I prefer the matt finish of the ink to the slightly glossy output of some colour lasers. Certainly anyone else looking for a printer to produce really professional documents will be delighted with this - you just can't fault the output at all. I was prepared to spend £100's if necessary to get top-grade document printing, but truly there is no need - this does the job beautifully.
I don't normally use my own printers for photos as I prefer the quality and price of online services. Having said that, I have printed some photos with the iP4600 to see how it does, and again it is very impressive. The quality is absolutely excellent and it is also remarkably quick. You would be very hard pushed to spot the difference between a lab-print and one of these - it certainly does not look like it has come from a sub-£100 ink-jet. Price per print is a little tricky to estimate, but 6x4 paper sells for c.7.35p per sheet on Amazon, and if you could print an average of say 300 prints per set of inks (£40ish) that would add 13p or so of ink cost, so a total price of about 20p per print sounds about right. Online services charge 5-10p + postage, so still represent better value if you're printing off a decent batch, but for speed and convenience, these printers are an excellent choice.
I was a little nervous about buying this printer as it seemed too cheap to deliver the quality I wanted. I was totally wrong - this is a superb machine and worth every penny. It looks great and performs brilliantly. My last machine was, I suspect, harmed by using cheap non-branded inks. The quality of print output noticeably improved when I switched back to Canon inks, but damage had already been done. I use a lot of illustrations and graphics in my reports, and the vibrancy and quality of the print output from the iP4600 is really impressive - way better than any printer I've seen for under £1,000. And this time, I am going to stick to using Canon own-brand inks....
so far so good - brand quality & simplicity, 06 Oct 2008
For those of you who are seeking a product that will 'just work' / is great VFM / relatively quiet / easy to set up = for a domestic machine look no further. Seriously.
Being a Mac user (and working for Apple) I've come to expect the obvious rewards of looking for Quality, Simplicity, VFM, Ease of use etc etc = Having had an Epson Stylus Photo 950 for years, then doing the tempting exercise of cutting corners and using non standard inks (at upwards of £11/cartridge for genuine inks & £60 for the set) and eventually descending into a farce of thinking it would work as well - sorry to say the heads clogged and I stopped using the printer - you could say: "your own fault", I would agree...
Then having bought one of the Canon Selphy 'Dye Sub' machines a couple of years ago (mainly 4x6 snaps) and realising the incredible quality at this level, and recently trying to resurrect the Epson after cleaning the heads myself and again trying to get it going with Jet Tec ink, to no avail - and pretty much wasting £21 on a full set of their inks (permanent gaps appeared) - I thought to myself it's time for a replacement.
Having read the (mostly) glowing review for the ip4500 I noticed this one had not long emerged...so bought it I did!
The box arrived wrapped in plastic, no dents, perfect.
Thank God Canon are listening to their feedback as the instructions were super easy to decipher - bear in mind I started unwrapping this thing at just before midnight.
Within 30 - 40 minutes I had installed the print head (GENIUS CHOICE OF DESIGN = why replace the whole printer if the head has worn out...?), All the inks, in the correct order, etc = (it pays to be ultra careful with the above items as it does say on more than one sheet not to knock the print head and don't force it in - be careful here), and after the initial noises etc, and simply installing the drivers I was up and running.
So far I've done mainly 4x6 tests, on the highest quality on varying papers - HP and Fuji among them, I have to say I'm really pleased SO FAR ! A bit of advice here - it's advisable not to use paper below 170GSM for prints as the paper just can't handle the optimum quality but if you want to test out on cheaper paper, then use the plain paper setting.
Software has a nice interface and there are various tweaks you can play around with. Printing out of iPhoto is straightforwards.
Plain paper printing so far looks very impressive too - the reason I bought the printer is mainly for Photo Quality
Why 4 stars? = early days yet AND I've had a couple of instances of the odd scratch over the surface of paper - I'll persevere and if it becomes serious = = HELLO CANON SUPPORT!
Overall VERY satisfied!
Great Product , 16 Nov 2008
This is an exellent product, with very good quality prints and scans. It also feels well-designed and easy to use. It was simple to set up and it is now working very well with my Apple Mac.
However, Mac users should note that the CD/DVD printing software only works with Windows. As it happens, I already my own Mac-friendly CD printing software (Disc Cover), and I can tell you that this works well with the printer.
This is a lovely printer, and it's a shame about the Windows-only piece of software. For this reason I have given it 4 stars, but would happily upgrade to 5 stars if HP were to make it totally Mac-friendly.
Excellent!, 10 Nov 2008
This printer is the best one i have ever owned and i higly recommend it anyone who is interested in getting a new one! The price for this is amazing and all the stuff it does it amazing also!
Took only 10 minutes to install, (comes with disks) and worked instantly giving very good photo prints!!
Prints in no time at all and is very quiet compared to so other printers i have owned!
recommend A ++++
A fantastic little printer once it works., 09 Nov 2008
I bought this Printer about a week ago and I've been using it a lot, as have my friends, so I've been able see the printer working on a variety of different computers.
First of all, the printer is fantastic value for money, the ability to print photos from an SD Card, print on CDs, Scan, Photocopy, etc are all incredibly useful for a student like myself.
When reading reviews for this printer I was initially concerned about installing drivers - and dedicated a whole day to installing it - and found it to be - at least on my computer - a quick and painless process on behalf of the printer. Having already installed the inks to print of photos - you don't need to use your computer to do that if you have a suitable memory card - I quickly found myself installed and ready to go in less than ten minutes. My laptop is dual boot with XP, and so far I've only tried XP, I am not sure how Ubuntu (Linux) works with the laptop, but having had no problem in the past with printers on Ubuntu (Linux) I don't really see myself as having much of a problem.
Vista on the other hand was a nightmare. Having initially having high hopes for installing the drivers after success on my XP laptop, the installation ran fine until I had to link up my printer to the Vista Laptop, which caused the laptop to crash and the installation to be corrupted. This has happened several times and I'm at my wits end about it. However I've not yet got around to poking around the internet for drivers, so we'll see how that goes later on.
Unfortunately this printer doesn't come with a USB cable, so that and the problems with installing it on Vista, along with the amount of ink that it eats up - and the inability to buy the separate colours meaning that I'm wasting colour ink - have meant that its not got the full 5 stars. However I Thought it would be a bit too cruel to give it any less than 4 stars since I am very happy with the end product. The images are a good quality, the photocopying and in built photo printing software are an added bonus for someone like me who lives in Student Halls and is constantly photocopying pages of books and printing off photos to put on up on walls.
So over all, it could be improved, but its very easy to use once installed and ready to go. :)
Avoid at all costs, 08 Nov 2008
This really is an appalling machine. I have so far spent upwards of 12 hours trying to install it, with increasingly wacky suggestions from the HP help facility. I am running Windows XP SP3, so there is no reason why it shouldn't install, but there you are - problems all the way. Heed the warnings on this and other sites and steer clear of this disaster - I wish I had - going back tomorrow!HP Photosmart C5280 All-In-One Printer - 32 ppm, USB, 4800dpi, LCD Display
A Good Bit Of Kit., 28 Oct 2008
RIP my old Epson R200. So decided to go the whole way and get myself one of these babies.Standard FREE delivery from Amazon was OK. Read the installation/instruction booklet before you jump in with both feet and you can't go wrong. The software is a little to large for my liking but it does the job ok. Print quality is outstanding and , despite other reviews, quiet during operation. Ink use is little more than Epson so I would recommend ordering the XL350 cartridge as well. Card reader on front is a real bonus and does an excellent job even when not connected to PC. Looks good setup and in my opinion is " A Good Bit Of Kit" .
absolute bargain, 19 Nov 2008
I was looking for a photo and document printer but had been used to an all-in-one. Couldn't believe that I could get all this for under £40 and be any good! Well I read loads of reviews and watched a video about this printer and boy is it good. The quality of the photos is great, so would definitely recommend this to anyone needing to have all the advantages of an all-in-one with great photo printing qualities too.
A good general purpose printer and scanner , 14 Nov 2008
I bought this all-in-one printer and scanner almost one year ago. I have printed pictures and letters etc with it, and also done a small amount of scanning with it too. It isn't intended to produce top notch prints or scans - for that you'll have to fork out a lot more money that this machine costs - but it does do the job it's supposed to do and it does it well. That is, it gives good general results without costing a fortune. I bought it to replace an older Epson printer and I have found this one gives better quality prints, and also costs a lot less to run as the ink goes a lot further than the Epson model.
The software that came with the Canon was installed without any fuss, and the build quality is excellent for the price. It operates quietly too, and the only downside I have found with it is that it's quite a big machine. I suppose it would have been nice if it had come complete with a USB lead too, but for this sort of price I'm not going to complain too loudly about that.
Watch the power lead, 31 Oct 2008
No problem with the printer - it looks great and is really easy to setup. I'm a MAC user so always worry about compatability but the Canon works fine with OSX10.4 and installation was a breeze.The only thing I thought I'd mention is mine was delivered with a European two pin power cable - not a UK specific 3 pin. It wasn't a problem because I had a 3 pin on my old Canon printer that I could use, but if you don't have a spare you might get caught out...
Absolutely Fantastic, 30 Oct 2008
Upon finding out that the printer I had did not work with Vista, I began the long and tiresome search for another one that would suit my needs as an Art Student. I needed a printer that could print out a lot for economical rates and good quality. I needed a good scanner and a fast copier.
This printer/scanner IS what I needed. It's amazingly fast when printing and its copying is always clear giving a nice finish. The controls on the machine itself are simple and functional - a nice change from my old HP thing which needed the computer on to work at all. I was initially worried about the single Colour ink but it has paid off as I can get a new black and colour for under £25, much less than some of my flatmates have to deal with. I don't use it to print out photos very much as I prefer to get them done professionally, however the few times I have the quality was superb, even when the ink was on its last legs.
Also, it isn't massive and looks quite gorgeous on my desk. I'd definitely recommend it.
Fine to begin with but then leaks, 19 Oct 2008
I initially liked the printer but I am on my second one now as the colour ink cartridge was leaking blue ink. The second one is now doing the same. Avoid!
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Product Description
The Stylus SX400 from Epson is a high-quality printing, scanning and copying unit that won?t clutter your home. There?s no need to hook up your computer to print your photos, because the Stylus SX400 comes with a memory card reader, meaning you can print documents quickly with impressive quality from external storage devices! You can view your prints using its 6.3-cm LCD display, which tilts upwards or downwards to give you the best viewing angle. Printing professional quality photos and documents is made easy with the Stylus SX400!
Customer Reviews
Very pleased with this printer, 18 Nov 2008
I was looking to replace my Dell printer as it was not compatible with my new mac computer. This Canon was highlighted as a good deal on Amazon - I ordered it and it arrived by return. It was beautifully presented, easy to set up and had the added advantage for me of been compatible with the Canon Image Gateway which I use for my camera. I am pleased with the quality - all that remains to be seen is what it costs on consumables.
Based on my experience so far this is the one to go for if you don't want an 'all-in-one' printer fax copier etc.
A lot of printer for the money, 10 Nov 2008
I purchased this as an upgrade to a very tired Epson R300. I needed a good quality photo printer which could also handle disc printing.
My obvious choice was another Epson but after trawling the net I found very hit and miss reviews on similar priced ones (R285 for example).
I decided to go for this one and can say I am VERY impressed. Its very easy to set up, smaller than my old printer, good looking and very quiet. Also the software appears nice and straight forward.
The reason I am only giving 4 starts is because I have found if I am doing a batch of discs and burning whilst printing off another, if I take a few minutes in between printing the CD it appears to go into some sort of standby mode which then takes a bit longer to start up again. The way round it is to burn all my discs first then just run them through the printer which is then fine.
Apart from that can't fault it (just hope someone makes compatible ink carts for it soon!)
Incredible, fast, professional. Deserves 5 stars for sure., 17 Oct 2008
An brilliant piece of top quality kit.
Easy to setup, use and work with. I bought this to replace an aged but still good Epson CX6600 which was recenlty rendered useless due to a refilled cartridge. The iP4600, on the other hand is something else. Out of the box and working in no time. As usual, no USB cable but no issue there as I have plenty. I downloaded the latest drivers prior to delivery incase of any installation issues but was not required.
Installation program was very easy to follow. Clear and simple as always with Canon.
Initially, I expected to pay around 200GBP and get an realtively good printer. When a friend suggested I consider the iP4600 I was unsure considering the price. All I can say is, you would be hard pushed to tell the difference from a lab print and one from this printer... very hard pushed.
Since it's arrival 24 hours ago, I've done around 50 prints on 6x4 glossy and satin and the quality is incredible. The print speed is brilliant too. I was very surprised to see my print on the tray and still achieve truly professional results.
Upkeep is cheap too. An ink set is around 33.00GBP and refills are expected to be fractionally less (although I won't be using them for a good few years - just prefer having confidence in branded goods, that's all.)
It's also worth noting that Canon allow you to replace/repair the print head too contrary to other brands. Should this ever fail it won't require a new printer, just a new head.
In all, best purchase for a long, long time. Truly excellent value for money, awesome speed with no compromise on quality both technically and functionally.
Excellent first impression, 09 Oct 2008
I've just bought this from Amazon - speedy service and nearly the best price online -many thanks. I am mighty impressed by the iP4600 already and don't think anyone need look further than this unless they need A3 printing.
I bought this mainly for my consulting work, and was after a printer that could produce the best quality colour documents. It has been very hard finding useful reviews on business-grade ink-jet printers, as most reviews seem to concentrate on photo printing ability rather than plain paper performance. However, although this may primarily be a photo-printing machine, it is absolutely outstanding at plain-paper documents too.
Setting up was straightforward - it all fitted together fine and there was nothing complicated in the 6-stage process that is clearly set out in the documentation. As usual, no USB cable is included so if you don't already have a spare one, you will need to buy one to use this printer. One very minor gripe was that as part of the setup process, it walks you through the installation of drivers from the CD, followed by a restart, and then configuration of the system. Part of this includes a clever printhead self-alignment procedure, but when presented with the on-screen option to carry this out, you have to press 'Execute' rather than 'Next'. If you do the latter, it doesn't carry out the alignment process, and there is no back-button to allow you to re-select it. I couldn't find any way to manually start the alignment test, and in the end had to reinstall the drivers to trigger the whole installation process again. That being said, it seems to calibrate itself automatically so there is no user-involvement required other than feeding the paper in and running the alignment test.
Printing documents at normal quality on basic paper produces excellent results - plenty good enough for presenting to clients for routine documents. Using good paper and high-quality printing, it is still surprisingly fast and the quality is superb - close to 'proper' litho-printed standard -and just the job for when you want to really impress. Text is crisp black and very well defined indeed - unless you get the magnifying glass out, it really is very hard to tell that it hasn't been professionally printed. White text on colour backgrounds is superb, and blocks of colour are impressively solid with no speckling or banding. It really is excellent, and I prefer the matt finish of the ink to the slightly glossy output of some colour lasers. Certainly anyone else looking for a printer to produce really professional documents will be delighted with this - you just can't fault the output at all. I was prepared to spend £100's if necessary to get top-grade document printing, but truly there is no need - this does the job beautifully.
I don't normally use my own printers for photos as I prefer the quality and price of online services. Having said that, I have printed some photos with the iP4600 to see how it does, and again it is very impressive. The quality is absolutely excellent and it is also remarkably quick. You would be very hard pushed to spot the difference between a lab-print and one of these - it certainly does not look like it has come from a sub-£100 ink-jet. Price per print is a little tricky to estimate, but 6x4 paper sells for c.7.35p per sheet on Amazon, and if you could print an average of say 300 prints per set of inks (£40ish) that would add 13p or so of ink cost, so a total price of about 20p per print sounds about right. Online services charge 5-10p + postage, so still represent better value if you're printing off a decent batch, but for speed and convenience, these printers are an excellent choice.
I was a little nervous about buying this printer as it seemed too cheap to deliver the quality I wanted. I was totally wrong - this is a superb machine and worth every penny. It looks great and performs brilliantly. My last machine was, I suspect, harmed by using cheap non-branded inks. The quality of print output noticeably improved when I switched back to Canon inks, but damage had already been done. I use a lot of illustrations and graphics in my reports, and the vibrancy and quality of the print output from the iP4600 is really impressive - way better than any printer I've seen for under £1,000. And this time, I am going to stick to using Canon own-brand inks....
so far so good - brand quality & simplicity, 06 Oct 2008
For those of you who are seeking a product that will 'just work' / is great VFM / relatively quiet / easy to set up = for a domestic machine look no further. Seriously.
Being a Mac user (and working for Apple) I've come to expect the obvious rewards of looking for Quality, Simplicity, VFM, Ease of use etc etc = Having had an Epson Stylus Photo 950 for years, then doing the tempting exercise of cutting corners and using non standard inks (at upwards of £11/cartridge for genuine inks & £60 for the set) and eventually descending into a farce of thinking it would work as well - sorry to say the heads clogged and I stopped using the printer - you could say: "your own fault", I would agree...
Then having bought one of the Canon Selphy 'Dye Sub' machines a couple of years ago (mainly 4x6 snaps) and realising the incredible quality at this level, and recently trying to resurrect the Epson after cleaning the heads myself and again trying to get it going with Jet Tec ink, to no avail - and pretty much wasting £21 on a full set of their inks (permanent gaps appeared) - I thought to myself it's time for a replacement.
Having read the (mostly) glowing review for the ip4500 I noticed this one had not long emerged...so bought it I did!
The box arrived wrapped in plastic, no dents, perfect.
Thank God Canon are listening to their feedback as the instructions were super easy to decipher - bear in mind I started unwrapping this thing at just before midnight.
Within 30 - 40 minutes I had installed the print head (GENIUS CHOICE OF DESIGN = why replace the whole printer if the head has worn out...?), All the inks, in the correct order, etc = (it pays to be ultra careful with the above items as it does say on more than one sheet not to knock the print head and don't force it in - be careful here), and after the initial noises etc, and simply installing the drivers I was up and running.
So far I've done mainly 4x6 tests, on the highest quality on varying papers - HP and Fuji among them, I have to say I'm really pleased SO FAR ! A bit of advice here - it's advisable not to use paper below 170GSM for prints as the paper just can't handle the optimum quality but if you want to test out on cheaper paper, then use the plain paper setting.
Software has a nice interface and there are various tweaks you can play around with. Printing out of iPhoto is straightforwards.
Plain paper printing so far looks very impressive too - the reason I bought the printer is mainly for Photo Quality
Why 4 stars? = early days yet AND I've had a couple of instances of the odd scratch over the surface of paper - I'll persevere and if it becomes serious = = HELLO CANON SUPPORT!
Overall VERY satisfied!
Great Product , 16 Nov 2008
This is an exellent product, with very good quality prints and scans. It also feels well-designed and easy to use. It was simple to set up and it is now working very well with my Apple Mac.
However, Mac users should note that the CD/DVD printing software only works with Windows. As it happens, I already my own Mac-friendly CD printing software (Disc Cover), and I can tell you that this works well with the printer.
This is a lovely printer, and it's a shame about the Windows-only piece of software. For this reason I have given it 4 stars, but would happily upgrade to 5 stars if HP were to make it totally Mac-friendly.
Excellent!, 10 Nov 2008
This printer is the best one i have ever owned and i higly recommend it anyone who is interested in getting a new one! The price for this is amazing and all the stuff it does it amazing also!
Took only 10 minutes to install, (comes with disks) and worked instantly giving very good photo prints!!
Prints in no time at all and is very quiet compared to so other printers i have owned!
recommend A ++++
A fantastic little printer once it works., 09 Nov 2008
I bought this Printer about a week ago and I've been using it a lot, as have my friends, so I've been able see the printer working on a variety of different computers.
First of all, the printer is fantastic value for money, the ability to print photos from an SD Card, print on CDs, Scan, Photocopy, etc are all incredibly useful for a student like myself.
When reading reviews for this printer I was initially concerned about installing drivers - and dedicated a whole day to installing it - and found it to be - at least on my computer - a quick and painless process on behalf of the printer. Having already installed the inks to print of photos - you don't need to use your computer to do that if you have a suitable memory card - I quickly found myself installed and ready to go in less than ten minutes. My laptop is dual boot with XP, and so far I've only tried XP, I am not sure how Ubuntu (Linux) works with the laptop, but having had no problem in the past with printers on Ubuntu (Linux) I don't really see myself as having much of a problem.
Vista on the other hand was a nightmare. Having initially having high hopes for installing the drivers after success on my XP laptop, the installation ran fine until I had to link up my printer to the Vista Laptop, which caused the laptop to crash and the installation to be corrupted. This has happened several times and I'm at my wits end about it. However I've not yet got around to poking around the internet for drivers, so we'll see how that goes later on.
Unfortunately this printer doesn't come with a USB cable, so that and the problems with installing it on Vista, along with the amount of ink that it eats up - and the inability to buy the separate colours meaning that I'm wasting colour ink - have meant that its not got the full 5 stars. However I Thought it would be a bit too cruel to give it any less than 4 stars since I am very happy with the end product. The images are a good quality, the photocopying and in built photo printing software are an added bonus for someone like me who lives in Student Halls and is constantly photocopying pages of books and printing off photos to put on up on walls.
So over all, it could be improved, but its very easy to use once installed and ready to go. :)
Avoid at all costs, 08 Nov 2008
This really is an appalling machine. I have so far spent upwards of 12 hours trying to install it, with increasingly wacky suggestions from the HP help facility. I am running Windows XP SP3, so there is no reason why it shouldn't install, but there you are - problems all the way. Heed the warnings on this and other sites and steer clear of this disaster - I wish I had - going back tomorrow!HP Photosmart C5280 All-In-One Printer - 32 ppm, USB, 4800dpi, LCD Display
A Good Bit Of Kit., 28 Oct 2008
RIP my old Epson R200. So decided to go the whole way and get myself one of these babies.Standard FREE delivery from Amazon was OK. Read the installation/instruction booklet before you jump in with both feet and you can't go wrong. The software is a little to large for my liking but it does the job ok. Print quality is outstanding and , despite other reviews, quiet during operation. Ink use is little more than Epson so I would recommend ordering the XL350 cartridge as well. Card reader on front is a real bonus and does an excellent job even when not connected to PC. Looks good setup and in my opinion is " A Good Bit Of Kit" .
absolute bargain, 19 Nov 2008
I was looking for a photo and document printer but had been used to an all-in-one. Couldn't believe that I could get all this for under £40 and be any good! Well I read loads of reviews and watched a video about this printer and boy is it good. The quality of the photos is great, so would definitely recommend this to anyone needing to have all the advantages of an all-in-one with great photo printing qualities too.
A good general purpose printer and scanner , 14 Nov 2008
I bought this all-in-one printer and scanner almost one year ago. I have printed pictures and letters etc with it, and also done a small amount of scanning with it too. It isn't intended to produce top notch prints or scans - for that you'll have to fork out a lot more money that this machine costs - but it does do the job it's supposed to do and it does it well. That is, it gives good general results without costing a fortune. I bought it to replace an older Epson printer and I have found this one gives better quality prints, and also costs a lot less to run as the ink goes a lot further than the Epson model.
The software that came with the Canon was installed without any fuss, and the build quality is excellent for the price. It operates quietly too, and the only downside I have found with it is that it's quite a big machine. I suppose it would have been nice if it had come complete with a USB lead too, but for this sort of price I'm not going to complain too loudly about that.
Watch the power lead, 31 Oct 2008
No problem with the printer - it looks great and is really easy to setup. I'm a MAC user so always worry about compatability but the Canon works fine with OSX10.4 and installation was a breeze.The only thing I thought I'd mention is mine was delivered with a European two pin power cable - not a UK specific 3 pin. It wasn't a problem because I had a 3 pin on my old Canon printer that I could use, but if you don't have a spare you might get caught out...
Absolutely Fantastic, 30 Oct 2008
Upon finding out that the printer I had did not work with Vista, I began the long and tiresome search for another one that would suit my needs as an Art Student. I needed a printer that could print out a lot for economical rates and good quality. I needed a good scanner and a fast copier.
This printer/scanner IS what I needed. It's amazingly fast when printing and its copying is always clear giving a nice finish. The controls on the machine itself are simple and functional - a nice change from my old HP thing which needed the computer on to work at all. I was initially worried about the single Colour ink but it has paid off as I can get a new black and colour for under £25, much less than some of my flatmates have to deal with. I don't use it to print out photos very much as I prefer to get them done professionally, however the few times I have the quality was superb, even when the ink was on its last legs.
Also, it isn't massive and looks quite gorgeous on my desk. I'd definitely recommend it.
Fine to begin with but then leaks, 19 Oct 2008
I initially liked the printer but I am on my second one now as the colour ink cartridge was leaking blue ink. The second one is now doing the same. Avoid!
The epson stylus sx 400 printer, 18 Oct 2008
I ordered this printer on 12th oct it arrived on the morning of 15th oct, i unpacked it and 15 minutes later i was using it. Its certainly the best printer i have had, its a little noisey when starting up, but it prints, copy's and the photo prints are excellent,all i'm waiting for is to see how long the inks last.The printer comes with a set of cartridges. I would recommend this printer.
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Product Description
The HP Photosmart C4280 All-in-One Printer, Scanner, Copier series is designed for people looking for an affordable all-in-one that can print everything from photos to everyday paperwork while also offering easy scanning and quick colour copying. The HP Printer can Print/copy at up to 30 ppm black/23 ppm colour, print photos as fast as 25 seconds, 3.8 cm (1.5) colour display, one-touch copying, 4-ink colour with up to 4800-optimised dpi or optional 6-ink, optional high-capacity inkjet cartridges, memory ca...
Customer Reviews
Very pleased with this printer, 18 Nov 2008
I was looking to replace my Dell printer as it was not compatible with my new mac computer. This Canon was highlighted as a good deal on Amazon - I ordered it and it arrived by return. It was beautifully presented, easy to set up and had the added advantage for me of been compatible with the Canon Image Gateway which I use for my camera. I am pleased with the quality - all that remains to be seen is what it costs on consumables.
Based on my experience so far this is the one to go for if you don't want an 'all-in-one' printer fax copier etc.
A lot of printer for the money, 10 Nov 2008
I purchased this as an upgrade to a very tired Epson R300. I needed a good quality photo printer which could also handle disc printing.
My obvious choice was another Epson but after trawling the net I found very hit and miss reviews on similar priced ones (R285 for example).
I decided to go for this one and can say I am VERY impressed. Its very easy to set up, smaller than my old printer, good looking and very quiet. Also the software appears nice and straight forward.
The reason I am only giving 4 starts is because I have found if I am doing a batch of discs and burning whilst printing off another, if I take a few minutes in between printing the CD it appears to go into some sort of standby mode which then takes a bit longer to start up again. The way round it is to burn all my discs first then just run them through the printer which is then fine.
Apart from that can't fault it (just hope someone makes compatible ink carts for it soon!)
Incredible, fast, professional. Deserves 5 stars for sure., 17 Oct 2008
An brilliant piece of top quality kit.
Easy to setup, use and work with. I bought this to replace an aged but still good Epson CX6600 which was recenlty rendered useless due to a refilled cartridge. The iP4600, on the other hand is something else. Out of the box and working in no time. As usual, no USB cable but no issue there as I have plenty. I downloaded the latest drivers prior to delivery incase of any installation issues but was not required.
Installation program was very easy to follow. Clear and simple as always with Canon.
Initially, I expected to pay around 200GBP and get an realtively good printer. When a friend suggested I consider the iP4600 I was unsure considering the price. All I can say is, you would be hard pushed to tell the difference from a lab print and one from this printer... very hard pushed.
Since it's arrival 24 hours ago, I've done around 50 prints on 6x4 glossy and satin and the quality is incredible. The print speed is brilliant too. I was very surprised to see my print on the tray and still achieve truly professional results.
Upkeep is cheap too. An ink set is around 33.00GBP and refills are expected to be fractionally less (although I won't be using them for a good few years - just prefer having confidence in branded goods, that's all.)
It's also worth noting that Canon allow you to replace/repair the print head too contrary to other brands. Should this ever fail it won't require a new printer, just a new head.
In all, best purchase for a long, long time. Truly excellent value for money, awesome speed with no compromise on quality both technically and functionally.
Excellent first impression, 09 Oct 2008
I've just bought this from Amazon - speedy service and nearly the best price online -many thanks. I am mighty impressed by the iP4600 already and don't think anyone need look further than this unless they need A3 printing.
I bought this mainly for my consulting work, and was after a printer that could produce the best quality colour documents. It has been very hard finding useful reviews on business-grade ink-jet printers, as most reviews seem to concentrate on photo printing ability rather than plain paper performance. However, although this may primarily be a photo-printing machine, it is absolutely outstanding at plain-paper documents too.
Setting up was straightforward - it all fitted together fine and there was nothing complicated in the 6-stage process that is clearly set out in the documentation. As usual, no USB cable is included so if you don't already have a spare one, you will need to buy one to use this printer. One very minor gripe was that as part of the setup process, it walks you through the installation of drivers from the CD, followed by a restart, and then configuration of the system. Part of this includes a clever printhead self-alignment procedure, but when presented with the on-screen option to carry this out, you have to press 'Execute' rather than 'Next'. If you do the latter, it doesn't carry out the alignment process, and there is no back-button to allow you to re-select it. I couldn't find any way to manually start the alignment test, and in the end had to reinstall the drivers to trigger the whole installation process again. That being said, it seems to calibrate itself automatically so there is no user-involvement required other than feeding the paper in and running the alignment test.
Printing documents at normal quality on basic paper produces excellent results - plenty good enough for presenting to clients for routine documents. Using good paper and high-quality printing, it is still surprisingly fast and the quality is superb - close to 'proper' litho-printed standard -and just the job for when you want to really impress. Text is crisp black and very well defined indeed - unless you get the magnifying glass out, it really is very hard to tell that it hasn't been professionally printed. White text on colour backgrounds is superb, and blocks of colour are impressively solid with no speckling or banding. It really is excellent, and I prefer the matt finish of the ink to the slightly glossy output of some colour lasers. Certainly anyone else looking for a printer to produce really professional documents will be delighted with this - you just can't fault the output at all. I was prepared to spend £100's if necessary to get top-grade document printing, but truly there is no need - this does the job beautifully.
I don't normally use my own printers for photos as I prefer the quality and price of online services. Having said that, I have printed some photos with the iP4600 to see how it does, and again it is very impressive. The quality is absolutely excellent and it is also remarkably quick. You would be very hard pushed to spot the difference between a lab-print and one of these - it certainly does not look like it has come from a sub-£100 ink-jet. Price per print is a little tricky to estimate, but 6x4 paper sells for c.7.35p per sheet on Amazon, and if you could print an average of say 300 prints per set of inks (£40ish) that would add 13p or so of ink cost, so a total price of about 20p per print sounds about right. Online services charge 5-10p + postage, so still represent better value if you're printing off a decent batch, but for speed and convenience, these printers are an excellent choice.
I was a little nervous about buying this printer as it seemed too cheap to deliver the quality I wanted. I was totally wrong - this is a superb machine and worth every penny. It looks great and performs brilliantly. My last machine was, I suspect, harmed by using cheap non-branded inks. The quality of print output noticeably improved when I switched back to Canon inks, but damage had already been done. I use a lot of illustrations and graphics in my reports, and the vibrancy and quality of the print output from the iP4600 is really impressive - way better than any printer I've seen for under £1,000. And this time, I am going to stick to using Canon own-brand inks....
so far so good - brand quality & simplicity, 06 Oct 2008
For those of you who are seeking a product that will 'just work' / is great VFM / relatively quiet / easy to set up = for a domestic machine look no further. Seriously.
Being a Mac user (and working for Apple) I've come to expect the obvious rewards of looking for Quality, Simplicity, VFM, Ease of use etc etc = Having had an Epson Stylus Photo 950 for years, then doing the tempting exercise of cutting corners and using non standard inks (at upwards of £11/cartridge for genuine inks & £60 for the set) and eventually descending into a farce of thinking it would work as well - sorry to say the heads clogged and I stopped using the printer - you could say: "your own fault", I would agree...
Then having bought one of the Canon Selphy 'Dye Sub' machines a couple of years ago (mainly 4x6 snaps) and realising the incredible quality at this level, and recently trying to resurrect the Epson after cleaning the heads myself and again trying to get it going with Jet Tec ink, to no avail - and pretty much wasting £21 on a full set of their inks (permanent gaps appeared) - I thought to myself it's time for a replacement.
Having read the (mostly) glowing review for the ip4500 I noticed this one had not long emerged...so bought it I did!
The box arrived wrapped in plastic, no dents, perfect.
Thank God Canon are listening to their feedback as the instructions were super easy to decipher - bear in mind I started unwrapping this thing at just before midnight.
Within 30 - 40 minutes I had installed the print head (GENIUS CHOICE OF DESIGN = why replace the whole printer if the head has worn out...?), All the inks, in the correct order, etc = (it pays to be ultra careful with the above items as it does say on more than one sheet not to knock the print head and don't force it in - be careful here), and after the initial noises etc, and simply installing the drivers I was up and running.
So far I've done mainly 4x6 tests, on the highest quality on varying papers - HP and Fuji among them, I have to say I'm really pleased SO FAR ! A bit of advice here - it's advisable not to use paper below 170GSM for prints as the paper just can't handle the optimum quality but if you want to test out on cheaper paper, then use the plain paper setting.
Software has a nice interface and there are various tweaks you can play around with. Printing out of iPhoto is straightforwards.
Plain paper printing so far looks very impressive too - the reason I bought the printer is mainly for Photo Quality
Why 4 stars? = early days yet AND I've had a couple of instances of the odd scratch over the surface of paper - I'll persevere and if it becomes serious = = HELLO CANON SUPPORT!
Overall VERY satisfied!
Great Product , 16 Nov 2008
This is an exellent product, with very good quality prints and scans. It also feels well-designed and easy to use. It was simple to set up and it is now working very well with my Apple Mac.
However, Mac users should note that the CD/DVD printing software only works with Windows. As it happens, I already my own Mac-friendly CD printing software (Disc Cover), and I can tell you that this works well with the printer.
This is a lovely printer, and it's a shame about the Windows-only piece of software. For this reason I have given it 4 stars, but would happily upgrade to 5 stars if HP were to make it totally Mac-friendly.
Excellent!, 10 Nov 2008
This printer is the best one i have ever owned and i higly recommend it anyone who is interested in getting a new one! The price for this is amazing and all the stuff it does it amazing also!
Took only 10 minutes to install, (comes with disks) and worked instantly giving very good photo prints!!
Prints in no time at all and is very quiet compared to so other printers i have owned!
recommend A ++++
A fantastic little printer once it works., 09 Nov 2008
I bought this Printer about a week ago and I've been using it a lot, as have my friends, so I've been able see the printer working on a variety of different computers.
First of all, the printer is fantastic value for money, the ability to print photos from an SD Card, print on CDs, Scan, Photocopy, etc are all incredibly useful for a student like myself.
When reading reviews for this printer I was initially concerned about installing drivers - and dedicated a whole day to installing it - and found it to be - at least on my computer - a quick and painless process on behalf of the printer. Having already installed the inks to print of photos - you don't need to use your computer to do that if you have a suitable memory card - I quickly found myself installed and ready to go in less than ten minutes. My laptop is dual boot with XP, and so far I've only tried XP, I am not sure how Ubuntu (Linux) works with the laptop, but having had no problem in the past with printers on Ubuntu (Linux) I don't really see myself as having much of a problem.
Vista on the other hand was a nightmare. Having initially having high hopes for installing the drivers after success on my XP laptop, the installation ran fine until I had to link up my printer to the Vista Laptop, which caused the laptop to crash and the installation to be corrupted. This has happened several times and I'm at my wits end about it. However I've not yet got around to poking around the internet for drivers, so we'll see how that goes later on.
Unfortunately this printer doesn't come with a USB cable, so that and the problems with installing it on Vista, along with the amount of ink that it eats up - and the inability to buy the separate colours meaning that I'm wasting colour ink - have meant that its not got the full 5 stars. However I Thought it would be a bit too cruel to give it any less than 4 stars since I am very happy with the end product. The images are a good quality, the photocopying and in built photo printing software are an added bonus for someone like me who lives in Student Halls and is constantly photocopying pages of books and printing off photos to put on up on walls.
So over all, it could be improved, but its very easy to use once installed and ready to go. :)
Avoid at all costs, 08 Nov 2008
This really is an appalling machine. I have so far spent upwards of 12 hours trying to install it, with increasingly wacky suggestions from the HP help facility. I am running Windows XP SP3, so there is no reason why it shouldn't install, but there you are - problems all the way. Heed the warnings on this and other sites and steer clear of this disaster - I wish I had - going back tomorrow!HP Photosmart C5280 All-In-One Printer - 32 ppm, USB, 4800dpi, LCD Display
A Good Bit Of Kit., 28 Oct 2008
RIP my old Epson R200. So decided to go the whole way and get myself one of these babies.Standard FREE delivery from Amazon was OK. Read the installation/instruction booklet before you jump in with both feet and you can't go wrong. The software is a little to large for my liking but it does the job ok. Print quality is outstanding and , despite other reviews, quiet during operation. Ink use is little more than Epson so I would recommend ordering the XL350 cartridge as well. Card reader on front is a real bonus and does an excellent job even when not connected to PC. Looks good setup and in my opinion is " A Good Bit Of Kit" .
absolute bargain, 19 Nov 2008
I was looking for a photo and document printer but had been used to an all-in-one. Couldn't believe that I could get all this for under £40 and be any good! Well I read loads of reviews and watched a video about this printer and boy is it good. The quality of the photos is great, so would definitely recommend this to anyone needing to have all the advantages of an all-in-one with great photo printing qualities too.
A good general purpose printer and scanner , 14 Nov 2008
I bought this all-in-one printer and scanner almost one year ago. I have printed pictures and letters etc with it, and also done a small amount of scanning with it too. It isn't intended to produce top notch prints or scans - for that you'll have to fork out a lot more money that this machine costs - but it does do the job it's supposed to do and it does it well. That is, it gives good general results without costing a fortune. I bought it to replace an older Epson printer and I have found this one gives better quality prints, and also costs a lot less to run as the ink goes a lot further than the Epson model.
The software that came with the Canon was installed without any fuss, and the build quality is excellent for the price. It operates quietly too, and the only downside I have found with it is that it's quite a big machine. I suppose it would have been nice if it had come complete with a USB lead too, but for this sort of price I'm not going to complain too loudly about that.
Watch the power lead, 31 Oct 2008
No problem with the printer - it looks great and is really easy to setup. I'm a MAC user so always worry about compatability but the Canon works fine with OSX10.4 and installation was a breeze.The only thing I thought I'd mention is mine was delivered with a European two pin power cable - not a UK specific 3 pin. It wasn't a problem because I had a 3 pin on my old Canon printer that I could use, but if you don't have a spare you might get caught out...
Absolutely Fantastic, 30 Oct 2008
Upon finding out that the printer I had did not work with Vista, I began the long and tiresome search for another one that would suit my needs as an Art Student. I needed a printer that could print out a lot for economical rates and good quality. I needed a good scanner and a fast copier.
This printer/scanner IS what I needed. It's amazingly fast when printing and its copying is always clear giving a nice finish. The controls on the machine itself are simple and functional - a nice change from my old HP thing which needed the computer on to work at all. I was initially worried about the single Colour ink but it has paid off as I can get a new black and colour for under £25, much less than some of my flatmates have to deal with. I don't use it to print out photos very much as I prefer to get them done professionally, however the few times I have the quality was superb, even when the ink was on its last legs.
Also, it isn't massive and looks quite gorgeous on my desk. I'd definitely recommend it.
Fine to begin with but then leaks, 19 Oct 2008
I initially liked the printer but I am on my second one now as the colour ink cartridge was leaking blue ink. The second one is now doing the same. Avoid!
The epson stylus sx 400 printer, 18 Oct 2008
I ordered this printer on 12th oct it arrived on the morning of 15th oct, i unpacked it and 15 minutes later i was using it. Its certainly the best printer i have had, its a little noisey when starting up, but it prints, copy's and the photo prints are excellent,all i'm waiting for is to see how long the inks last.The printer comes with a set of cartridges. I would recommend this printer.
Wonderful little printer (and works great with Linux!), 08 Nov 2008
This is a superb little printer at a superb little price. I've had it for a while now, and haven't yet discovered any annoyances at all.
I *would* have given it 5 stars, but I'm afraid I knocked one off because of the manufacturer's mind-bogglingly cheapskate decision not to include the necessary printer cable. If the cable was an expensive item, it might be understandable, but since you can buy one for only £2-£4, it's just... well, it's just plain cheapskate.
Of course, if you're replacing an older printer, you'll already have the cable, but that's not really the point.
Having got that off my chest, I've nothing else against this machine whatsoever.
I use Linux, not Windows, and I half-expected this to be a problem. In fact, it wasn't. I plugged it into my Arch Linux machine, and everything worked immediately. It even prints from my Ubuntu Linux laptop across my wireless network.
Print quality is great, and it prints *considerably* faster than my previous printer, an Epson.
It uses two cartridges, one for black and one for colour. This is also much better than the Epson, which required *4* cartridges, and refused to print at all if even one of them fell below the required level (the 'required level' was always a mystery to me, because the printer regularly declared that a cartridge was empty even when it was plainly about 30-40% full.)
Anyway, to sum up, I think this is a great printer and at a great price.
hp photosmart c4280, 03 Nov 2008
when i first got the new printer i could not install the drivers on my xp machine.spend many nights looking at web sites trying to find out why it would not install.finally i asked a friend at work,He gave me a disc which had the basic drivers for xp.told me to turn off all firewalls and antivirus software,and it worked
No problems now
I hate my printer, 22 Oct 2008
I really hate my printer. I was pleased to get a cheap multifunction machine like this but when I opened the box on Saturday night to set it up I had my first surprise that a usb cable wasn't provided so I was forced to wait until Monday to buy this cable, which should have been in the box in the first place.
But the worst thing about this printer is the papertray. I still haven't figured out how to put paper in this machine. Either it tells me there isn't any paper in it, or it pulls in 10 pages at the same time, then gets stuck, I must have ruined about 500 sheets with this printer yet.
I just wish I would have spent more money on a better printer...you get what you pay for.
WHERE DID THE USB GO?, 16 Oct 2008
Usb cable anyone??? why not in the box?? why why why why why why. what the hell is the point! ITS USB ONLY!
SORT IT OUT!
good printer tho
brilliant little printer, 15 Oct 2008
Within 15 mins of getting this home I was set up and printing! really easy for the anyone to install. I haven't connected it to a PC yet I am just printing from my camera and photocopying - fantastic. The quality is really good.
For me Mrs average who likes her photos now it is BRILLIANT!
excellent value for money.
Highly reccomended product and the service was fast!
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Product Description
EPSON STYLUS SX200 4 COL INKJET
Customer Reviews
Very pleased with this printer, 18 Nov 2008
I was looking to replace my Dell printer as it was not compatible with my new mac computer. This Canon was highlighted as a good deal on Amazon - I ordered it and it arrived by return. It was beautifully presented, easy to set up and had the added advantage for me of been compatible with the Canon Image Gateway which I use for my camera. I am pleased with the quality - all that remains to be seen is what it costs on consumables.
Based on my experience so far this is the one to go for if you don't want an 'all-in-one' printer fax copier etc.
A lot of printer for the money, 10 Nov 2008
I purchased this as an upgrade to a very tired Epson R300. I needed a good quality photo printer which could also handle disc printing.
My obvious choice was another Epson but after trawling the net I found very hit and miss reviews on similar priced ones (R285 for example).
I decided to go for this one and can say I am VERY impressed. Its very easy to set up, smaller than my old printer, good looking and very quiet. Also the software appears nice and straight forward.
The reason I am only giving 4 starts is because I have found if I am doing a batch of discs and burning whilst printing off another, if I take a few minutes in between printing the CD it appears to go into some sort of standby mode which then takes a bit longer to start up again. The way round it is to burn all my discs first then just run them through the printer which is then fine.
Apart from that can't fault it (just hope someone makes compatible ink carts for it soon!)
Incredible, fast, professional. Deserves 5 stars for sure., 17 Oct 2008
An brilliant piece of top quality kit.
Easy to setup, use and work with. I bought this to replace an aged but still good Epson CX6600 which was recenlty rendered useless due to a refilled cartridge. The iP4600, on the other hand is something else. Out of the box and working in no time. As usual, no USB cable but no issue there as I have plenty. I downloaded the latest drivers prior to delivery incase of any installation issues but was not required.
Installation program was very easy to follow. Clear and simple as always with Canon.
Initially, I expected to pay around 200GBP and get an realtively good printer. When a friend suggested I consider the iP4600 I was unsure considering the price. All I can say is, you would be hard pushed to tell the difference from a lab print and one from this printer... very hard pushed.
Since it's arrival 24 hours ago, I've done around 50 prints on 6x4 glossy and satin and the quality is incredible. The print speed is brilliant too. I was very surprised to see my print on the tray and still achieve truly professional results.
Upkeep is cheap too. An ink set is around 33.00GBP and refills are expected to be fractionally less (although I won't be using them for a good few years - just prefer having confidence in branded goods, that's all.)
It's also worth noting that Canon allow you to replace/repair the print head too contrary to other brands. Should this ever fail it won't require a new printer, just a new head.
In all, best purchase for a long, long time. Truly excellent value for money, awesome speed with no compromise on quality both technically and functionally.
Excellent first impression, 09 Oct 2008
I've just bought this from Amazon - speedy service and nearly the best price online -many thanks. I am mighty impressed by the iP4600 already and don't think anyone need look further than this unless they need A3 printing.
I bought this mainly for my consulting work, and was after a printer that could produce the best quality colour documents. It has been very hard finding useful reviews on business-grade ink-jet printers, as most reviews seem to concentrate on photo printing ability rather than plain paper performance. However, although this may primarily be a photo-printing machine, it is absolutely outstanding at plain-paper documents too.
Setting up was straightforward - it all fitted together fine and there was nothing complicated in the 6-stage process that is clearly set out in the documentation. As usual, no USB cable is included so if you don't already have a spare one, you will need to buy one to use this printer. One very minor gripe was that as part of the setup process, it walks you through the installation of drivers from the CD, followed by a restart, and then configuration of the system. Part of this includes a clever printhead self-alignment procedure, but when presented with the on-screen option to carry this out, you have to press 'Execute' rather than 'Next'. If you do the latter, it doesn't carry out the alignment process, and there is no back-button to allow you to re-select it. I couldn't find any way to manually start the alignment test, and in the end had to reinstall the drivers to trigger the whole installation process again. That being said, it seems to calibrate itself automatically so there is no user-involvement required other than feeding the paper in and running the alignment test.
Printing documents at normal quality on basic paper produces excellent results - plenty good enough for presenting to clients for routine documents. Using good paper and high-quality printing, it is still surprisingly fast and the quality is superb - close to 'proper' litho-printed standard -and just the job for when you want to really impress. Text is crisp black and very well defined indeed - unless you get the magnifying glass out, it really is very hard to tell that it hasn't been professionally printed. White text on colour backgrounds is superb, and blocks of colour are impressively solid with no speckling or banding. It really is excellent, and I prefer the matt finish of the ink to the slightly glossy output of some colour lasers. Certainly anyone else looking for a printer to produce really professional documents will be delighted with this - you just can't fault the output at all. I was prepared to spend £100's if necessary to get top-grade document printing, but truly there is no need - this does the job beautifully.
I don't normally use my own printers for photos as I prefer the quality and price of online services. Having said that, I have printed some photos with the iP4600 to see how it does, and again it is very impressive. The quality is absolutely excellent and it is also remarkably quick. You would be very hard pushed to spot the difference between a lab-print and one of these - it certainly does not look like it has come from a sub-£100 ink-jet. Price per print is a little tricky to estimate, but 6x4 paper sells for c.7.35p per sheet on Amazon, and if you could print an average of say 300 prints per set of inks (£40ish) that would add 13p or so of ink cost, so a total price of about 20p per print sounds about right. Online services charge 5-10p + postage, so still represent better value if you're printing off a decent batch, but for speed and convenience, these printers are an excellent choice.
I was a little nervous about buying this printer as it seemed too cheap to deliver the quality I wanted. I was totally wrong - this is a superb machine and worth every penny. It looks great and performs brilliantly. My last machine was, I suspect, harmed by using cheap non-branded inks. The quality of print output noticeably improved when I switched back to Canon inks, but damage had already been done. I use a lot of illustrations and graphics in my reports, and the vibrancy and quality of the print output from the iP4600 is really impressive - way better than any printer I've seen for under £1,000. And this time, I am going to stick to using Canon own-brand inks....
so far so good - brand quality & simplicity, 06 Oct 2008
For those of you who are seeking a product that will 'just work' / is great VFM / relatively quiet / easy to set up = for a domestic machine look no further. Seriously.
Being a Mac user (and working for Apple) I've come to expect the obvious rewards of looking for Quality, Simplicity, VFM, Ease of use etc etc = Having had an Epson Stylus Photo 950 for years, then doing the tempting exercise of cutting corners and using non standard inks (at upwards of £11/cartridge for genuine inks & £60 for the set) and eventually descending into a farce of thinking it would work as well - sorry to say the heads clogged and I stopped using the printer - you could say: "your own fault", I would agree...
Then having bought one of the Canon Selphy 'Dye Sub' machines a couple of years ago (mainly 4x6 snaps) and realising the incredible quality at this level, and recently trying to resurrect the Epson after cleaning the heads myself and again trying to get it going with Jet Tec ink, to no avail - and pretty much wasting £21 on a full set of their inks (permanent gaps appeared) - I thought to myself it's time for a replacement.
Having read the (mostly) glowing review for the ip4500 I noticed this one had not long emerged...so bought it I did!
The box arrived wrapped in plastic, no dents, perfect.
Thank God Canon are listening to their feedback as the instructions were super easy to decipher - bear in mind I started unwrapping this thing at just before midnight.
Within 30 - 40 minutes I had installed the print head (GENIUS CHOICE OF DESIGN = why replace the whole printer if the head has worn out...?), All the inks, in the correct order, etc = (it pays to be ultra careful | | |