CNET editors' review
- Reviewed by:
Jeffrey Fuchs
- Reviewed on:
11/26/2003
- Updated on: 11/15/2009
The Canon i475D desktop is a curious amalgam of features that it shares with its slightly more expensive sibling, the
Canon i860, plus some distinctive quirks of its own. This two-tone, silver-and-gray printer is small in stature, and with its prominent control-panel LCD, it looks something like an automatic bread baker. Unfortunately, the i475D's LCD panel is not for viewing photos but merely for selecting print options when printing directly from a digital camera or a camcorder or from a camera memory card. If you consider previewing images on an LCD vital, take a look at the more expensive
Canon i900D instead.
This Windows- and Mac-compatible photo printer is quick and easy to install; its software and drivers load flawlessly. Like the i860, one of the best software features is its Photo Viewer software. Using the i475D's camera-card reader and a host PC or Mac, the Photo Viewer displays the camera card's data on the computer screen. Pushing the Photo Viewer button on the printer activates this function, and holding the button down for three seconds automatically saves the images to a folder on the computer's hard drive. From there, you can manipulate pictures with the photo printer software that Canon bundles, including Easy-Photo Print, PhotoStitch, Photo Record (PC only), ZoomBrowser EX (PC only), and Easy-WebPrint (PC only with Internet Explorer 5.5 or 6), and ImageBrowser (Mac).
Unlike the Canon i860 photo desktop printer, which comes with a five-tank, two-black-ink-cartridge system, the i475D carries just two small ink cartridges: one color and one black. Digital photographers attracted to the i475D's low price and full photo-printing features should note that rigorous printing with the i475D will certainly mean many trips to the ink store.
In our speed tests, the i475D printed text on plain paper quite quickly--5.6 pages per minute (ppm)--but it took its time printing photos, requiring a full 3.2 minutes to print a letter-size photo on photo paper. While the text and photo speeds were comparable to the performance of the i455, they were significantly less than the 1.1 minute-per-page speed achieved by the i560, our Editors' Choice.
In CNET Labs tests, the i475D printed text that was clean and sharp although not terribly bold. Photographs printed at default settings were somewhat pale and drab, but like the text, they were sharp and full of detail.
Inkjet printer text speed (Longer bars indicate better performance)
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Canon i560
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Canon i475D
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Canon i455
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Epson Stylus C84
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Inkjet color-photo speed test (Shorter bars indicate better performance)
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Canon i560
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Epson Stylus C84
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Canon i475D
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Canon i455
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