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CNET editors' rating:
stars
Very good
Detailed editors' rating - Average user rating: 3.5 stars out of 41 reviews
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Product summary
The good: High-quality photo prints; retractable paper trays; easy installation; fast.
The bad: Mediocre text and graphic printouts; USB cable not included; can't read removable media cards.
The bottom line: This solid, speedy printer offers great photo prints but mediocre text and graphics.
Specifications: Printer Type: Personal printer - Ink-jet - Color ; Max media size: A4 (8.25 in x 11.7 in) , Legal (8.5 in x 14 in) ; Connectivity technology: Wired ; See full specs
CNET editors' review
- Reviewed on: 11/13/2002
- Updated on: 11/15/2002
- Released on: 09/16/2002
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 Sturdy, telescoping ink trays. |
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Thanks to an illustrated, step-by-step poster, it takes only a few minutes to set up the Canon--provided you already have a USB cable. The printer connects via both USB and traditional parallel ports; unfortunately (though the practice has become a standard among printer makers), you won't find either of these cables in the box. But Canon counters with compatibility. The i850 works with all versions of Windows, as well as Mac OS 8.6 to 9.x. It also works with Mac OS X 10.1 or above, but you must download the correct driver from Canon's Web site.
 No LCD or media-card readers. |
 Both USB and parallel ports. |
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 Canon's Think Tank ink system. |
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Out of the box, the package includes the printer, the setup poster, a manual, one set of ink cartridges (black, cyan, yellow, and magenta), a printhead, a sample packet of photo papers, and a software CD. The disc itself contains printer drivers for Windows and Mac 8.6 to 9.x, plus lots of snazzy, handy programs, such as Easy-PhotoPrint, which helps you print photos with a few clicks. You'll also find PhotoRecord (Windows) to keep track of your digital photo album, ZoomBrowser EX (Windows) and ImageBrowser (Mac) to make photo viewing more convenient, and PhotoStitch (Windows/Mac), which puts images together to create panoramic pictures. The CD contains in-depth user and photo application guides that display in easy-to-navigate Web-page format.
In CNET Labs' performance tests, the i850 printed about 6 pages of text per minute, speedy for an inkjet. It even ran fast during the most-demanding task, taking only 1.8 minutes to pump out an 8.5x10-inch color test photo at the printer's highest-quality setting.
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Inkjet printer text speed Pages per minute (longer bars indicate better performance) |
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Inkjet printer color photo speed Minutes to print a color photograph (shorter bars indicate better performance) |
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But the i850's fancy new printhead can't ensure superior quality. The printer produced mediocre text quality on plain paper; we found the characters fuzzy and lacking in detail. With high-resolution papers, however, the text quality appeared both crisper and smoother.
 Middleweight long-term ink costs. |
 Unreliable output. |
In printing graphics, on both plain and high-resolution papers, the Canon disappointed us with its inaccurate color matching; the orange was light, the purple low, and the black faded. Also we noticed distinct banding on the printouts, which made them look as though the picture were divided into many horizontal parts--not good.
On the other hand, this photo printer came through where it counts; our jury unanimously gave it the highest possible score on the photo tests. The i850's pictures were crisp and detailed, maintaining great color balance.
Inkjet printer quality
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Even better, the i850 ink costs won't break your bank. According to our Labs' calculations, you'll pay around 50 cents per 8.5x10-inch photo page and 4.1 cents per A4-sized black-and-white text page. All things considered, this sub-$200 printer costs less than many other printers that offer the same photo quality.
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 Download the latest printer drivers. |
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- Average user rating: 3.5 stars out of 41 reviews
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