CANON PIXMA IP4500 BLACK OEM INK CARTRIDGE

Canon PIXMA iP4500 Review

Overview:

Canon organization regarded their Canon PIXMA iP4500 as a "Powerhouse" printer.  With the robust machine's 4,608-nozzle and 5-color ink system, they may be right.  The printer produces laser-quality text and documents cost-effectively.  Much like its predecessors, the PIXMA iP4500, is ideal for hobbyists, photographers, and graphic-medium artists.  The iP4500 has everything you need to produce quality images on photo-mediums and preserve them for years to come.

Pros:

While the printer is an isolated photo device, it can print 31 Black pages per minute and 24 Color pages per minute.  This approximates to roughly 1.9 seconds per page in Black and 2.5 seconds per page in Color.  There are 512 nozzles for Black printheads, while Color printheads utilize the majority of nozzles at 512 x 3 for Cyan/Magenta and 512 x 1 for Yellow/Black.  It totals to 4,608 nozzles.  This is a lot of support in printing superior photos with exceptional accuracy.  Thus, the printer utilizes 600 x 600 dots per inch in Black and 9600 x 2400 dots per inch in Color resolution.  The 600 x 600 dots per inch are pretty much standard for modern printers, but the 9600 x 2400 dots per inch in Color is something to be admired, for such a compact design.

Modern operating systems like Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 2000, and Windows 7 are consistent with the printer.  Mac users of versions 10.2.8-10.5.x,7 will be pleased to hear that the printer works with their models.  Any other systems not mentioned may have drivers for them downloadable on the Canon support site.  The network interface consists of a PictBridge and USB 2.0 High-Speed ports.  For those who are interested in what PictBridge is, it is a standard technology that enables end-users to print images directly from their camera via the cable connected to the printer.  The computer-free printer is great.  The only exception is the camera is PictBridge capable.  Instead of utilizing a computer, like most modern printers, the menu on the camera should have the capacity, to adjust settings in the print size, media type, date, and layout.  To find out whether the device is PictBridge compatible, it should have a logo.  If not, the manufacturer will have that information.  Keep in mind, not all devices with PictBridge enable the user to adjust settings in print sizes.  These are isolated incidences.

The compactness of the printer at 17.5 inches in width, 11.9 inches in depth, 6.3 inches in height, with 15.2 pounds make the printer an easily portable device that will fit atop any stand.  It is Energy Star qualified with operational power consumption of 13-Watts and standby power consumption of 1.2-Watts.  Canon offers a limited warranty of 1-year; additional time and support can be purchased for a small fee.

The overall print quality is impressionable, has two paper sources, and incorporated auto duplexer.  Cell phone owners can print their photos direct from the printer.  End-users can fix their images automatically through the Easy-PhotoPrint EX.  End-users can print wallet-sized photos, credit card sizes 2.13 x 3.39, 4 x 8 inches, 4 x 6 inches, 5 x 7 inches, 8 x 10 inches, U.S. #10 envelopes, Letter, Legal, and photo stickers.  The prints are vibrant in color and bold in the text-based documents.  The 4 dye-based inks will deliver outstanding, laser-quality prints.

Cons:

While the printer is small and focused toward the hobbyist and individual users, it can be demanding and expensive to network the printer.  It's not too much of an issue, since, the printer is not ideal for networking.  Cameras that do not have PictBridge capabilities may utilize memory cards.  In which case, the printer does not facilitate memory card slots.  There is no LCD for the printer.  Some have considered the printer as too expensive for home users.  The ideal user will print enough photos to justify the costs of the Canon PIXMA iP4500.  It would be nice to see some support for portability, like a battery-pack instead of being power-cord dependent.