Whether for business or advanced home use, the i560 puts you ahead. An accelerated output of up to 22 ppm for mono and up to 15 ppm for color gives you the speed you need for all... more
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This is the tight-fisted old git's guide to getting a decent printer. The cost of the printer DOES NOT relate to continuing running costs. There are other aspects such as ink and cartridge prices to take into consideration.
Having had 3 Epson Stylus printers fail in 2 years I was loath to buy Epson again. The printheads are just too prone to failure from something as simple as an air bubble. I was looking for a decent printer at a reasonable price, with reasonable running costs and generic cartridges readily available.
I have an inherent dislike of printers with the head integrated with the cartridge. yes I know that the manufacturers laud this as a fresh head with each change, but the running costs are sky high with this approach and the only alternative is to refill a cartridge whose replacement could be up to £30 for a mere 30/40ml of ink. Even best whisky is cheaper than this.
I spotted the Canon at PC-World about a year ago. At £119 it was dearer than a lot of offerings but faster, more versatile and most importantly the cartrige capacity was twice that of the identically priced replacements for the so-called "cheaper" models. The only consideration after print quality should be capacity, capacity, capacity. I spoke to the Canon Rep who was in the store and compared various specifications. He was very helpful and impulse buying mode took over.
Unlike the Epsons that have the print-head fixed to the carriage/cartridge holder, the Canon's head is eperate and is threfore easily replaced in the event of failure. I like this feature. Ease of service is a big plus, even in the event of a warranty claim. Epsons need to be dismantled to get at the head.
The i560 uses the same cartridges that go back to several previous models and that makes them readily available from virtually anywhere in the universe. It takes the larger capacity BCI-3eBK black cartridge and seperate cartridges for each colour BCI-6C/Y or M respectively and these are a decent capacity too. The original cartridges are pricey-ish but the capacity is OK. generics of decent quality are readily available for about £2.00 a piece as opposed about £7.00 for originals. Go to choicestationery.com for the best prices.
The i560 prints borderless photos and the quality is indistiguishable from a so-called photo-printer. The latter using another 2 extra cartridges. I defy anyone to tell the difference.
One really usefull extra is the "PictBridge" capability that allows PictBridge enabled cameras to print directly to the printer without the PC having to be switched on. It's all done via the camera, dead useful.
The printer has both USB and parallel ports which means that it will hook up to virtually any computer (it even works on our 14yr old Amiga).
Setup was a doddle as the PC detected it on power-up. The software provided is very good and the driver versatile. I use it with Windows 2000, but Win98 and XP were handled with equal panache. The canon Easy-Photoprint software is a doddle to use, instinctive and also allows some control over output. Simple enough for anyone without being patronising.
The paper handling is very good although the output flap at the front is a little flimsy.
First impressions were one of a decently built unit with excellent quality print. It is definitely fast but I am not so pedantic as to measure the actual time. Suffice it to say, it makes mincemeat out of my laser printer and is substantially faster that the late and unlamented Epson 860 (and that was quick too).
Photo quality is outstanding but you have to experiment with the right settings as different brand papers give differing results. As a guide I have been using Kodak Premium Picture paper (special at 75 sheets for £9.99 at Jessops). For Kodak paper use the ordinary Glossy Photo paper setting or the printer will use too much ink and satutare the picture. Done this way the pics were nothing short of superb; Sharp, vibrant and not a trace of smudging.
As for standard printing, I use plain old 80gsm paper and the output is very close to laser quality. Only crap paper (or was that crap-paper )will let you down.
I use the printer to produce leaflets and literature, so speed is essential. The i560 delivers in spades. Unless you need the highest quality output such as for photographs, I recommend installing Inksaver-2 software, that cuts ink useage drastically. For general use a 50% saving is almost indistinguishable from full strength. This is a real money saver.
The i560 is not the cheapest printer to buy, but when considering replacement ink costs and cartridge capacity it becomes very economical indeed.
I have nothing but praise for this printer, so much so that I bought a second one for my wife, for the knock down price of £84.95 from PC-World. It has now been discontinued in favour of the new Pixma range some of which still take the same cartridges.
Don't just look at the price, the on-costs can be substantial. As an example, ASDA are currently selling a Lexmark printer for £29.99 complete with a set of cartridges. Sounds good until you see that a replacement set will set yoou back about £46.00 or at the very least about £20 if you have them refilled at PC-World. I have tried refilling cartridges... MESSY... NEVER AGAIN!!!
There is only one minor cloud and that is that the ink can fade over time, although I have not experienced any problems as yet. The old Epsons faded, but the pics were in direct sunlight. Hey, back up your images onto a couple of duplicate CDs so they cannot get destroyed (and do the same with your documents, Windows WILL foul up one day) You can always print them again.
If you are after a terrific printer, that is good looking and well designed, at a reasonable price and with low running costs I cannot recommend the Canon i560 highly enough. Again, cartridges from choicestationery.com are so cheap that anyone refilling them is either a total scrooge or a certifiable lunatic
Oh yes!!! Pay the extra £22 to get the extra 2 years Canon warranty (directly from Canon NOT PC-World). If the printhead packs up it is £60. A warranty worth the money.
I purchased my Canon i560 printer and spare cartridges for it from the wonderful ebuyer.com for the bargain price of around £100. I'd recommend shopping around though if you intend to buy one.
Although this initially seems like quite a bit for mid-range inkjet, you must bear in mind that the cartridges are simply ink tanks and can be found for around £3 each per colour. Also the ink lasts for ages so this works out a very cheap printer to run.
... ...Stylus 680, a hideous printer which was unreliable, not particularly good quality and cost an absolute fortune to run thanks to its 'chipped' cartridges. But thats a whole other story.
The i560 is an attractive enough looking machine, although sadly sticks with the usual beige colour scheme which may not fit in with some more modern systems. Its extremely easy to set up, the manuals and software are pretty decent and if you get stuck I've found ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Advantages: Brilliant Prints, Individual Cartridges, Good Tech.Support Disadvantages: Sometimes hard to find cartridges
...It has a connection for Canon cameras that have the some connection.
USB connection
Power lead.
Individual cartridges.
The best thing I've found about it is that I don't have to fork out over £20 for a cartridge at a time, instead the choice that having individual cartridges means that I pay around £9 a time for colour and £11 for black.
The print quality is fantastic and its easy to choose which settings you need.
It also has the ability in ... ...much more.
The only problem I have ever found is that sometimes it can be hard to find the cartridges, this was a particular problem when I first got it but now its a little older its easier.
The print quality is amazing, I was so impressed, the tech support is great too. There are drivers to download for free on the internet which helps a great deal, especially if you use it for one or more computers and/or lose the CD with the drivers on.
When ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Advantages: Easy to use and Cheap to run Disadvantages: will only take A4 max
I recently bought the Canon i560 printer primarily for use as a general purpose printer. I found the installation very straight-forward. The packaging was excellent and it took me only about 40 minutes to get it up and running on my XP system. As part of the introductory pack, canon included some photo paper and I tried this out. Fisrt of all, I forgot to set the paper size and wasted some sheets. When I finally got the hang of it, I was absolutely ... ...I have used the printer for textm graphics and photos and i have found it absolutely excellent. The speed is acceptable for low quantities and the only fault I can find with the printer is that handling the occassional paper jam is not easy. Otherwise, its economy, its ease of use and its economy cannot be beaten in its price range. i would defintely rate it as the best in its class. ...
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Advantages: superb photo printing, fast, small footprint Disadvantages: text printing not very black
...be difficult to disinguish the Canon i560 results from lab prints. From a 4 colour system this is amazing. Who says you need 6 or 7 colours for brilliant results?
My only slight disappointment came from the text / document printing. The text does not look true black although it is very clear and crisp, it looks a little washed out. Is this most likely an ink problem?
I also wish I could set it to high quality for printing on plain paper, but it ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful
My requirements were for a printer with separate ink tanks, A4 borderless printing, low ink costs and good quality images for my digital photography. The printer has not disappointed on any count. My daughter's university notes get printed out in draft mode and the quality is great, every bit as good as my last printer's normal text, but my digital photos are superb. Colours and clarity are excellent with most photo papers. It’s neat, quiet in operation ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful
Advantages: Low price, all printing done on one printer, great quality Disadvantages: None
...This all in one printer is exceptional value for money. It is very compact and neat for a printer that has all these facilities. The print quality is first class for everything up to colour photographs. I purchased this printer mainly for its copy and fax facilty and thought I would continue to use my existing printer (Canoni560) to produce better quality printing, i.e. photographs. As it turns out, I have not used my other printer since I purchased this one as the quality is so good (in 6 months I have had not 1 paper jam!). It is slightly slower but not noticeably so. The software provided gives the user everything that is required and is very easy to use. The ink cartridges may at first seem a little expensive but by searching on Ciao better prices can be found. The cartridges are also refillable. All in all a great printer...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful
Advantages: Very cheap to buy and run, compact. Disadvantages: Print quality not brilliant, a little flimsy.
...I purchased a Canon S200x printer as a stop-gap measure when my absolutely dreadful Epson 680 gave up for good (a definite blessing in disguise!). I have since upgraded to the brilliant Canoni560 (which I have also reviewed) but used the S200 for a few months whilst I saved up for a better one.
The printer cost me less than £40 from the superb ebuyer.com - this is especially excellent when you consider that cartridges (unofficial) for the printer can be purchased for about £3 each! Sometimes budget printers like these sting you later on the cartridges but with this unit, the cost is low and stays low!
Unpacking the printer, you'll notice it is fairly compact and light, and also feels rather tacky and plasticky. The printer is mostly standard beige, with the front cover in a green/grey effect. It doesn't look too bad, but not too good...
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Advantages: Excellent scans, little competition at this price range. Disadvantages: Dreadful manual, cumbersome software, poor build quality.
...and then you're ready to scan the next slide or close the program to view the results.
SCANNED IMAGES
The results are pleasantly surprising. Even on lower resolutions (1800dpi) images are supremely detailed and its usually the resolution of the slide that gives in before the resolution of the scan. Colours are usually excellent, although you will get the odd one that comes out a bit peculiar. The results are more than good enough for printing from or viewing on a large screen. I have got some excellent results printing on to photo paper from my Canoni560 (also reviewed). Overall, much better than I had expected. I'm no expert at analysing images but as far as I can tell there are no major flaws in the images produced, it's certainly impressive when you consider the size of a slide image compared to the size of the printouts you can get from this...
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Direct Printing Specifications: PictBridge, Canon Bubble Jet Direct
Interface: Parallel, USB
Printer Features: Borderless printing
Ram
RAM Installed ( Max ): 46 KB
Media handling
Media Type: Envelopes, transparencies, plain paper, photo paper, glossy photo paper, matt photo paper, high resolution paper, Envelopes, transparencies, plain paper, iron-on transfers, photo paper, glossy photo paper, matt photo paper, high resolution paper
Max Media Size (Custom): 216 mm x 356 mm
Media Sizes: ANSI A (Letter) (216 x 279 mm), Legal (216 x 356 mm), A4 (210 x 297 mm), A5 (148 x 210 mm), B5 (176 x 250 mm), ANSI A (Letter) (216 x 279 mm), Legal (216 x 356 mm), A4 (210 x 297 mm), A5 (148 x 210 mm), B5 (176 x 250 mm), 127 x 178 mm
Envelope Sizes: International DL (110 x 220 mm), Com-10 (105 x 241 mm)
Card / Label Sizes: US 4 x 6 Card (10 x 15 cm), 2L (127 x 178 mm), US 4 x 6 Card (10 x 15 cm), US 4 x 6 Card (10 x 15 cm), 2L (127 x 178 mm), 102 x 152 mm, US 4 x 6 Card (10 x 15 cm), 2L (127 x 178 mm), 100 x 150 mm, 130 x 180 mm
Total Media Capacity: 150 sheets
Media Feeder(s): 1 x autoload - 150 sheets - Legal (216 x 356 mm), 1 x autoload - 150 sheets - Legal (216 x 356 mm) weight: 64 g/m2 - 270 g/m2
Media Path Type: Straight
Media Weight: 64 g/m2 - 270 g/m2
Duty cycle
Cartridge / Printhead Included Qty: 4
Expansion / connectivity
Connections:
1 x parallel - IEEE 1284 (EPP/ECP)
1 x USB - 4 PIN USB Type B
1 x peripheral, 1 x parallel - IEEE 1284 (EPP/ECP) - 36 PIN Centronics
1 x USB - 4 PIN USB Type B
1 x peripheral, 1 x parallel - IEEE 1284 (EPP/ECP) - 36 PIN Centronics
1 x USB - 4 PIN USB Type B, 1 x USB - 4 PIN USB Type B
1 x direct print port, 1 x parallel - IEEE 1284 (EPP/ECP) - 36 PIN Centronics
![CANON PRINT HEAD FOR I560 BLACK QY6-0042 [ STAT_CO81498 ]](http://images.ciao.com/ide/images/icons/no_pic_generic_S1.gif){kind=icon}
18.08.2007
26.06.2004
27.06.2004