Canon PIXMA IP4000

I have owned an IP4000 for about a year now and I have to say it's one of the best printers i have ever owned and I have owned a few in my time.

This is an exceptional machine which has given me excellant results each and everytime. I have found it very economical to run and consumable prices are not too bad either.

Printing quality is very good over a wide range of papers though i do recommend using a good quality 100gsm paper if using duplex a lot. 80gsm will work fine but in my humble opinion a thicker paper is better if you intend to print on both sides.

I have used photo papers from 180gsm to 280gsm and results have been very satisfactory. As this printer can also do borderless printing (like most of the recent canon printers) I would recommend not to use this function on plain 80gsm paper as it can bleed. This is not a fault in the printer. If you are intending to do borderless you would want to use photo paper anyway.

The IP4000 has two paper feeding options built in. A bottom feeding paper tray and a rear upright feeder. These can be
selected via the printer software when printing or can be toggled via a button on the front of the printer. Personally I use the bottom tray for 100gsm for my everyday printing and the rear feeder for photo paper as the rear feed is a much straighter
path for the paper and will not curl your photos.

The cd label printing abilities are straightforward and hassle-free though in my humble opinion the cd label print software is a bit limited. I use a Acoustica software which gives me much more control over the area to print and has full support of all the pixma printers that have this cd/dvd print option.

Printing to this printer direct from a compatible camera works fine though not an option I use as I like to post process any images before printing. I tested with my Canon Powershot G5 and got impressive results as expected.

The printer is very quiet when printing except for a little noise when it picks up paper but then that is pretty much the same in all printers but it is not intrusive. It is also a pretty quick printer too though i have not actually timed it. It takes up little space on the desk and is just the right size to sit my canoscan scanner on top when the top feeder is closed.

The printing software supplied is very good, especially the Easy Web print software. no more losing part of the right hand side when trying to print from internet explorer. the web print software will scale the output down so as to fit the width cleanly on the page.

The printhead is available as a spare part so if you do wear it out or neglect it then it is easy to order one for around £45 and very easy to install. Not had to replace mine yet but have ordered a couple for customers in the past.

Out of 10 I would give 9.5. I highly recommend this machine and have sold many myself through the company I work for and every customer has been very happy with them.