Canon Pixma iP5200R

...assumes you will be using Canon photo paper at all times, and optimises the print quality for this. Oddly, the wizard does not include all the papers Canon supply, but selection of the nearest likely seems to work well.

Print quality is excellent. Despite the use of a 3 colour system, in place of the 4 colour one a professional would use, you would be hard pressed to tell the difference.

A black and white letter can ...
...the "go" button, and your Canon software will auto recognise what you are trying to do, import the scanned image, and then print it on your new media without any further adjustment. It's as close to magic as any software I've ever seen.

Just a word of warning when printing onto a DVD/CD - make sure the disc is pressed down into it's holder, else it may clash with the print head.

The Canon software also installs ... more

Network Installation:
Having first bought the ip5200 for personal use, I've now installed several of the "R" version for customers that want to share a decent colour printer across a wireless network. Net work installation is easy, straight forward, and has never failed me straight out of the box.

Installation:
About average in size for this kind of printer, it's very easy to install straight out of the box with clear instructions - assuming (if needed) you have already bought a USB cable as none is included. The ink cartridges also seem well protected from the elements, which might help give replacements a longer shelf life. As ever, it's worth being careful when installing the software, and making sure the instructions are followed to the letter, to avoid possible driver problems later.

In use:
Very easy to use. The software included makes printing a photo simple and quick, regardless of print size. A possible draw back is that the print wizard assumes you will be using Canon photo paper at all times, and optimises the print quality for this. Oddly, the wizard does not include all the papers Canon supply, but selection of the nearest likely seems to work well.

Print quality is excellent. Despite the use of a 3 colour system, in place of the 4 colour one a professional would use, you would be hard pressed to tell the difference.

A black and white letter can be printed in a similar time and to the same quality as a small laser jet.

A small tray holds DVD/CDs for printing, and the process is easy, quick and impressive. In fact, if you have any Twain compatible scanner, you will be really impressed. If you want to simply print the face of a DVD/CD on a copy you've just made, then it's just a matter of putting the media in your scanner, face down, pressing the "go" button, and your Canon software will auto recognise what you are trying to do, import the scanned image, and then print it on your new media without any further adjustment. It's as close to magic as any software I've ever seen.

Just a word of warning when printing onto a DVD/CD - make sure the disc is pressed down into it's holder, else it may clash with the print head.

The Canon software also installs a small toolbar in Internet Explorer which allows you to print a web page without loosing the right hand side by automatically scaling it to fit an A4 sheet. Whilst this always works when fitting the page horizontally, I've found it may need a small adjustment to avoid a vertical cutoff, but this is very simple. This toolbar also has a "quick print" button, which prints faster at a slightly lower quality, duplex, so you can print on both sides, and the option to add pages to a list for printing later. In practice, this little toolbar proves to be a really neat feature.

The printer also features Canon's "ChromaLife100" system. As far as I can gather, this means that as long as you use both Canon inks and paper, your prints will last longer without fading. In airtight archive conditions they claim 100 years, under glass around 30, and 10 if left lying around. Their website has links to the exact nature of these claims under test conditions.

I've tried the "PicBridge" connection and although it works fine, my personal perference, especially in the absence of a screen with the printer, would be to connect via a PC.

Costs:
There are 5 ink carts - 2 black and 3 colours - total cost of all 5, as originals from Canon, but from a discount site would be around £40. Paper can be expensive, but again there are big cost savings to be had on some sites that have BOGOF offers.

At the very low cost this printer can be bought for, there might well be a case for purchasing 2 at the same time. It comes with a set of standard ink carts, worth at least £40, and I'd guess that the most likely bits to break would be the DVD/CD holder tray and the print head - my guess is that the replacement spares cost of these 3 items would be similar to that of the printer. Printer technology seems to have reached something of a plateau at the time of writing, so the above may be a worthwhile suggestion.

With regards to total running costs, assuming you buy OEM ink carts and paper at discount prices (I'd suggest www.7dayshop.com as having a good selection at reasonable prices), this printer offers a fair return in terms of quality for it's running costs - assuming it is not used for heavy duty colur print runs - more the light to medium use for printing special photos to a high standard quickly and easily.

In conclusion, this printer has far exceeded my expectations and I find it hard to find fault with.
 

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