Canon S 9000

As a replacement for my old Lexmark, this Canon is light years ahead.

What were my needs?
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- An A3 (wide format) printer to be able to self-print mini-poster size pictures
- Separate ink tanks (to reduce running costs)
- High quality - need this at A3 paper size (=double A4 size)
- Quiet
- Resonably priced
- Able to reproduce a 4 megapixel digital image at A3 in photo quality output

Source
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In order to get the best price, I sourced this from France via Nomatica. Eventually it was shipped from Germany (the benefit of a pan-European market).

There were delays in supply at the time but the price was at least £100 cheaper than the best UK source.

At over £250 this was not a cheap printer, but at the time was top of the Canon bubble jet technology.

What you Get
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Power cable (power unit is built in).
Manual (pretty good)
USB cable (USB 1.1 standard) but not very long
A set of 6 ink cartridges
Software drivers on CD

What you do not get
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No sample paper
No dust cover

Features
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A3+ photo quality with advanced MicroFine Droplet Technology™
Single Ink technology (6 colour tanks so replace only those needed)
Borderless printing (great for pictures)
Compatible with Windows 98/Me/2000/XP and Mac OS
2400*1200 dpi resolution (that's very small)
Automatic colour adjustment and enhancement with the supplied software drivers.

Speed
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This is a fast printer - an full colour A3 page prints in less than 3 minutes. An A4 page in less than 90 seconds. Black and White or simpler pictures are even better....

Paper
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This printer can handle all types up to some fairly heavy card. Transfers for t-shirts, photo paper, are all catered for.

Printing
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All print results are impressive. Even standard paper produces impressive results for colour pictures but, as always, photo/glossy paper is best for the colour shots.
(TIP: photo paper is very expensive so test print on plain paper first).

TIP - hunt around for original Canon ink cartridges - prices in high street stores can be as high as £6 per ink tank! Bought online, you can generally get as low as £3-4.

Pros
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Great quality output
Fast
Last A3 print capability
Nice utility that tells you when ink is getting low.

Cons
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Cartridges run out fast - ink capacity is small.

The Black cartridge is the same as Colour ones so runs out frequently. Best to have a small Black and White printer if you print a lot of this type.

Note
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This product is now superceded by the i9950 which has even better resolution and 8 ink technology and faster USB connections.

Is This for You?
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Most will not need A3 printing so look at the A4 printers. Quality will still be exceptional and costs will be lower too.

This is a serious printer, great for making your own poster/pictures and that is the way to look at it. It will pay for itself after only a couple of large prints that you want framed.

Do not bother with A3 printing unless you have digital images of 4 or 5 megapixel resolution or better.

Overall
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I would highly recommend Canon. Ihave owned them before and will again.