Canon i860 Photo Printer

by Canon

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 16.5 x 12.9 x 7.3 inches ; 7.3 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 19 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S. and to APO/FPO addresses. For APO/FPO shipments, please check with the manufacturer regarding warranty and support issues.
• ASIN: B0000C3IDW
• Item model number: 8536A001
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (117 customer reviews)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes
• Date first available at Amazon.com: June 29, 2004

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

Note: The Canon i860 is no longer being manufactured. You may want to consider purchasing the newer Canon Pixma iP4000 instead.

If you're a serious photo hobbyist who seeks a single printer that combines home office needs with top-notch color capability, look no further than the Canon i860. Its laser-quality black printing churns out 600 x 600 dpi sheets. And it's fast, with speeds of up to 23 pages per minute. The pigment-based black ink delivers exceptional clarity and legibility, whether you're printing a holiday newsletter or a detailed spreadsheet.

Individual ink tanks save money, reduce waste.

This printer can connect directly to select digital cameras. Learn more about PictBridge.

Photo printing is where the i860 really comes in to its own, offering an exceptional 4,800 x 1,200 dpi resolution. With speeds of up to 16 pages per minute, or just 50 seconds for a borderless 4-by-6-inch print. Your images will be strikingly smooth, with clean, vivid tones, thanks to five photo ink tanks that spray ultra fine two-picoliter droplets.

A light beam can "see" the ink level.

A direct print port, combined with PictBridge and Direct Bubble Jet technology allows you to print images directly from your digital camera or camcorder. Built to handle photo papers of a variety of weights and finishes, the i860 can also handle transparencies, plain or high-resolution paper, and envelopes. Canon includes a one-year warranty with Instant Exchange service.

Product Description

i860 Desktop Photo Printer. Up to 23 ppm black, 16 ppm color. 4800 x 1200 color dpi print resolution. Nearly grain-free images with microfine droplets as small as two picoliters. ContrastPLUS advanced five-color ink system for true-life photos and laser-quality text. Edge-to-edge true borderless photos. Direct photo printing from PictBridge-compatible digital cameras and camcorders. Built-in 150-sheet feeder plus 4 x 6 photo paper tray. USB and parallel connectivity . Manufacturers one-year limited warranty with InstantExchange. 16-1/2w x 12-3/16d x 7-5/16h

See all Product Description

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

131 of 134 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Printer At A Great Price, January 8, 2004

By 

"gkaye10" (New York, NY United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Canon i860 Photo Printer (Office Product)

If you are looking for a printer that can print photo-store quality prints quickly, quietly...AND print high-quality text...then look no further...The low cost, separate (and relatively inexpensive) ink tanks, and separate black ink for text are just an added bonus!

I spent months looking and shopping around, and finally settled on the i860 after going to a store and testing the printers side-by-side. True, at the highest photo quality, a lot of these printers will look alike...but after "looking under the hood," I decided the Canon was the way to go...Here is the skinny:

"Top Ten Reasons To Buy This Printer"
(1) Great photo quality prints in a jiffy (some say like 43 seconds, but it seems faster);
(2) Quiet (it almost whispers);
(3) Good print quality on regular text/regular paper;
(4) Easy to set-up, and the documentation is excellent (took me less than 10 minutes);
(5) Fantastic software package that comes with the unit...try the "Easy Web Print" and I guarantee that you won't be disappointed;
(6) Ink tanks are separate (meaning you don't have to replace a whole 3, 4 or 5 color tank when one color runs out) and relatively inexpensive;
(7) The paper that works best with the printer is made by Canon, which is also relatively inexpensive;
(8) Their customer support is phenominal (I had one small issue that turned out to have nothing to do with the printer itself), and their support staff not only knew what they were doing, but I didn't have to hold for an hour;
(9) It's very moderately priced; and
(10) True borderless printing (no perforated paper).

"Top Six Reasons Not To Buy This Printer" (can't think of 10!)
(1) Maximum print size is 8 1/2 x 11. If you like to print posters, find another printer;
(2) No LCD screen, so the printer needs to be controlled from the computer (or Camera if you have PhotoBridge on your camera) and you cannot review pictures on the printer before you print;
(3) No USB or Parallel cable in the box (why not, I ask?);
(4) Photo quality prints do not look great on other papers besides Canon;
(5) It's really big;
(6) The 4x6 paper try is a tad bit awkward;

I hope this helps!

106 of 109 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Quality of a laser, versatility of an ink-jet, November 1, 2003

By 

C. Charla - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Canon i860 Photo Printer (Office Product)

I really wanted to buy a b&W laser printer, but with a small kid at home, I knew I also needed color, both for digital pictures and crafts projects. After doing a *ton* of research online, I decided on the i850, only to discover it was relpaced with the i860, which I bought based on the strength of the 850's reviews.

This printer is great -- for text printing it uses a pigment-based black ink which looks sharp on *any* paper (even some crappy old typing paper I had lying around). For printing color images, it uses a dye-base black in (and dye-based cyan, magenta, and yellow inks).

The results are great: When printing text, this printer is FAST -- nearly as fast as my laser-jet at the office. The pigment based text is genuinely laser-quality. You simply cannot tell it was done on an ink-jet. For printing color images, the usual caveats apply (items look best on Canon products, etc.), but the results easily outpace six-color ink jets.

Finally, I've found that the ink is *much* cheaper than with competitors, making your cost per page much lower with this printer than with a Lexmark, Epson, or HP. If you're so inclined, it also does not have chips in the ink cartridges, so you can refill them easily as well.

70 of 71 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Unbelievable Photo Prints, March 18, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Canon i860 Photo Printer (Office Product)

I just installed this printer (which replaced an aging Epson 800) and printed a test photo that was taken with a 5.0 megapixel Sony P92 Cybershot digital camera. The results are unbelievable. The print, using Canon's "Photo Paper Pro" 4x6 paper, has got to be seen to be believed. I used the Easy Photo-Print utility that came with the printer, at its default settings. The print is as glossy and shiny as the paper it was printed on, with no surface imperfections and no evidence it came from an ink-jet printer. The sharpness and resolution is just remarkable, with a depth and richness of color that I didn't think was possible from an ink-jet printer. If I hadn't watched the print being made, I would swear it came from a professional photo processor.

The great thing is that the I860 produces very acceptable color results on copier-grade paper as well, with sharp edges and no bleeding or running of colors. I wet a finger and dragged it across the page 15 minutes after it printed and there was no smearing or blurring. That was never possible with my old Epson.

There's a separate black ink cartridge reserved solely for text documents, I think, that prints reasonably sharp black text that looks like it came from a laser printer. And black-and-white text prints are fast, too.

Installation was a breeze, after first uninstalling the Epson software and deleting the Epson printer from the Win98's printer list. The supplied CD is simple to follow and about 25 minutes later I was printing the test photo. Installation of the software on our other networked Win2000 computer went just as quickly.

All in all, this has got to be the best value for the money, ever.