Canon S500 Color Bubble Jet Printer

by Canon

Product Details

Product Manual [2.60mb PDF]

• Product Dimensions: 11.6 x 16.9 x 7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15 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: B00005OSU0
• Item model number: s500
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes
• Date first available at Amazon.com: September 4, 1973

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

Printing 12 pages per minute at an astonishing 2,400 x 1,200 resolution, the Canon S500 is an economical and powerful printing solution for your home or office. The S500 can produce exceptional photo-quality prints that, when printed on Canon Professional photo paper PR-101, can maintain their color for up to 25 years without fading. Colors are brilliant and images are sharp, thanks to Canon's Microfine Droplet technology.

Economically minded users will appreciate that the S500's ink cartridges are individually replaceable, so when you run out of one color you can just replace the cartridge for that color, instead replacing an entire three-color cartridge. The printer features both USB and parallel ports and drivers for PC and MAC (Windows 95/98/ME/2000/NT 4.0 and Apple Macintosh OS 8.1 or higher).

From the Manufacturer

Canon's S500 Color Bubble Jet Printer makes printing all your favorite home or office projects a true pleasure. It is designed to output everything from letters, invitations, flyers, and Web pages to spectacular photos--quickly, easily, and with magnificent results.

The S500 printer combines renowned Canon quality and reliability with numerous enhancements that make printing hassle-free and results remarkable. At rapid speeds of up to 12 ppm in black and 8 ppm in color, you'll zip through daily projects with ease. At an incredible 2,400 x 1,200 dpi, color resolution is 38 percent greater than it is on 2,880 x 720 dpi printers. Advanced MicroFine Droplet Technology further refines color, precision, and detail for breathtaking photo printing even on plain paper. And, when using Canon Photo Paper Pro, photos will last approximately 25 years.

The S500 printer features the Canon Think Tank System--an intelligent ink-management system that helps eliminate ink waste. It uses individual ink tanks for each color, so you replace only the color you need as it runs out, not the entire cartridge. The Canon Think Tank System also features a unique low-ink sensor that alerts you with an onscreen message when ink levels are low so you can drop in a new tank before running out of ink unexpectedly in the middle of a print job.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

71 of 71 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars great printer, December 23, 2001

By 

N. Osgood (Worcester, MA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Canon S500 Color Bubble Jet Printer (Office Product)

I happened to run across a Canon salesman in the store, when I bought this. I was looking at the S630 model, and he explained that this one (S500) just came out. The only difference between the S500 and other models of the S series is the speed. I found the speed more than adequate, and the picture quality matches that of the more expensive ones. I recommend this product to anyone that is looking for a printer with high resolution, but does not want to spend a lot of money.

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fantastic, low cost high quality printer for Windows XP, January 23, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Canon S500 Color Bubble Jet Printer (Office Product)

First let me say that I am absolutely amazed and delighted by this printer! I have had Epson printers for a number of years now, and swore by them (though lately I have been swearing at them). After upgrading to a Windows XP system, I found that many of my Epson peripherals simply no longer had drivers that allowed them to operate. This was true of BOTH of my Epson printers, a stylus 740 and an old workhorse 900. I was rather upset with Epson that they really had no intention of doing anything about XP drivers, and I had to be content with the bundled XP driver that handles (poorly) the 740, OR download the Windows 2000 driver that they say "Probably works with Windows XP"...It doesn't - so don't do it!- in fact it had my printer substituting green for yellow, and unable to delete documents that would then spool for an eternity.

I read the reviews for the canon printers and liked what I read, but I really have to say, that the following points make this printer ideal for photo printing and documents:

1) Ease of use: It came with an XP driver! (Hello Epson!) and was installed and running in less than five minutes including alignment of the print head!

2) It has multiple "Ink tanks" that allow you to replace only the one you need. With my Epsons, I would print half a dozen large pictures for family members and I needed a new cartridge, primarily due to the fact that the magenta ink was out. Now, I can simply buy a cheap magenta cartridge!

3) Speed. Simply put this baby is fast! I test ran a 5x7 photo on high quality (In fairness to my old Epson I ran both of the prints at about 1240 x 780 or whatever the specific number is, though the Canon S500 does 2400 x 1200). The results knocked me out...First, the Epson took almost six minutes while the canon took less than a minute. More importantly, the image from the canon LOOKED BETTER! The tones were more natural, and the quality seemed more like a photo, even under a loupe. Next I did the same test but used cheap Jet Print photo paper. The canon STILL printed a fantastic picture, (in fact it looked as good as the one on Epson Glossy) while the Epson printed a horrible discolored wreck.

So, No more Epson for me. I am sick and tired of waiting for the drivers for my high end scanner and printers that may or may not ever come out; I am sick and tired of having to buy "genuine Epson paper" or be stuck with awful images, and I am REALLY tired of spending so much money for a single color cartridge. I don't intend to buy another printer or scanner from Epson again.

Do yourself a favor and get this printer if you want really nice images and text, easy installation, and a lot less of an outlay for inks and paper.

And once more for those who scan reviews briefly -YES this printer is FULLY windows XP supported and comes with the Driver CD Rom

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Inexpensive but High Quality, January 10, 2002

By 

Bob Sacamano "Kavorka" (North Carolina) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Canon S500 Color Bubble Jet Printer (Office Product)

Absolutely stunning photo quality printer. Not the fastest in the world, but it's fast enough for home use. Easy setup for Win ME and others including XP. Was up and running within 30 min. Test prints with included 4x6 Canon Photo Paper Pro blew me away. This baby cost half as much as my old BJC-600 did 7 years ago. This now replaces that dinosaur, which works great to this day! Canon makes quality items that will last for a long time. What are you waiting for, buy this printer now. You will be glad you did.