Aug. 2010, 8 months later: I've had to change my opinion of this printer. It still puts out the best photos I've seen from any inkjet printer, and I've had my share. The colors are true and vivid. However, to get true and vivid, you can go broke on the ink. This printer was costing me so much in ink that I no longer print a "good photo" until two to three weeks after taking it. That's just to be sure that it's as good as I initially thought, haven't taken a better shot since, and that I'm willing to use the ink. And, I've switched from 8x10 to 5x7 prints. In 8 months, I've spent over $300 on ink!!!!
Second, I couldn't understand why everyone was complaining about how slow this printer was. When I first got it, I thought it was fast. Now, it's either slowed down to a snail's pace, or I'm just now paying attention.
This is not my primary printer, and I wasn't really paying attention until one day I didn't use my LaserJet IV (almost 18 years old and still going strong, but B&W), and just left it set on the PIXMA, and I swear it took the better part of 5 minutes to get around to printing the photo. Then, I printed a one page black and white note. Not even the font was fancy: Times Roman, 12 pt. It took 90 seconds to get a page printed.
Why the difference in perception? I warned in my initial review that you had to set the printer on "draft" when printing just a B&W document. Well, after printing a batch of photos on high quality, I forgot to reset it to draft. It's a pain in the ... neck, but the difference in speed is phenomenal. And "draft quality" is actually very good for a document, even a document that has a few color font changes.
Would I recommend this printer? No. Would I buy it again? Probably, and the reason is that I just don't know what printer would have the quality of prints. Speed is not that important when it comes to my photographic endeavors. Speed is important for the handbooks and manuals that I write, and my old HP has yet to fail me. If speed and ink costs are important, DO NOT buy this printer. In a Wall Street Journal article from last year, it stated that 80% of HP's profits come from in sales. What? You thought that a $79 printer was too good to be true? Well, I've known about ink costs for many years, but I've had Canon, Epson, and HP printers and they can all drive you to the poorhouse when it comes to ink. Canon has the best prints, but what good is it if you can't afford the ink to run it. And now, instead of dying with a load of ink on my hands, I'm going to die with a load of 8x10 photo paper. HP photo paper at that. Everybody wins but me. ;.)
And now back to our regularly scheduled review. From December 2009, unchanged.
I waited a month before writing this review, wanting to make sure that I gave the printer its due, and be fair to what it turns out to be its one fault, common to almost all inkjet printers.
In one sentence: this is a well-designed, beautifully made, great printer than does everything I want, and then some. In more than one sentence...
We all know that printer manufacturers make 80% of their profits from ink. Well, the problem with this Canon, is that that's going to 90%. However, since the quality and speed of print is so much better than the Canon 150 that it replaced, I can't officially complain until next year.
I don't use several of the functions of the higher end PIXMAs such as directly printing from the camera (it's best to format the card after a day of shooting), and my primary printer is still a 17 year old black and white HP LaserJet. But, I wanted this printer as a spare for that inevitable day when I'll need a printer for text, billing, and such. Until that day, I'll have leftover black cartridges, and will have spent a small fortune on the cyan, magenta, and yellow which come to about $38 for the three, the same price as getting the black thrown in.
I bought the printer with what I figured was a year's supply of ink. Well, the first thing I notices was that the cartridges are 25% smaller than the same Canon 150's, and the 150's don't fit this printer. I've often said that the old bumper sticker, "Whoever dies with the most toys wins," is inaccurate. Actually, the one who "wins" is the one who dies just as the last cartridge runs out of ink, and you also get to miss the last dentist appointment that week. Well, it's never going to happen, and we'll just face the fact that we're helping the economy by having all odd ink cartridges that have no other use and will leave a carbon and cyan, and yellow, and magenta "footprints" in the ecology of our world.
A nice feature is that the cartridge lights up when it's running out of ink. It's a little disconcerting when three of the four are lit like it was Christmas all over again, but it it's good to know which one needs replacing without having to read which color is which.
Seriously, the printer is fast, convenient, and I prefer the wired rather than the wireless printers to maintain the speed and to avoid problems with home networks which can lose their signal in the middle of an 8x10 high res photo. Fair warning: I bought a pack of 100 4x6 photo paper so that my wife could have "hard copy" prints of the grandkids. I don't use Canon's software, but something similar. And, since it was Christmas (and birthday) time around here, the pack of 100 (especially set on multiple and batch printing) lasted ... maybe 15 minutes.
IF you use Canon's high glossy photo paper - which in most cases I do recommend - either separate the photos individually and let them dry, or leave them in the tray for 15-20 minutes. With 8x10's it's best left overnight to make certain that they are dry. HP paper dries faster, and both work find with this printer.
I also found that the 4700 will "conserve" print if you don't check the "Highest Quality" box in the properties before printing. It'll save 20-30% of the ink. However, there are some photos where you just have to have long-lasting, high quality photos. I like to print out prize-winning photos (as well as a few wedding pix), and noted that I might get 15 8x10s from these really small cartridges. (See examples of some photos which require this at the free site, [...]. Some of the scenics, and even one of a colorful kestrel an take an enormous amount of ink. Sooooo, the alternative is to really think about which photos you want for an album that you may never look at again.)
By the way, plain black and white print is extremely fast once the document is in the queue, and here's a plus that very few have thought of: the Canon iP4700 can be stopped in mid-print, quickly and easily. If you change your mind or see an error, one click and the printer stops printing. This is my 4th non-LaserJet printer, and by far my favorite. Let's hope it doesn't break the bank.
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Customer Rating | (132) | (148) | (158) | (2292) | (2436) |
| Price | $580.99 | $799.99 | $449.99 | $229.00 | $139.00 |
| Sold By | PixLaser (Serial Number Recorded) | PixLaser (Serial Number Recorded) | Essential-Buys | Amazon.com | Adorama |
| Connectivity Technology | USB | USB | USB | Wi-Fi | USB, Wi-Fi |
| Duplex | Automatic | Automatic | — | No | Automatic |
| Item Dimensions LxWxH | 17 x 11.7 x 6 inches | 17 x 11.7 x 6 inches | 17.5 x 12 x 6.3 inches | 13.1 x 23.3 x 6.3 inches | 13.8 x 17.3 x 7.5 inches |
| Item Weight | 12.57 lbs | 12.60 lbs | 14.33 lbs | 18.60 lbs | 17.40 lbs |
| Max Printspeed Monochrome | 9 pages per minute | 11 pages per minute | 14.8 pages per minute | 14.5 pages per minute | 15 |
| Operating System | Windows XP, Windows Vista | Windows, Mac | — | Windows, Mac | Android |
| Print media | Paper (plain), Envelopes, Glossy photo paper | Glossy photo paper, Paper (plain) | Paper (plain) | Glossy photo paper | Glossy photo paper |
| Printer Output | Color | Color | Color | Color | Color |
| Printing Technology | Inkjet | Inkjet | Laser | Inkjet | Inkjet |
| Resolution | 9600 x 2400 DPI | 9600 x 2400 DPI | — | 10000 | — |
| Special Feature | color, photo | Auto-Document Feeder | magnetic_proof | magnetic_proof | Auto Document Feeder, Touch Screen, Network-Ready, Memory Card Slot |
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Price: >$200
Printer Function Type: Photo Quality Printing
Connectivity: USB
Printer Scanner Type: Photo
Brand: Canon
B&W Pages per Minute: 10 PPM & Under
Print media: Envelopes
Print media: Glossy photo paper
Print media: Paper (plain)
Certifications: Energy Star
Control Method: App
Color Pages per Minute: 10 PPM & Under
Printer Output: Color
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