Canon Pixma iP4600

I have to send an order out like RIGHT NOW. I've been messing around with the software settings for the last 20 minutes trying to get address labels to load from the top/back tray. In older Pixma's there… were control buttons to switch the paper source, now not. I deselected the automatic determination, but the bottom line is that if you are feeding any sort of 8-1/2 X 11 paper, apparently it's impossible to print from that tray. The only option is "plain paper" which tells it to print from the cassette. Even when telling it to print from the rear tray. I hate this thing. And now my order will be DAYS LATE.

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Not unlike most everything, if you pay less, you're going to get less. However, the things skimped on in this printer hardly take away from it's great value. Pros: First, for me, I have absolutely no use… for a scanner/copier so the fact that this printer doesn't have one is a bonus for me. That coupled with individual ink tanks are what peaked my interest in this printer in the first place. I used to work at Best Buy and at that time the iP600 came out and is the first printer I know of to use individual tanks on a consumer printer. I decided then that when I got my next printer it'd have to have the individual tanks, no more throwing away red and yellow ink when the blue runs out! Duplex printing right out of the box in a printer that costs less then $100?! Awesome! Usually, in order to get this feature on a sub-$100 printer you have to buy an attachment. Not here, right out of the box it's ready to print on both sides of a sheet. This is especially useful for me as my girlfriend and I are both in college and print many paged documents all the time. Our paper consumption is nearly cut in half! Easy as pie to set up. We both have Macs and an Apple Extreme router that has a USB port for wireless printing. Plug the printer into the router, open up Airport Utility, go to the printer tab, select the printer, the computer downloads and installs the driver is needs, and BAM... Ready to print wirelessly with no missing features. Ink management, duplex management, tray selection, and so on are all there. Print quality is amazing. One thing I've always liked about Canon's individual tank printers is the PageBlack cartridge. This is a larger ink tank and uses more of a gel ink that sits on top of the paper apposed to dyeing the paper like traditional ink. This tank is used whenever you print documents and the end result is incredible looking text that is very clean, dark, and sharp. Then, when it comes to photo printing this printer doesn't disappoint. I have been a photographer for over 10 years and am now in film school so photo quality was a very important sell point for me. 3x5, 4x6, and 8x10 all look great and are indistinguishable from prints done at the kiosks you can find in places like Wal-Mart or Kinkos. My printer fits into a reletively tight space. While there is plenty of room for the top paper feed tray to be open, if I were to put regular 8.5x11 paper into it then it'd have to curl back to fit. 4x6 photo paper fits just fine. This, however, is a non-issue due to the fact that there is a lower paper cartridge for the standard paper. This is a great addition as I can close the top paper feed (unless printing a photo) and have the printer feed from the bottom tray. This really helps keep the printer compact in it's somewhat tight space. Cons: As have been stated before, this printer isn't not quick on the uptake. Once it gets going it's fast enough, but the initial time it takes the printer to start printing once a job has been sent to it can take upwards of 40 seconds. This doesn't seem long on paper, but when you're used to a printer starting almost immediately after sending the job, this seems like forever. Essentially the printer goes through a head cleaning cycle before it begins printing. So, this is bittersweet because even though you have to wait, at least the nozzles will be nice and clean and you'll always get the best possible print quality. However, like I said, once it starts, it's about average with most any other printer I've used. The size of this printer, while compact enough to fit where I have it as said before, is a bit bulky considering the absence of a scanner bed. So, if you only have space for the small top feed only printers found for $30 or so, then this printer may be a bit too large for you. However, that's not to say this printer is huge by any means, just a bit larger then I originally expected. Final thoughts: 4/5 stars from me mostly due to the slow uptake. This isn't really a huge deal until you're already late for class and trying to rush out the door and you send your paper to print and have to wait an extra minute for it to come out, which feels like an eternity when you're in a hurry. Most of the time, though, you just send the job, start surfing the net and don't really care how long the print takes to start-up. If I could I'd give 4.5/5 stars because it really isn't that big of a deal. For less then $100 shipped you get an awesome printer with great print quality, duplex printing, and insanely easy set-up (I imagine Windows set-up wouldn't be anymore difficult then it was on a Mac). It's size may be a little larger then you imagine, but I'm sure most everyone shouldn't have any troubles finding a place to put it. I highly recommend this printer and am very satisfied!

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I bought this printer to replace my Canon Pimxa ip3000 which kicked the bucket after many years of loved use. I decided on the ip4600 because it had mostly the same set up, yet also offered double-sided… printing (which is one of the main things I was looking for since I do a lot of double sided printing.) It was easy to set up and it turns on quickly (quicker than the ip3000). It's also an Energy Star product which I thought was a nice bonus. I have not printed any photos (I don't often) so I cannot tell you how that works out, but I was given a free sample of photo paper inside the box. I have only had it for about two weeks, but have not had any problems yet! Amazon's prices were by far the best, and you still get the warranty since the product is new (assuming you choose to buy a new one.)

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I bought this printer to assist with my scrapbooking. I have printed a few hundred 8x10 sheets since purchasing this printer a year ago. I have spent well over $300.00 in ink cartridges. I am behind on… scrapbooking projects because I have to talk myself into buying more ink so I can print the pages I create. This has never been much of a problem for me with past printers. The cost is truly outrageous! The only positive thing about the ink is that it is separated out into separate color cartridges that you replace instead of having to replace an entire cartridge when one color runs out. A nice bonus if you do a lot of printing. I have an old Canon that would've cost more to replace the printhead than to buy a new printer so I chose the latter. I wish I would've spent the money on a new printhead. The cartridges I had from my old printer would not fit into this one and they were a lot less expensive. It seems that every time I have switched Canon printers, I lose a lot of money in unusable ink cartridges. Also, they don't fill them up as much as they used to in the older models. I go through a lot more ink in a shorter amount of time. Very frustrating! The print quality is very nice but not worth the price that goes into them. I would look at other manufacturers that care a little more about their consumers and not charge so much for the ink. I would research other printer manufacturer's products before I'd ever consider buying another Canon printer.

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I only owned this printer for a couple of days before returning it. While the printer is OK for low volume printing, it will kill you on ink cost if you print a lot. Compared to the older ip4500 model, the… ip4600 is a lot SLOWER and uses ink cartridges that are a lot smaller and more expensive. The 221 cartridge contains only about 8 ml of usable ink, compared to about 12 ml usable ink in the older CLI-8 cartridge. Both sell for about the same price per cartridge. You do the math. Even with refilled cartridges or OEM cartridges this is way too much hassle - the cartridges are running low or out all the time. I was lucky enough to find a new, unused ip4500 for $120 canadian in a local store. If you check Amazon, you will see that the ip4500 goes for more than $200 nowadays. But if you print a lot, the ip4500 will still come in cheaper in the long run. If you can't find an ip4500 anymore - and print a lot - do your wallet and the environment a favour and get a CISS (Continous Ink Supply System). On my ip4500 I use one made by RIHAC in Australia, which serves me well.

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