Canon Pixma Pro9000

The Canon Pixma Pro9000 gets generally good reviews as an inkjet photo printer, but fares less well in evaluations of text printing. Some reviews say the dye-based ink yields initial results that rival pigment-ink printers' and the longer lifespan of pigment prints may be academic if you aren't thinking decades into the future. Professional reviews disagree about the Canon Pixma Pro9000's speed -- while some say it's fast, others claim it lags on prints larger than 4 inches by 6 inches. One bonus is that the Canon Pixma Pro9000 is a medium-format printer that can produce prints up to 13 inches by 19 inches -- rare in this price range. If you don't need to print that large but still want an exceptional photo printer, we found great reviews for the mid-priced Epson Stylus Photo 1400 (*Est. $275).

We find the reviews at PCMag.com and CNET best because the numerical ratings systems allow users to see at glance which printers rank highest. Testing is thorough at PrinterInfo.com, Imaging-Resource.com and Steve's Digicams, and there are some alternative purchase possibilities suggested. There is a good sampling of owner reviews (about 150) at Amazon.com, but most of the complaints concern defective units rather than a flaw in how they work when they do work.