Canon i350 Bubble Jet Printer: Death to HP and Epson Printers?
Written: Feb 02 '04
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Pros: Great value, works well, quick and easy set up
Cons: Loud
The Bottom Line: A wonderful value and a very good printer. Goodbye HP.
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| hwz1's Full Review: Canon i350 Bubble Jet Printer |
My parents old HP printer had basically had enough after five years and frequent printings. So, I did some research with dad and we went out to see about a replacement. Neither of us are particularly married to a brand name, but I figured we would be coming home with another HP. Hey, the HP name was all I had ever owned and it had always done a decent job.
Well, HP may continue to do a great job, but we have a new favorite- Canon. The Canon models are everything that the HP's are, but a good bit less expensive. I do not know about you, but I typically prefer to pay less when it makes sense. We both felt that this was an instance where it made sense to spend a little less money and hope that the result was still positive. Hence, we came home with a Canon.
THE SPECIFICS:
* 6.5" x 15.2" x 7.7"
* 5.3 pounds
* 100 sheet capacity
* 32 MB memory
* 4800 x 1200 maximum color resolution
* 16 pages per minutes in black/white
* 11 pages per minute in color
WHAT I LIKE:
1. The price is amazing. A similar HP model costs about twice as much as the Canon i350. This particular model will run you a little more than $60. Have the prices on printers fallen, or what?
2. The speed is quite good. We have an older model printer in the office and it is supposed to be pretty quick. You know, industrial strength type from 1997. Guess what? That printer cannot come close to the speed of this one. The i350 spits out 11 pages a minute in color and 16 in black and white. Both are good numbers, but not great. But for the price, they are wonderful numbers.
3. The Canon's are a little different from the HP's in that they offer vertical paper storage. You can stack up to 100 sheets for ready use. I have become a fan of this because it means that the printer takes up a little less room. It also seems to me that the paper loading process is a little bit quieter.
4. The i350 produces a very good print. I was expecting a good print, but not as good as what the i350 produced. The colors are vivid, do not run, and are deep. Additionally, the print does not smudge or smear. The black and white's are very sharp. All in all, everything that I have printed has ended up looking better than I expected.
5. Setting the printer up could not be easier. You simply take it out of the box, plug it in, and connect the printer to the computer via the USB printer cable. Once this is done, you insert the set up disc and in a matter of minutes you are asked to register, reboot, and you are done. It really could not be any easier and the software will walk you through everything once you reach the disc section.
6. The ink refills are quite cheap. HP seems to have a monopoly on their refills and that is why they can charge as much as they do. The Canon refills are cheaper because they can come from a generic source, rather than just from Canon. A huge plus when considering the longer term costs of a printer.
7. You can print border to border edgeless color photos. I like the ability to do this and with digital cameras becoming more and more popular, I expect that I will use this feature even more in the future. The final product is a good print; not great, but good enough that you would not think it was done on a $60 printer.
WHAT I DO NOT LIKE:
1. The Canon i350 is quite loud. I have no idea why, but as soon as you hit print and begin to hear the paper shuffle into place, the sound is noticeably louder than what you are probably accustomed to. How loud? Well, you will want to up the volume on the TV a notch or too. I do not mind this, but it is something to keep in mind.
2. How is it so inexpensive? I am smart enough to know that this is not the world's greatest printer. Remember, it costs about $60. But I have to wonder how it can be about half what a comparable Epson or HP costs. Does this mean it will need repairs all the time? Die at a young age?
THE BOTTOM LINE:
Quite simply, the best printer I have ever used for the cost. An amazing value. The positives are numerous and the negatives limited. I highly recommend the Canon i350 and will not be purchasing another HP for quite a long time.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 60.00
Operating System: Windows and Macintosh
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Epinions.com ID:
hwz1
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Location: Philadelphia, PA
Reviews written: 845
Trusted by: 923 members
About Me:
Just got a big promotion that will move my new wife and I to Atlanta.
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