I Bought One, Would I Buy Another? Yes and here's why...
Written: Feb 13 '06
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Pros: Very Quiet, Blazingly Fast Print, Prints actually look like photo’s, 5 ink tubs
Cons: You have to provide your own USB 2 cable, that's a big extra cost.
The Bottom Line: Very quiet, fast, easy to use, great looking prints, but you have to spend extra money to buy a USB 2 cable.
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| 123's Full Review: Canon PIXMAâ„¢ IP5200 InkJet Photo Printer |
I Bought One, Would I Buy Another? Yes and here's why...
Recently my old HP 722c (a dinosaur, but good reliable old workhorse) printer could not keep up with the things I wanted to print and could not give me the quality I wanted.
So I started to look at printers. I went over to CompUsa and saw some Color laser printers, Hp, and Okidata. The Oki looked unbelievable, and an HP rep working the store was also amazed at the quality. But on further investigation, the costs and lifetime of components were through the stratosphere. So that was out, and the HP was out due to price, speed, and quality. So it was back to an inkjet.
I was sick and tired of running out of Magenta and then having to throw away the 3 color cartridge and buy a new one, so I knew that a "Must have" is individual colors. I began my search for a printer in earnest.
I checked on the internet. I read review after review I read tech magazines, computer magazines and any other magazines that had printer reviews. After two days of searching and reading (over 16 hours and boy oh boy were my eyes spinning and so was my brain), after all the confusion, it appeared that Cannon inkjet printers were super high quality (some of them), the pictures they printed were excellent, and they were the most cost effective.
I really wanted a Lexmark, and saw some for really cheap, but the quality of print, and cost per print were horrible in every review I read, so Lexmark was out. So I narrowed it down to Cannon. I was going to buy the IP9000 but it was far above my budget. I only wanted to spend $200.00 maximum. No more.
I read about the 6600, the 6220, the 4200, and the 5200. I narrowed it down to these choices, and started to compare features. Like the number of nozzles, the estimated cost per print, the mediums they could print on - this printer would do some business and some personal printing. The 6220 was eliminated, and then I went to staples to see if they had the other printers so I could see a sample print.
Unfortunately, Cannon appears to be a very greedy company, or very stupid in marketing it's printers because they make it impossible to run sample prints. HP deserves really high marks in the ability to get samples. I went to CompUsa to try and get sample prints but they were unable to run them The rep told me "Unlike HP, Cannon will not provide us with product to run sample prints."
So I went over to OfficeMax to see if they could do it, same story, same at Office Depot, Circuit City, and Best Buy, and finally Staples - though the rep at staples did run me prints on a 6220 and 4200 - both were ok, but I was not floored with the prints. So I went back to study. I found that even though the ink systems were the same between the I believe 4200 and 5200, the 5200 had more than twice as many nozzles as the 4200. (Over 3200 separate nozzles to spray ink. Now THAT should give excellent detail.
Thinking that with twice as many nozzles, separate tubs of ink for each color, and two for black (one for straight black printing and one for photos) It would satisfy my needs.
Satisfy???
Satisfy??? It more than satisfied them. I ordered from newegg.com. My card was processed immediately, and the printer shipped two days later because I did not pay the additional $2.99 for fast shipment.
UPS delivered my printer in perfect condition. I opened the box, read the quick install and set up the printer. The shape of the printer is very modern, almost like a sleek modernized art piece. The colors are Black and Silver. It looks really cool, but the footprint is big... much bigger than my HP 722c so I had to clear out more room. On my desk I have one of those paper holders with four shelves - two on each side total 20" width X about 15" deep. The ip5200 barely fit.
I then was about to put the ink tubs into the printer. The first time is a bit scary. You see, each tube is wrapped in plastic, and there is a tab to pull. When you pull the tab, the plastic wrap can be pulled off. Once the wrap comes off, you see the ink in an almost clear tub (great idea), and you see this big orange thin on top. You are supposed to twist the orange thing without squeezing the tub or the ink will splash out. But the orange plastic nipple cover does not come off easily and it is kind of hard to get a good grip without squeezing.
However, I was able to accomplish this with the first tub, and no ink escaped. I put it in the holder and a red LED came on lighting up the tub showing me how much ink was left.
COOL!
I did the same with the next color, and the next, and then next... by the time I did the last tub, I felt expert at doing this. My point being, that it would be nice if Cannon would explain it takes a bit of effort to break the small plastic pieces holding on the nipple cover.
The next thing I did was to whip out the CD and install ALL the software that comes with it. The on-screen manual (great idea because I always lose my manuals especially when I want to do something a bit different); Easy photoprint software (I haven't used it yet - when I do I will revise this), and internet printing - I haven't used this yet either.
Then it was time to attach the printer to my computer and turn it on.
Let me see now. Where is that printer cable that I expect to see in the box.
Hmmm. Not with the power cord.
Not with the ink tubs.
Not with the sample of 4X6 glossy cannon paper.
I must have misplaced it.
Nope.
Let me see exactly what comes in the box.
WHAAAAAT! NO USB2.0 CABLE?
Great, Now I either have to unplug something else or go run down to the store and spend another $20 for a USB cable. Bad Cannon. Bad. Very cheap and very bad.
So after springing for a new cable, I ran my first test.
The picture printed on plain old everyday inkjet paper (not photo like or glossy, just Officemax Maxbrite inkjet paper) came out looking like a photograph.
Everyone who saw the print was astounded. We all loved it. The quality was super high, the definition of the object was exquisite down to the small details. It really looked like the picture had just come back from a photo finisher!
I was really pleased.
Regarding the loudness of the printer, is whisper soft. You can hear parts moving but it is really, really soft.
The time from clicking print to the time it starts to print is really fast. Far superior even to my laser (black and white) printer.
The time to print a picture once the printer starts, is blazingly fast. I also like the fact that you can feed paper through the bottom paper tree, or you can put it on the top and feed it straight through. Very smart.
The place where the printed paper comes out, has a door that must be lowered before you can print. But the door is black with silver keeping with the design of the ip5200 printer. So it not only looks good, but it protects.
I printed envelopes, picture sizes, postcard sizes, regular inkjet paper, and coated inkjet photo paper. All worked perfectly, and looked spectacular! There are absolutely no complaints about the quality or ease of printing.
Now that I have bought a new USB 2 cable, Which is really the only negative I could find with this printer, I can honestly say that I would buy an ip5200 again if I needed an inkjet printer.
To sum this up, the ip5200 is
Very Quiet, Blazingly Fast Print, Prints actually look like photo’s, 5 ink tubs, has LED’s to show how much ink is left in each ink tub, it’s easy to load paper, easy to install, and looks really good. You have to buy a new USB 2 cable unless you want to keep plugging in and unplugging the cable, there is no way to see if you like the quality of the print until you actually buy it, or if a friend of yours has one and you can see it work..
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 152.50
Operating System: Windows
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Epinions.com ID:
123
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Reviews written: 29
Trusted by: 3 members
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