Awesome Quality, Slightly Pricey
Written: Apr 19 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Ultra Nice Quality, Flexible Print Media, Long Lasting Ink Tanks
Cons: Ink Tanks are a little expensive, considering they don't include the printhead (as do HPs)
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| erratum's Full Review: Canon BJC 7004 InkJet Printer |
I'll just make the assumption that you're reading this review because you're interested in buying one of these printers used (or refurbished). When I had originally bought my printer, the list price was $350 or so, and I happily paid that price, knowing full well the quality prints it produces. I was working at a computer retailer at the time, so I was able to play around with the printer, and ask out vendor rep a few questions. The difference between this model (the 7004) and the 7000 is the addition of amount of buffer (a total of 64k in the 7004 I believe... might have been 128k though... regardless, it's 2x the buffer in the 7000) memory in the printer. This doesn't _really_ improve the printing speed, the print engine is identical to that of the 7000, but it does help alot when you're background printing (using other applications in the foreground) because it sort of smoothes out the little gaps in the data being sent to the printer, which occur when the computer is busy doing other tasks. Beyond the issue of the buffer, the 7004 comes stock with a 6 color 'photo' ink tank/print head as well as a black cartridge. If you plan on doing alot of simple color printing (lots of solid colors, few photographic elements) then I'd suggest you get a standard 3 color tank/head as well.
Personally, I haven't had any really negative experiences with this printer, though I have had my share of little frustrations. For one thing, the printer does not support Linux. I'm probably one of the few people out there that is just dying to get some driver support for a kick-butt printer like this going in the linux environment. GIMP is a great app and I'd love to use it instead of certain expensive Adobe apps, but until I can print in Linux, that'll have to wait.
Canon also has certain hidden features in their software that aren't accessable to the normal user... Flipping to the 'Control' tab in the Canon 7004 Printer Properties Menu shows a button towards the bottom that reads 'Custom Setting...' If you shift-click this button, you are presented with additional options that aren't normally available. The most useful of the new settings is the 'economy cleaning' option. It tells the printer to only clean the printhead when it's absoutely needed. Otherwise, the printer will go through a cleaning cycle whenever the computer is power cycled (powered off and on). I leave my printer on 24x7 so as to also avoid the annoying cleaning cycles that are associated with power cycling the printer.
My last little gripe is regarding the electrical contacts on the print head. The contacts don't seem to be designed to be high-duty, so after swapping the 3color and 6color print heads a good 50 times, it seems that the contacts on the 6color printhead wear out and no longer make proper contact. This leads the printer to produce a beep code (something like 7 beeps or so) and a very upset user. My roommate was the first to experience this, and I was a bit puzzled at first. After swapping back to the 3color head, things worked again. I bought a new 6olor print head, and things were right again in the world. =) It's just a good idea to bear in mind that these products aren't made of steel, and they can break.
Now for the good stuff.
I do alot of proofing my work with this printer, and it had been used to print everything from mockup business cards (thick card stock) to glossies to be used in my portfolio. I've never had a single problem with the quality of this printers output, it has consistantly provided me with the professional looking prints that I need to truely impress clients. I must admit though, that the quality of the print does depend highly upon the quality of the paper. I recommend Canon High-Resolution paper for your matte-ish prints, and Canon High Gloss Photo Film for your high quality photo prints. The High-Res paper is about .10 a sheet, whereas the Gloss Film is about 1.80 or so per sheet (one sided!). I believe it's worth every penny, for both its convenience as well as astonishing quality. Canon claims to have optimized it for Plain Paper, but to be honest, I wouldn't use plain paper for much more than printing out a Yahoo! map or emails. This printer was designed with quality in mind, and it's sometimes just a waste of ink to use inferior paper. Canon Papers work the best (the printer is calibrated for the print-blur state of their papers), though I've found that Kodak Papers are a lower cost alternative that give nearly the same quality. WARNING -- Let the paper dry longer when using Kodak, as it doesn't dry as quickly as with Canon Papers (again, because of the calibration).
One or two last words of advice -- use 'accurate' for the Output mode (hidden back in the 'Color' tab of a 'Custom' print mode), as it gives the best transitions from/to black (think hairlines, etc) and secondly, make sure and calibrate the print head when you change btw 3color and 6color and plan on doing some high quality prints.
Summary:
All together, this is an awesome printer, and considering the price you can probably get it for now, It's a real steal.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
erratum
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Location: Waterbury, CT
Reviews written: 8
Trusted by: 3 members
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