Canon i470D : Cheap Product with Surprisingly Outstanding Photo Prints!
Written: Jan 04 '04 (Updated Jan 28 '04)
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Pros: Cheap, Cheap ink, MemoryCard slots, borderless photo prints up to 8.5x11, digital cameras direct connect
Cons: small ink cartridges, mine was slow to start printing
The Bottom Line: For the price, it is an excellent printer. One of the better photo printers I've used.
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| yusakugo's Full Review: Canon i470D InkJet Printer |
I had bought this item from my local Staples for about $30 after applying a $20 off $100 coupon, the 2% from my AmEx Costco Business Card, my up to 5% Staples Business Rewards, and a $50 mail-in rebate! I know that I'm been a big supporter of HP products (other than the S900 printer from Canon that I loved and still use) but my friend had egged me on to buying another low cost Canon and comparing the picture quality again. After he had shown me the 4x6 borderless prints from his i470D, I went into my local staples to get the deal above.
You can read my epinions article The Art of Buying... Getting your Money's Worth! although I do have to update a few items here and there.
The price is a Steal... So What's My Take on It?
The i470D is an absolutely amazing printer! Photo shots on this printer rival the same photos printed on any of my HP printers... colors seemed more natural to me. Text was acceptable to above average... so on par or slightly worse than the HP printers I owned and reviewed. Graphics also compared favorably.
Direct connecting to my S50 and S400 Canon digital cameras was a snap. Photos came very close to what was displayed on the LCD screen. Directing printing from the Compact Flash card yielded slightly darker results but were still very good nonetheless.
Only minor gripes such as the small ink tanks and the delay in the i470D before taking up a sheet of paper to make the first print. Otherwise, the i470D was a steal of a deal!
Pros:
1) Price
2) Photo Quality
3) Photo Printing Speed
4) 4800x1200 dpi prints on photo paper
5) Direct Printing from Flash/Memory Cards (accepts most common standards)
6) Direct Printing via USB connection to EXIF 2.2 compatible digital cameras like the later Canon models
7) Connects via USB cable to a computer
8) USB cable to connect to a digital camera included
9) Ink cartridges do last long for their size
Cons:
1) The ink tanks are still rather small
2) Print quality will degrade under heavy use... requiring a change of the printhead.
3) If you hate symbols, printing directly from the memory cards can be a pain.
4) You still need to buy the USB cable to connect to a computer
Tech Specs
The Canon i470D has dimensions of 15.5" W x 10.1" D x 8.6" H with a weight of 8.8 lbs. The unit is mostly white/ivory with gray highlights and trays. The unit is rather compact on desk space although it runs taller than other straight inkjet printers I've used. The unit is fairly quiet on printing although I think the HP models run a tad bit quieter. There is a long LCD panel that gives various information like the paper size or if the shot was chosen as a bordered photo or borderless.
Flash Memory Card Printing
Although the card reader is a bit slow to read compared to a standard card reader and those on the HP models in my home and office, printing photos off the flash cards is easy once you get used to the layout of the LCD and the labels around the LCD. You tell the printer the picture you want to print, the size, whether you want a bordered or borderless print, and even the time stamp. You then press the print button to make your photos. You can even do thumbnail photos to help you decide with shots you want prints of.
EXIF 2.2 direct camera printing
Once you plugged your camera in, you could tell the printer how to print the photo... basically your options are similar to the ones presented in the direct memory card/flash card printing. Paper size, bordered or borderless prints, and timestamp were some of your options.
Print Quality
Overall print quality on photo paper is very good to excellent. The i470D uses only a 4 ink tank system that produced photos that bested the output of 6 ink tank based systems. Skin tones had a more natural feel that prints from my HP printers and all-in-ones. Colors also had a softer but warmer feel than those done my HP printers. Print was quite clear and graphics good.
On plain paper, does decrease a bit. There is fuzziness to the plain paper photo prints and text is not as crisp. Regardless, the quality is more than acceptable.
Note that the above mentioned prints were done using Canon's original ink cartridges.
Speed?
The i470D is not as speedy as other higher end Canon printers but it does beat out other HP models. Canon rates the printer as 18 ppm B&W and 12 ppm color with 93 seconds for a 4x6 borderless print. Note that the 18 and 12 ppm numbers were obtained through draft/high speed print mode and really takes a dive in normal print quality. It becomes more like 6-7 ppm B&W and 5 ppm color. Borderless 4x6 still take under 2 minutes... much faster than other photo printer models out there.
Photo Printing Software
If you installed the software that came with the i470D and connected it to a computer, you can see an image of the photo via the Photo Viewer button. Just thought I'd let you know that.
On Ink
If you stick to buying Canon OEM ink cartridges, they can get quite expensive. A Black tank runs about $8-9 and the tri-color ink tank runs $18! The tanks carry about 1/3 of the ink an HP cartridge does (using #45/78 HP cartridges for comparison). So far, a single ink tank printed 20 8.5x11 borderless photo prints and 20 4x6 borderless prints (average of two Canon OEM ink color ink tanks). Not shabby at all. However, the small ink tanks require that you change them more frequently than in HP models. On top of that, the printhead is a separate unit that needs to be replaced after you go through several ink cartridges especially if the printer is under heavy use.
On the other hand, because of the separate ink cartridge setup, there is a ton of third party ink resellers that sell the black cartridge from $3.50 to $5 and the tri-color from $5.50 to $8. That's a big difference! I am currently trying inks from www.mrinkman.com and www.overnightinkjets.com... at the time of this writing, I just started a new color ink cartridge from www.overnightinkjets.com. This significantly lowers the price of ink costs. Note that the www.overnightinkjets.com inks have a lighter color gradient. Black hair had some blue highlights and skin tones were a bit on the light side.
For comparison, a Costco member can print photos from the 1 hour digital lab for $0.15 for a 4x6 photo. 4x6 Photo paper from Kodak can be bought for $19.99 for 150 4x6 sheets. That's about $0.14 a 4x6 page. Assuming 35 4x6 photo prints per black and tri-color cartridge... cost with Canon OEM inks is another $0.13 a print versus third party ink cost of as low as $0.3. Your 4x6 prints will cost anywhere from $0.17 to $0.27 depending on the brand of ink used and add a penny or two for electricity.
Note that the Canon prints are easily ruined by water. The Costco prints use a dye-sublimation process that is more water resistant.
Parting Thoughts
This is an excellent low cost photo printer. If you need to print photos, you won't be disappointed with this model!
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 30
Operating System: Windows
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yusakugo
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