Rating: 
Summary: Amazing output!
Review: I bought a S820 to replace my old Epson Stylus Color 600. I'm totally blown away by the speed and quality of the output. Printed an image I took with a digital camera on 1 of the free 4x6 Photo Paper Pro samples, I couldn't believe it came out of an inkjet!!
I prefer the S820 over the S820D because of the legacy (parallel port) support and [price] difference. I process all my photos before I print them so the direct print feature in S820D is not important. I liked the idea of the integrated CF reader in the S820D, until I found out that the printer needs to be turned on in order to transfer files to an attached PC. S900 gives the same quality as the S820x but 2x as fast. However, I can't see myself printing more than 30 photos a month, so I can't justifies paying... more for the S900.
Rating:
Summary: Great value, great printer
Review: This is my first six color photo printer, and I have to say I am extremely impressed. The images beat any of the processing labs I have used (I have only used the cheap ones) for quality.I have settled on using Epson glossy photo paper,and Canon Matte paper. By playing with the driver setttings, which I am careful to store, results come out great. Of course the Canon photo paper pro gives excellent results right out of the box. I did try the Kodak ultima photo paper, but it was rather high priced, although I did get rather good results. If I am going to pay that much I would rather stick with the Canon paper. I am really amazed at the longevity of the ink cartridges. I would estimate that you can get 150-200 4x6 photos per set. I am waiting for one to run out so I can see if the replacements I got from Ink4Art are any good. As long as they don't clog the printhead I am certain I can find driver settings to match. That would be great as they are about 1/3 the price of Canon's. By the way the printhead is easily removed for cleaning if the cleaning process on the printer does not work. In fact, when you get the printer the print head comes in its own sealed bag, and you are required to install it. It just drops right in!
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding Output If...
Review: you use Canon paper. I just replaced my old Epson600 since it never would print color well with Windows XP. This Canon blew me away when I used the Canon Photo Paper Plus (mid range glossy). An 8.5 x 11 picture from my Canon A40 (only 2 mp) is indistinquishable from a photolab film print. There is zero pixelation even under a magnifying glass. So do NOT believe the ususal reviews that say a 2 mp camera is OK only for medium quality 5x7 printing. The quality of prints on other brands of paper is mediocre so only use the Canon paper. I bought some cheap other brand glossy 4x6 paper and the results were not very good. Colors were fine but there was pixelation. The fact that this printer has 6 tanks solves the problem of cheaper printers. Refills are not costly if you know where to get them. Canon printers were good years ago and then Epson took the lead in color printing. Now Canon has come back strong with a real winner.
Rating: 
Summary: The fade factor ruins an otherwise great printer
Review: It seems there are two camps in these reviews, the people giving it five stars based on their early experiences, and the people giving it a low rating based on the fading they've noticed after using it for a while. Using the Canon paper recommended by the manufacturer, the pictures are wonderful, and don't appear to fade when stored immediately behind glass or in an album. Throw one up on a fridge, though, and you won't be too happy in a few months. That's a pretty fatal flaw, in my opinion. The ability to crank out a photo on-demand for casual use or giving to a friend for their fridge is the whole appeal of having an at-home printing system. A quick web search for "Canon s820 fading problem" will produce some links to tips from others on minimizing the problem, using specific paper, etc. Maybe there is a "fade free" paper solution, but if you have to go outside the manufacturer's product line to find it, it hurts the rating of the device, I think. This may be symptomatic of all home photo printers, I haven't owned any others. If you understand this drawback and are willing to research the right paper combo or only print for albums, you won't be disappointed in the quality of the output.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic Photos! (especially if you use the right paper)
Review: After doing alot of research into which photo printer to buy I finally settled on the Canon S820. While it's a bit pricey, the incredible results and six individually replaceable ink tanks make it worth every penny. Canon's technology makes it simple to produce spectacular quality photos - as good or better than regular film developing. Setup took all of 10 minutes and I was printing photos right away. There are no slots on this printer for SmartMedia or Compact Flash cards, but for me its just as easy to plug the printer cable (not included) into the back of my laptop where I always download all my images anyway. There is one catch though and that's the fact that the photos are only as good as the paper they're printed on. In this case nothing comes close to Canon's own Photo Paper Pro. I printed the same picture on three different media: Canon's Photo Paper Pro produced a perfect photograph (the color of which the manufacturer claims will last up to 25 years), Kodak premium glossy paper produced acceptable results, while HP premium plus paper produced very poor results. Canon's paper is a little hard to find in stores, but after a quick search on the internet I found a couple of good sources at reasonable prices. Text printing is fine with this machine but that's not why you'd buy it.
Rating: 
Summary: Not yet pro-quality ¿ but pretty close.
Review: After recently buying a new scanner, I realised that is was time to upgrade my 6 year old Epson printer. After all, technology has advanced much in 6 years. As a photography hobbyist, I wanted something that would match the good scanning ability of the Epson 2450 Photo scanner, which I am quite happy with. Something that would print good quality photos, without leaving the smell of chemicals hanging around the apartment. Why Canon? My research has shown that the running and maintenance costs are much lower than the other brands. Pros:
- Very good photos, particularly when using Pro photo paper. Much better quality than older printers.
- Relatively lower running and maintenance cost (compared to other brands).
- Reasonably fast (fast enough for me). The more expensive siblings are faster.
- The software package is useful (but not great). Cons:
- Black text (and photos) are not as good as laser printers, while per page cost is higher.
- Canon paper is difficult to find where I live. I don't know if the ubiquitous Epson paper will give the same results.
- Photo paper is expensive. The chemist is still cheaper for development.
- And the chemist's pics may just be sharper and more durable as well. Summary: Buy this model for colour photos, but you'll need a cheap B&W laser if you want to print lots of documents or B&W photos.
Rating:
Summary: Clogged Print Head Canon S820
Review: Great printer but quality started to go down hill. Appears this is common due to clogged print heads where the printer has not been used for some time. I fixed this by removing the print head, remove the 6 ink tanks and soaking in very hot water. Not the kind of action you normally recommend for hi-tech electronics but it worked great ! I also recommend using Canon Pro paper - its by far the best.
Rating:
Summary: High Quality Pictures - but they will fade
Review: I've had this printer since January. Initially I loved it for the high quality pictures. Comparable, in my opinion, to a professional photo lab. I was a little disappointed when I tried using non-Canon photo paper and got horrendous results. But, I have just been sticking with Canon photo paper and ink since (despite the cost), and have not had that problem.
However, I have recently become very disappointed with the printer (and Canon) since some of the printed pictures I have passed out to family and friends have faded terribly in just a few months. I think the fading has been limited to pictures that have been hit with direct or indirect sunlight at some point during the day. But the fading is very bad. The best way to describe the way the pictures look now is yellowed or antiqued. There is no red or blue left in the picture.
Granted I won't be putting all my pictures in direct sunlight - but I am concerned that pictures I print and save (scrapbook, picture frame, etc.) will eventually yellow the same way. So, I won't be using this printer for printing scrapbook pictures - which is one of the primary reasons I had bought it.
Rating: 
Summary: Don't buy this printer unless you have money to throw away.
Review: I purchased my Canon S820 printer one year ago for about twice the price they are selling for now. The print quality is excellent as long as you use Canon ink and paper which is expensive and hard to find in a lot of places. Two days after the warranty ran out, I started having problems, and was informed by Canon Tech Support that I needed to purchase a new print head. The cost of a new print head is $80.00! For what I paid for this printer, I would have expected it to last more than 1 year. I feel like I've thrown away a lot of money for a piece of junk.
Rating:
Summary: No problem with photos on non-canon paper
Review: Just purchased it. Took about 10 minutes to install. Printed out a digi photo with various results:
plain paper (Avery Vivid White Injet Paper, 24lb)- very good for color printing
Epson Glossy Photo Paper:
set printer properties to 'plain paper' - printed out excellent!
set printer properties to 'glossy photo paper' and it was also excellent, but a bit darker on the skin tones, not as great at 'plain paper' setting. Don't see the issues of poor photo printing using non canon paper. Also, the Epson Glossy Photo Paper is 120 sheets at [local store] for ....
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