Rating: 
Summary: COMPARED CANON I850 and S900 PHOTO PRINTERS
Review: I couldn't decide which printer to get. I am using a Sony DCS P9 (4MegaPixel) camera. I bought both the Canon I850 and the Canon S900. I decided to use both and whichever one I liked better, I would return the other one.
I was only using Canon Photo Paper Pro papers. I used both 4x6 and 8 1/2"x11" full size papers. The price I paid after rebate and tax on the I850 was $140 (yes, afer rebate and including all taxes) and the Canon S900 set me back about $250 dollars + tax. Both were equally easy to set up out of the box. I was comparing 3,072 nozzles on S900 to 1,600 nozzles on I850. But, the I850 also offers:5 and 2 pico-liter droplet size for ink...S900 is 4 pico-liter
248 RAM buffer for quicker printing compare with 80 for S900
4 colors of ink cartridges including a double size black (because it does text well, too)which is cheaper to replace than 6 cartridges on S900
Very, very quiet operation BOth were quiet but I850 was quieter
Liked the fact the I850 has a door that closes on front AND BACK...the S900 doesn't close on back to keep dust out
Smaller in size than S900...and sleeker looking in aluminum look Bottom line...I could see a difference in certain kinds of pictures...I saw a little more purple in a flower picture printed on the S900 and more of a deep blue color on same picture printed on I850...the picture looked more blue than purple on my computer though so I don't know how good a test this was. This color shade difference may be due to the 49 graduations of color available on S900 and only 27 on the I850. But, on most printing, the sharpness seemed to be slightly better on the I850..only slightly better...details were darker on the I850, like outlines of green leaves on trees.
Would I justify the difference in price for the difference in print...ABSOLUTELY NOT. It just seems that the I850 is the newest printer technology and the S900, although only out since March 2002, will probably be replaced in the next 6 months or so with newer technology similar to the I850. Some colors on S900 came out with a different shade like bails of hay in a Halloween shot; on S900 it had a little more yellow tones than the I850 but the I850 had more detail on lines in hay and on my kids hair. Both were excellent and I took both 8 1/2x11 sheets (1 from each printer) to my local Best Buy store on a Saturday and the Canon rep working there couldn't tell the difference between the two printer's results. Bottom line is; If you need a magnafying glass to see the difference, then the I850 should be the choice. These pictures on both printers rival those that you get from local photo developing store...and you can adjust the contrast, brightness and color to your liking.
The speed when printing pictures on the I850 is fast. Again, I must stress how quiet this machine is while printing. You will almost forget it's on even when printing. The software that came with the I850 is Canon's Zoombrowser 3.5 version...the S900 came with older version. I took the pictures to show some friends and they couldn't believe I printed them at home. If you get this printer, you will not regret your purchase. Just remember, from what I've heard, that it does make a difference which photo paper you use...Canon's Photo Paper Pro is the BEST (and Canon claims pix will last 25 years on this paper). The text is quoted in Black/White as 22 ppm (WOW). Also, haven't done it yet but I've heard from other's that the I850 does awesome Black and White pictures...better than the S900. I hope this helps in your decision...by the way, it does only take about 30 seconds to do a high quality 4x6 print on this printer. An Epson of equal comparison would easily take at least 4 to 5 minutes to do the same print!!!
Rating:
Summary: Terrific Buy
Review: This is a superb product. I just installed my new I850. For a test, I printed a couple of photos of the grandkids using the sample Canon Photo Paper Pro that came with the printer. The comparison between what was accomplished with this printer and my old HP can't be described. The pics were absolutely stunning. Definitely drug store quality or better. The text printing, on ordinary HP paper, was excellent. This is one great purchase. Just remember, this printer does not include a Serial or a USB cable. I used the USB cable from my old printer with no problems. This is easy to set up and easy to operate. And, with the rebate offered by Canon, a real price bargain. It is quiet and FAST. Purchase this item. Happy printing.
Rating:
Summary: Works Great Right Out of the Box ... Amazing Photo Quality
Review: I had this printer set up and running within 15 minutes of opening the box. Of course, I wanted to test it out, so I fed in one of the sample sheets of 4x6 photo paper and was blown away by the photo quality. I could not tell the difference in quality between the photo I printed and another copy which I had been printed at a local photo shop. I decided to try my luck with an 8.5x11 ... again, with photo-quality paper, the Canon exceeded my expectations. In the long-run, I hope that the ink tanks last a little longer than those in my previous non-Canon printer, and I hope the printer itself lasts as long as my more-than-5-year-old Canon BubbleJet. One caveat, however: be sure to use the Canon software to print your pictures. The image quality was greatly reduced when I used the default media viewer in Windows XP to print the picture. When I used the Canon Easy PhotoPrint, there were no settings to adjust--the print came out photo quality by default.
Rating:
Summary: The Quintessential printer for architects!
Review: I bought the printer for my architectural work at the college. We have presentations almost every week, and rendered computer images are really necessary for successful presentation. Due to the great difficulty I faced at the school's clusters, I purchased this photo printer, to save time and money. This printer is amazingly quiet! You won't even realise it printing your loads of pages. I don't know if 1-2 page difference in ppm would matter to you, but Canoni850 is quite fast. As long as you're not intending to use it as a press machine, this will get your 'papers' ready just on time before the class starts. The separate use of ink cartridges works really well. You're being much more efficient compared to other printer owners. The photo quality is really impressive. If you don't magnify on the photographs ten times, you won't notice the little dots. Photos look really good. All you need is this machine and a digital camera. I have a Canon S30; I recommend that, too. Canon's just producing the best products, I should say. My roommate has an HP 5550. It's a lot cheaper than i850, but you wouldn't be able to get the same results. However, if you're buying a printer, just for daily use (printing texts, and images sometimes), then I would go for HP 5550, since it's very cheap, and does a reasonable job.
Rating:
Summary: 11 months later
Review: I heard Howard Stern talk about how great canon printers are but he had a hard time finding replacement ink for it. So I started reading reviews for all printers and canon had great reviews for most of their printers and found replacemnet ink all over ebay. I decided on the I850 and was very happy with it.It's quiet, fast and great prints. I tried other "like canon" photo paper but soon learned to stick with genuine canon paper for best results. I was dissapointed the printer did not support 5x7 prints but turns out all i need to do was to download latest driver. Somehow after installing the driver the printhead went bad. Good thing it's still under warranty. Should I have to purchase another printer will most likely purchase another canon.
Rating:
Summary: Best all round Inkjet in the market
Review: my printer searching began months ago when the new hp 7xxx and canon ix50 and epson x25 werent even out. I have comapared this printer to almost everyone in the category. The HP series produces good prints but with snail slow speeds and little cartridges are way to expensive. Next the Epsons, much more slower than Hp but little better print quality. the printer gulps up the ink cartridges. Now comes the Canon i850. I downloaded a 3 MP image from internet and printed it on the photo pro paper included. The next minute, my expression is WOW! I really did not expect that the quality will be that good. I can say that it is better than 35mm developed photo too. Then the put some Hp photo paper to print the photo, and the same photo was terrible. So better used canon paper or Epson works fine too. Text printing is superb considering it is a inkjet. Again u need good paper like HP 106 brightness. the Word documents came laser crisp and lightning fast. Speed is also a big factor that makes this printer a real winner. the photos as well as text come popping out. I think this printer is the best in the market for right now. If u want pro quality photos that rival those of s900 and lab proccesed, buy this printer. Most photo printers stink at text but this prints "laser" sharp text on good paper. Once again do not waster your money buying one of the HP 73xx or epson x25 or the other canon photo printers. this on is the best money can buy. canon japan has already introduced the canon i950, the six color inkjet with the same technology as i850. If you are a really dedicated photo enthusiast, you may want to wait for i950 or else I850 is more than enough for me
Rating:
Summary: Downright professional
Review: I purchased the Canon i850 on recommendation from the Canon rep that I met in a store. Well......this is the best printer I have ever seen for [its price]. The colors are superb, and the B&W print looks like it came from a laser. The set-up instructions are on a separate sheet, and worked the first time. I loaded the software on my mac, and printed within minutes. Photos printed on 4x6" glossy paper look like they came from a professional photo lab. Word of warning. The image software that comes with the printer works a bit too well. When you first start it up, it finds ALL images in the folder you direct it to, and immediately displays them on the screen so you can choose which ones to print. It found a couple of images that, ahem, I did not want anyone else to see. Oh well, I guess they didn't belong on my hard drive anyway?!? All in all, an excellent printer and software combo. You will enjoy it too.
Rating: 
Summary: Print head failed after 10 months
Review: I was very happy with the i-850 during the time that it worked. it was mostly used for text documents during the 10 month period with the occasional photo print. But recently it started printing streaks on photo prints and as of late it just tosses blank pieces of paper (even though I've been only using Canon certified ink tanks since the beginning and the current tanks inside are brand new). My last two printers were also Canons (S750 and a older model from 2000) and had the almost same symptoms.
Rating: 
Summary: Pretty Good overall
Review: Prints photos as well as I could imagine. Enough settings to keep most happy.
Manages ink fairly well also, ink can be had at reasonable prices if you shop around. I only can compare to a few printers ive used, but anyway it was my pick after alot of research. And its kept working well in the last 8 months or so.
what else could you ask for
Rating:
Summary: Formerly HP-exclusive...
Review: I had owned nothing but HP printers prior to the Canon I850. I purchased an HP 7150 early this year, and promptly returned it due to excessive noise and paper curling. On advice from a co-worker, I replaced it with the Canon. I have now owned this for about a year, and it has worked flawlessly, providing crisp and accurate colors, and speedy printing. Of particular note is its whisper-quietness. My only complaint is occasional paper-jamming, and the fact that it is possible for the printer to continue printing even without a paper fed in(usually after clearing a paper jam). This causes the next several sheets to smear with ink. Also, the ink costs are rather high, but it's worth the trade in speed and quality for me(4mp Sony digital camera). Overall, I highly recommend if speed and quality are more important than ink costs.
| 
