Rating: 
Summary: Get this printer!
Review: Get this printer if you're in the market for a printer that will handle text documents efficiently as well as print top quality photographs,(...).I printed out a borderless photo on the supplied sample of 4 x 6 paper and the quality is unbelievable. Just simply stunning. And even web pages and text documents on plain paper at the "standard" setting look good enough to eat. I bought this to replace a two year old Epson C80 whose black ink nozzle had become irreparably clogged. The eventual clogging of these Epson inkjets is a widely reported problem. Whether using generic inks (I used Carrot Ink cartridges) contributes to this or not, I don't know, but it's moot anyway, since Epson ink cartridges were so outrageously expensive, I couldn't have used the printer without using cheaper generic inks. The Canon is one of the most satisfying hardware purchases I've made. Other advantages: It handles text quickly and beautifully. It has a 5 cartridge ink system with separate blacks for text and photo and the Canon cartridges are affordable. It's unbelievably quiet, especially in--yes--"quiet mode" (which does reduce printing speed a little (not noticeably to me). The photo paper tray for 4 x 6 sheets works great. The print head can be replaced. Additional advantages if you're a Mac user: It will work wirelessly with an Airport Extreme Base Station and it works beautifully with OS 10.3 (Panther). Disadvantages: Yes, there is no USB cable. I guess I can understand this, since most inkjet printers can't be repaired, and have to be disposed of, so I guess Canon figures you'll have a USB cable sitting around. Yes, you have to install the print head, and I was a little fearful snapping it in but I had no problems. And yes, you have to align the print head, but you can do an automatic alignment using the printer utility software. For Mac users, at least, don't waste time installing the printer driver from the CD, as it is out of date. Download the latest driver from the Canon website. And be sure to repair permissions after installing the driver, as many of them were out of whack after the driver installation. All in all, this is one of the most satisfying hardware purchases I've made.
Rating:
Summary: Great printer
Review: I can only echo what other have written. Photos are beautiful, text comes out fast and looks sharp, and the printer is quiet. A superior upgrade/replacement for my aging Epson 900 color. The i860 is so much better that I haven't been able to resist using it, even though I had planned to continue using the Epson 900 until my supply of its ink cartridges was exhausted.
Rating: 
Summary: Major disappointment
Review: I purchased the Canon i860 based on the superior reviews. It was to replace an Epson 600 that was still functioning well. After years of heavy use, photos were not as good as I would have liked. I uninstalled the Epson software and disconnected it. Installation of the Canon was easy. It does an adequate job of printing. I have not been able to get it to function as a shared printer. Reinstalling has not helped. The Canon will print a test page from the remote computers then freeze the computer upon subsequent attempts to send a print job to the computer from which the Canon is shared. I am at a loss to understand why the much newer Canon will not work as well as the older Epson. It will not work as a shared printer, so I have lost the print capability on two of my computers. This rating is based on the product being able to do at least what it is replacing. I now have better photos but lost the printer support to two of my computers. This was not a good tradeoff. I would reconnect the Epson if I had a place to put it. I wish the reviews had addressed the ability of the Canon to be used as a shared printer. I will be shopping for another printer and it will not be a Canon. Canon tech support has informed me that since the Canon is part of a network configuration, it is not their problem. Canon tech support indicated that I should contact the vendor for the router and PC, both of which have worked well in conjunction with old Epson for years. This is another case of a product vendor passing the buck. I suspect there is a way to get this work but it is obvious Canon has neither the technical expertise nor inclination to figure it out.
Rating: 
Summary: Compromise at a Cost
Review: I was previously using a HP 895sce printer for text and HP 230 Photosmart printer for 4x6 color photo prints and was happy with the results. The photo printer died after one year and required a total replacement (HP said they could not repair it). I decided to ditch HP at that point and was atttracted by the promise of an all in one printer that could do text and 4x6 photos in one machine with the twist of a knob. It does work but the results have been disappointing. The text is slightly brown and not as sharp as the black lettering from my HP. The photo printing is good but the HP dedicated printer gave excellent results. The photo printing interface is cruder and has fewer options than the HP drivers which I miss. Overall the printer is more cheaply built and has interminable wait times as it cycles on and off and realigns while you wait for it to start printing a single page. In all the printer does a fair job, but I would not use it for professional prints. I hope Canon's customer service is not as bad as HP which drove me to switch brands in the first place.
Rating:
Summary: Compared to what?
Review: When compared to other printers, the 860 fares very well in some respects. It produces photo prints that are closest to those that you would get from store processing. It also does quite a good job with text. It merits its "best buy" status. But is any printer really a "best buy" for photo printing when compared to photo processing? To get store-quality prints with the 860 you need Canon's best paper. And when you use that paper the prints cost far more than store processed prints, but you get nothing more for your expense than immediacy. So, if you need an instant print perhaps it is worth the extra, but the additional cost of printing from the 860 versus taking your memory card to the local store could be immense if you take a lot of photos. In a couple of important respects the 860 prints you get even with Canon Photo Paper Pro are inferior to processed pics. If you bend the Pro paper you will not just get a crease in the paper, you will also get a pronounced line in the photo itself, and it doesn't take much of a bend to cause this. It is also very easy to scratch the surface of the prints. So, they are much more easily damaged than conventional photos. Also, the independent company that does the testing for print longevity has found that the Canon prints will only last about 25 years, while those of HP and Epson will last more than 75 years. Many people want pictures they can save for their grandchildren (or "posterity"), and the Canon prints apparently won't meet that desire. Canon supples software that you need to utilize all print features. This consumes more time and reduces efficiency. (At least on a Mac.) Even using the printer tray, the pictures are not properly centered if you choose to have borders. There is more white space on some sides than others, so I consider that option useless. Most people rate this printer compared to other printers. I prefer to compare it to other real-world options. In that respect it only does so-so. I prefer not to pay considerably more for prints that are no better than I can get by waiting for 60 minutes at a store, or sending them via the internet and picking them up at my leisure.
Rating:
Summary: Best Printer I have evern owned
Review: I have spent more on a printer before and have never come anywhere close to the quality of the prints this Canon gives you. In addition, this printer is the most ink-efficient I have ever owned. I have printed over 100 4x6 photos with this printer, plus an uncounted number of documents - and none of the ink tanks are less than 1/3 full. I am totally amazed. I have yet to find a downside - and hope not too!
Rating:
Summary: A delightful printer! Quiet, great prints, inexpensive ink.
Review: This is a great printer. It's quiet, fast, very inexpensive to refill the ink, and most importantly it makes great quality printouts. Consumer Reports loves it, too. HP used to make the best inkjets (Deskjet 560C, 952C), and I used to be loyal to HP, but not anymore. Canon includes FULL ink cartridges with the printer, not the mostly-empty "starter" cartridges like HP. Canon ink costs a LOT less per page than HP ink, and if you happen to print more of one color than another, you replace only the tank you run out of. Thank you, Canon, for breaking the HP-Epson scheme of underpricing the printer and charging a fortune for the ink!
Rating:
Summary: What a deal !!!
Review: This is my first photo printer. I purchased at AMAZON.com for $ 123.00. ( that included free shipping - thanks, AMAZON) I am so delighted with the print quality and speed. I did my homework online reading many product reviews of the various photo printers available. I wanted the best quality without all the bells and whistles i.e. displays, card readers etc.
This printer does a fantastic job ! Just be aware that all paper is not created equal. The sample pack of CANON paper made extraordinary photos. I did my own tests with other brands of 8 1/2 X 11 glossy photo brand papers. I shopped at BJs and COSTCO and ended up buying over $100 of 7 brands of paper. Among those were : KODAK, HP, POLAROID and other lesser known brands. The best performance was by the POLAROID brand supergloss from COSTCO at 19.99 for 120 sheets. The POLAROID paper was equal to, maybe even a little better than the CANON sample pack.
One other recommendation - buy your replacement ink from inkgrabber.com. Very inexpensive and good quality ink. You will be happy with this CANON i860 printer.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Value!!!
Review: I bought this printer from Amazon.com right before Christmas and have used it primarily for printing photos. I cannot believe how awesome the photos look from something that was as cheaply priced as this printer!! My first photos were taken on Christmas Day and when I showed them to my family members on New Year's Eve, they (nor I) could not believe that they were not professionally processed. I have not yet tried the sample 4x6 canon photo paper that came with the printer, but I can tell you that Epson Premium Glossy 4x6 Photo Paper works great for me with this printer. This printer is fast (4x6 photos print in about 40 seconds)and has a "quiet" mode which make virtually no noise while printing. Although my text printing has been limited, I can say that the print looks great even on the crummy paper I use to print out web pages and such... I whole-heartedly recommend this printer!!!
Rating:
Summary: Not looking back on this one...
Review: This is the first time that I have ever posted a review of any product, good or bad. After reading all of the excellent reviews of this printer, I felt pretty confident that I was making a good decision by purchasing the Canon i860. Now that I have had it for a few days, I can see why the vast majority of the reviews are so high. I am confident that I chose the best printer. My new Canon i860 replaced an Epson. The Epson was very noisy (it sounded as if it was going to self destruct every time I printed), very slow (although I didn't realize how slow until I got this Canon) and the quality was not the best. Now granted, the Epson was one of the cheapest models in their line-up. However, I have used other printers at work (HP's) and I can say without at doubt that this new Canon is the sleekest, quitest and fastest printer I have ever personally owned/used. The first pictures that I printed blew me away (as well as everyone I showed them to). The boarderless printing is awesome! From what I can tell so far, the Canon 4 x 6 paper (some came with the printer) is the preferred paper for this printer. I used some Kodak premium paper that I have on hand and the results were not as good when compared to the Canon paper (bummer, because I have a boat-load of the Kodak paper). So far, the only negative issue that I have pertains to the 4 x 6 feeder cartridge. Although I like the concept, the whole assembly does not secure into place as tightly as I would like, and because I have to coax the paper path selection knob to get it to lock into place, it causes the whole assembly to dislodge if I am not careful. Although it bothers me enough to note it here in this review, it really is a very small issue overall. I would say that the one main thing that sold me on the Canon i860 is its flexibility. The two separate blacks made so much sense to me, based on the fact that I expect to print both text documents and photos. Since I am not a photo printing maniac (although with this beast, that may soon change), and I knew that I would also be printing text only documents, I didn't feel that I needed a photo only printer. With the i860 and the text black ink tank, I feel that I have the best of both worlds - incredible photo and text capabilities. As you might deduce from this review, I can, without a doubt, give the Canon i860 my highest rating! If you are thinking of making the plunge (a relatively small one - my total cost was $128.00...), I would ask, "What are you waiting for?"
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