Canon PIXMA iP8500 Ink Cartridges

Canon iP8500 Printer Review

The Canon PIXMA iP8500 is a personal photo printer that offers quality image printing for a low price tag that is on par with many higher-end models in its class. Tests of output speeds reveal the iP8500 is very quick, printing a 4x6-inch photo in as fast as 21 seconds and monochrome documents at a rate of 16 pages per minute. Benefits of this device extend further to a cost-efficient PIXMA iP8500 printer ink system and excellent output quality, but there are a number of features it sacrifices for affordability that keep it from being the top pick among other inkjet photo printers.

The iP8500 has a simple, compact build of only 17x6x11 inches that forgoes popular features such as a color LCD to preview and edit images, which must instead be done on a user's computer. Users can, however, print a document straight from their PictBridge-enabled camera using the front USB port. Unfortunately this is where direct printing ends, since the unit omits popular memory card slots that would accept a wider range of camera cards.

The machine's shape can become box-like and slim for storage if users chose to fold up its single paper cassette tray, which when extended can support up to 150 pages. The iP8500 can handle a range of media, including glossy photo paper, matte paper, high-resolution paper and transparencies. Experts note that photo output is at its best when users use specialty photo paper, printing with accuracy and a crisp resolution of 4800x2400 dpi using color Canon iP8500 printer ink. This quality is also a product of its Canon full-photolithography nozzle engineering technology that is able to consistently print precise droplets as small as 2 picoliters.

This unit uses 8 separate Canon iP8500 ink cartridges that can be replaced individually, including cyan, magenta, yellow, black, photo cyan, photo magenta, green and red supplies. Each color and black PIXMA iP8500 ink can yield up to 420 pages to support low-volume printing. Users can maintain low running costs if they opt for remanufactured Canon iP8500 ink cartridges over the more expensive OEM replacements.

With speeds that outperform many more expensive photo printers on the market and a satisfactory output quality, the iP8500 is among one of the better low-cost devices designed for personal photo printing. This inkjet printer isn't without a few flaws, lacking features like a display screen and memory cards, which may cause buyers to turn to the higher-end units.