ContrastPLUS ink system for realistic tones and economical replacement
Reviews (25)
Driver doesn't work for Mac!
I am using an iMac G5 with OS 10.3.9.Due to a scripting error in the printer's driver, the printer is a gorgeous paperweight!Canon and Apple haven't figured out why the driver won't work, since it works for some other Mac users.I hope you Wintel users out there enjoy this printer, but Mac users BEWARE!
Niceo
There are many things I can say about this printer, but I'm not going to bother.Just buy it.:)
There's no reason not to.It prints documents good enough and fast enough, and it prints photos to the same amount of quality as the originals.
Good printer just don't use on Windows 64-bit
What I liked.
Print quality
Speed
Duplexing, wastes less paper looks nicer.
Separate ink tanks - $10-12 a tank, replace only the colors you ran out of.
What I didn't like
No drivers for Windows XP 64, there will be no drivers either. The line I got from Canon USA was buy a new printer. Don't bother buying if you are going to use it on a 64-bit Intel or AMD system, it flat out refuse to work.
2nd best Pixma printer
This one was ranked 7th overall in a recent Consumer Reports issue(may '05 pg.28) and scored only "fair" in graphics quality. It's lower priced cousin, the Pixma iP4000, was ranked #2, overall score in the excellent range and designated as a "CR best buy". The 5000 actually tested slower than the 4000 in both text speed(ppm) and 4x6 time. Admittedly, the superior 9600x2400 res. is impressive as is the 1pl droplet size. The 5 color ink tanks are a bit misleading as 2 of them are black. Canon printers are the best so don't waste money on HP,Epson, & Lexmark.
To the reviewer below that stated that everybody uses 20 lb. paper, I use a "bright white" 24 lb. inkjet paper for everyday use (20 is too thin- better for fax & copy machines). Also, the reviewer incorrectly states the 5000 does not use the two black inks, in fact it uses the same ink tanks with 2 blacks(BCI-3eBK/6BK), just like the 4000.
iP4000 may be a little better than iP5000
I'm repeating a post I made under the iP4000, the printer I bought, because these 2 printers are very similar. there may be something here that could impact your decision about the iP5000 (or be useful in your use of it) too.
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I knew I was going with a Canon printer because of their reputation for having reasonably priced ink compared to all the other manufacturers (hp being the most expensive to use). I intended to buy one from their PIXMA series (said to be the fastest printers on the market; all offer Duplex/two-sided printing which I wanted). I really struggled between their high-end iP8500 and mid-range iP5000 & iP4000. I ultimately eliminated the 8500 and 5000 because neither had dual black ink cartridges (4000 has a 13 ml. for photos, and a bigger 27 ml. one for text). In the 8500 I didn't want to have to be replacing 8 individual ink cartridges (some say those extra tanks don't really make much difference, just cost more). While the 5000 had greater resolution than the 4000, my decision was also impacted by what I thought was a reputable review (PC magazine, I believe). The review said that the 5000 generated better text and graphics than the 4000, however at the expense of photos that weren't as good and that printed slower. Another factor in my decision was that I could purchase the 4000 for 1/3 the retail price, dirt cheap compared to any other potential printer purchase out there. (Best Buy price matched with Office Depot, I had Best Buy RewardsZone certificates, a Best Buy gift card, and there was manufacturer rebate.)
After a solid week of Internet research, I ultimately did purchase the 4000 and I am very pleased with it. Below I've summarized my observations from my first week of usage of my new printer. Maybe I can save somebody from some of the research effort that I put into this purchase.
DESIGN: It's beautiful, but it's black shiny parts are potentially a dust-magnet. There's no printer cable included. I had a spare on hand (it uses USB 2.0 cable with A/B connectors). Radio Shack was less than Best Buy, at $24.99 for a 6-foot. You could do better on the Internet via Amazon.com or eBay.com. Error messaging is cool; just count the amber blinks of the usually green power button, then check your manual for what it means. This thing is FAST! Text ink is pigment-based (longer lasting, less fading, rated 75-80 yrs., I think) and the colors are dye-based (rated 25-30 years, I think). Duplex capability is awesome.
POWER: Canon says they only recommend plugging the printer directly into a wall outlet. I have a Curtis Command Center power center, under my monitor. It conveniently locates power buttons for all of my computer components, as well as offering surge protection. I've used it for years with no difficulties. While I can turn my new printer off via the Curtis power buttons, I can't turn the printer back on with it. The actual button on the printer must be pressed to turn it back on. My printer is not located immediately next to the computer, so I now have to stand up to physically hit that actual printer button.
QUIET MODE: For me, this feature is worthless. Canon says that using it will slow the print speed of the printer. Upon installation, this mode is turned off by default. In regular mode, this printer is pretty noisy when it starts out (much more than the hp DeskJet 825c that I just passed on to Mom), but when it's printing sounds like most every other printer I've used. When it's first starting out, some of those noises are a little scary, like something might be broken ... but it's not.
AUTO-FEEDER (top): It doesn't hold the advertised 150 sheets for most of us. Canon bases that particular estimate on 17 lb. paper! (Who uses that?! Almost everybody uses 20 lb.!) My very first text prints were from the Auto Feeder (top). They all printed extremely crooked until I reduced the paper stack quite a bit.
Standing in front of the printer, with a stack of paper inserted, it appears that the right bottom corner is forced to bend outward slightly from the printer design. Despite a number of attempts to reload the paper (after turning the paper various ways), this outward bend remained. (It can be kind of pressed into place though.) When I reduced the paper in the Auto Feed tray by half (that I'd previously filled to the capacity line marker), I still had the outward bend, but the crooked print problem was resolved.
The manual offers this work-around for a continued problem: Use only 1 sheet of paper in the Auto Feeder, or place multiple pages there, but by one sheet at a time (vs. an entire stack all at once).
PRINT SPEED: My printer is blazingly fast. I'm not experiencing any of the 15-second first page print delay that so many reviewers complain about with this printer. There's maybe a 5-second delay at most! Perhaps that delay sometimes occurs on the first print after you've switched between the auto-feed or cassette trays, but I am pretty much not experiencing any problem with this.
INK DEPLETION OPTICAL SENSORS: They'll monitor the individual ink tanks. When a cartridge has less than 20% left, you'll be warned. Canon's printers will work with an empty cartridge, unlike the Epsons (they lock up until you replace).
INK USE: This printer doesn't suck it down. I've been using it heavily for a week now, generating all kinds of highest quality 8x10", 5x7" and 4x6" photo prints on Canon's best papers, and all my ink tanks still look full. I'm amazed and impressed! Opened ink is recommended to be used up within 6 mos.
BLACK INK: Canon's advised me that unless in Draft Quality mode (the only mode in which the black text ink cartridge is solely used), a small percentage of cyan and magenta ink will be used (for high-density/high-quality black text or photo-realistic quality images).
DRAFT QUALITY DUPLEX TEXT IS FAINT: I can print Draft quality non-Duplex text that is perfectly acceptable. Despite numerous attempts to improve this for Draft quality Duplex, including trying a higher quality paper, there was no improvement. In Draft quality Duplex mode, the prints are almost like those from an old dot-matrix printer! I've only been able to get anything close to satisfactory when selecting Standard quality for Duplex printing. This doesn't make sense to me ... why should there be a difference just from selecting Duplex and changing nothing else. There has to be something different about the way the printer handles a Duplex vs. non-Duplex page. I sent an inquiry to Canon, and they really didn't explain why this occurs in their reply. "As Draft quality indicates sacrificing some print quality in order to achieve faster print output, if faster print output and duplexing are required, there may be a noticeable decrease in quality."
PAPER MEDIA OPTIONS: Some of the Canon info materials are not current, but Canon confirmed for me that this printer will print any media listed in the driver's Properties selection, including Transparencies and T-Shirt transfers. (The driver does not list Credit Card or Stickers media.) Because Canon's bundled software is distributed with a number of their printer models, media choices that will not work with your particular printer model could appear in them. The 4000, cannot print to Credit Card media (the 5000 may be able to, but I've already mentioned why I didn't select that model). I don't believe it can print Stickers either. I inquired with Canon about why they state not to print to postcard media, but they didn't answer my question. Note that while Canon recommends you not use non-Canon media above 28 lbs. with this printer, you'll find numerous online reviews that state this is incorrect. Perhaps Canon just wants to drive sales of its own media.
CANON PHOTO PRO & PLUS MEDIA: I printed 4x6 glossy media samples of both, the two highest levels in their line. While the Pro paper had a bit heavier weight to it, it didn't have much print quality difference from the Plus paper. I don't feel the Pro paper is worth its exorbitant price; there's just not enough of a difference. The Plus paper is a bit lighter weight, but it's nice too; and it prices out to match my local Wal-marts digital photo prints. I even used an 8x photo loupe to really examine them closely. A loupe's an inexpensive and really worthwhile purchase from your local camera shop (Natl. Camera Exchange, etc.) if you really want to look at a photo (or anything else) really up close. Amazing just how much texture you'll see when looking at a plain piece of copy paper!
BLACK & WHITE PRINTS: Some complain about the quality of these photos on the Canon printers. I read a recommendation to use Canon Matte Photo Paper for the best results. I also read that matte prints will last 4x as long as a glossy print, and when stored behind glass or plastic could potentially last forever (from fading, deterioration).
CD/DVD LABELS: I talked with an Epson rep in an Office Depot store a few weeks ago. He said that Epson holds the U.S. patent for direct-printing on CD/DVDs and that this is why Canon can't offer the feature yet (he said that patent would be expiring soon). You'll see that the Canon printers are almost set up for it (cover blocks area and parts are missing, except in the UK version which does offer the feature). Canon says that they just "choose" to not offer this feature in the U.S. market, although they know that "Epson and at least 5 other printer manufacturers in the USA are releasing direct CD/DVD print features." As an alternative, I asked Canon for a recommendation of a standard adhesive label media that would work acceptably, but they didn't answer my question. This isn't a feature I figured that I'd be likely to use a lot, so it's not very important to me. My research showed there are lots of disadvantages to using it anyway (takes forever to dry, not waterproof, doesn't look as good as adhesive labels). For info on this, check out nealslade.com. He's got an entire section just on this topic.
CASSETTE TRAY IS CONFUSING: It took me a bit to figure out how to operate this and I don't like how the sliders don't move easily. Pretty cheaply made. Hope it will be redesigned better in a future model, but this isn't a big issue for me.
WHICH TRAY TO USE: Many reviewers say they keep photo paper in the cassette to keep it protected from dust etc. Reputable sources say it is not a good idea to keep photo paper in the cassette for any length of time because the paper will begin to age (yellow). They recommend inserting photo paper into the auto feeder instead (top vertical tray), only on an as-needed basis. This also keeps photo paper from having to go through a tighter turning print path. The cassette's U-path can lead to jams and cracked paper coatings. The J-path of the auto feeder is a more gentle turning print path. I keep plain paper in my cassette and use the auto feeder intermittently for photo paper and other needs.
BUNDLED SOFTWARE: This stuff is usually junk, but I do like all 3 programs Canon includes: Easy PhotoPrint (no-brainer photo printing), Photo Record (scrapbook generator) and Easy-Web Print (no more Internet prints with a cutoff right margin!). Easy-WebPrint doesn't seem to have a way that you can designate a print page range though, which is it's only negative (especially when you're Duplex printing and there's a 3rd page with just a single line of text; the printer has to print that single line as well as pulling it back in for Duplex to print a blank page!). It does offer printing just a selection from a web page though (so I forgive it a little for that!).
MAINTENANCE: I haven't had any issues with nozzles clogging (Epson sounds like its notorious for this), but my ownership is early yet. NeilSlade.com recommends running a color print once a day to help prevent this. He also recommends not running the CLEAN NOZZLES function very often, because it moves some ink into the printers waste tank. If the waste tank gets filled, you'll need to pay to have the printer serviced to empty it. He says it's better to do some photo prints instead to limit the possibility of this occurring.
CUSTOMER SERVICE: Canon's replies to my e-mails have been unusually fast, which has impressed me. I made numerous inquiries and their replies usually came the very same day, often within a few short hours. They seem personalized too ... not the canned replies from so many others (that often don't really answer the questions asked). Terrific job on that, even though they ignored a couple of things that I asked. They even have a dedicated toll-free number than you can use as much as you'd like for the first 30-days you have the printer.
EXCELLENT RESOURCES: During my research, I found these websites to be particularly useful: steves-digicams.com, tomshardware.com and neilslade.com. Neil's got some excellent info on alternate sources of paper and ink, where you can clearly save some money. It's clear to me that buying from your local store is NOT your best option! Use the Internet. If you don't have much time for investigating, as usual Amazon.com can beat any local store on prices and product availability. eBay can have some great deals too. Of course Internet purchases require a little planning.
SUMMARY: There are good and bad points to all printers available, but I am very satisfied with this purchase. I tried to just detail the info that I wish I had found all in one place. Hopefully it helps you!
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