I do a lot of work for my dad so when his printer packed up I went looking for another for him the same day. I wanted something cheap (as I was paying!) and cheerful that would do the job and easy to set up.


Canon Pixma iP4850:

'Superb photo lab-quality printer with built in Auto Duplex print and Single Ink tanks. Print from your movies using Full HD Movie Print, or take control of web printing with Easy-Web Print EX.'

What's in the Box?
The Printer
Software Disc
Power Cable
Instructions
(Free small pack of photo paper)

My Findings:

I have a similar model the Canon MP210 which is somewhat a little dated now but very reliable so I wanted to purchase something on the same lines as so far I haven't had any issues when it comes to Canon printers. I needed something that would work for his document work and for printing photo's so this one really did tick all the right boxes for him.

Setting this printer up is nice and easy and will auto detect on most PC's only down side mine didn't come with the USB cable. Luckily the one from the previous printer was the same one needed. It was just a case of plugging the USB from printer to PC, then the power cable from printer to mains and switch on. Soon as the printer is turned on it starts to make a slight noise. I actually don't think it is as loud as other printers when warming up.

If your computer doesn't automatically pick the new addition up you can download software or use software provided. I didn't have any issue with this and was able to use this printer straight away. Of course you need to put your ink in first before printing. This is done my lift the lid on the printer and slotting the cartridges in their allocated slots. They are marked where they need to go and you will hear a click once there in right. The cartridges are chipped so be careful not to touch the chip as this my break the cartridge which I have done in the past!

You get two paper feeders with this printer which I think is excellent, saves me time when having to change from photo paper to plain. We now have one for photo paper and one for plain, lazy I know but certainly a time saver. The maximum is 150 sheets, and will take all sizes up to A4, which I think is great for a home printer. The print quality when printing a photograph is outstanding and brings colours to life even when printing a black and white photo I'm stunned just how well this shows the contrast.

Continuing on with printing this printer will also print double sided, normally if you wanted to do this you would have to re-feed the paper making sure you loaded it in correctly. However this printer will do that for you as along as you select it in your print options. I really love how you can also print straight on disc's you just flip down the cover which is on top of the printer and it provides a support carrier where you place your disc to be printer on.

When printing photo's the printer is a little slower than printing normal text documents, however it is still done in seconds with brilliant quality. Text documents again are great done fast so far I have had no problems with any type of smudging or blurriness. When printing several photographs at once it will pause and state waiting for ink to dry. There for it is safe for me to just leave while printing and have no worries of them being stuck together due to the ink still being wet.

The ink I think is pretty much a standard price, the cartridges are individual there for if one runs out there is no need to replace the whole unit just the single cartridge. In my opinion I think this is a much more efficient use of ink with less waste. It does seem like your spending more when it comes to purchasing them but you are saving in the long run. As which all printers it does state on the instructions that is only recommends original cartridges only but I have had no problem when it comes to using compatibles.

This printer comes with some neat software which enables you to print individual frames of video clips, which is perfect to theme your own party events and you can personalise them with ease. However you can also do this in Photoshop!

The control buttons are located on the front of the printer to the side where you have two buttons, one for the feeder the other being the power button which is elite by LEDs. You also have under the buttons a pictbridge port which allows you to print direct from your digital camera as long as it is compatible.

Things that are not so great when it comes to this printer, however they wasn't needed for us so it wasn't really an issue but maybe worth a note for someone thinking of purchasing this model - It doesn't have any Wi-Fi or Ethernet connectivity and it isn't wireless. You don't have any 'in one' extra's like with the MP210 it can also be used as a scanner, this one can not.

Software that comes with this printer is called Easy-WebPrint EX which claims -

'Easy-WebPrint EX lets you easily clip & combine information from multiple web pages. Auto Photo Fix II enables photos to be optimised with corrections such as red eye removal. Easy-PhotoPrint EX allows easy layouts for printing photos, calendars, and features a Flickr® search function to find appropriate publicly available image'

However I personally find it much is easier to use Photoshop as I think what's the point in loading more items onto your computer that you don't really need. It just uses up space and just an add on to try and sell this printer to would be purchasers.

I do like the whole appearance of this model it has a sleek smooth black finish, but it is a little blucky for a bog standard printer. It does however still look modern and current and fits in nicely with the PC being as that is black in colour too.

Price and Availability:

This printer cost me around £60.00 which also came with 12 months warranty from Curry's in the Merry Hill shopping centre a few months back now. I can no longer see this model on their site however it is a similar price on Play.com also.

The ink for this print averages around £11 each per cartridge and as they are all single it can run rather expensive however you can get a whole set for £23.99 (5 cartridges) from play.com. In my opinion these are just as good as originals and last as long too.

Overall:

As all I wanted was a simple printer that does a good job this was certainly money well spent. It has exceptional printing qualities for both photo and document printing. I think it is great how you can also print straight on DVD/CD data discs. Printing is fast but immaculate and I would defiantly recommend this printer for home use/students and small offices. This really is a decent simple printer and so far is going great with no paper jams of yet!

Don't for get to recycle your ink cartridges!

I give this printer five out of five stars

Thanks for reading.


Additional Information:

www.canon.co.uk

System requirements - Microsoft Windows XP SP2, Microsoft Windows 7, Microsoft Windows 7 64-bit Edition, Microsoft Windows XP SP3, Microsoft Windows Vista (32/64 bits), Apple MacOS X 10.4.11 - 10.6
Will print on - Envelopes, plain paper, photo paper, semi-gloss photo paper, photo stickers, glossy photo paper, matt photo paper, CD/DVD labels, high resolution photo paper, DVD discs, CD discs

Photolab-quality 9600dpi and 1pl
Full HD Movie Print
ISO ESAT speed 11.0/9.3 ipm mono/col
10x15cm photo in 20 sec.
5 Single Inks
Auto Duplex print & 2-way paper feeding
Direct Disc print
CREATIVE PARK PREMIUM
Easy-WebPrint EX
ChromaLife100+