September 11, 2004
Canon PIXMA iP1500 Printer
The Canon PIXMA iP1500 printer is a 4800 x 1200 dpi personal photo/document printer that prints at up to 18ppm. It offers 2 picolitre photolab print quality at an entry level price.
The PIXMA iP1500 printes in 4” x 6”, 5” x 7” and A4 formats.
PC Mag has a review of the Canon Pixma iP1500 and writes - 'Output quality is another strong point. The rating for photos is just short of excellent, with most photos in our test qualifying as true photo quality, but with a minor tint on our monochrome test photo. Text printing rates as good, with more than half the test fonts easily readable at 4 points, but some stylized fonts needing 12 points for easy readability. Graphics were marred by slight banding in default mode, but still rank as just short of very good.'
CNET reviews the Canon Pixma iP1500 and writes:
'The iP1500 has the same basic rectangular box shape as the Canon Pixma iP2000, but it's slightly smaller and lacks some of the bells and whistles of its more expensive counterpart. There's a paper-input tray at the top of the printer but no output tray or guide whatsoever. Anything you print will either fall out directly onto your desk or, if you perch the printer on a shelf, the floor. The iP1500 has a USB port but, like most printers, does not come with cables.
Canon markets the iP1500 as an all-purpose printer, so as you might suspect, its photo printing is decidedly unimpressive. Our test photo, which is designed to stress a printer's photo capabilities, came out extremely dithered. Fine details, such as the illustration on a postage stamp, weren't discernible to the naked eye, and skin tones needed serious smoothing. Because of all the visible dots, prints looked blurry. Graphics were even worse, with lots of banding and, not surprisingly, more dithering. The iP1500 is not as skilled at handling gradients as its siblings (which aren't all that great themselves), its color matching is off, and its photos lack contrast. Text looks much better, especially to the naked eye, but seen through a loupe, it appears oversaturated and feathery. Fortunately, this printer is relatively fast, printing text at an average speed of 6.05 pages per minute and photos at a moderate 3.05 minutes per page.'
For more information and specifications of the Canon PIXMA iP1500 Printer see the following press release from Canon announcing it and its big brother, the Canon PIXMA iP2000 Printer.
Canon Press Release 09/07/04
Amstelveen, The Netherlands, 9 July, 2004: Canon, a leader in photographic and imaging technology, today announces two 4800 x 1200 dpi personal photo/document printers to open its new PIXMA range - the 20 ppm PIXMA iP2000 and 18 ppm PIXMA iP1500. The printers offer remarkable 2 picolitre photolab print quality at entry level price points from Canon’s unique FINE (Full-Photolithography Inkjet Nozzle Engineering) print head technology.
"With these new PIXMA printers, Canon confirms a commitment to bringing consumers true photo performance, consistent reliability and superb design across the entire range," said Mogens Jensen, Head of Canon Consumer Imaging Europe. "The introduction of 2 picolitre photolab quality at this price point brings a new level of performance to range-opening printers that will change consumers’ expectations of personal photo printing standards."
A tolerance for quality
In a patented process called FINE, Canon has adapted its own silicon chip manufacturing technology to create print heads with tolerance and precision similar to that of integrated circuits. FINE print heads use Micro-Nozzles to eject millions of microscopic droplets each second with unrivalled consistency and accuracy. Tolerances afforded by FINE simply cannot be achieved with traditional ink-jet print heads, which must be assembled from multiple parts. The result is photo prints with a look and feel comparable to that of traditional silver-halide photolab prints.
Personal photolab
Both printers provide borderless printing in 4” x 6”, 5” x 7” and A4 formats. The Easy-PhotoPrint application supplied with the printers assists with options such as media selection and scaling to make photo printing fast and simple. It is designed to perfect image quality in a few clicks, with functions such as Face Sharpening to correct out-of-focus faces, Red Eye Correction and Digital Face Smoothing to reduce the appearance of wrinkles. Canon PhotoRecord guides users through printing a personalised photo album, including assistance with printing on Canon's new double-sided media.
The iP2000 provides direct photo printing with the vendor independent PictBridge standard. Any compatible digital camera or digital video cameras can connect directly to the printer via USB cable for direct printing without the need for a PC.
Faster than ever
The iP1500 and iP2000 are significantly faster than Canon’s previous entry-level printers: the iP2000 prints at 20 ppm mono / 14 ppm colour while the iP1500 prints at 18 ppm mono / 13 ppm colour. While some competing brands have a fast 'draft mode', the Canon printers' true speed advantage becomes evident when the printers are called upon to print high quality documents and/or high resolution photos. For example both printers will print out a high quality borderless 4” x 6” photo in less than one minute.
Designer printing
The new PIXMA printer range is defined by cutting edge designs that excel in both functionality and aesthetics, and all are furnished with a style and finish appropriate for the home environment. Both printers are remarkably compact and robust, while the iP2000 has a cassette ('U' turn) paper path in addition to the traditional sheet feeder (‘J’ pass) path. This allows the printer to be stored and operated in confined areas, such as a shelf, making it ideal for home use. The dual paper path also allows the iP2000 to be loaded with plain paper and photo print media simultaneously, so both documents and photos can printed without the need for stopping and changing paper.
New photo media
Canon’s new media extends the creative and practical applications of the printers:
- Double sided photo paper (Photo Paper Plus Double Sided PP-101D) in A4 and 5” x 7” sizes. As well as standard packs, this media is available as a kit (Photo Album Kit PAK-101) which includes a high quality hardback album cover to make photo albums, scrapbooks and personal books
- Credit card size glossy media (Glossy Photo Paper GP-401) – ideal for printing wallet photographs and name cards
- Photo stickers (Photo Stickers PS-101) – sheets of 16 small photo stickers, for fun and practical purposes
- Photo stickers – sheets of 16 small photo stickers, for fun and practical purposes
Easy web printing
The printers are also equipped with Easy-WebPrint software, which sits on the Explorer toolbar. Taking the frustration out of web page printing, Easy-WebPrint saves, time, ink and paper by correctly scaling output to print the entire page (even when it extends over multiple screens) to prevent cutting off the right hand side of the page.
Connection is via USB interface and both printers are compatible with both Windows (Win98/Me/2000/XP) and Macintosh operating systems.
See more from our Canon Printers category »Posted by Darren at September 11, 2004 06:48 PM
