Canon i860

[mattmack]

I just purchased and installed a Canon i860 printer I purchased from the local Apple Store. I was going to buy an HP 5650 but they were out of stock and the salesman recommended this product as an alternative. After using it I see why. Not only does this printer print well and fast, it is super quiet (compared to my old Epson) and each ink cartridge is seperate and clear so you can see if it is empty and only replace the color you need to. Plus it has a standard black and a photo black cartridge. Any way highly recommend it for home use. USB and (ugh) parallel compatible hookups and it supports camera printing.
PS the quick set up paperwork is for OS X and if you are using os 9 or previous you have to use the owners manual guide to install them

[theipodgod16]

Word. I have the i850, it is simply amazing. No more crappy Epson for me!!

[mwjd299]

Originally posted by theipodgod16
Word. I have the i850, it is simply amazing. No more crappy Epson for me!!

Did you have to download the OS X driver from Canon? Did you have any problems?
I am planning on switching from a Win98 machine to an iMac around Christmas. I also have the Canon i850, it's a great printer. I bought it because of the ink cartridges. Plus it's very fast printing text.

[Squire]

Thanks for the info. I'm in the market for a new printer. I was looking for a quiet printer that is good for photos.

Squire

[rculler]

Replaced my HP 855C with a new Canon i860 recently because the HP paper feed was beginning to act up (the bottom up feed seems to cause endemic problems). I'm hoping the top down feed on the Canon will be more reliable.

I am quite pleased with the output so far but still have to give Canon a mixed review on three counts:

1. The Print Monitor seems to have periodic problems that require me to stop background printing. I am usually able to resume later on but this is a hassle.

2. Canon does not support its network printing driver for the Mac. They claim that the i860 is meant to be a single computer printer and that they only supply the driver because of Apple's requirements. I discovered this the hard way after spending many hours trying to network my iBook to print with my G3 upgraded 8500 as the print server.

3. Installing multiple Canon drivers on the same OSX Mac is also a problem since you need to be connected to the printer for the driver to install and be recognized. I had an i320 driver installed on my iBook when I tried installing the i860 driver. The i320 driver disappeared. It was only after finding an obscure mention in the on disk documentation that I discovered you must install multiple drivers in order of their version number. This may seem like a minor problem, but it can be quite a hassle if you have a portable that you wish to connect to more than one type of printer.

[wordmunger]

Just had to chime in: I love my i850. I previously had an Epson and it was nothing but trouble, plus it ate through $35 cartridges. The Canon's $13 cartridges last forever. I've had no problems printing via rendezvous/airport extreme with Panther.

[rueyeet]

Does anybody know for certain if there is another printer besides that Epson one that can print directly on CDs and DVDs? Right now that's the one thing preventing a Canon from being my next printer (well, besides getting around to buying one). I didn't even load any printer drivers other than HP and Canon when I installed Panther (and the HP ones were for my friends' printers).

That would be so neat...burning CDs for myself and friends that had the song lists and custom artwork!

[spinner]

I have heard nothing but good about Canon printers. Cheap ink that lasts, good print quality, and QUIET operation. Definitely the complete opposite of the Epson that I currently have. The only concern I had was about OS X drivers.

[mwjd299]

Originally posted by spinner
I have heard nothing but good about Canon printers. Cheap ink that lasts, good print quality, and QUIET operation. Definitely the complete opposite of the Epson that I currently have. The only concern I had was about OS X drivers.

Don't worry about the OS X drivers, they work fine. I was worried also, but I shouldn't have been.
Since I was coming from Windoze, I was thrown at first by the OS X interface, but learned my way around. Windoze is more graphical.
I just learned how to make 4x6 borderless prints from iPhoto. I have 4x6 photo paper and I could only print on a full page. My daughter told me to use page setup and select the printer and all of the options are there. Windoze has a separate app called Easy Photo Print that does the same thing. It comes on the driver disk.

[guyute]

Canons are good printers but definately a downside is placement of the print head. On hp printers the print head is on the cartridge versus inside the printer like the canon. When the head clogs on the hp you buy a new cartridge (reason for cost vs canon), on canon you must replace a "semi-permanent piece". The hp most likely will last you longer because of it.

[mwjd299]

Originally posted by guyute
Canons are good printers but definately a downside is placement of the print head. On hp printers the print head is on the cartridge versus inside the printer like the canon. When the head clogs on the hp you buy a new cartridge (reason for cost vs canon), on canon you must replace a "semi-permanent piece". The hp most likely will last you longer because of it.

I've had my i850 for 13 months now and the print heads haven't clogged. If they do, the printer driver has a deep cleaning system that might work. The print head is easily replaced, but I don't think you can buy them from a retailer.
Meanwhile, I save anywhere from $15 to $20 per replacement ink cartridge over the cost of HP ink cartridges. The main reason I bought the Canon.

[live4ever]

Also have the i850 and has been great on both the Mac and PC. With Panther all I had to do was plug it in via USB and i850 can up in Print Center and was ready to go. I've only done 4x6 photos and the quality was better than I expected (for its price), ink seems to last a long time (haven't had to change a cartridge yet - 8 months so far). Overall for price, quality and ease of use I'd recommend an 850 to anyone (but the 860 is even better now).

Hopefully Canon will make a consumer CD/DVD printer soon, I know I'll be buying.

[Brian Hickman]

Has anybody tried the i860 as a USB network printer attached to the Airport Extreme Basestation? I looked on the Apple website about supported printers and the i850 is listed, but I was wondering if the newer i860 was also supported (maybe the Apple page hasn't been updated).

If any of you have the AEBS and the i860, could you please try wireless network printing for me?

Thanks,

Hickman

[Dippo]

Originally posted by Brian Hickman
Has anybody tried the i860 as a USB network printer attached to the Airport Extreme Basestation? I looked on the Apple website about supported printers and the i850 is listed, but I was wondering if the newer i860 was also supported (maybe the Apple page hasn't been updated).

If any of you have the AEBS and the i860, could you please try wireless network printing for me?

Thanks,

Hickman

I print on my Canon i860 through the network off my Windows machine. I guess it's not the same thing though.

The Canon i860 is great. Best yet is that generic ink is super cheap for this printer. And the ink lasts forever. It was months before I had to replace my first ink cartargie (sp?) and I print a lot of stuff too.

[Dippo]

Originally posted by guyute
Canons are good printers but definately a downside is placement of the print head. On hp printers the print head is on the cartridge versus inside the printer like the canon. When the head clogs on the hp you buy a new cartridge (reason for cost vs canon), on canon you must replace a "semi-permanent piece". The hp most likely will last you longer because of it.

Having to but a new print head everytime you buy ink costs A LOT of money over time. The ink head on the Canon doesn't ever need replacing. (Of course it can be replaced)

My last Canon printer lasted over 5 years before I decided to upgrade. The best thing is that my old Canon still works just fine and it's ink head never needed replacing.

[Makosuke]

I don't know why anyone would buy anything but a Canon inkjet these days.

My dad has an i860, and it's an absolutely spectacular printer, particularly considering its $130 pricetag. Fast, quiet, the driver is quite good (heckuva lot better than Epson's), cheap ink, and the prints look GREAT--enough to satisfy an experienced amature photographer. I have a Canon S750 wich is great, and the i860 is even better at the same price of the 750 when it was new.

Originally posted by guyute
Canons are good printers but definately a downside is placement of the print head. On hp printers the print head is on the cartridge versus inside the printer like the canon. When the head clogs on the hp you buy a new cartridge (reason for cost vs canon), on canon you must replace a "semi-permanent piece". The hp most likely will last you longer because of it.

As two others said, you may get a new print head every time you replace an HP cartridge, but they're outrageously expensive as a result, and you don't NEED to replace the print heads that often; my S750 is two years old, and no clog issues at all yet.

If I eventually do need to replace the print heads, the price is a lot cheaper than what all those HP cartridges would've cost me.

And contrast that with Epson's notoriously clog-prone inkheads, which are NOT REPLACEABLE. Ouch.

[Scooch]

Originally posted by Dippo
I print on my Canon i860 through the network off my Windows machine. I guess it's not the same thing though.

I just bought the i860 and plan to use my Windows XP machine as the priint server (I gotta use it for something).

I'm having trouble setting up the printer on my OS X PowerBook.

I've installed the i860 driver package and it has gone through all the motions, but in the Printer Setup Utility, I don't see the i860 listed as a Printer Model.

I can see the printer on the network, just don't know how to select the printer model.

Dippo or anyone else, can you offer any guidance?

thanks.

P.S. The one photo I printed so far from the Windows machine is amazing.

[mkrishnan]

Originally posted by mattmack
....After using it I see why. Not only does this printer print well and fast, it is super quiet (compared to my old Epson) and each ink cartridge is seperate and clear so you can see if it is empty and only replace the color you need to....

I have an Epson C84 b/c it came free with my computer, but I just gotta chime in on this -- why didn't anyone think of this sooner???? This sounds like a really good idea.

My PC had a Canon multifunction, but it isn't Mac-patible and rocks only a parallel port...

[mattmack]

Still have not had to change my ink since Oct purchase. What an ink miser

[Horrortaxi]

I got an i850 last summer. Like everyone else has said, it's great. I just had to change out the colored ink a couple weeks ago (that's 6-7 months) and we print a lot of pictures. I got my mom an i860 and that's great too.

[miloblithe]

I got an i860 a few months ago based on recommendations here on MacRumors. It's been great and I'd recommend it to anyone. My only complaint was the crappy documentation. It wasn't a problem (printers aren't exactly hard)--just more of a pet peeve as I used to write software manuals for a living.