Little Printer, Big Performance
Pros:
Portable, excellent quality, Bluetooth
Cons:
Not all the features or photo quality of big printers
The Bottom Line:
For those looking for a quality printer you can take anywhere, it's an excellent value.
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Overall Rating:
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Author's Review
Don't let it's size fool you, the Canon PIXMA iP90 delivers exceptionally crisp, bright, and sharp prints without the big footprint of some other printers. I purchased it originally exclusively for on-the-go printing during conferences and meetings. Little did I know that it would end up replacing the regular-sized Hewlett-Packard printer I own, and that I would purchase two additional Canon PIXMAs as a result, the iP1500 and iP3000. Let me share three things I found especially impressive.
1. Size, Size, Size
By far, size was why I bought this. I travel to speaking engagements quite frequently, so I need to print documents on-the-go. The iP90 really is quite small, about 15 x 10 x 6 inches, so it fits comfortably inside my carry-on luggage. Even with paper, it weighs about 10 pounds, so it's not a burden to carry. I especially appreciate that now I can quickly connect it to my laptop and print anything, anywhere. I've used to it print e-tickets several times, as well confirmations of online check-in to flights. It's a time (and life) saver.
2. Adjustable Ink Usage
Everyone hates to run out of ink, but its particularly bothersome when you're on-the-go. The iP90 has a nifty ink control panel that allows you to outsmart the ink cartridge. Well, sort of. You can adjust the settings to produce black ink from your color ink cartridges if you run out of black ink. It's very helpful if you need professional-looking documents and run out of black ink. You can also adjust it to use less ink per page as well, which I frequently do even when I'm not running low. Print cartridges aren't cheap, you know.
3. Good Quality Prints
Of course, it's not as good as dedicated photo printers, but it's an acceptable alternative. I'm a photography buff, so I take pictures very, very, very frequently. Most of the time I don't print them out, but its good to know that I have the capability to do so. All all of the pictures I've printed using it have come out wonderful, with bright, lively colors. No blurriness either. For a little guy, the iP90 prints pictures very well. (By the way, it comes with some Canon photo software, but since I use Photoshop, I didn't bother with it).
Those are the biggies; the things I found most helpful. But there are a few other things worth mentioning. First, it does have wireless printing capability for Bluetooth users. It works flawlessly with laptops, although I had some trouble getting my Bluetooth cell phone to recognize it at first. Second, it prints reasonably fast. If you're printing in black-and-white, it takes no longer than a few seconds to print one page. It usually took it about a minute to print a 4 x 6 color photograph though. Third, it's very reasonably priced. I bought it at around $230 earlier this year. In all, the PIXMA iP90 is an excellent quality, portable printer. But, again, if you don't mind big footprints, you should probably look to a bigger, bulkier printer with more features.
