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Canon Pixma iP5000

By Rebecca Viksnins, CNET.com on 13 September 2004

A relatively fast, versatile printer with excellent text and graphics quality.

User rating:7.8
  • Good: Autoduplex printing • Easy to operate • Mac and Windows compatible • Excellent text and graphics quality
  • Bad: No built-in networking
  • RRP: AU$349.00
Photo gallery: Canon Pixma iP5000
Just when we finally caught our breath, Canon has announced another batch of Pixma printers (the company released four budget Pixma models earlier this month). This time, instead of workhorse models, Canon treats us to a round of photo enthusiast printers. The five-colour Pixma iP5000, like its predecessor the Canon i960, is the grouping's flagship model.

Upside: As is traditional, Canon introduces its latest printing technologies in its flagship photo printer. This year, Canon halves the droplet volume of previous models, bringing 1pl (picoliter) droplets that allow it to increase addressable resolution from 16 droplets per pixel to 32. The effective resolution bump is 9,600x2,400dpi compared to the i960's 4,800x1,200dpi. In addition, the iP5000 has all the new features you can find on the rest of the Pixma lineup, such as dual paper trays, autoduplexing -- Canon plans to introduce dual-sided photo paper -- and higher paper-input capacity (300 sheets vs. the i960's 150).

Downside: The inevitable gamut vs. dot-size dilemma: the eight-colour Pixma iP8500 will likely be able to output a larger number of colours, but the 1pl drops on the iP5000 may be able to produce finer detail.

Outlook: Unless the new printheads suffer from clogging issues, which is always a potential problem as nozzle size shrinks, or the new inks aren't up-to-snuff in terms of gamut or longevity, we expect good things from the Canon Pixma iP5000 (AU$349 list).

Topics: canon, photo, pixma, ip5000, droplet

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Comments (10)

  • green gave 2/10 on 12/02/2008 23:55

    • Bad: no Linux support! so no cigar !

    I have a Canon BJC2100 printer and a Canon N630U scanner which excellently work well in Linux (Gentoo). I want to upgrade to a colour photo printer but there is no Linux support for this model! It was hard enuf to get the scanner going, I'm not going to get anything made by Canon unless it has reliable Linux support.

  • Moontide gave 3/10 on 09/08/2007 13:48

    • Good: Fantastic value.
    • Bad: Expensive paper weight as I use Linux. I so use to the excellent Epson support that I didn't think to check if Canon supported Linux. Silly me>


    Great printer but no Linux support.

  • nousername gave 9/10 on 07/03/2007 11:19

    • Good: great little printer, 5x separate ink tanks, each only $15... makes for cheaper printing.
    • Bad: CANON: Please supply linux drivers!

    Linux users - try using TurboPrint (www.turboprint.de)... it's $30US, but it worked for me first time... worth the money for the convenience

  • whoozhe gave 5/10 on 29/10/2006 11:44

    • Good: Great Printer as long as you use it on a Windows system
    • Bad: Total lack of support for Linux Users. Something that both HP and Epson provide.

    No Linux support No Buy

    The lack of support for Linux from Canon is across the range of printer and scanners.
    A limited number of Linux drivers are available at an obscure Japanese site but I don't read Japanese
    A pity really because I really do like their printers but alas I have Linux systems as part of my network and quite frankly I will go with whatever is the easiest to set up and that does not include Canon periphials

  • Anonymous gave 9/10 on 15/08/2006 16:10

    Cheap considering what it does.

  • Bob gave 1/10 on 24/12/2005 23:52

    Good text & color. Very quite

  • Avill gave 1/10 on 10/07/2005 14:38

    One of the best and ideal printer for any home user.

    The printer has exceptional quality photo and looks amazing with its sleak design. I have this printer myself and it is so user friendly and easy to use. It has the ability to print straight onto cd/dvd so it is easy to duplicate covers. The printer has 2 docking bases for the paper tray and can hold up to 300 sheets simultaneously. The canon pixma ip5000 is fast and prints a normal quality page of text in about 10 seconds, or an average size photo in about 15 seconds. I printed a photo and the image quality blew me away, it was like the quality of an analog photo and looked better then when it was displayed on the monitor. It can also print double sided pages so there is no more wasting paper. This printer in overall i would give a stable rating of 9/10. It is value for money and extremely ideal for the home user. there are no let downs for this little babe. It comes at a price of around $285 (It does not come with a USB cable)

  • Anonymous gave 1/10 on 05/06/2005 17:22

    Best Printer I've Ever Used

    This model is a big step up in Canon's printers. They have put so much great technology in one box for such a great price. It prints excellent photos, when used with the top (or near) quality papers they look just as good as you can get from film. The duplex feature is very handy, although it does slow the printing process down slightly. I have never had a paper jam with it; I think it was going to once, but then it amazingly refed the paper. The two separate paper trays are also a great feature. As with anything glossy black it needs a little more cleaning than the old beige style. The ink cartridges are a sinch to replace. The utilities that come with it include many internal cleaning and alignment functions (most automatic), the Easy-PhotoPrint software is great for getting the best quality photos. Well worth the money.

  • John Boyd gave 1/10 on 01/02/2005 12:09

    Print results that are simply stunning

    The is my first Canon printer and it won't be the last. Software loaded effortlessly and the first print took under 5 minutes from go to woe. Digital pictures reproduced with outstanding quality and took about 30-40 seconds. The 6x4 borderless prints were better than I could have imagined. Printing directly to DVD/CD's was simple and the results were impressive. And duplex A4 printing is an added bonus. The machine is also whisper quiet compared to other similarly speced printers. 500 colour printout later and I am still on the original cartridges. I couldn't have chosen a better printer.

  • Kas Jeffries gave 1/10 on 02/10/2004 12:44

    This is a excellent printer.

    The quality,speed and quiet printing. The 9600 x 4800 resolution is unbelievable. I recommend this printer to everyone.

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