Canon Pixma iP4500
Manufacturer: Canon Part number: 2171B002
- More product information:
- Editors' review
- User reviews
- Specifications
- Accessories
- Manufacturer info
- Bottom Line:
- The Canon Pixma iP4500 is a bit too expensive for basic home users, but those who do a bit more printing than the occasional e-mail and map will be happy with its speed and quality.
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Where to buy
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CNET editors' review
Canon Pixma iP4500 price range: $249.99
- Reviewed by: Felisa Yang
- Edited by: Matthew Elliott
- Reviewed on: 10/18/2007
- Released on: 08/21/2007
The good: Good overall print quality; two paper sources; PictBridge port; built-in auto duplexer.
The bad: No preview LCD or memory card slots.
The bottom line: The Canon Pixma iP4500 is a bit too expensive for basic home users, but those who do a bit more printing than the occasional e-mail and map will be happy with its speed and quality.
The Canon Pixma iP4500 is a moderately expensive single-function printer designed for general home use. Unlike Canon's more photo-oriented single functions like the Pixma iP6700d, the $130 iP4500 lacks memory card slots and a preview LCD. The iP4500 is a step up from the recently reviewed iP3500; it offers faster print speed, slightly better print quality, and more features, including an auto duplexer. If your printing needs are minimal, however, we think you should save your money and stick to a less expensive model like the $80 iP3500, but if you print enough to justify the price, the iP4500 is a great option for general printing.
Design
The Pixma iP4500's design is simple and straightforward--the body is mainly black, with silver accents. It measures 17.5 inches wide, 11.9 inches deep, and 6.3 inches tall, and weighs 15.2 pounds. The only features in the printer's control panel are a PictBridge USB port, power and cancel/feed buttons, and an input source button that switches between paper trays.
You get two paper input options on this model: the rear input folds open from the top/back edge of the printer, and the cassette pulls out from the bottom/front. Both can hold up to 150 pages of plain paper. Canon recommends putting stiffer media such as photo paper in the rear input, as paper in the cassette is forced to bend around a roller. Both inputs have adjustable paper guides, so both can handle a wide range of paper sizes. A panel in the front of the printer folds out to serve as the output tray.
The iP4500 uses a five-ink system: pigment black for better text prints, and dye-based black, yellow, cyan, and magenta for better graphics and color blending. The pigment black costs $16.25 to replace and each of the dye-based inks costs $14.25 to replace. Canon estimates that a page of text costs about 3 cents, and a full-color page costs 4 cents to print. Both numbers are reasonable.
Features
The Pixma iP4500 offers a fairly basic feature set. The only connection option is USB, though you can network the printer using a print server. It offers up a built-in duplexer for automatic double-sided prints, though the print driver gives you the option of manual duplex print jobs. The iP4500 lacks memory card slots, but it does offer a PictBridge USB port for printing directly from PictBridge cameras and devices. The driver offers the same options as the driver for the iP3500: namely, the ability to create print profiles for common print jobs; photo manipulations options; and paper and source options.
Performance
The Pixma iP4500 is a bit on the expensive side for a general-purpose, single-function printer, so we had limited models on hand for comparison. It stood up well to the competition overall. It printed black text at a rate of 8.25 pages per minute, slower than the office-oriented HP Officejet Pro K5400, but faster than the home-oriented HP Deskjet 6940. It was much slower with graphics, scoring just 2.47ppm, a far cry from the HP Pro K5400's 6.21ppm. But the Canon excelled at fast 4x6 photo prints, clocking 2.66ppm, over a full page faster than the Pro K5400 and more than five times faster than the Deskjet 6940. The iP4500 was also faster than the less expensive iP3500 at all print tasks.
(Longer bars indicate better performance)
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4x6 photo | |
Graphics | |
Text |
The Canon Pixma iP4500 is an all-around good printer. The text prints were nicely dark, though close inspection revealed some jagged edges that could be cleaned up. The color graphics print showed pleasing saturation and sharp details in the photo elements, though the color gradients looked a bit faded and the same issue with slightly jagged edges cropped up. The 4x6 print was good overall. We liked the sharp details and general quality of the image, but the flesh tones were a bit washed out and could use a bump of warmth. Overall, the printer's quality is great for everyday home printing--we found it to be slightly better than the print quality offered by the iP3500.
(Longer bars indicate better performance)
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Photo | |
Graphics | |
Text |
Service and support
Canon offers a standard one-year warranty for the Pixma iP3500. Toll-free phone support is available weekdays from 8 a.m. to midnight PT and on Saturdays from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. E-mail support is available 24-7 via a Web-based form. Canon's standard online support options include downloadable drivers and software, manuals, and FAQs.
User reviews
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Great Bang for the Buck
by harryhide on November 13, 2007
Pros: Fast print speeds,great photo prints,duplex printing
Cons: None that I found
Summary: This is my second Canon printer. I had a Canon I900D which was a great printer but alas it was very slow. The IP 4500 has two paper sources, one ...
Summary: This is my second Canon printer. I had a Canon I900D which was a great printer but alas it was very slow. The IP 4500 has two paper sources, one for copy paper and one for photo paper. This is a great plus. All you have to do to change sources is press 1 button. I can't understand the CNET review. They rated as a con no preview LCD or memory slots. I have had 2 photo printers previously that had those features and I never used either one. To me that is just a feature that adds to the cost of the printer. And CNET also stated "The Canon Pixma iP4500 is a bit too expensive for basic home users". What was she smoking! This printer sell for just over $100.00 .. As the previous reviewer did, I printed out several photo's that were printed at my local Sam's Club and compared them with the same that I printed on the IP 4500. They were equally as good maybe even a bit better. Bottom line if you are looking for a good photo printer and don't want a copier or a fax you can't go wrong with the Canon IP 4500. Now, why a 9 rating? Because nothing is perfect, but this is close.
13 out of 13 users found this user opinion helpful.
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GREAT - Fast printing, great photo prints, duplex printing
by gismann on October 12, 2007
Pros: Print Speed, duplex printing, photo prints are great...PRICE
Cons: Paper size limited to letter... but it prints full 8x10 photos. No flash card slots..but who cares, it's connected to a PC!!
Summary: Why a 10 rating? Because it does just what it was designed for and just what I was looking for. I was planning on investing in two printers...one for ...
Summary: Why a 10 rating? Because it does just what it was designed for and just what I was looking for. I was planning on investing in two printers...one for text documents and the other for photos. However, this printer does both...extremely well.
Print Speed - compared to other photo printers...this printer is FAST!. The iP4500 has a seperate black ink cartridge that is used for text printing...and prints text at a lower resolution(but still laser quality) in order to increase speed. I can get a full letter size page in 2 seconds. 4x6 photos in about 40 seconds when set to "Best" quality.
Photo Quality - I printed 36 photos at my nearest Walgreens the day before I purchased this printer. The next day I printed the same pics on the Canon iP4500. The print quality is the same. The only way I could tell which was which was by the watermark on the back of the photo paper.
Duplex Printing - this feature was a must for me. Why waste paper....I print a lot of multi-page documents (emails) and I get tired of wasting paper. The printer also prints on two sided photo paper without swearing the print.
PRICE - It's hard to believe this printer is less than $150!! I bought mine on sale for $99.12 out of 12 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Best one for the money
by no_floaters on December 12, 2007
Pros: Excellent prints,duplex printing,seperate paper sources
Cons: Slow startup,ink cartridge have chips
Summary: The iP4500 was an upgrade from a i850 for me. I got the printer for $99 and this is well worth the price just for the photo printing quality alone. ...
Summary: The iP4500 was an upgrade from a i850 for me. I got the printer for $99 and this is well worth the price just for the photo printing quality alone. The duplex printing is an added bonus. The only complaints I have are the slow startup from sleep mode and the fact that the ink cartridges have chips installed on them. One of my catridges' chips failed to be read after only 3 weeks and it was still nearly full. I wrote an email to Canon support and had a new replacement cartridge in less than a week.
7 out of 7 users found this user opinion helpful.
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AVOID CANON PRODUCTS
by NEM0.N00NE on September 17, 2008
Pros: nice design
Cons: ink rip off
Summary: Ink is a rip off. Cartridges have an ID chip. The printer prevents you from using any cartridge without the chip - so you can't use non-Canon cartridges. It ...
Summary: Ink is a rip off. Cartridges have an ID chip. The printer prevents you from using any cartridge without the chip - so you can't use non-Canon cartridges. It even counts the amount used, so it knows when cartridge should be empty to prevent refilling. I could live with all that since I don't do a lot of printing. But the chip malfunctions after a couple of months, the the printer reads it as an improper cartridge and the printer will not print anything.The only way to get the printer to print is to replace the full cartridge with a brand new full cartridge, which lasts another 3 months before the chip malfunctions.
AVOID CANON PRODUCTS; THEY JUST RIP-OFF THEIR CUSTOMERS.3 out of 3 users found this user opinion helpful.
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its a good buy
by Riskman on July 24, 2008
Pros: excellent prints, duplex printing, 2 trays
Cons: inks with chips, installation disk
Summary: I bought this printer to replace a Canon I860 after 4 years the print head started to go bad. I was torn between the IP4500 and the MP610. I decided ...
Summary: I bought this printer to replace a Canon I860 after 4 years the print head started to go bad. I was torn between the IP4500 and the MP610. I decided against the MP610 because I already have a second printer, which is multifunction printer.
Inks: One of the concerns with all printers is the cost of ink. I bought a set of all 5 inks for $56.00 at Costco almost twice as much as I used to pay for the #6 ink for the I860. The #8 ink for the 4500 has chips installed and you are now paying for those chips (a trick they learned from Epson). IMO individual tanks are not really any better then the other tanks, even with individual tanks they all seem to run out about the same time. IMO the chips will almost certainly guarantee this. The ink on the 4500 is chromeolife though so it should last longer and be less fade resistant then the 6 ink.
Installation: Setting up the printer is straightforward, however I did have some problems with the installation disk. I kept getting error messages of mpsetup4.exe could not load, which would not allow me to install the drivers or software. Cannon shipped some of these printers with bad installation disks. Just go to the Canon site and download the newest drivers and software, or you could call Canon and they will send out a new disk. If you don’t load from the disk you will need to manually go in to the printer set-up screen and do a first time print head alignment.
Operation: This printer is much quieter then my I860 although once you turn it on it does go through a lot of motions in order to be ready to print, so did my 860.
Quality of Prints/Documents: Picture quality is amazing (photo lab quality) and the documents are laser crisp. I can’t tell which photos are better the ones from the I860 or the 4500-they are very close. People have been amazed when I show them a photo and tell them that I printed it at home.
Overall: I would recommend this printer. It is one step up from the IP3500 and has better DPI and worth the additional money. I don’t think any of the other printers on the market in the same price range have specs that are close to this printer with all the features it offers. Before switching to Canon I used to buy Epson’s but I had so many problems with nozzles clogging and noise that I will never purchase another Epson printer again.
I dinged it one star because of the software issue.3 out of 3 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Buyer Beware: No CD/DVD printing in USA versions.
by quarky42 on March 19, 2008
Pros: Great overall printer, but in the USA models you cannot print onto CD/DVD media.
Cons: See other reviews for cons.
Summary: I just wanted people to watch out: I was looking at buying this printer so that I could print onto printable CD/DVD discs directly.
This model (usa version) does ...Summary: I just wanted people to watch out: I was looking at buying this printer so that I could print onto printable CD/DVD discs directly.
This model (usa version) does not support printing onto CDs/DVDs. Canon direct sales confirmed this for me.3 out of 3 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Best printer in its class
by Callistra on January 11, 2008
Pros: fast, great photos, very good text
Cons: chips on cartriges can fail, slow startup
Summary: I am so impressed with this printer. Canon’s set-up instructions are very clear and detailed, the provided printing software makes it a breeze for any level of user, and ...
Summary: I am so impressed with this printer. Canon’s set-up instructions are very clear and detailed, the provided printing software makes it a breeze for any level of user, and the photos just look gorgeous! This printer is also the fastest I have used. What's truly remarkable is that it prints great text too. No need to buy a separate printer for your every-day use. For the price, there is no better printer.
I have had some problems in the past with bad chips on the cartridges so they can't be read. However, Canon is awesome and just ships you out a new one free of cost. Also, despite printing quickly, it is very slow to start-up. It also makes some unsettling clicking noises at startup that my last Canon did not make. I hope this is not just my machine.. Oh well, for now I’m blown away at the quality for this price. I previously had a MP500 printer. This prints better and is smaller. Quite frankly, the MP series are a waste of space because their scanners are horrible. They are completely not usable for photo scanning, imo. Canon needs to get this together. I know they are capable of making a good scanner because I am happy with my 8800F. I do not know why Canon cannot seem to put a decent scanner in a multifunction printer.3 out of 3 users found this user opinion helpful.
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This is a workhorse
by bbstacker7072 on June 10, 2011
Pros: Dependable to the max, has only had two paper jams in over 56,000 copies
Cons: None for us
Summary: I bought this printer over three years ago as my wife is a teacher and the school system has deemed it more and more necessary for her to use her ...
Summary: I bought this printer over three years ago as my wife is a teacher and the school system has deemed it more and more necessary for her to use her own resources to do her work. I went into the service mode just last week, and this printer has printed over 56,000 copies. One point must be made, however. We discovered early on that we could not afford the ink. Canon is a real rip-off in this department. I did a lot of research on CISS, which is Continuous Ink Supply System. The modified cartridges are fed with ink from a set of bottles outside of the printer. This ink is about 90% cheaper than Canon ink. Filling carts by hand is just no fun after a couple of times. I top off the dye black bottle about once every 3 weeks with just an ounce of ink.The color ones even less. I still use the original print head, and on the few times I have streaking problems, the maintenance routine takes care of that.
I have seen several references to the US printer not having the CD label printing ability. This is remedied by purchasing the adapter off of Ebay and downloading the software(CD-LabelPrint Ver. 1.4.1) from Canon-Canada. I must admit, however, that I have not used it on Windows 7...I need to do that.
Also, I kept hearing such good things about this printer as time rolled on that I bought two more off of Craig's List. I have seen them as high as $441.00. I lucked up and got mine for $140.00 for the two. The bad thing is that I've never had to open either one of them. This is just a great, tough printer.1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
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starts great, ends quickly!
by sodaphine on March 2, 2010
Pros: prints beautiful sharp vivid images
great for printing on discs
looks sleek and sharp
easy to navigate and set upCons: becomes redundant very quickly
more expensive to fix than to replace (totally environmentally unsustainable)
ink cartridges run out extremely fast and are extremly costly to replace
printer requests replacement cartridges when still have lots of inkSummary: Chose Canon b/c it's meant to be a quality brand. The printer was absolutely brilliant while it worked. Could barely fault it (other than ink cartridge turnover, which ...
Summary: Chose Canon b/c it's meant to be a quality brand. The printer was absolutely brilliant while it worked. Could barely fault it (other than ink cartridge turnover, which for the quality of the print would be worthy of the investment). But has become totally redundant in approximately 2 years as it starts to print with horizontal lines through images. Solution costs more than replacement. Wouldn't be so bad if there had actually been some wear and tear on printer before this occured. Got the distinct impression from Canon parts replacement section that this is a common occurance, with people not bothering to replace parts, but just throwing out printer and buying a new one. Total environmental vandalism.
Overall summary: the affair with the pixma ip4500 started wonderful, but was unreasonably short lived and died a very environmentally unfriendly and rapid death. Best place for this printer - the junk heap.1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
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COST of ink is outrageous!!
by shepard145 on August 15, 2009
Pros: Image quality is exceptional compared to other printers we've owned.
Cons: The cost of ink is insane - lowest cost I could find at retail stores about $11.5 per ml, or $341 per US fluid ounce, absolute robbery!!
Summary: Look for a printer that does not rip you off......or buy bottom of the line junk printer and have any prints that matter to you printed at retail stores ...
Summary: Look for a printer that does not rip you off......or buy bottom of the line junk printer and have any prints that matter to you printed at retail stores using a stick drive or email.
1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
Specifications
- Manufacturer: Canon
- Part number: 2171B002
- Description: This premium Photo Document Printer offers digital camera owners extra functionality and quality at an unbeatable price. Print what you want, how you want - at high speed and with exceptional results. Enjoy superior quality photo prints with fine detail and smooth color gradations, thanks to tiny 1pl ink droplets and a high 9600x2400dpi print resolution. The 5 Single Ink system includes a dye-based black that brings extra depth and contrast to photos.
General
- Printer Type Photo printer - Ink-jet - Color
- Width 17.2 in
- Depth 11.9 in
- Height 5.7 in
- Weight 10.8 lbs
Printer
- Inkjet Technology Canon FINE (Full-lithography inkjet Nozzle Engineering)
- Ink Palette (Colors) 5-ink - cyan, magenta, yellow, black, pigment black
- Nozzle Configuration 512 nozzles (pigment black), 2 x 1024 nozzles (cyan, magenta), 2 x 512 (yellow, black)
- Minimum Ink Droplet Size 1 pl
- Ink Cartridge Configuration 5 individual ink tanks
- Connectivity Technology Wired
- Interface USB
- Max Resolution ( B&W ) 600 dpi x 600 dpi
- Max Resolution ( Color ) 9600 dpi x 2400 dpi
- Print on CD/DVD Yes
- Direct Printing Specifications PictBridge
Media Handling
- Media Type DVD discs ,
CD discs ,
Photo stickers ,
Glossy photo paper ,
Envelopes ,
Semi-gloss paper ,
High resolution paper ,
Plain paper ,
Photo paper ,
Matte photo paper ,
Iron-on transfers - Max Media Size (Custom) 8.5 in x 14 in
- Media Sizes Legal (8.5 in x 14 in),
A4 (8.25 in x 11.7 in),
Letter A Size (8.5 in x 11 in),
4 in x 6 in,
8 in x 10 in,
5 in x 7 in,
4 in x 8 in - Borderless Photo Sizes 8 in x 10 in,
3.9 in x 7 in,
3.95 in x 5.9 in,
5.12 in x 7.1 in,
A4 (8.25 in x 11.7 in) - Envelope Sizes International DL (4.33 in x 8.66 in),
Com-10 (4.13 in x 9.5 in) - Card / Label Sizes 2.13 in x 3.4 in
Telecom
- Modem None
Networking
- Networking None
Scanner
- Type None
Copier
- Copier Type None
Expansion / Connectivity
- Connections 1 x Hi-Speed USB - 4 pin USB Type B,
1 x Direct print port - 4 pin USB Type A
Miscellaneous
- Microsoft Certifications Certified for Windows Vista
Power
- Power Device Power supply - Internal
- Power Consumption Operational 13 Watt
- Power Consumption Stand by / Sleep 1.2 Watt
Battery
- Type None
Software / System Requirements
- Software Included Drivers & Utilities
- OS Required Microsoft Windows 2000,
Apple MacOS X 10.2.8 - 10.4,
Microsoft Windows XP,
Microsoft Windows Vista Environmental Standards
- ENERGY STAR Qualified Yes
Environmental Parameters
- Sound Emission (Operating) 34.5 dBA
Manufacturer Warranty
- Service & Support 1 year warranty
- Service & Support Details Limited warranty - 1 year,
Technical support - Phone consulting CNET Labs' Benchmarks
- CNET Labs Photo Speed Test (pages per minute) 2.66
- CNET Labs Presentation Speed Test (pages per minute) 2.55
- CNET Labs Printer Graphics Speed Test (pages per minute) 2.47
- CNET Labs Text Speed Test (pages per minute) 8.25
Accessories
- Canon PGI 5 Black Twin Pack - ink tank (34667550)37.99
- Canon CLI 8C - ink tank (34935775)10.82
- Canon Photo Paper Plus Semi-gloss SG-201 - semi-gloss photo paper - 50 sheet(s) (35130037)34.99 - 47.31
- Canon Photo Paper Plus Semi-gloss SG-201 - semi-gloss photo paper - 50 sheet(s) (35130034)79.00 - 127.94
- Canon CLI 8Y - ink tank (32074367)4.97 - 24.43
Manufacturer info
- Manufacturer profile
- Browse Canon products on Shopper.com
-
- Manufacturer:Canon
- Address:
One Canon Plaza, Lake Success, NY 11042 - Phone: 516-328-5000
- Email: mediacontact@cusa.canon.com
