Canon Pixma iP8500 user reviews

Geogaddi 11 January 2009

Good: The first 9 months of owning it.

Bad: how it has performed ever since.

Comment: The IP8500 performed admirably for the first 9 months but started to age very quickly after this point. If you want to invest in a printer that will last you a good few years, then from personal experience I’d go for a high-end Epson (for print and image quality) or HP (slightly reduced print quality, but excellent build quality).

After only 12 months owning this printer, I’m now at the stage with this Canon that I was with my old Epson’s and HP’s after several years of faithful service. It’s starting to streak, requiring constant deep-cleans, jamming etc... all the typical signs that something’s in its decline. Considering the fact this printer is only a few months old, that’s pretty bad!

The other complaint I have about this printer is the sheer speed it gets through ink! As I’ve mentioned, I’ve been a Canon and HP user previously and both were fairly sparing with ink usage, especially the HP; but this printer chews through ink cartridges like they’re going out of fashion! I mainly attribute this to the fact that this printer is continually doing auto-cleans; and I do mean ALL the time, after every few pages of print, it’s auto-cleaning, a process that wastes ink and a lot of time!

The problem here is that consumer market wants everything for nothing, thereby forcing even very respectable companies to make everything out of nothing. So I don’t totally blame Canon for the build quality of this printer, but once you get past the shiny exterior and try to live with this printer for a few months, you realise you’ve bought a sheep in wolves clothing.

I’m heading back to HP, sorry, but regardless of the fact that I may be sacrificing a tiny improvement in colour accuracy, they just work! They’re reliable and because every HP cartridge comes with brand new print-heads there’s no need for continual head-cleaning.