The Canon Pixma iP90v is the 2007 refresh of the Pixma iP90. Aside from support for Windows Vista and an odd reduction in photo print speed, the iP90v is essentially the same product. It even costs the same £150 as the older model. If you already have an iP90, don't worry about upgrading -- this one's not cheap, especially with the add-ons. If you simply must have a tiny inkjet, you'll be pleased with the Pixma iP90v's print speeds and quality.
The compact printer is small enough to slip into a laptop bag, for printing from practically anywhere. For a single-function printer, £150 is pricey, especially when you'll need an additional outlay of cash for the optional battery kits that allow for true 'anywhere' printing. The battery kits will set you back £100. That said, the printer comes equipped with a USB port for printing photos from PictBridge cameras and an IrDA port for wireless printing. If you want to print from a Bluetooth-enabled device such as a laptop or PDA, Canon offers an optional Bluetooth adaptor that you can attach to the PictBridge port.
The iP90v uses the same ink cartridges as the iP90, which cost £18 for a black tank, and £19 for colour direct from Canon. There's also a £20 photo pack, with a colour tank and 100 sheets of 100x150mm (4x6-inch) glossy photo paper.
Like its predecessor, the iP90v offers two alternatives to normal printing. If you're concerned about running out of black ink, you can switch to a Save Black Ink mode (similar to draft) -- the resulting text is a dark grey, as opposed to black. If you've run out of black ink and don't have a replacement cartridge at the ready, you can use the Composite Black mode, which mixes the colours in the colour tank. The resulting text is a light purplish-grey -- not appropriate for formal documents, but a handy option in a pinch.
Finally, in terms of print speeds, the iP90v offers the same speeds, except when it comes to photo printing. It produced black text at a rate of 6.23 pages per minute -- the same as the iP90. When printing colour graphics, the iP90v scored 1.42ppm. We couldn't make direct comparisons between the two models for photo-print speeds, as our methodology changed between testing periods. But the iP90 scored 1.05ppm for a 200x250mm photo print while the iP90v scored a mere 0.68ppm for a 100x150mm photo print -- clearly, the new iP90v is much slower.
(Longer bars indicate better performance)
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4x6 Photo | |
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(Longer bars indicate better performance)
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The iP90v showed slightly improved print quality over the iP90, which makes the slower print speeds more tolerable. The black text prints (on coated inkjet paper) displayed a rich black and consistently formed characters, though close inspection revealed jaggedness on the edges. The graphics print was even better: pleasing colour saturation, smooth gradients and impressive details in the photo elements. The only downside was a slight blue cast to the greyscale elements.
The photo was surprisingly good for what is basically a convenience printer: we liked the smooth colour blocks and sharp details, though the light end of the greyscale was slightly overblown, so we lost some detail in the light areas. Overall, the print speed and quality impressed us.
Edited by Matthew Elliott
Additional editing by Nick Hide
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