Canon PIXMA iP8500 Photo Printer

The first printer I received was defective. I returned it and received another that was defective. I did not return this one to Amazon, but to Canon, and now I have one that works. The printer itself is totally awesome with great features and the quality of the photo is exceptional. I think Amazon just received a bad lot of them, but, to Amazon's credit, the returns were easy and when I let them know they seemed to have a defective lot, they said they took them off the virtual shelf. Great printer, but make sure it's not from the bad lot, that was frustrating and took hours of my time trying to trouble-shoot.

I just took up digital photography: new camera, new printer, new scanner, new Photoshop Elements 3. So my learning curve is real high right now. The Canon 8500 has been terrific. I set it up and had it running in under a half hour. I'm already getting 8x10's that are every bit as good or better that those from a commercial developer. I don't use it every day but when I do, it is right on the money from the first print. Most of my text printing is for my own use and in draft mode. I get this from the 8500 looking great. I haven't begun to learn how to do all it can do. But I wanted to let newbies who want a bit of a higher end product know that this one is the perfect pick. I can't see how anyone could be unhappy with this printer!

The printer works very well. The color quality is very accurate. The photo prints are definitely photo quality. The setup was easy. I have scanned hand-drawn colored-pencil sketches. My scanner is a very good quality and creates a very accurate image. The printer also prints the image very accurately. I would definitely recommend this printer.

The Canon PIXMA iP8500 Photo Printer performed as per the specification printing excellent photos on various thpes of photo paper. The Canon Photo Paper Pro was the best, but a few others were very close. The text printed very well also. This printer was an excellent purchase!

In reading 4 different photo mags, I was looking to buy the R800. But after looking at the reviews on this site, I changed my mind in a hurry. I'm a take a picture and when I have time I will look at them, adjust and print what few I want type of person.

From what I have gathered on the internet, the R800 uses pigment ink, which has a tendency to clog the printhead if you don't use it on a regular basis. This means you can burn up your printhead and it is not replaceable. So if you don't print all the time, which I don't, then pigment based printers are not the way to go. Don't take my word for this, this is what the reviews on this site and on other ones are saying.

I am very impressed with the quality of print. Everyone I show pictures to cannot believe they are not from a professional photo store. The black doesn't have that stamped look to it and my colors are very true from monitor to screen which my other printer had a big problem with. OK, I had a Lexmark Z45 so there is an apple and oranges comparison going on. Also the 2 picoliter dot printing, as opposed to the "huge" 7 picoliter on the Lexmark did not help either.

The 8 color cartridges are another big plus. Just replace the ones that run out of ink. What a money saver. And from what I can gather on different internet sites this printer is not an ink hog like some (LEXMARK).

Truly an excellent printer for the home printer. IMHO.