Canon PIXMA iP8500 Photo Printer

I had some minor problems with my previous Canon S800 printer, mostly in handling thicker paper (business card stock) so decided to upgrade. I knew I wanted a Canon printer and my choice came down to the iP5000 or the iP8500. I spent a lot of time searching the internet for reviews and talking to Canon tech reps. I got a lot of information but it still left me in a quantry, still between the same two printers.

I think the information I found will be helpful to everyone who's goal is to find the best photo printer. The iP5000 is being pushed by Canon (rightfully so) as new technology, which focuses mainly on the small droplet size of the ink heads (1 Picoliter). The smaller the droplet size the better is the resolution (definition). Although the iP8500 has a 2 Picoliter droplet size, it has 2 additional ink cartridges-red & Green, which just happen to be primary colors. As Canon noted, this gives you an almost infinite range of colors allowing for "true-to-life" color.

My deciding factor was the droplet size of my current S800 -- it is 4 Picoliter. By buying the 8500, I decrease the droplet size, increasing my photo definition 200% and I added a broad range of colors to produce more accurate colors.

But these are just numbers. What was I really going to see and would I appreciate the difference. The answer is a resounding YES!!!!!

I had a picture of an Egret next to a pond. The 8500 changed the color of the water to the truer color as defined by my 19" flat screen monitor. The rocks along the edge of the pound on the S800 photo seemed blurred as if caused by the depth of field while the 8500 photo showed the rocks clear as crystal showing their rough edges.

Another photo of a brilliant California early morning red sky(actually more orange), which I always thought was a brilliant picture paled in comparison to the bright, vivid colors from the 8500.

A comment on the StevesDigicam website on this subject said: "...the iP8500 prints show a visibly wider color gamut than those printed with 6 or 5 color photo printers. Noticeably more vibrant are the reds and greens and the ability to reproduce varying shades of orange that prove difficult to impossible on the other inkjet printers".

Bottom Line: If you're an avid photographer and want your prints to accurately represent the quality of your photo equipment (I have a digital Rebel), I highly recommend the Canon iP8500.

I hope this information is helpful to your selection.

J. Morrison I've encountered this driver (won't install) problem before with several other Canon printers. The issue has to do with Canon's idiotic insistence on making the driver (and Easy Photo Print) install via Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser only. If Mozilla's Firefox or Safari or any other non-Internet Explorer browser is set as your default browser, the printer will not install. Canon's website is equally IE-centric and horrible to navigate if you don't use Internet Explorer. Nowhere on their site or within the installation instructions does it tell yout that you must use IE to load the drivers and software. This is inexcusable in 2005. Make sure you let them know how irritated this situation makes you.

Anyway, to solve the problem, temporarily set IE as your default browser and then install the drivers. This worked like a charm for me with the Canon s9000, i560, i960 and i9900. When you're all done, return to your regularly scheduled default browser. :)

No need for a long wordy review. The Printer is simply the best.
That's it. Just buy it!!!

I read all the great reviews of this printer, but had a hard time finding vendors that were stocking it. I don't know if that is because it is selling well or that Canon is not producing many. I finally found a local store (Microcenter) that had it in stock and on demo. After seeing the quality of the prints it made, I bought it on the spot. I have been using an HP 990cse for four years, but it cannot compare to the quality of the ip8500. In addition, the Canon is much faster and quieter.

The only negatives I can mention are the high price of Canon Photo paper and the tendency of the printer to rock the printer stand pretty hard. The print head with 8 cartridges is pretty massive compared to the overall printer, and since it prints very fast, the acceleration and deceleration forces push it around fairly violently. The solution is to put the printer on a very sturdy support. In my case, it is sitting on a printer stand on a well-padded berber carpet, so it wobbles a bit when printing. This is a small price to pay for this wonderfully performing printer.

I ordered this printer after seeing a co-worker's photos from his older model Canon. I currently have an HP Photosmart, and have been relatively happy. But after seeing my co-worker's pictures, I decided to look into these Canon printers. After researching the different models, I decided on the 8500, due to the 8 ink tanks and advanced speeds. My husband was very skeptical since there is nothing wrong with our HP 1315, and felt it was unnecessary to buy a new printer. Nevertheless, there was no talking me out of it! Well, he and I just hooked up the Canon 8500 and printed out a 4 x 6 and we both went into shock. It is AMAZING! My husband said, "Are you kidding me???" when he saw the picture. He said, "Let's go show your dad" and ran downstairs. My dad, who is very selective with his photos said, "Now that is quite impressive!" Honestly, it looks like it was printed at a professional photo lab.

Other than the outstanding picture quality, I think it's very easy to use, and is quieter than the HP. I also printed out a few text only pages and they were great too.

I can't imagine anyone being disappointed in this printer. It's an A+