Canon PIXMA IP4850 Review

“The Canon Pixma IP4850 is the latest incarnation of a...”

Written on: 07/12/2010 by TonySomerset (13 reviews written)

The Canon Pixma IP4850 is the latest incarnation of a long running dedicated bubble jet printer aimed at the HomeOffice market. It is almost identical to my elderly IP4000 that I had to retire, very slight styling changes. Now I know I am a bit nerdy about my printing but I do love the instant duplex priting on both sides, the borderless printing that it copes with superbly and the twin cassettes, so I can instantly print either on draft(re-cycled)paper for all those web sites that spew out multiple pages or switch to best quality paper for those final letters, all without changing or moving anything. Have not got round to printing direct onto DVD's yet, but I sure it will cope well as with everything else. So far brilliant, just what I want from a printer.

This latest model unfortunately begins to answer my puzzle as to why it is so cheap to buy, cheaper than to get the ink remover replaced on my old machine. What they have tinkered with on this model is the ink cartridges, same machine, to all intents and purposes, but different, smaller cartridges at, more or less, the same price. You get the drift. Each Xmas I do lot of heavy printing of, more or less, similar material. This year my ink cartridge usage has doubled, if not trebled. That is a huge increase in print costs, yes finer dots, better quality but treble the cost?

So on that basis, despite the real advantages for a print nerd, look elsewhere, this is the end of the Pixma road. Priced themselves out.