Canon Pixma ip8500

[polemistis]

The ip8500 looks like a really sweet printer but it seems that no one has it. Stores like Best Buy and Circuit City aren't selling this model...maybe because it's too high end. I don't know. Further, very few reviews are on the web. I want to know if it lives up to all the hype. Does it make far better prints than the printers that cost half its price? Is it reliable? Would you suggest kepping your old printer to do word processing (etc) or does the 8500 do just fine with that too?

[Rex914]

I'm also looking seriously at getting this printer (which can be had at Comp USA for $299 right now. It's a bit on the high end, but it's done consistently very well in all of the major reviews (CNET, PCMag, Steve's Digicams, some other sources).

You could use the 8500 for normal printing although it's not optimized for that (but it does that faster than all others in its class). I don't know if you could call the print quality "far better" but the colors are definitely more accurate. You couldn't go wrong with the lower end ip4000 and ip5000 printers which sacrifice a little in picture quality but give it back to you in speed and price. It really depends on what you plan on doing. The ip8500 is a letter-sized consumer-oriented i9900 and nothing more.

[polemistis]

For those interested, I did end up buying the pixma IP8500. I was stunned by how realistic the photos actually were. I almost feel like they are better than ones I would get from a store. I am truly satisfied, if you have the money I would recomend it to anyone.