The Proof is In the Printing Cont'd
Regular text printing was not spectacular. Our standard fonts test page printed out ok, but fonts were only really legible down to 8pt. Anything below had noticeable running of the ink so that letters appeared fuzzy edged and unclean. Even at the 8, and 10pt font sizes, it is obvious the text was printed on an inkjet. In general, the black printed out on the S800 isnt as rich and dark as wed like to see, especially in large blocks such as with bolded header fonts.
We clocked around 26 seconds a page for black and white plain text printouts, or just over 2 pages per minute. In our more grueling speed test, which made use of a PDF with mixed graphics and text, the S800 was averaging 39 seconds a page, or around 1.5 pages per minute. For comparison, a laser printer on this second test will usually come within 15% of its rated speed, so an 8ppm printer will usually do 6.5+ppm.
I guess the final draw of Canons Genuine Inks is the longevity of your prints. Canon claims that their tests found that colour prints on Photo Paper Pro lasted up to 25 years, when placed behind glass (such as in a picture frame). This means that photoquality printouts from the S800 should have competitive "shelf" lives and should last a long time, when cared for properly and placed in the proper conditions.
Bundled and Standard
Bundled with the printer are Canons ZoomFX browser for PC, or ImageBrowser for Mac, and PhotoRecord printing software. The ZoomFX browser will be familiar to Canon digital camera owners, and is a so-so photo management software with limited editing capabilities. The PhotoRecord component makes it extremely easy to print out to the various paper types that you are likely to use. I found it extremely convenient printing with this software combination, and unlike printouts from incompatible or unpredictable software, all results came up exactly as expected.
Also included in the package is a ZIO CompactFlash card reader by Microtech ($25 on the net). This neat standalone reader plugs directly into a USB port and reads CF Type I and II cards. It even comes with an extension cord in case your USB ports are only in the back of the computer.
A Great Multi-use Colour Printer
The S800 is a great multi-purpose colour printer. I say colour printer because plain text quality and speed is not up to the levels of even the most budget efficient laser printers out there. Printouts on plain paper isnt photographic in quality, but we found the prints to be sufficiently good for colour graphs and illustrations for presentations, reports, or papers. For photo printing, the combination of Canons superb Photo Paper Pro, or their other photo quality papers, and the 6 ink Think Tank system, led to some astounding photographic prints. There is no doubt that prints from the S800 will be well treasured for a long time to come.
Overall Score: 86%
Find the lowest Prices on the Net for the Canon S800 Colour Bubble Jet Photo Printer
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