Customer Rating: 
Summary: excellent printing; 4x6 tray has been difficult
Comment: The printer prints great. The only nag I have is that the 4x6 feeder doesn't load properly on my machine about half the time. It got to the point where I just use the standard loader all the time, even for small paper.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Great printer...just one problem
Comment: This is a great printer that prints very quickly. I haven't had it for long. So far I've printed text and baby shower announcements. The announcements were perfect when put on high quality printing and not bad when put on normal quality. The text bleeds a little on normal documents but maybe someone can suggest a fix for this. I haven't had a chance to print photos yet but I'm confident it will produce quality results.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Fantastic printer that can print web pages perfectly, too
Comment: After using Epson printers for several years, I became increasingly frustrated with each printer's inability to print well on the first try. Invariably, the printer would clog while turned off and then would print poorly at first. I ended up wasting pages of expensive photo paper while trying to get a good print.
I finally made the decision to switch to Canon when I talked to someone who had bought the i860. No matter how long the printer sits turned off, when I turn it on it prints perfectly on the first attempt. The ink distribution is exactly what I expect for every print. I find no surprises when I need to print quickly and go; quality prints are delivered right away every time.
Regarding photos, the i860 is essentially a home-based photo lab. Using Canon glossy photo paper I obtains results indistinguishable from such labs. The colors are rich and even throughout the pictures printed. I have heard that other photo papers do not produce optimal results in Canon printers, so I rely on Canon papers to do the job.
If you often want your pictures in 4x6, the i860 conveniently accepts that size (along with 5x7, 8x10, and even 8.5x11) for borderless prints. You will no longer need to trim your printouts to remove the white parts of the paper. Just buy the paper size that you want; the printer will do the rest of the work.
For text, this printer does a very good job. I've never had any problems with the text quality of any of its printouts, and I examine the text carefully. Even if I wanted a printer primarily for text purposes, I would still buy this printer.
On the software side, I really like the printer driver that ships with the i860. It allows the user to print web pages perfectly. The pictures and text are shrunk just enough to fit such that the printout is as expected given the web page's design. With other printers (which use other drivers, of course) I find that text runs off the paper after I print a web page. Or the graphics are shoved down to a different page. No such problems are incurred with the Canon i860.
This printer is also the fastest I've ever owned. Photos and web pages print out very quickly. Plain text is lightning quick. I have no speed complaints here.
If I had to point out a flaw in this great product by Canon, the flaw would lie in the printer's rather cheap feel due to the plastic parts. The attached trays feel as if they could break in my hands were I not careful in handling them. I find this minor annoyance almost insignificant given the printer's superb print quality and convenient drivers -- no matter which type of printing I need. I highly recommend it to anyone.
Customer Rating:
Summary: takes awhile for 1st page to print, also a little too large
Comment: Other than those, it works fine.
Customer Rating:
Summary: This printer rocks!
Comment: Before I bought this printer I had a couple of HP printers through the years. Oh, the humanity! Don't get me wrong, Mr. Hewlett and Mr. Packard are probably upright citizens, but their printers are a curse from Lucifer and I'd sooner carve my documents into marble slabs with a toy hammer and chisel than buy another one of their printers. But enough about that. I bought the Canon i860 printer around Christmas 2003 and have been nothing but THRILLED with it. It prints speedily (once it gets all juiced up, which does take a couple of moments), prints incredible photographs, and I still haven't had to change any ink cartridges (almost 10 months later!). This is saying quite a lot since I've gone on several photograph printing sprees over the months. On top of all that, the printer looks cool. I will say that it seems a bit large for what it does, but It's nothing you'd have to build an addition onto the house for. How often you have to change ink cartridges is relative to how much you'll be printing, but I can say that these have lasted way longer than those garbage HP cartridges ever did. I'll update this review if anything stinky crops up with the i860, but all's great with it so far. Purchase this bad boy!
Summary: excellent printing; 4x6 tray has been difficult
Comment: The printer prints great. The only nag I have is that the 4x6 feeder doesn't load properly on my machine about half the time. It got to the point where I just use the standard loader all the time, even for small paper.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Great printer...just one problem
Comment: This is a great printer that prints very quickly. I haven't had it for long. So far I've printed text and baby shower announcements. The announcements were perfect when put on high quality printing and not bad when put on normal quality. The text bleeds a little on normal documents but maybe someone can suggest a fix for this. I haven't had a chance to print photos yet but I'm confident it will produce quality results.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Fantastic printer that can print web pages perfectly, too
Comment: After using Epson printers for several years, I became increasingly frustrated with each printer's inability to print well on the first try. Invariably, the printer would clog while turned off and then would print poorly at first. I ended up wasting pages of expensive photo paper while trying to get a good print.
I finally made the decision to switch to Canon when I talked to someone who had bought the i860. No matter how long the printer sits turned off, when I turn it on it prints perfectly on the first attempt. The ink distribution is exactly what I expect for every print. I find no surprises when I need to print quickly and go; quality prints are delivered right away every time.
Regarding photos, the i860 is essentially a home-based photo lab. Using Canon glossy photo paper I obtains results indistinguishable from such labs. The colors are rich and even throughout the pictures printed. I have heard that other photo papers do not produce optimal results in Canon printers, so I rely on Canon papers to do the job.
If you often want your pictures in 4x6, the i860 conveniently accepts that size (along with 5x7, 8x10, and even 8.5x11) for borderless prints. You will no longer need to trim your printouts to remove the white parts of the paper. Just buy the paper size that you want; the printer will do the rest of the work.
For text, this printer does a very good job. I've never had any problems with the text quality of any of its printouts, and I examine the text carefully. Even if I wanted a printer primarily for text purposes, I would still buy this printer.
On the software side, I really like the printer driver that ships with the i860. It allows the user to print web pages perfectly. The pictures and text are shrunk just enough to fit such that the printout is as expected given the web page's design. With other printers (which use other drivers, of course) I find that text runs off the paper after I print a web page. Or the graphics are shoved down to a different page. No such problems are incurred with the Canon i860.
This printer is also the fastest I've ever owned. Photos and web pages print out very quickly. Plain text is lightning quick. I have no speed complaints here.
If I had to point out a flaw in this great product by Canon, the flaw would lie in the printer's rather cheap feel due to the plastic parts. The attached trays feel as if they could break in my hands were I not careful in handling them. I find this minor annoyance almost insignificant given the printer's superb print quality and convenient drivers -- no matter which type of printing I need. I highly recommend it to anyone.
Customer Rating:
Summary: takes awhile for 1st page to print, also a little too large
Comment: Other than those, it works fine.
Customer Rating:
Summary: This printer rocks!
Comment: Before I bought this printer I had a couple of HP printers through the years. Oh, the humanity! Don't get me wrong, Mr. Hewlett and Mr. Packard are probably upright citizens, but their printers are a curse from Lucifer and I'd sooner carve my documents into marble slabs with a toy hammer and chisel than buy another one of their printers. But enough about that. I bought the Canon i860 printer around Christmas 2003 and have been nothing but THRILLED with it. It prints speedily (once it gets all juiced up, which does take a couple of moments), prints incredible photographs, and I still haven't had to change any ink cartridges (almost 10 months later!). This is saying quite a lot since I've gone on several photograph printing sprees over the months. On top of all that, the printer looks cool. I will say that it seems a bit large for what it does, but It's nothing you'd have to build an addition onto the house for. How often you have to change ink cartridges is relative to how much you'll be printing, but I can say that these have lasted way longer than those garbage HP cartridges ever did. I'll update this review if anything stinky crops up with the i860, but all's great with it so far. Purchase this bad boy!