Summary: Professional looking pics!!!!!
Comment: I am absolutely amazed and impressed with the i860. Canon includes all the ink and a few sheets of their photo paper pro so that you can print out photos from the get go. I gave it a whirl and not only was it simple, the photos came out looking like processed film photos! I was so excited I showed them to my husband and he agreed, even on the lowest setting for standard photo prints, the prints looked awesome!
The camera I am currently using is the Fuji Finepix S3000. Excellent camera, that takes excellent photos. The end result used in conjuction with this printer is professional looking photos.
Beyond photo printing, regular printing is awesome too. I used cheap paper from Walmart to print out everyday stuff and it looks great. I haven't had it long enough to know how quickly the ink will go, but the ink cartridges for this are very cheap in comparison to others, plus with individual tanks, you only replace the color that is empty. Plus, there are also many different remanufactured cartridges out there for this printer, so you can get ink very cheaply.
I would recommend this printer to ANYONE I know. I really am enjoying it and am always looking for things to print!!!!
Customer Rating:
Summary: A very nice printer but....
Comment: A very nice printer but it's already obsolete. Canon is replacing this model (i860) with the soon to be released PIXMA iP4000 Photo Printer. The iP4000 will be even faster and feature automatic duplex printing. The iP4000 will have the same street price $149 USD. Hopefully, the quality of the iP4000 will exceed that of the i860 but its anyone's guess at this point. If you're considering the i860 I'd suggest that you wait a month until the iP4000 is released especially now since the $30 rebate on the i860 has expired (July 17). The other option is buying the i960 instead. Decisions, decisions...
Customer Rating:
Summary: Impressive Printer
Comment: I purchased this printer based on the top Consumers Reports rating it received plus the excellent reviews I've read of Amazon's customers reviews. Believe me, all the good comments about this printer are right on. It has worked perfectly and prints outstanding documents. I have not yet ventured into printing photo prints, but with the recent purchase of a digital camera, I am confident it will produce the excellent results I expect. Without hestitation, I endorse all the 5 star ratings this printer has received. Purchase with confidence.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Rapid advances in color printing
Comment: I formerly had a Canon S820 photo printer (6 inks). I can tell you that the i960 prints faster, lightning text, and even the photo quality is significantly superior. As all have said, the quality of the output is fantastic. For most people I doubt you would need the extra 2 inks of the i960, unless you are very picky (and that printer doesn't have the extra "black" black ink reservoir for regular text. I also love the auto on/off capability - no more hitting the power button!
My only very minor complaint is that if the regular paper is very full, the 4x6 tray can cause the paper not to feed. But it is great to have the option of 4x6 photo paper always ready to go without changing out the regular text printing paper. Go get this printer!!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Great printer!
Comment: I've had this printer for just under a month now and have to say that it's just wonderful! After my HP stopped working (it was about 10 years old), I was in search of a new printer that was affordable, but still high quality. I found it in my i860!
This printer is almost perfect. It's fast (23 ppm, even though I never printed that much), quiet, and the pictures it prints are gorgeous!! Everyone I showed them to couldn't tell the difference from a real picture. The ink tanks are reasonable, and you only throw away the ones that are empty - saving more money in the long run. Using the 'sample' cartridges that came with the printer, I've printed at least 15 4x6" pictures, and 2 8x10", as well as at least half a dozen CD labels (full color, not just writing on white), and a few documents... AND THEY STILL HAVEN'T RUN OUT!
The reason I said almost perfect is because of 2 downsides: #1 - you have to buy a USB cable separately. Given, you can pick one up for $6 or less, but that's like buying a kid a toy for his birthday and not getting the batteries - it's useless. I found out that after I bought the USB cable that it does work with a parallel port, which I happened to already have. I used the USB anyway. #2 - Like many other reviewers said, Canon paper is a must for photos!!! Trust me, it doesn't look any different from other paper, but it is. Pictures I printed on HP paper came out grainy. It was almost as bad as printing on my 600 dpi HP. I followed the same picture up with Canon paper, and as I said earlier, no one knew it wasn't a photo. The paper is reasonable, only $7.00 for 50 sheets (This is a sale, so it might go up).
If it wasn't for those 2 things, this would be a 5-star. I almost rated it 5 anyway. If you buy this printer, you will not be disappointed.