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 Home photo printers have been serving up large, high-quality prints for years. Portables, though, have always meant compromising either print size or quality. Until now. Canon’s new Pixma iP90 ($220 street) isn’t much bigger than a dedicated 4x6 printer, but it can give you up to letter-sized prints anywhere. Are the prints any good? Yes!
How do they do it? For one thing, this is Canon’s first portable printer with a Full-photolithography Inkjet Nozzle Engineering (FINE) print head—the same kind used in Canon’s larger photo printers. The higher level of ink control, plus an impressively small 2-picoliter drop size, create a wider gradation from darker to lighter colors. Color accuracy is also excellent (Avg. Delta E: 7.02) when printing on Canon’s Photo Paper Pro and using the provided color profiles. We produced prints rivaling most minilabs, though darker colors were a bit muddy compared with prints from 6- and 8-ink desktop units.
It’s also not as fast as a desktop machine. Borderless 8.5x11s took 8 min 20 sec, while bordered 8x10s took 7 min 7 sec. Borderless 4x6s: 3 min 48 sec; bordered 4x6s: 3 min 7 sec. The unit is noisier than most home printers. But you won’t notice if you’re printing photos from your laptop in an airport, or on the sideline of your kid’s soccer game. Both are possible with the optional battery pack ($130 street).
A USB connector allows PictBridge direct printing from compatible digital cameras. And the IrDA port provides a wireless interface for similarly equipped cell phone cameras.
Sure, you could get even better prints from a desktop unit for about the same cost. But if desk space is an issue or you’re looking for a portable 8.5x11-inch-capable photo printer, this Canon should make you happy.
For info: www.canonusa.com; 800-423-2366.
What's Hot
• Excellent color accuracy.
• Battery-powered printing.
• Wireless printing with camera phones.
What's Not
• Slow print speeds.
• Three colors = muddy shadows.
• Louder than most desktop printers.
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