Apple Reviews

This printer replaces an older HP color ink jet for me. Installation was quick and easy using my USB 2.0, the printer is backwards compatable with the slower USB 1.1 ports. The USB 2.0 is about 20 times faster than the older USB version 1.1 ports.

The printer includes six ink cartridges, software, and two different cables to connect directly to Canon cameras but not the needed USB cable to connect the printer to the computer. A nice feature is the included media adapters that will take your camera memory and plug them into the printer's PCMCIA port. My package included a Canon adapter for CompactFlash and another by Dazzle that works for four different types including SmartMedia.

The prints are simply beautiful using the sample of five sheets of included glossy paper. The colors are accurate and sharp. The 4x6 frameless prints take less than a minute to print out, 30 minutes to completely dry and they recommend 24 hours before putting them under glass or in an album.

The printer can be used without a computer connected to it using the LCD screen on the righthand side of the machine and a camera's memory card. The image adapter available for [X] connects to a port on the top of the printer to allow you to preview pictures when used to print without the computer.

It took a lot of searching before I decided to purchase a good printer and this one is a great one. The pictures are clear and they print fast. I showed them to friends and didn't tell them that I printed them at home and they were very surprised when I told them. Spend the extra money and get a good printer. This printer also include photo ink, which is really needed for a clean print. Make sure you also get the right paper.

I acquired an S830D recently.

You don't need the auxiliary screen to print directly from the memory card slot.

To access the cropping capabilities, yes, you need a screen or a compatible camera, but not to print from a memory card. Inserting a memory card (and I've used both CompactFlash and SmartMedia from both Canon and Olympus cameras) causes the S830D to go into a mode that activates automatic print functions on the printer control board. You can print an index sheet of thumbnail images, print all images in a wide variety of multi-print-per-page formats, selected prints using the index and vary the print media and quality from plain paper to Photo Paper Pro.

I have been very happy with both the color and the contrast produced by the printer with no computer intervention.

As for the rest of the printer's features, photo lab quality, good ink economy, fast and quiet operation.

This is the best printer I have ever owned.

Great software for the novice. Easy to use, easy to make prints. Does not have all the bells and whistles as the more expensive photo software, but if you just want to print pictures, simple picture modifications, make funny photos, cards, and do not want to spend hours trying to figure out how to use the software; then this one is perfect.

I'm reasonably happy with how this printer performs in general, and it does the job as a quick and dirty copier.

However, I was extremely disappointed that Canon apparently doesn't have the slightest intention of writing MacOS X native printer drivers for it. As a workaround, I print my documents to a PDF file and then run Acrobat in the Classic environment to print from there. MacOS X PDF support is excellent, so this works quite well.

Nevertheless, given Canon's disgraceful lack of support, I doubt that I'll ever buy a Canon printer again.

The versatility and light-weight, compact design of this machine made it practically irresistible to an iMac man like me. But after experiencing some communication problems between the printer and my computer, and then noticing that the product is absent from the catalogs of most Macintosh dealers, I was able to determine that the Canon 545 uses a conversion cable for USB compatibility. The Canon 555, on the other hand, comes with "hard-wired", built-in USB capability. Only slightly larger and a few dollars more than the 545, the 555 may be the better bet for most Mac users, at least in this price range.

I am a Mac G3 user and for the price and all the functions this machine performs, I think it is great. I have space restraints and this is the smallest of the multifuntion machines. Probably the only thing I don't love is the quality of the printing, although if you instruct your computer to print on best quality (which is slow) the quality is much better!

I've been looking for a while to replace my lagging Lexmark printer. I found a great deal on this Canon printer. I checked the reviews, which were mostly very favorable. I purchased it without hesitation. I'm glad I did.

It does not come with a USB cable, so expect to purchase one. It does come with a sample pack of 5 - 4x6 Canon picture paper, so you don't even need to purchase paper first to test it out. And it does come with a cartriage of color and black ink, both need to be installed. In addition, the cost of the ink is lower than many other printers, ranging about $10 a cartriage.

The software is very nice, so far. You open up their picture printer program. Select the photo(s) you want to print, then you choose from the paper types, from 4x6 to 8-1/2x11 and then how you want the photo(s) printed, ie with/without a border. Pretty much just a three step process.

The results? OY! The pictures are really fantastic. Now I must state that the quality of the print will be based more on the quality of the picture (jpeg/gif/bmp) you are printing. For example, I took a jpeg that I had from my website. In order to use it on my website, I needed to cut the resolution down. When I printed the that picture (4x6), there was a noticable grain to the photo quality. This is not in any way the fault of the printer. When I took a similar jpeg and printed it at its original resolution, the quality was as if I got the picture from a photo store. I decided to take a high resolution jped, about 12 MB, and print it 8-1/2x11. The quality was excellent. I won't say it was perfect. Upon close inspection, ie staring right in front of it, you'll notice slight indications that it was printed, however, I couldn't guarantee that you could go to a photo store and get a better quality image reproduction. However, from just casually looking at the picture, the quality is excellent.

The speed is pretty nice, about 1 4x6 in 40 seconds. Normal print outs are obviously faster, though I haven't done much with that. One other thing to bring, the paper feeder seems very reliable. My Lexmark needed to be manually feed, one sheet at a time, to print and that was such a hassle. However, this printer has a great feeder.

Overall, this product is excellent. Remember to get a USB cable to go along with it.

Good price. Cheapest overall cost of ownership because inkjets are cheaper than any HP or Epson and last a very long time (don't worry about it having 1 color cartridge vs. 3 or more separate color cartridges, it's still very cheap). Photo quality comparable to lab. Very good text on plain paper, even in draft mode, and better than Canon i850. Graphics (webpages and photoshop images) are better than i850. Get this over the Canon i850 UNless you're going to print more photos than text (the i850 is slightly better but only under intense scrutiny). Also, this printer can take different kinds of camera media (cf, sm) while the i850 can't. Had it for a month, no problems whatsoever. For the cost of photo quality paper & ink get this printer, otherwise go to a photolab to get your digital pictures printed.

This printer has been great. Bought it for $50, after a $50 instant/in-store rebate. The black ink cartridges are inexpensive and longer lasting than my previous, and costly, BJ-100 cartridges. The printer is fairly quiet and prints at an acceptable speed. So far the print quality (black & color) has been excellent. I have yet to use it for any photo pics though - so can't comment there.

This was a great printer...Crisp clear graphics and text. But it just recently started printing "foggy" lots of fuzzy text. Then the black stopped printing altogether. The color printed fine but NO BLACK. Not exactly helpful for printing papers. Canon help desk was very quick getting back to me about the problem. Probably a bad print head, but it should be taken to a fixit shop to get checked out. Fixit shop wants $75 just to look at it, which is applied to the first hour of labor if we have it fixed. Print head runs about $45. I can buy a whole new one for that! I would by a Canon again but definately get the extended warranty.

Buy the comparable ink from Carrot Ink.com. Cost alot less. Refilling doesn't not work with Canon. This was my 2nd Canon and refilling the cartridges didn't work with either.

I'm happy with the print quality from this printer for pictures (and the borderless option is great), but I've found that the printer utility software has too many limitations. You can not fine tune the settings to get the machine to print the way you want it too. Even when you select the manual adjustment setting, it often will not allow you to switch to the highest quality settings, etc. Another limitation is that the ink levels have to be reset manually every time you install a new cartridge. With my old Epson printer the controls could easily be adjusted in the software, and the ink levels were automatically read and adjusted by the software...no manual resets required.

My other complaint with this printer is that it seems to make a lot of extra "noises". The actual printing is relatively quiet, but when it's not printing it will sit there and make all kinds of noises like it's processing information or something. My old (4 yr.+) Epson printer was much "louder" as far as the physical printing, but at least when it wasn't printing it didn't make extra noises.

Luckily I got this printer for free thanks to a rebate offer, but had I actually paid for this printer, I would have returned it. I would recommend going with an Epson printer over this one based on the utility software performance alone. However, for novice users who just want to print pretty pictures and word processing files, they'd probably be pretty happy with this printer.

after reading about several different printers, i settled for this one and am absolutely amazed at the awesome print quality!!! I've never had a photo image look better than a film processed picture EVER!!!! Every pic turns out great and you can't beat the price of the ink cartridge.. approximately $7 for black and $18 for color.. THE TANKS LAST FOREVER AND I'M used to paying double for my old Lexmark cartridges... THROW YOUR OLD PRINTER IN THE GARBAGE AND RUN TO BUY THIS PRINTER!! AWESOME!!!!!

let me address this "noise" issue i've read in other reviews.. this printer is extremely quiet compared to my Lexmark z-22... i wouldn't consider it a loud printer at all... it does shuffle when it's done printing a page, but it's hardly noticeable.. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS PRINTER!!!!!

I bought this printer because (1) it is CUTE!, (2) Relatively inexpensive, (3) FAST (10 ppm b&w, 7 ppm color), (4) Canon (one of the TOP 3). I went home and found out that the ink runs out really quick. So have plenty of back-up ( I recommend at least two). The printer is small and cute and looks perfect next to an I-nmc or in a dorm. I live in a dorm and it looks so good that others look at it and think it is a stereo.

The bad:
noisy. shaky. feeder to the printer can run amuck and cause havoc (watch the printing process, don't run to the bathroom or answer the phone while printing).
It is very very very light. So of course, when printing, the table or something shakes. Something's gotta give, right?
The color is decent. Not as great as a S300 (my roommate's) or an Epson c60. But it is very decent (I'd compare it to a S200).

I do like the price. But the ink will run you an average of [a considerable amount]a year if you are a student. I am one, and I've bought one extra one already, and it has ONLY been two months.

I would LOVE to recommend this to all. Especially the female computer users. But there are quite a bit of setbacks and it will ultimately frustrate a buyer. Buyer Beware.

This printer is a steal for the price i got it (30 bucks after rebate). The quality is about the same as the other printers in its class. Ive only printed on regular paper, so i cant comment on the photo capabilities. Another plus is that the ink is extremely cheap compared to hp or epson. Others claimed that speed was slow, but on plain paper it wasnt bad. Now to the bad sides. THIS PRINTER IS EXTREMELY LOUD!! I makes noise when u turn it on, makes more noise when you print, and when u turn it off it also makes a bunch of noise. You will definitely wake someone up if you print at night. Also, no cable provided. No biggie since almost all other companies dont supply cables, and they only cost 6 bucks online. Lastly the stupid installation cd didnt recognize its own printer. When I chose to manually installed it, USB wasnt even an option. What I did was install it as a LPT1 printer then change it to USB in win xp control panel. Lots of downsides with this printer, but at the price I got it for I can live with them. I dont think this printer may be worth it once the rebate is gone though.

Installation:
Installation was a snap. Remove the unit from the box and the packaging tape that protects the unit's vital parts. Install the two inkjet cartridges provided, then install the power cord. Power up the unit and install the driver provided on a cd. The whole operation took around 5-10 minutes. REMEMBER that you will need to purchase a USB cable if you don't have one already. Next, I aligned the printer heads, which was fairly easy to do with the provided illustrations. Now, you're ready to print.

Performance:
The unit is no speed demon , however it's quick enough to get the job done and looks good doing it. It's amazing how good this printer is for such a low price. My first printer was a laser unit, because I couldn't stand the print quality of inkjets. The text print quality and image print quality really demonstrates how much better inkjets are today. The print quality is just as good or even better than my 600 dpi laser printer.

Pros:
Cheap price

Looks nice sitting on the desk
Good print quality
Compact size

Cons:
No USB cable provided
Not super fast

Conclusion:
Great inkjet printer for those on a really tight budget

This scanner is to be held to be believed. It is extremely light and small. It is powered through the USB port. I carry it with my laptop whereever I go in case I need to scan something.

The downside of lightness is that the scans take an extremely long time. This makes it usesless for scanning multiple pages at a time. It'll drive you nuts if you try.

The newer versions of this printer may be faster.

I myself will get a larger but faster Epson scanner to carry with me.

This is a terrific scanner. The setup was incredibly easy -- plug it into the USB port and that's it! No outlet plug is needed (and when you've got multiple peripherals and a computer making demands on your wall outlet, that is a great feature). You don't even have to reboot the computer. The scanner is slim and very light.

The software setup was quick and bug-free. The software included with the scanner is easy to figure out and use, and it allows you to make subtle corrections to the picture as well as apply many special effects.

Depending on the footprint of the item you're scanning, it can take from about 8 seconds for a photograph to about 30 seconds for an 8-1/2 by 11 inch page with photography and text. The scanner runs very quietly, which I value highly.

I run this scanner off a PowerMac G4, using it mainly for photos to be placed on the Web. I've also used it to scan in text. I have been extremely happy with it, and would recommend it without hesitation.

I bought this scanner in an emergency to replace my office scanner and fell in love. I scan photos for print publication and normally only need a clear picture at 200 dpi, while I often pump up the resolution depending on size requirements for the final layout. This scanner not only produced great looking images, it produced them faster than any other scanner I have ever used. Previews take seconds and large scans only take a few minutes whereas my old "pro" scanner would give me enough time to take a coffee break. I have used this scanner on my Athlon 600mhz, at work on my Apple G3 and at home on my wife's AMD 333mhz and had the same beatiful results. If I wanted great images I should have known to buy Canon in the first place!

I got this product because I was going to take a Multimeda course at my school, and this was one of the chepest good ones out there. It took a little but to get used to, but in the end it scanned the pictures fast,and was very easy. The software that came with it was great.

Canon's new LiDE 30 is certainly a step up in overall image quality when compared to other slimline scanners, especially for under ... I was surprised at how good this scanner was for the price. Canon's adjustable Z-lid feature, a much-needed scanner improvement, is a must if you scan from bulky sources like books or magazines. All photo and text scans made were very crisp and accurate. (Poorer photos will need futher software manipulation to improve their quality beyond the originals.) No power cord--power drawn through the USB cable from the computer--and the lightweight portability of this scanner make it ideal for use with laptops. It can even be set up vertically if space is a problem. The only real drawback to the Canon LiDE 30 is that's it's a bit slow--20 seconds (approx.) for a 4" x 5" photo. Still, in this price range and for a 1200 x 2400 scanner, that's faster than most of the other models at this price. Like most included software packages, the software that comes with the LiDE 30 is adequate for most home uses--though no doubt some can benefit from other scanner software packages available in the aftermarket. If your scanning needs are modest-to-moderate, and your budget demands tight, this is definitely the scanner for you. The best, bar none, in terms of over all quality in this price range that's been offered to consumers up to now.

1. Software installation was easy and straightforward.
2. Connecting the scanner to the computer was easy.
3. Full color preview took 20 seconds.
4. Full color scan took 60 seconds (file size was 18 MB).
5. The scanner is extremely light, and thin.

I just scanned a color photo I am really impressed with the scan quality. I highly recommend this scanner for any home user or general business user. Since I just hooked it up 15 minutes ago, I gave it 4 stars because I don't know how durable it is. For the {money} I paid I am extremely satisfied with the Canon LiDe 30. My other scanner is a SCSI UMAX 1260, which is a 3 pass color scanner, I bought in 1995 for {a higher price}.

* I have read reviews from users who said the scanner is extremely slow, and others who said it was fast (as it is on my computer). This difference is caused by the USB version (1.0 or 2.0) that is installed in your motherboard BIOS. To really appreciate this scanner, make sure your computer motherboard BIOS is running USB 2.0!

This scanner is small, sleek and attractive. It comes with a stand that holds the scanner upright on its side, if one chooses to use it. Photo scans are vivid and accurate in color. It does not have a transparency adapter or a feeder. I installed the software in Windows XP and the USB scanner in a matter of minutes. It doesn't require an AC power cord. It is powered by the USB port on the computer. The software package includes OCR, and it does pretty well on both photos and documents. I have read other reviews stating that the scanner is noisey and slow but I have not had either of those problems. If your scanning needs are simple, this scanner is the best value on the market.
I highly recommend it.

Upon opening the box I was suprised to see how thin this scanner really is. It is about a little over an inch thick. It is great for saving space on the desk because of it's non-bulky design. It has three buttons on the side one for scanning photos, one for making a copy, and an other one for misc. I really liked the copy feature because when I need to make a quick copy for a document I just put it in the scanner and press the "copy" button and walk away let it do its thing. It scans it and then automatically send its to the printer where I can pick it up in a minute. I didnt even have to touch the computer! I only have experience with using the Mac Software it is average software nothing spectacular in interface design but whatever. Images come out in good enought quality for me.

Goods:
-Small space saving sleek designed case.
-ONE usb cable for everything [power AND data]
-Canon reputation for good quality imaging.

Bads:
-Sometimes the software can be buggy and keeps my computer from waking up, but that happens only occasionally. [Mac software, dont know about PC]

Conclusion:
This is a great scanner with an incredible value for all it does. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a good looking scanner with excellent quality scans from photos to text documents.

After setting this up in about a minute I was scanning. The software/driver package is average. Warm up takes only a couple of seconds becuase it is not a CCD/lamp scanner, it is a CMOS scanner which requires less power and less components. Hopefully it will bring more reliability. USB powered. Easy for people to "borrow" or bring to a friends house. Just remember to lock/unlock it when traveling and scanning. Images are average but the speed is awesome. Beats my UMAX 1220U (1998) scanner by far. I'll probably try out epson scanners next, the quality and speed on that is supposed to be really good. If you are looking for fast, simplistic, reliable scanner, the LiDE 20 fits the bill without paying a big bill.

Like the previous reviewer (June 18), I debated on whether or not to get this scanner. But I figured the price was low and overall the reviews were very favorable. I'm glad I did. It is very easy to set up - just take it out of the box, install the software, plug in the usb cable and it is ready to use. Note: I only installed the drivers, not the image editing software because I use other programs instead, like Macromedia's Fireworks. It installed on Windows XP with no problems, and also interfaces with my image editing programs perfectly.

This scanner looks very good, and I like the slim design. I use lower resolutions because most of the scans are for the web or for viewing on a monitor - even at lower resolutions they look great. The biggest delay is when you make the first scan - it takes about a minute to calibrate. After that, the speed of the scans is relatively quick. It's nice not needing a power cord. Be advised that you will probably have to use a powered usb hub, not the one on the motherboard. I already had one so this was no problem.

Negative: when I scan multiple pictures, the software doesn't always recognize each picture - it sometimes combines more than one. Or, it chops off parts of the pictures. However, I might not be following the instructions so I'll give the scanner and software the benefit of the doubt here.

Overall for the price, this is an excellent value - good quality and good looks. I am happy with this purchase.