4800 dpi: Canon i550

Quality Results

Despite the new resolution and greater fineness in addressing the drops onto the paper, there is nothing to distinguish i550 prints from those of the S520 and S750. The persnickety will always claim that HP printers are better. True, blocks of color are a bit less even on the Canons, but on the whole, the two makes come out equal. They both have a default quality that is perfectly adequate, even in a business context or for a report, etc. Still, HP wins with its ink, which does not soak into the paper like it does on a Canon, making two-sided printing a non-option.

In high resolution, photos come out a bit too bright, but the drops of ink can hardly be seen. Here again, they are equal to the S520 and S750 and can compare with those of the HP Deskjet PhotoRet III printers. On the other hand, Deskjets using the optional photo cartridge produce finer and truer prints much closer to laboratory print quality.