HP Vs. Canon Photo Printers

Hewlett Packard and Canon are two of the more popular brands of photo printer on the market. Both offer solid models that can print a variety of sizes, including borderless pictures up to 8.5" x 11". In addition, both also make professional grade printers for the professional photographer.

Basic Prints

For those only looking to print snapshots that are 4x6 or 5x7, HP offers the Photosmart A536 for $99. It can print 4x6, 4x8, 4x12, and 5x7 prints as fast as 27 seconds, and has slots for Memory Stick, SD, and XD memory cards, as well as a USB slot. The HP uses a 110 tri-color ink cartridge.

The other basic HP model is the Photosmart D5460 for $69, which can print directly from all memory cards, including Compact Flash.

Canon's entry level model is the Pixma iP3600, retailing for $79. It has a five-cartridge ink system (black, yellow, cyan, magenta, and pigment black) and can print 4x6 prints in 41 seconds.

Midrange printers

HP has one dedicated printer in the midrange, the Photosmart D7560. It can print 4x6's as quickly as 18 seconds, and has direct print capability from all major memory cards and PictBridge enabled cameras, and has five ink cartridges (photo black, black, cyan, yellow, and magenta).

Canon offers the PIXMA iP4600 and iP4700, each of which retails for $99, and uses the same five-ink cartridge system as the iP3600. The 4700 prints documents faster, but the 4600 is Energy Star rated.

Mobile

Canon makes a mobile printer, the iP100, which can run on batteries and has Bluetooth printing enabled so it can print from a camera phone. This printer has a five-ink system and can print 4x6 pictures in 50 seconds.

All in One

HP offers several different models of all-in-one printer/scanner/copier, ranging in price from $79 to $400. The top end one is the Photosmart Premium Touchsmart. It is WiFi enabled and can print from the web and also has direct print from all memory cards. HP also offers the Photsmart Fax All-in-One, which offers fax capability as well, and retails for $299. The Photosmart C4780 is the least expensive offering with WiFi at $129, and can print up to 8.5x11 pictures.

Canon also offers all-in-one printers, including four models with wireless networking, from the basic MP560 ($149) to the top end MP990 ($299). The top end one uses six inks, while the MP560 uses five. For those looking for something more basic without wireless capability, Canon makes the MP490 ($99) and MP250 ($69), both of which can print 8.5x11 borderless photos.

Top End

HP's top end printers are the Photosmart Pro B8850 ($549) and the Photosmart Pro B9180 ($699). Both can print up to 13x19. The B9180 also offers Ethernet connectivity via a 10/100 port. They use the HP38 series inks, which are an eight ink system for excellent quality.

Canon makes the PIXMA Pro9000 ($499) and PIXMA Pro9500 ($849). The Pro9500 offers an astonishing 7,680 print nozzles, while the Pro9000 has 6,144. The Pro9000 uses eight inks and the Pro9500 uses ten inks, adding gray and matte black for better black and white prints.

References

• HP Printers
• Canon Printers