A Lot in a Small Package
When you first pull it out of the package, it's hard to tell that the i80 is a printer -- when closed, the small 12.4 x 6.9 x 2.0-inch is streamlined and practically featureless. This isn't surprising, since the mobile device is obviously designed to fit into a briefcase or other case.Pull the cover open and things become a bit clearer. The i80's cover converts to a paper-in tray, which holds up to 30 sheets of 17 lb paper, five envelopes, or 10 sheets of glossy photo paper. A small flip-down edge guides the paper out (there is no paper-out tray, so look out for falling photos). The simplicity of the design makes for a nice, straight paper path which can accommodate the heavy paper needed for quality photo reproductions.
As might be expected with such a small device, there aren't a lot of hardware controls. A second semi-transparent cover protects the printhead and the two (black and color) ink cartridges. There are only two buttons: the Power button, and a Resume/Cancel button. (Short note to Canon: It would be handy if there was something in the documentation explaining exactly what the second button is -- it took a search to find any mention of it.)
The left side of the unit has the USB 2.0 connection, along with the power cords and an IrDA (infrared communication) port. On the right wide is a separate USB port for printing directly from a digital camera, which is an important feature for a mobile device. (Unlike larger photo printers, you don't have access to an LCD screen to let you know how the final product will look.) You can also purchase a separate module that lets you print from a wireless Bluetooth network, and a battery pack. The only thing missing is the ability to handle memory cards and other media.
A separate battery pack is also available. One was sent with the review unit, and it was quite easy to set up. The unit attaches to the back of the i80 with two screws; you simply plug the DC cord that came with the printer into the battery unit instead. While I could not judge how long the battery would last under full use conditions, I was able to use it several times without a problem.
Fast Setup, Classy Prints
I was delighted with the ease with which I was able to set up the printer. Setup instructions come on the now expected large sheet of paper, and are quite clear. As long as users read them first (for example, the instructions are very explicit about when to turn the printer off and on), things should go smoothly. My only moment of confusion was when I began installing the ink cartridges and thought that there was one too many cartridges -- unlike most low-end printers, the Canon i80 comes with a separate print head, which is installed separately by the user.Except for that moment, however, things went well, and I was able to print out my first photograph in a few minutes. And I was suitably impressed: photos printed on glossy paper came out bright and professional-quality. I didn't notice any muddiness, and all the colors were sharp and differentiated. The speed of the print was satisfactory (the top speed is listed as 10ppm color, 14ppm black) -- you don't expect a mobile printer to be a speed demon. Canon advertises that the printer offers 4 x 6, 5 x 7 and 8.5 x 11 inch borderless prints, which means that none of the paper is taken up by an unnecessary white border.
Text printing does leave something to be desired. A test printout showed slightly jagged black text, acceptable but not really usable for business documents. This is not surprising -- the i80, while capable of normal text, has obviously been optimized for photo printing.
The printer driver includes a number of options for those who want to explore them. For example, an Effects tag includes the ability to simulate an illustration (by coarsening a photo image). You can also optimize an image (smoothing jagged edges), automatically optimize it (for brightness and contrast), and reduce "noise." More day-to-day features include the ability to choose print quality, media type, and to preview before printing. Once you make changes in your driver settings, you can save them to a profile.
Most useful are the driver's maintenance features, which let you clean and align the printhead, set power-off settings (important if you run the system on battery) and even set your ink drying wait time (which gives the printer a pause before it starts printing the next page).
