Canon announced the iP100, a new portable printer that they claim is the first to have a one picoliter droplet size. The iP100 also has two black ink tanks, a pigment-based black ink for text and another for photos. Canon iP100 will be a faster printer than previous models and increases color resolution to a maximum of 9600 x 2400 dpi. The printer also comes with several mobilizing accessories, some at a hefty price.
Price: $249.99

For photographs, Canon has added an Auto Image Fix feature which analyzes and optimizes photographs by type, Canon claims.

The iP100 allows users to print photographs and documents wirelessly through its built-in IrDA port, and it is Bluetooth compatible with the optional BU-30 Bluetooth adapter. Canon is offering an optional Lithium Ion battery for the Canon iP100, which they claim will print around 290 page from a three hour charge. Geared at users on the go in their cars, Canon is also offering an optional Automobile Power Unit (PU-200U).

The engineers over at Canon successfully increased print speed from previous models by 1 page per minute in all three of our format tests. The iP100 printed text at an impressive 7.12 pages per minute, which not only stands head and shoulders above the HP H470, but also bests the print speeds of several full-size all-in-ones and single-function photo printers available at retail stores right now. On the average, the iP100 printed photos at 1.09 sheets per minute, which is acceptable but not spectacular. However, you can increase print times in photo- and graphics-heavy documents by manually changing the amount of time the printer waits for the previous page to dry.

Looking at the picture from a qualitative standpoint, the iP100’s print samples appear to be on a par with, if not slightly better than the iP90v’s. We hardly detected any graininess at all in both portrait and landscape photos–the prints themselves are very natural with accurate and vivid color palettes. Our text documents came out free of jagged edges in both 20-pound generic copy paper and high-quality glossy sheets. The current model also resolves the slight blue cast in the grayscale portion of our test subjects that we reported with its predecessor. However, there were some negatives. Some of the photos we printed on Canon’s own Photo Paper Plus Glossy II produced a slightly overcast hue that was definitely noticeable; the effect was not necessarily displeasing, just slightly colder than what we’ve seen from other printers. We could also see blocky transitions in our color gradients. But as a whole, we were very happy with this device’s output quality as a versatile printer designed for quick photo, document, and presentation prints on the go.

Canon gives a standard one-year warranty with the iP100, with additional troubleshooting via toll-free phone support. The Canon Web site also provides e-mail support as well as a comprehensive list of FAQs and driver update downloads.

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