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Controls / Buttons/Dials (5.00)
 Keeping with the simple design of the iP1800, the number of buttons on the printer is minimal, and they are simple to operate. The only two buttons, the Power button and the Resume/Cancel button, sit to the upper left of the printer top, alongside the left side of the input paper tray door. This is somewhat problematic, as the adjustment for the paper guide, the gray sliding tab that the user sets to the paper size, sits just on the inside of the paper path when set for letter-sized paper. We found that adjusting this to or from this position can cause the fingers of the left hand to inadvertently press one of the buttons. If printing is in progress, this can cancel the print. The buttons would be better situated at the upper right side of the top.
In the center of each of the buttons sits a small LED indicator light. The light set within the Power button is solid green when the power is on and flashing green when the iP1800 is preparing to print or in the process of printing. When the orange Alarm lamp is flashing, it indicates that an error has occurred, and Canon provides a list of errors in the User Manual, for which the lamp flashes a corresponding number of times. This is a decent system for a simple printer, yet waiting to count the difference between 14, 15, or 16 flashes could get old quickly.
Menus (0)
No display, no menus. Setup and editing selections are conducted through the printer driver, included software, or third-party software.
Size / Footprint (5.05)
The Pixma iP1800 measures 17.4 inches wide by 10.25 inches high by 10.5 inches deep, with the input tray opened and accounting for the length of a letter-sized sheet exiting the printer, despite the lack of an output tray. The printer’s feather-light weight of only 7.3 pounds makes it seem as if a stiff wind would blow it off the table. On the scale of printers tested, including small compact and large pro photo printers, bulky all-in-ones, multi-functions, and lasers, the iP1800 received a midland score.
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