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Tour
Front
The Canon Pixma iP1800 is the little black box of single-function photo printers The front of the printer is a simple black rectangle of the same shiny black plastic as the rest of the unit. Attached to the top, the front is also the door to access the paper path and ink cartridges. The most prominent, by virtue of being the only, feature on the front is the Canon logo dead center. The side edges of the printer’s front are stylish curved and constructed of a matte-finish black plastic. The base of the printer, also made of matte black plastic can be seen below the main chassis, with the output roller along the middle. This empties the printed paper out onto the tabletop. There is no output paper tray, which I’m sure is a cost-saving measure on Canon’s part, but it’s still pretty cheap.
Below the output roller, in the middle of the bottom of the printer, lies the paper thickness lever—a dark gray, thumb-operated switch used to widen the paper path for thicker stock, such as envelopes and t-shirt transfers.
Back
The only connection on the black, plastic back of the iP18000 is the port for the power cord, inset just to the right of center.
Left Side
Mostly featureless, the left side is primarily the same black shiny plastic as the rest of the printer, with the plainer black base below. The back of the printer, constructed of the same matte, black plastic as the bottom, can also be seen. This contains the input paper path. The USB B port is embedded into this back portion. The hinges for the front door are connected to the back and can be seen from this side at the top of the printer.
Right Side
The right side is a mirror image of the left, without any functional features.
Top
The iP1800’s rectangular top is softened by the rounded corners. The Pixma iP1800 logo sits in the center toward the front. The input paper tray door, when closed, is inset into the top so it lies flush with the rest of the top. Canon has made this just a bit smaller than the inset space, leaving a narrow slot along the front of the door to act as a finger-hold for raising the door into its upright position. When open, the tray serves as the back support for letter-sized paper. To the left of the door lie the printer’s only controls, the Power button and the Resume/Cancel button. LED lights inset into the buttons indicate the status of the control.
Interior
The guts of the Pixma iP1800 can be viewed from two locations. The input paper path is a trough at the top beneath the tray door. The paper guide can be slid along the back to the proper paper size.
The iP1800’s front / top opens to reveal the rollers, paper path, ink cartridge cradle on the right, and the access position on the far left where the cartridges report to when summoned by opening the door (with the power on).
Components
Display (0)
The Pixma iP1800, like many other single-function, photo inkjet printers, low- and high-end alike, do not feature displays.
Paper Trays (5.00)
The input paper tray for the iP1800 is accessed by opening the door / tray in the top of the printer. The door serves as the back support for taller paper. The paper thickness lever below the output roller needs to be adjusted depending on paper thickness. Most papers require that it be kept in the left position. For Canon papers, the only media that require the lever to be in the right position are envelopes and t-shirt transfers. Canon recommends switching the lever to the right (wider) position if the edges of prints come out smudged. (Higher end printers make this adjustment automatically.)
Power Supply
The AC adapter is connected to the bottom of the printer, into which plugs the separate power cord.
Battery (0)
Although its very light in weight, the iP1800 is not meant to be an on-the-go printer, so there is no optional battery for travel purposes, like with some compact photo printers.
CD Burner (0)
Users won’t be able to save images to CDs with this printer. This is a function only found on a few compact printers at this time.
Internal Memory (5.00)
The iP1800 has just 96 kb or RAM onboard, enough to store enough information to get the job done.
Multi-Tasking (2.00)
Print jobs can be queued, but a single-function printer, as the group name implies, performs only one function.
Hard drive (0)
Not that such a low-end printer would have one, but most photo printers seem to lack this, short of a few standouts, such as some HP models. A few compact printers from Lexmark also have them.
Accessories (5.00)
The only accessories offered for this basic printer are ink and paper, in various sizes, types, and combinations. Two sizes of ink cartridges are available for the iP1800. The PG-30 pigment black cartridge sells for $15.99, while the tri-color CL-31 cartridge sells for $19.99. The larger sizes, the PG-40 and CL-41 cartridges, sell for $19.99 and $24.99, respectively.
A combo pack with the two larger cartridges and 50-sheet package of 4" x 6" paper costs $44.99, so it’s like getting the paper for free. A 50-sheet package of 4" x 8" greeting cards (PR-101; $14.99) and a 100-sheet package of credit-card-sized photo paper (GP-401; $8.49) can also be purchased. Other products available include photo stickers, album pages (double-sided) and various surfaces of 4-by-6-inch, 5-by-7-inch, and 8.5-by-11-inch paper.
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