While for less than AU$100, you can't expect too much, we've got to say that of all the models we've looked at, the i250 is without a doubt the ugliest of the bunch. That might not matter too much to you when making a printer purchasing decision, and certainly the i250 proves the maxim that beauty is indeed only skin deep, as it turned out the best photo prints in our test group and kept neck and neck with the HP DeskJet in speed terms.
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Unlike every other printer in our roundup, the i250 lacks a setup poster, instead bundling in an installation leaflet. It's a tad confusing, however, as the same leaflet is used for the superior i350 printer as well -- for some time we were wondering where the printer out tray mentioned in the leaflet was in fact. The i250 also differs from every other printer in our roundup in that installing print cartridges is a two-step affair. The i250 uses a permanent but removable print head that slots in before the black and tricolour cartridges can be inserted. It's an interesting move for a budget printer, but one that allows Canon to offer its actual ink cartridges at a substantial price discount compared to its competitors. Canon's driver offering is easy enough to follow, and the company completes the package with utitities for easy photo and web page printing, although these are optional installation components.
The i250 and HP Deskjet 3550 jostled for first place in our text printing tests, with the Canon managing our colour prints just a tad faster but black text prints a little slower. Where it beat the competition handily was in speedy photo processing; our test A4 image was visually the equal of the Epson Stylus C43UX's in terms of quality, but in only four and a half minutes, the i250 absolutely blew away the field in time terms.
As mentioned, the i250 uses a distinct print head that makes the physical cartridges cheaper than those of competing printers -- Canon doesn't have to build in a new print head for each new cartridge, essentially. Black cartridges come in at AU$13.95, while colour ones cost AU$29.95. With expected page yields of 300 and 170 pages respectively, that works out to a very cheap 4.65c per black page or 17.6c per colour page, making it solidly the cheapest printer to run in our comparative group.
We like the i250 a lot, and if it weren't for the lack of an output tray, it would simply walk all over the competition. For most users, however, we suspect that'll be a rather large issue to overcome.
Canon i250 Bubble Jet Printer
Company: Canon
Price: AU$99
Distributor: Selected resellers
Phone: 1800 021 167
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A Canon wins and the ads on the site are for Epson? Ya gotta love that.