It's no secret that I have been a fan of Epson inkjet printers for a dozen years. From the Color Stylus to the 1280, the Epson printers I've purchased have consistently delivered high quality results. There have been a few quibbles such as the noise from the newer generations beginning with the Stylus 800, along with Epson's decision to make the print head non-replaceable but when my five-year-old 900 bit the dust recently, my first inclination was to buy another Epson. I appreciated the fact that Epson had gone to individual ink tanks, which would hopefully lower overall printing costs but there was a different fly in the ointment. Epson offered no wireless printer. I had also heard that Canon's interface for OS 10 was more complete than Epson's, which did not offer as many Mac options as they did for PCs.

Having switched to broadband Internet access last year, and having an iBook with Airport Extreme, being able to walk around the house and surf the �Net whenever I felt like it has been extremely rewarding. But a big hang-up was the fact that I still had to go upstairs to print anything I downloaded. So when I began looking at replacement printers, there were several criteria. I wanted wireless connectivity, individual ink tanks, print heads that were replaceable either as a stand-alone or by replacing the tanks, and quality photo output. The only printer in the Canon and Epson families that met those needs was the iP4000R.

So into the house came a $229.95 list priced, OS 10 only compatible, 5-ink cartridge Canon printer with USB and RJ-45 connectors at the rear. Black and chrome in color with both the traditional 45� angle 8.5 x11 feed tray on the top, and a second horizontal tray for smaller photo papers at the bottom, the Canon is strikingly different from other printers. There is no cutout for CD/DVD printables as there is in Europe; something to do with recording laws. The Canon is a bit smaller than the Epson it replaces, but is larger than the previous generation of Canon printers, due to its shape and the second tray. There are two instruction manuals; a Setup Guide and a Quick Start (printing) Guide along with the attendant SW on a CD and cords (yes, there is a USB cord included). Unpacking, installing the print head & tanks and setting up the printer for both wireless and USB took about another 20 minutes. The iP4000R has a USB port in front for connecting to PictBridge digital cameras. Canon spec say this can print 17 color pages or 25 B&W pages per minute.

The first thing that struck me was how quiet it is. Those of us who have newer Epsons know they're somewhat noisy. This one is so quiet I wasn't able to tell it was getting ready to print, except for the flashing green light by the power button. The OS 10 interface allows me to customize individual preferences in one setting, then name and save it, so it will always be there. The second feature that impressed me was that color prints are just as good as you get from a custom color photo lab. Except for very slight burning and dodging, which could have been corrected in Photoshop, the print was, IMHO, perfect. Pages of black text were better than from my old Epson 900.

The clincher is that I can sit in my recliner 10 feet away from the printer or in the den downstairs, which is about 30 feet away, and print! In this age of iPods, cell phones, Bluetooth and whatever else comes down the pike, ease of use is becoming more and more of a priority. As Mac owners, we already appreciate the ease with which we can access different venues using our computers. This printer just made all that easier.