Canon S600 review

Verdict:

Review Date: 1 Aug 2001

Price when reviewed: (£173)

Reviewed By: Tim Danton

Our Rating 5 stars out of 5

Review
Specs

Canon forced us to wait a long time for its latest generation of inkjets, but its S series includes five printers, ranging from the basic S400 to the photo-specialist S800.

The S600 sits neatly in the middle, targeting 'hectic' offices and the demanding home user.

Design

The S600's design incorporates several neat features. One is a wizard that recommends settings, depending on the type of document you're printing. The driver provides plenty of useful information, such as print progress (shown by page number and as a percentage). Perhaps best of all, the S600 is quiet. We'd have preferred a smaller design, though, as it consumes too much desk space. Lastly, print head alignment is a tedious process, especially as Canon provides little guidance on what to look for.

Print quality

There was little to choose between the S600 and HP's DeskJet 980Cxi in any of the tests, the HP only performing notably better in the newsletter test. You'll be pleased by text documents, as the Canon reproduces fonts such as Times New Roman with a crisp, black finish. The photo was also up to the standard we'd expect from Canon - only Epson's printers produced superior results.

Speed

The S600's strongest feature. It's able to produce high-quality output at a decent pace. It was fastest in all but one of the tests, and we were particularly taken aback by its speed in the photo test, producing an A4 print in two and a half minutes.

Overall

If you want out-and-out speed, this is the printer to choose. Its all-round quality is commendable, and it's only narrowly beaten to a place in the Top 50 by HP's DeskJet 980Cxi. With extra features like duplex printing, not to mention slightly cheaper running costs, the HP is worth the extra initial outlay.

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