My first impression of Canon's new Pixma iP4680 inkjet printer was that it was a very handsome printer.

All decked out in a nice combination of a smooth black finish with a matte silver detail, this new inkjet printer pleases the eyes with its minimalist yet classy look.

It may not be the smallest inkjet printer around, but the Pixma iP4680 still manages to save you some space with its relatively compact design. The only downside to this was that the printer's power input and USB port are at opposite ends of each other, which meant that cables and power chords might end up looking a little messy depending on how you position the Pixma.

The Pixma iP4680 is not just all eye-candy. Print quality was very good, and the colours were well produced. We saw no bleeding of ink on all the prints we made, and borderless photos were aligned very well.

A four by 6 inch photo printed with high quality settings on glossy paper was ready in about 20 seconds, an outstanding speed for inkjet printers and ideal for printing a large number of pictures.

The Pixma comes with a CD containing number of easy-to-use software in addition to the necessary drivers and programs. The Canon Solution Menu has a straightforward, almost klutz-proof interface for the easy printing of photos and creation of simple craft or print items.

I like the simple editing features that the Solution Menu application includes. The option of making quick changes to pictures without opening another application and sending the finished image straight to print afterwards certainly proved to be very convenient.

Users can also make simple photo books by clicking and dragging their favourite pictures to a template from a wide selection of designs. This feature might be good for fun prints, but I would not recommend attempting to create a real photo album with it, as the final printed product are still one-sided A4 loose leaf sheets that will require binding.

The Verdict

Canon's new home and SOHO inkjet printer works wonderfully for both documents and high quality photo prints.

This printer runs on a 5-cartrige system, with original supplies beginning at $19.90 per cartridge and $6.90 for 20 sheets of better quality glossy photo paper. Costs per print are competitive but still run slightly higher than most photo developing stores, but the convenience of getting instant high-quality prints and the freedom to create customized print items means that this printer is still worth your buck.