Canon S520 and S750, the Alternatives to HP — THG.RU

Canon S520 and S750, the Alternatives to HP

Ever since we published the results of our HP deskjet 5550 tests, we regularly get e-mails asking how to choose between the Canon S750 and the new HP. Put to the same tests, the Canon printers have lived up to their reputation. They are still very fast, still have the cheapest ink, and still produce results of very good quality.

Compared to the previous models, the S500 and S630, the S520 and S750 have faster motors and a particularly advantageous function — they can print without a border, which is something that the Deskjet 5550 cannot do. This feature alone could be a reason to choose a Canon printer. They reproduce the page layout perfectly, whereas the 5550 sometimes has surprises in store. Another big advantage of Canon printers is their cost per page, which is two or three times lower than that of HP inkjet printers.

The Tests

We ran the same tests as usual: text; compound; monochrome and color documents; ordinary, draft and high definition resolution; etc. You can read a detailed description here.

Estimated Cost Per Page

The results couldn’t be clearer. Pages printed on the S520 and S750 work out to be two to three times cheaper than on the Deskjet 5550, whose very slightly better quality is no excuse for such a difference.

A Few Figures

Both manufacturers claim that users change cartridges twice a year.

For HP, this means they print about 500 pages a year for a cost of US$110, or 142 euros for Europeans. This is about the equivalent of buying a new printer every year.

With Canon, two full cartridge sets total up to US$100 (102 euros) in ink. But with those two, you can print 900 pages, almost twice that of HP. And even after 900 pages in our test, only the yellow cartridge was empty. There was enough black left to print another 50 pages, enough magenta for 250 pages, and cyan for nearly 500.

The Score

Canon, 1 — HP, 0

Speed Results

Speed-wise, the S750 is invariably faster than the Deskjet 5550. The S520 was not far behind: it only loses out to the HP in draft mode. And this despite the fact that both of the Canon printers we were lent suffered from the same defect: they both paused when used in default resolution. But only in default resolution — the other modes went off without a hiccup. Happily, however, it seems that Canon has detected this defect in their lab tests on other models and discovered that it only involved pilot products sent to the press. And indeed, no reader has yet told us of having encountered such a problem.

In short, the S520 and S750:

• print equally fast in color and in black and white;
• print a single page twice as fast as the Deskjet 5550;
• print a 10 x 15 cm photo in a little over one minute.

Note that, of the 48 inkjet printers tested in two years, the S750 is the fastest of all to print the first page of a document (11.9 seconds), and in draft mode. In photo mode, only one printer worked faster than it did, and that was the Canon S630, which the S750 replaces.

In spite of their very good performances, both printers fall down heavily with the defect mentioned above. We found that, out of ten pages, they accumulated pauses of one minute in monochrome mode and 40 seconds in color. If the models we tested could have saved this time, we should have found the following results:

Be that as it may, the Deskjet 5550 only turns out 3.8 pages/min in both monochrome and color.

The Score

Canon, 2 — HP, 0

Quality Results

There is no way to tell an S520 print from an S750 one. They are exactly the same. Text characters are neat, and compound documents quite clean enough to be used for business purposes. Still, although it does I requires an expert eye to tell the difference, HP holds the advantage. This is most noticeable in graphics where the blocks of color and gray are more even and text on a colored background comes out perfectly clear, whereas they are a bit fuzzy with Canon. On the S520 and S750, background colors run slightly into foreground objects and reduce the legibility of the smallest characters.

In photo mode, which is in top resolution, we had to run a little informal survey (not representative at all) to find the winning competitor. With the makers’ names hidden, everyone examined the S520 and Deskjet 5550 prints in turn before expressing an opinion. Four out of the seven editorial staff preferred the Canon photo prints, and three preferred the HP. But everyone agreed that the HP photos had more contrast, appearing more like proper photo prints, and that the ink drops on the Canon prints were more visible. They also agreed that you really had to look very closely to reach these conclusions. Seen from 12 inches, it was hard to distinguish between them, so the overall result is a tie.

But, it must be remembered that the HP photos were printed using a standard cartridge set of three colors plus black. With a photo cartridge, the HP prints are unquestionably better. The ink drops are invisible, the colors truer, etc.

The Score

Canon, 2 — HP, 1

Conclusion

S520, S750 or Deskjet 5550?

The Deskjet 5550 is just right for those who only print occasionally (meaning less than 40 pages a month). It is very handsome, and looks lovely on a desktop with its pleasing colors. If the nozzles become clogged after being used for a long time, you just need to replace the cartridge and the printer will work as good as new. By contrast, the ink is expensive to ruinous proportions. Prints work out two or three times more expensive than on Canon printers with their separate cartridges.

The S520 and S750 are less good-looking, more rough-and-ready, and take up more room. But they are fast and economical; their prints are pretty much as good as those of the Deskjet 5550, and they are quiet. What’s more, they can do border-free printing.

Unlike the HP, the print heads are not an integral part of the cartridge, so you need to print regularly to prevent the nozzles from suddenly clogging and to avoid the need for frequent cleaning and the resultant waste of ink.

So, in the end, if you print less than 20 pages a month and if you only print photos occasionally, go for the HP Deskjet 5550. If you tend to print more than that, get an S520 or S750. Then you will be able to tell whether the price difference between these two is justified by their respective speeds. Our own preference is for the S750.

Canon S520

Canon S750