Setup: Quick and Easy
Inside the tightly packed box was the printer, a quick start guide, the manual, installation CDs, and ink. The quick start guide is a fool-proof illustrated guide to basic set up of the printer, including installing the ink tanks, setting up the paper trays, and connecting it to your computer.

Cables and Connections: Two Options
The i860 has ports for parallel and USB connections. You'll have to buy the corresponding cable, depending on what connection you choose to use.

Parallel Connection: This is the original way of connecting a printer. The cable ends have large, rectangular plugs on them, and you'll find a parallel port on the back of any PC computer, except for maybe the newest of the new systems. This is the connection we used for our tests.

USB Connection: This is the newer way of connecting a printer. The cables are small, and you can easily plug more than one printer in to a computer via the multiple USB connections found on new computers built in the last three to four years. A USB connection is faster than parallel connection, so your documents start printing almost right away. Newer Macintosh computers also have USB connections on them, allowing the printer to be used on either system.

Once the printer was connected the driver installation when smoothly, with each step being explained along the way. A pleasant surprise at the end of the installation was not being asked to restart the computer.

Getting Down to Business
The first thing we noticed was the near silent operation of the paper feed and printing mechanism. Even during the initial start-up, when many inkjet printers prime their ink system, noise was minimal, a welcomed change from some of the noisy inkjet printers of the past.

Text
Our first document was a 15 page proposal, each page filled with text, so we could determine the speed and quality of the print out. Even on standard paper, the text was crisp and dark, approaching the quality of our office laser printer. Ink bleeding was practically non-existent, requiring a close eye to distinguish between the inkjet and laser printed copies, and print times were comparable.

Text & Graphics
Next we printed out a multi-page presentation containing black text, coloured graphs, photos, a demanding document, designed to push the i860 to its limits. But the printer took it all in stride, producing the same crisp black text from our previous test, along with clean, separated colours. Some of the pages were complete colour, requiring the entire page to be filled with ink. There was no evidence of any page curling or dampness to the page once the print out was finished.

Photos
Finally we tested the printer's ability to print out photos, using special Canon 4x6 photo paper. Our test image was taken with a digital camera on the high quality setting. Once resized and printed, the results were stunning. With the glossy finish of the photo paper, the white boarders inserted by the printer software, and vibrant, realistic colours, this truly looked like a traditional photograph. Print time was fast--under two minutes.

Easy Printing Direct From your Digital Camera
With a PictBridge port on the front, the i860 promises quick and painless printing direct from a compatible digital camera. Not having a compatible digital camera to use, we were unable to test this feature. Be sure to double check your equipment's compatibility.

Designed to Save You Money
The i860 uses five separate ink tanks, three for colour, and two for black. The duel black system allows the i860 to produce excellent contrasting blacks no matter what material you are printing, using one kind of ink for photos, and another kind for text.

Each tank can be replaced separately when it runs out, keeping the cost of replacement ink low, and allowing you to use all the ink you paid for. On average, each ink tank costs $19 to replace.

Conclusions
The i860 is a solid performer, delivering outstanding results given the reasonable cost of the printer. If you are in the market for an all in one printing solution to deliver professional looking results, the i860 will get the job done.