The PIXMA iP4700 is Canon's latest five-tank printer.

It isn't as feature-rich as some of its rivals, but it boasts auto-Duplex for doublesided printing, PictBridge for printing pictures directly from your camera, and it can print directly onto optical discs using the supplied CD LabelPrint application (Preview doesn't seem to line them up correctly).

Not much has changed from its predecessor, the iP4600. It now boasts an all-black design and recessed cable ports, and it's very slightly faster.

If you already have an iP4600, it definitely isn't worth upgrading. But the high standards set by its predecessor are carried over, and the lineage retains its position as the best single-format inkjet currently on the market.

The text quality offered by the iP4700 is great, with clear, sharp characters and almost no bleed. It printed our 20-page test document in three minutes, 12 seconds – slower than a dedicated office machine but more than acceptable for a home printer.

On plain paper and default settings, our test image was a little washed out, but beautifully clear. The greyscale ramp produced very little banding and the colours were accurate, if slightly light.

Using photo paper and maximum quality settings, the results were excellent, with vibrant colours and rich tones.

Canon's PIXMA iP4700 isn't packed with features. There's no Wi-Fi or Ethernet connectivity, no flash card reader and no LCD screen, but print quality is great. If you're after a printer at a good price, look no further.

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