Canons i9100 vs HP 1220C (1 Viewer)

I have had my HP 1220 C for about a year now. Its a large format inkjet that prints up to 13x19. I saw the new Canon Flagship, the i9100, and the reviews looked in its favor and some even praised its quality. I decided to upgrade and thought I would be looking at better prints, although I really didnt need it. I was mainly attracted by the borderless print feature of the Canon but now see its really not a very usefull feature. Anyway I bought it and have done some side by side comparisons. The HP wins hands down. I used three images, printing each one on both printers and then comparing. The Canon has very visible dotting and when printing bordless, periodically bands at the end of the print, making that bordless end somewhat useless. I read this to be a problem in reviews but thought maybe it was just someone being picky. I can confirm it does exist. Although the HP does not do borderless, it does not band and the image quality and color reproduction are better. In reality the only advantages the Canon has do not deal with quality over the HP. The three main points are print speed, 6 ink wells and borderless prints. I see now that borderless is not necessary and I will take quality over print speed any day. Just for comparison, the Canon threw out its 11x17 in 5 minutes and the Hp in 10 minutes. Attached is a macro shot of a section of the same photo area of the canon and hp with the canon being on the left. Click the Thumbnail to view. Note the evident dotting and blotchy appearance as compared the the HPs more smooth layout of the ink. Those considering a printer, weigh your options well. The HP can be had for under $300 if you look. You wont get borderless but a frame usually covers that and you can always trim your photo.

UPDATE I printed the same image again at 13x19 on the canon and hp using canons photo paper pro and the dotting improved on the canon however the banding problem mentioned in alot of reviews is evident. The HP did even better on the Canon paper so it still surpassed the canon in quality on canons own paper.

Thanks I have been looking at the i9100 recently.
So will scrub that from my list
Now just need to find a comparision of this HPs to the A3 Epson inkjets.

In addition to my first post I can now add that you will be replacing ink tanks more frequently on the Canon that you will the cartridge on the HP. Having said that I don't really see the benefit of the individual tanks. They certainly do not produce better prints than the hp. As far as color reproduction I cannot tell a difference worth noting.

I had actually planned on giving the HP 1220C to my brother-in-law and his wife but having used the i9100 for some time now, I am debating on letting them have it instead.