****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
I purchased this printer to replace a 12-year-old HP DeskJet 930 (I'm pretty easy on my stuff, so it tends to last a long time). I did quite a bit of research before buying, and am very happy so far with the printer. It prints well, scanning is a snap, and it's very handy now having a fax at home, since I have a number of document recipients who prefer fax to email.I really like being able to fax without actually printing a document out -- the fax function shows up as an available printer, so to send a document, whether pdf or Word or Excel or PowerPoint, all you have to do is click the print button and select the Canon fax as the destination printer. A window pops up asking for the phone number. Enter the phone number from the computer keyboard, hit "enter" and ZIP -- the printer dials and faxes the document directly from the computer file with no intervening paper copy. Paperless faxing is VERY handy!The automatic duplex is also handy but very slow -- it prints one side, then sucks the page back in to print the other side.It appears to be a bit more frugal with ink than the old DeskJet it replaced; I've not yet put in new cartridges but the ink indicator says I've used about a quarter of the pigment black and negligible amounts of the dye tanks. With the older printer, I'd have used about half the black and a quarter of the color tank after the same amount of time -- and with this printer, I can change out individual color tanks instead of the entire cartridge when I run out of one color. Ink cartridge costs, both for the black and for the color set, are comparable to OEM for the HP and a little lower for non-OEM. As a rough estimate, it looks like my per-page costs will be about 75% or so of what they were with the DesdJet.I'd read several comments about the footprint, but although the printer is much more massive and bulkier than the DeskJet, the two-dimensional footprint on the desk is virtually the same. The DeskJet had a large base with a fairly small upper body, while the Canon is much more cubic. It therefore seems much bigger and more in the way. Though it doesn't take many more square inches of the desk surface, it consumes many more cubic inches of volume and is easier to bump into.All in all, I'm very happy with the print quality, ease of use, and functionality. I can't address photo printing since I've not done any yet. I don't know if it will last 12 years or even 12 months, but no regrets on the purchase as yet.-----------------------------------ADDENDUM after five months of use: I've now run about 400-500 pages through the printer of Office Depot recycled paper. I've seen some complaints about jamming with inexpensive paper, but the only feed problem I've had is the ONE time the printer took two sheets of paper at once. I had let the supply tray get down to near-empty, and the printer grabbed the last two sheets at the same time. I also now have a handle on ink costs, and I'm VERY happy. My HP InkJet used HP 45 black and 78 cartridges; a set of both ran about $70 OEM and about $50 for off-brands and refills -- and the off-brands and refills had about an 20% failure rate, so they weren't any cheaper than HP name brand cartridges.I just now changed out the black pigment tank and two of the color dye tanks -- using off-brand cartridges I ordered from an online discounter for just over $7 each (about $36 for a full set vs $50 for the HP). They work perfectly with no streaking, spotting, or missed spots. After three weeks of use, I'm using the off-brand no more quickly than I used the Canon brand -- and I got about 50% more pages using the Canon "fast" setting than I did with the HP "draft" setting.Cheaper ink cartridges that print more pages -- I LOVE saving money on ink. It looks so far like my ink costs could be about half what they used to be for the same print volume. It will be nice not to spend as much on ink every year as I did for the printer.My only annoyance is caused by my fairly low print volume. I print 20-30 page jobs about 5 or 6 times per month, with one or two page jobs about twice a week. That means the printer may be in use daily for a few days, but it also means it might sit idle for four or five days at a time. After an extended idle time, the first print job may not start until the machine takes about 3 or 4 minutes to clean the cartridges and do other "internal maintenance." I guess the cure would be to print more often, but it's a very minor and occasional annoyance.So, after six months of use, I'm still very happy with the printer and would definitely purchase again.
