9 out of 9 people found this review helpful.
Excellent All-in-one, excellent price.
Date of Review: Jun 28, 2006
The Bottom Line: Absolute best bang for the buck in its class. Good quality copyies, scans, prints, automatic document feeder, and duplex printing make this networkable all-in-one a winner in my book.
This $199 unit came to the top of my list when looking for a replacement for my disappointing HP 2110 (see review here). I was looking for features, ink costs, price, and certainly not least, maintainability. The Canon MP780 did not disappoint. I must qualify my usage of this unit for perspective: I use it only for occasionally scanning, faxing, and copying (a few dozen times a month), and color output, including high-resolution pictures (a few times a week); most of my grunt printing is black-and-white output from my HP Laser 5MP.
Briefly, this unit is a color copier, FAX, scanner, and printer, all in one. The FAX and Copy functions do not require any computer connection, and offer the expected setting controls (dark/light, # of copies, phone # memory, etc.) also without requiring computer assistance. It has a sheet feeder on top for up to 30 page faxes (or copies), but the lid can also be lifted to reveal the platen glass, which you would want to do to scan pictures or books. The lid also rises about an inch at its hinges to allow for thick books. With a computer, you can scan pictures in usable resolutions up to 600 dpi, and also scan and perform character recognition on documents with the included OmniPage Lite software. (I was surprised at how feature-rich the "lite" version was.) As an added bonus, this unit performs duplex printing - both sides of a piece of paper - on command. That's right, no futzing around with manually turning paper around or anything. Very nice. This applies to printing only; the manual claims that you can also make duplex copies, but I have yet to figure out how, and I have tried, so don't bank on it. It takes paper in a cassette on the bottom of the unit, or in a sheet feeder which folds open in the back.
It has performed well for me for this last year, taking all my print jobs with only one paper feed error (my fault), as well as scanning, copying, and faxing. The color output is good, as is the scan quality - for the price. I would not put this head-to-head with a $500 scanner, but in its class, it does well, as it must: I expect to scan and print good quality photographs. The replacement ink cartridges (there are five - two black, Cyan, Magenta, Yellow) are moderately priced ($11-$13 each), so buying the Canon replacements is definitely feasible, but you also have the option of using 3rd-party ink refill kits, which I have done successfully. The ink cartridges last for a good amount of usage.
The drivers allow for lots of control, including all kinds of color settings, head cleaning, automatic undercarriage cleaning, and ink-level feedback. They even operate over a network, but only for more recent operating systems (I've used Windows 2000 and Windows XP successfully; Windows 98SE did not work over a network when talking to a Win2K machine, only with a direct connection.)
The only caveat, and I am beginning to think that this is an unavoidable part of any device in this class, is that the scanning unit is in the sealed lid. This presents an issue when you live with someone who burns incense and "aromatherapy" oils; the inevitable build-up of a milky haze inside the scan unit (bottom side of platen) from those airborne particles cannot be removed without disassembling the lid. I'm sure the same would happen in a household/business with smokers, or with lots of cooking going on. This really hasn't affected the normal day-to-day scanning, copying or faxing: this unit re-calibrates itself on every scan, and negates the effects of the build-up. However, I want the best scan possible when I scan photographs. It is an expensive proposition to have the cleaning of the inside of the scan unit performed by a service depot, and a risky one to undertake yourself, however I think I will actually try to do it myself, with the hope that I don't end up with "extra parts."
All in all, I am extremely satisfied with the features and performance of this relatively inexpensive all-in-one, and heartily recommend it. It delivers the best bang for the buck, and has taken care of all of my color input/output needs, faxing, and copying for the last year without fail. I'd say it's already paid for itself.
