Canon PIXMA MP500: Inkjet Multi-Functions Don’t Get Much Better…

You may have read my review of the Hewlett-Packard PSC-1610 all-in-one, in which I have mentioned replacing it with a Canon all-in-one machine. In either case, the printer I am presently using is this: a Canon PIXMA MP500.

After having had a few problems with the HP and waiting a few weeks while it was in service, I decided it was time to buy a new one, as I really needed to get some work done and not in another three or four weeks, when I might get the HP back. So after much careful consideration, research and shopping, I, a long time HP fan, decided it was time to try something new.

Long story short, I hear great things about Canon both in person and on the web, so I decide to check them out. I do some quick research, find the machine that seems to best suits my needs and there you have it, I am the owner of a brand-new PIXMA MP500. Six months later, I’m quite pleased with the way things turned out.

Installation and Setup: 9/10
Installing this machine doesn’t exactly require a degree in nuclear physics. I guess Canon is a firm believer in the popular “KISS” rule of engineering (Keep It Simple, Stupid!) unlike some of their competition. If all goes as planned, the setup should go something like this:

01 – Open box.
02 – Remove printer from box.
03 – Unpack everything (printer, CDs, cables, etc).
04 – Remove packing materials from printer.
05 – Find somewhat large empty space in “office” (this was less pleasant).
06 – Install FINE print head.
07 – Install cartridges.
08 – Install drivers and software.
09 – Connect printer to computer when prompted to.
10 – Register your machine with Canon, if you wish.
11 – Check for software and driver updates; Update if necessary.
12 – Enjoy.

And there you have it: a true twelve step program to giving-up your old machine for good.

In my experience, the setup and installation went perfectly and not once was I stumped as to what to do next or how to do any of the steps outlined in the easy to follow and well detailed instructions. However, it does lose a point when it comes to trying to find a place to put it: it’s bulkier than most comparable AIO printers and weighs a fair amount as well, though not enough to make it unmanageable or all that hard to handle. Just keep in mind that it will take a decent chunk of your desk’s real estate and may not fit where your old printer was.

Machine Performance: 9/10
As the somewhat long list of features would tend to suggest, this machine is quite capable of performing just about anything you could possibly think to ask of it. It will also mostly be able to take anything you can throw at it and should pass any tests you decide to put it through with flying colors (no pun intended). I feel this is really where this particular machine shines, both in quantity and in quality.

Print quality is near photo-lab when it comes to photos, even on plain paper. Step it up a notch by using some high-quality paper or even photo paper and you’ve got some virtually perfect photos coming out of there faster than you can say cheese. Quality ranges from pretty good to excellent, depending on which mode you decide to set the printer in at the time and speeds range from outright impressive to decent, unlike many machines I’ve seen where you must chose speed or quality, as you cannot have both. For the control freak, there’s even a manual mode where you can set the quality on your own through a small set of parameters that you can individually adjust, giving you some nice extra flexibility as well.

The built-in scanner also produces some high-quality results; you can actually make the scan image look better than the original if you’re willing to put the time and effort into it. Speed of the scanner varies wildly between the many levels of quality you get to chose from however and can range from quite fast to somewhat slow. I’ve never seen it go so slow that it would be a problem, however, but know that it won’t churn-out top-notch quality scans in the blink of an eye.

Copies are also of high quality and match if not exceed that of the original, depending on how the machine is configured. Speed of copying is below that of a dedicated copier, it seems as if it quickly scans the document in question and then does the actual scan while printing on-the-fly. All in all, I have no complaint with the copier function either on the quality/performance front. If you use the automatic brightness control feature, colors do seem to be slightly brighter on the copy then they were on the original, but this has never been a problem for me.

Versatility & Capability: 9.5/10
If you need it done, this printer can most likely take care of it, unless you want to fax something, that is. While I’ve docked it a few points for not having built-in fax or an automatic document feeder, it can handle pretty much anything else most users will want to do with it.

It has it all, well, almost: It prints, it copies, it scans, and it has a card reader. It can print from a PC, directly from a PictBridge capable camera or even directly from a memory card. It can scan and save as a file on your PC (image or PDF), it can scan to e-mail, and it can scan and save to a memory card. It is also a stand alone copier.

Add to this list of features a Canon exclusive feature, dual paper trays, and you’ve got yourself another great little capability lacking in the competition. This enables you to use two different kinds of paper at once by filling your main paper source (an enclosed cassette, much like most laser printers) which protects your paper from dust or damage to be used for your everyday paper, while you can also use a plain old automatic sheet feeder at the back to drop in some photo paper or whatever when you need it. Of course, that’s not all it can do; you can also use this nifty little feature to double your paper capacity from an already impressive – and class leading - 150 sheets to an impressive 300 sheets (150 x2 trays). This dual paper-feed system can be managed in many ways through the drivers or with a paper feed switch on the front panel.

Another great feature is the Canon ThinkTank system; this system, which I believe happens to be another Canon innovation, gives you up to eight individual “ink tanks” (depending on the model, the MP500 has 5: black, pigment black, yellow, magenta and cyan) rather than the traditional black and color cartridges. Apparently this technology also enables a more efficient use of the ink and allows you to make full use of the ink tanks, rather than have the printer tell you to change it when there still is some ink in it.

The software is also great and makes using you machine so much easier than most of the competition. I especially enjoy the Easy Web Print, which lets you do one-click printing of web pages and other documents online through a special Internet Explorer toolbar; there is a catch though, it only works with IE.

Ease of Use: 7.5/10
This is where it lost a few points and is a bit less impressive. While the setup was relatively simple and went off without a hitch, my little experimentation session as soon as I was done setting it up left me pretty confused. First of all, you don’t get a printed manual (or at least I didn’t), so you have to load the e-manual provided on the disc (and copied onto your computer during install, if I recall correctly), which is less than convenient if you wish to give it a quick glance while trying to do something on your computer; then throw in the fact that it’s more of a photo printer than anything and you have to reconfigure it (copy and scan settings, mostly) to handle documents well: you’ve got yourself the antithesis of user friendly.

Once it’s ready to go everything will go smoothly and you should have many perfect prints, but it’s getting there that’s tricky. While the HP I had/have included an automatic setting for practically everything from paper size to scan type (document or photo), to paper type, etc., the PIXMA MP500 only has automatic size detection for scans and copy and, if you so chose to enable it, automatic brightness control for copying, otherwise, you’re going to have to configure it by yourself.

It still does have its positives in the ease of use department as well however: a nice control panel gives you control over most things without the need of your computer and it can print directly from a memory card or camera and copy without a computer, making this somewhat of a standalone machine.

It’s no reason to avoid the machine though; it’ll just take some getting used to during the first week or so.

Quality: 10/10
With approximately three reams of 600 pages that have gone through it (approx. total of 1800 pages), I have yet to see even the slightest hiccup from this machine. *knocks on wood* the biggest problem I can say I’ve had with it is one case of paper jam, but I loaded a single sheet in the sheet feeder at the back and accidentally put it in at a slight angle. Overall, I cannot possibly complain on this aspect.

Total: 45/50 – EXCELLENT

00-10: Abysmal
10-20: Poor
20-30: Fair
30-40: Good
40-50: Excellent