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Canon Pixma MX850 All-In-One Printer

Pixma MX850 All-In-One Printer
  • Avg User Rating

    4 User Reviews
  • Price Range
    $179.95 - $291.69
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Most recent User Reviews for

Canon Pixma MX850 All-In-One Printer

  • Reviewed by: caseyahenry

    08-23-08

    Duration of ownership: 1 Months

    Strengths: Outstanding text quality, built-in duplexing and automatic document feeder, two paper trays, Mac (Leopard) compatibility

    Weaknesses:Big and heavy, networking/sharing support could be improved, photo quality not fantastic

    Overall Evaluation: I purchased the MX850 as a replacement for a similar HP Photosmart 3310 that I had been using for several years with my Mac and Windows PCs. I was generally satisfied with the HP; it included built-in wireless networking and had outstanding photo quality. After upgrading to OS X 10.5 Leopard, however, the HP model was rendered useless for anything other than basic printing on my iMac, even with drivers updated for Leopard. I was very happy, therefore, to find that Canon's MX850 works flawlessly with my iMac running Leopard. The first thing you notice about the MX850 is its size; it's considerably larger and heavier than my HP multifunction printer. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but you'll want to take note of the dimensions and make sure you have room for this device before purchasing. This is likely due to the added functionality Canon has squeezed into the device. It includes an auto duplexer, automatic document feeder, and two paper trays (one at bottom front and one on the back). If you frequently scan multi-page documents, print double-sided materials, or switch between two types/sources of paper, then this machine will undoubtedly prove very convenient. Printer output is very good, with a few caveats. Everyday printing is very speedy, and the text output of the MX850 is fantastic, giving some laser printers a run for their money. There is one caveat pertaining to duplex printing which causes duplex-printed text documents to appear dark gray instead of black. In order to reduce bleeding through on double-sided documents, the printer uses only colored inks (no black) for double-sided printing. If you prefer to print most of your documents using black ink only (which I would recommend in order to conserve the expensive colored inks), know that you won't be able to do so when printing in duplex mode. Unfortunately, the photo quality of the MX850 is not as outstanding as the text quality. It produces nice-looking (even frame-worthy) prints on photo paper, but you won't mistake them for professional prints. This is the one area where the Photosmart beats the MX850 hands-down. The other features of this device also work very well. Scan quality is very good, and the automatic document feeder makes it very easy to scan multiple-page documents. Fax capabilities are built in as well, and I was pleased to note the inclusion of speed dial and a standard telephone-style number pad for inputting numbers. The MX850 also includes network connectivity in the form of an ethernet port, but it would have been nice to see built-in WiFi networking included as well. Even though Canon includes fully-featured drivers for both Windows and Mac OS X, it's not possible to attach the device to a Mac and share it with Windows PCs (I was able to use Bonjour printer sharing and a generic driver to allow my Windows PCs to print to the device, but you don't have the ability to scan or to set or use any advanced device functions such as the duplexer or print quality settings). The MX850 is clearly designed with a home office environment in mind, as its advanced document-handling abilities and unexceptional photo quality suggest. If you're looking for a full-time photo printer, then you should look elsewhere; but if your scanning and printing needs routinely call for excellent text quality, convenient duplexing, scanning multipage documents, and the flexibility offered by two paper trays, then the MX850 will fit the bill perfectly.

  • Reviewed by: vee08

    07-13-08

    Duration of ownership: 1 Days

    Strengths: Works well, no excessive software to install, network connectivity.

    Weaknesses:Supposedly uses color inks for two-sided printing, even for black and white documents. A little bulky.

    Overall Evaluation: Great printer so far, easy to setup with a ton of features. Have been using it to scan two-sided documents and it's blazing fast. Two paper feeders are great as I can load photo and copy paper and switch between the two on demand.Canon software is quite slim, unlike gigabytes of "stuff" HP printers require.

  • Reviewed by: atrus5

    05-27-08

    Duration of ownership:

    Strengths: Slick scan to network. Intuitive front panel. Solid build. Duplexing saves a few trees. Attractive styling and color.

    Weaknesses:Small paper tray. CID scanner.

    Overall Evaluation: This is my first Canon printer. The reviews of the Pixmas have been good so I thought I'd give one a shot. I've had Epson, HP, and Lexmark in the past. I've been happy with each. I was looking to a HP all-in-one until I started checking out the reviews. It sounds like HP quality and support is not what they used to be... but on to the Canon review. If I had used the "Easy" setup I'm sure things would have been smoother but I hate to load all the unnecessary software that is usually loaded with the default install so I went for the "Custom" setup. I started by loading just the drivers, but I am using it strictly via network so this was not sufficient. I then loaded the Network Tools and I could then see it over the network. When I tried to scan over the network my PC advised me to load an additional application... I ended up with multiple copies of the printer installed so I uninstalled everything and starting over with everything I needed from the setup disk. Bottom line, it would have been simpler if the naming/descriptions provided on the setup disk were more intuitive/correct. For example to enable network scanning on each PC you need to load the network tools application which is described as being used for configuring the printer remotely. It appears to be required for basic network functionality. Overall, the installation was not that bad. Just not as obvious as it could have been. Beyond installation, I have been very pleased thus far. The printing preferences provides a lot of flexibility. To some it might even be intimidating. Print, scan, copy quality appears to be quite good. The scanner warms up quickly as expected with the CID technology used. The CID definitely does not have much depth of field like CCD scanners do. For documents and other flat items it will work fine. I suspect that is why the average person would buy an all-in-one anyway. If you plan on scanning thick books (or other 3-dimensional objects) you might consider a different scanner. This one will have difficulty where the page lifts from the glass near the binding of the book. The network scanning is great. When a PC with the Canon software loaded is logged into, it communicates with printer to let it know that it is available for retrieving scans. At the Canon, you just hit scan and a list of available PCs comes up showing both the user and PC name. You just select the PC you want to send the scan to and begin your scan. The file is stored on the PC in the directory you have it configured to receive to. The only negative I have encountered thus far is that the Automatic Document Feeder has jammed a few times. I suspect that the material I was feeding may have had a less than perfect leading edge which caused the problem. Since the paper was slightly mangled after the jam, I cannot determine that.

  • Reviewed by: rdt6rdt6

    04-03-08

    Duration of ownership:

    Strengths: -Solid product-Easy set up-Controls and options are easy to understand-Fax distinctive ring capabilities-Manages paper very well-Good dust cover-Beautiful color or