This is the third Canon Pixma printer we have owned. The first two were blown out by power surges (we have extraordinarily unreliable and variable power in the islands).
The first Pixma printer we bought is something of a legend for it's inexpensive cartridges which could be purchased retail (OEM) for less than $10 apiece. When we bought that, we already had several other printers in the house, at least 1 unused. The issue we had with each of the others (a Dell, an HP and an Epson) was that the printer cartridges cost as much as, or more than, the printer itself. If you already have a printer, you know that the manufacturers are using the Gillette razor model; pricing the printers low, and gauging on the ink. The cost for a replacement cartridge for my HP laser was around $200, the Epson, around $100, and the Dell (which came free with the computer) cost over $100. Since this is a home printer we cared less about print quality, and more aboiut reasonable operating cost. i have not yet printed any photos and so can not comment on print quality in that regard, though Canon claims it is a high point.
I will say that the print quality on our first 2 Pixmas was somewhat less than ideal. I was able to remedy that by printing on high (photo quality). On our new printer, the MP 490, the print quality is better, BUT, unfortunately the cartridges cost more. They still cost at least 1/3 less than those for comparable printers, but are not as reasonable as on prior models. This is what took a star off in my rating.
In terms of features and ease of use:
this printer fixes an annoying issue we had with the other 2 pixmas. the cartridges are easier to change. You no longer have to hold the door up or have it hover at an awkward angle.
My kids like the digital read out, and, I will note for those new to the line; Canon printers keep track of ink use. The software logs cartridge changes and lets you know when you are running low on either (black or multi-color) ink. Often this is a bit off. that is, you can get a few more prints after it tells you it is out. This is a nice feature. I have had the experience of running out of ink while printing a 100 page document on my HP, only finding out that half the pages came up blank after the entire document ran.
On wimdows machines, set up is very easy: plug & play. It will work without loading extra printer drivers. I can not comment on this with regard to macs, since w do not have one.
You can switch to scan or print with the touch of a button. Both of these functions work flawlessly.
The other feature this machine offers over our old pixmas is a card reader. You can take a card out of your camera and print direct from the machine without going through a computer. (Most of the newer printers offer this feature, so this will set it apart in comparison to last gen. printers, rather than other brands).
It also has a very small footprint; not much larger than is required for a letter size scanner. It is not as small as a portable, but very compact for a desk top printer.
All in all it is a VERY nice printer for the money. We got it for an insanely low price during Amazon's 'black friday week" sale. Even at full retail it costs roughly the same or less than comparable printers. The primary reason we bought this was for the lower price ink cartridges. In that regard, the saving are not quite what they were on older models of the Pixma, but are still less costly than for other brands. We have owned Pixma printers for more than 10 years now and have been very happy with them overall, or I would not have purchased a third.
Update:
After 6 months of usi9ng this printer I needed to replace the ink. (note: this printer is attached to my childrens' machine and hence does not get as much use as mu own). i am now substantially less happy with the printer and probably would not buy another. If I were writing the review now, I'd give it 3 instead of 4 stars. Why?
1) Replacing the ink cost more than the printer.
2) When the black ink ran out we were unable to use the printer evewn though there was still ink in the color cartridge.
While the ink may cost less than some it should not cost as much as the printer!
Canon has been advertising that they were the solution to overpriced ink. Instead, it seems, they've decided that this is a pretty good way to make money.
This is Way far from the perfect printer.
I'm now shopping for another OLD Canon for my kids. My old Canon is still running on $10 cartridges (less if I use generic!)
I do not want to buy ink which costs as much as a new printer every 6 months! I hope Canon hears this. they have just lost a heretofore loyal customer.
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