Canon Pixma MP530 Office All-In-One Inkjet Photo Printer by Canon
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List Price: Our Price: $150.00 You Save: $147.92 (50%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: CE See more digital camera details and other models |
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Digital camera reviews of Canon Pixma MP530 Office All-In-One Inkjet Photo Printer
Digital camera Review: All in one machine
Summary: 5 Stars
While it doesn't have networking capability unless you hook it up to a print server (which somewhat would defeat the purpose), it does perform extremely well in a one-computer setting. Quality prints: color and B/W. Quality scanned images. Reliable fax machine and photocopier. Prints legal paper. Ink refills seem expensive, but then again, I have not had to refill it yet. Aesthetically, I think it looks better than most of its competition and the price I paid on Amazon was the lowest I could find. Very satisfied after 3 months!Digital camera Review: All that and more....
Summary: 5 Stars
I researched multifunction printers for over 2 weeks before finally deciding on buying this one. I used to just buy the typical HP stuff that you would normally see at Costco, but after having 3 HPs all fail the same way, I decided to look for a better manufacturer. (They all stopped feeding paper after so many reams of paper.) A friend of mine turned me on to Canon. I must say this is virtually an all plastic printer, however you can really feel the "sturdiness" when comparing it to other manufacturers. I don't know if it's the thickness of the plastic or the formula of the plastic, but it just feels well built. The footprint is somewhat large compared to other 2007 HP models, (This printer is over a year old now). The MP830 is even larger, so check them out in person at a regular store before you decide to buy online.The shapes of these things are somewhat awkward, so they can appear larger than they actually are or vice versa. I was going to get the MP830 because it's canon's flagship multifunction printer, however it was just too big and the perks didn't justify the difference in cost from the MP530.
I bought my MP530 at a local brick and mortar store new for $159. This is $20 cheaper than Amazon. If you're not in a hurry, waiting a few more weeks or months may yield another drop in price. However the problem is that even at this price, these things are selling out quick. Since this printer is about a year old, I would suggest you check locally for a store unloading their inventory for the new fall gadgets. Now more specifics about the MP530 itself.
Copying - Put the paper on the glass, choose copy, hit either black or color and BAM, the front opens up a hidden door and your copy spits out.
Fax - You have to set it to manual. There are a myriad number of choices and selections to add here. You can customize the headers of every page you send, print activity reports, transmission reports, etc. This function is almost like having a $2000 copy/fax machine like you would see in a typical corporate workplace. Lots of user flexibility here. To use the fax you just put the document on the auto-feeder, hit black or color ink and bam - you're done!
Printing- Photos IMO come out just like you had film developed. I cannot tell the difference between printed vs. exposed film paper. YES, it's that good. To be fair to the printer, get on Canon's website and download a typical 7 MP photo then print it off. I have not tried anything beyond a 4X6 print, so it may get more grainy as size goes up but I have not tried this yet. Normal day in day out printing is smooth and fast. You have a number of ways to choose speed vs quality so you can spare your ink somewhat.
Scanner - Choose Scan, click black or color ink, BAM you're done.
Yes, it's that easy and smooth. To summarize, I would say this printer does it all. I am completely happy with this purchase, even if it does consume a lot of ink like others have mentioned. You really get what you pay for and more.
Pros:
-Works as advertised
-Several functions and settings to choose from
-Easy to use
Cons:
- ink consumption has been mentioned by others, but I haven't had it long enough to assess this
- Must use Canon inks. This is probably the biggest con about this printer. Canon is using a proprietary electronic eprom on it's printer cartridges. You cannot use third party cartridges without getting an error. I don't care about this because I will just buy canon ink. Check the prices of inkjet refills. The canon inks are mostly cheaper than other manufacturers and give you better prints to boot. You do however have 5 ink tanks to change, so overall I am sure it's more expensive than the competition with a 3 or 4 cartridge setup.
Aside from that, I would highly recommend this multifunction printer. GET YOURS TODAY BEFORE THEY ARE GONE!!
Digital camera Review: Almost unbelievable for the price!
Summary: 5 Stars
I read all the reviews on every all in one available for purchase. The 530 was chosen and I paid $151.00 delivered from Amazon. This machine works perfectly and was a snap to set up and get operating. The only complaint I could possibly have is that the manual was a little confusing on making copies. I just ignored the manual, hit the copy button and received a perfect reproduction! This sucker is neat! Hard to believe that it only cost $151.00. Those that have given negative reviews must have received a lemon which is likely very rare. I love my 530 and appreciate all the positive reviews which helped me decide to purchase it.Digital camera Review: Also a home office document scanner (pdf)
Summary: 5 Stars
There are many detailed reviews and descriptions so I will highlight just a few points.
1. Easy to set up in Windows XP - a couple minutes, no glitches. You must have a (not-included) USB cable with a "square" end.
2. You get fax-from-pc-document capability. For example, you have a Word or Powerpoint document on your pc. Basically when "printing" that document you choose the "Fax" among printer options in your regular print screen - dead simple, it prompts for phone #.
3. For us. a key factor was to replace our old one-sheet flatbed scanner with a multi-sheet scanner for home office use. Your multiple sheet paper document is converted to a PDF. (E.g. convert tax documents to "paperless office".) Great! The MP530 direct PDF is, however, an "image" type PDF and not word searchable. (Optical reader software is bundled, but not "inside" the PDF maker, it is a different program.) If you want to convert a paper document to a one-file, searchable PDF, you need special software like Adobe Acrobat. Acrobat can convert a PDF image document (direct from MP530) to a somewhat larger PDF with a hidden "vocabulary" of all words, making it searchable in the future even in free Adobe Reader. Of course, Acrobat software costs multiples of the MP530's price, so you wouldn't expect it to be included. (Check for academic versions if you have kids or are in school yourself.) You can get different machines, about triple the cost, that are home office "document scanners" but for light use we think the MP530 will accomplish this service fine.
4. Overall, no glitches in our first week. Other reviews report the MP530 ink cost-per-page is fairly low compared to various brands of all-in-one printers. Newer all-in-ones have features like little color video screens and slots for camera memory chips, those were not "must haves" for us.
Digital camera Review: Amazon has great customer service.
Summary: 4 Stars
The first printer received had a flaw (loud machine gun noise)that Canon could not fix with phone assistance. They wanted to replace it with a rebuilt printer which was not a option for me because I payed for a new printer. The second option was to take it to be repaired. I emailed amazon and they immediatly offered to replace it free of change. I have purchased items in the past from Amazon and will continue to do so in the future.