Laser like printing

This printer was my first Canon, as I've always had HP.
It's so different from the HP.

It was a breeze to set up. It's very intuitive. Canon makes so many small things in the setup that make it so much easier to make sure you're doing the right thing- like there's a light near the ink cartridges that lights up when the cartridge is set up right. So one can be sure it was placed right.

For me the deciding factor was the quality of the black and white text. I needed a good printer for a home office that will allow me to send letters in high quality print- but also have the scanning and copying capabilities.

My main uses in the order of importance are:
1. Black text print
2. Copying
3. Color scanning and copying.

When I read about the various printers I noticed that the Canon get great reviews by many reviewers including PCWorld, PC magazine and the likes.
This printer indeed has a laser like text look. The black and white text looks very very sharp.

Like the other reviewer mentioned, the printer starts up extremely quick and starts printing quick.
Also, it prints very very fast. That said, it is a little noisy for a printer, making all kind of wierd mechanical sounds.

The size of the printer is not small, but it is light, and unlike many printers it is very elegant. For a printer that lacks a fax, I would expect it still to be a little smaller.

They have a color LCD screen and a jog/shuttle ring that's similar to the one on the Ipod - which is very intuitive and easy to handle.
They have a lot of options in the menu and in some ways it does remind me of an Apple in terms of the ease of use.

I set up the printer on both my apple macbook pro and on my desktop PC and they were both easy to set up.

This printer seemed to have better resolution both in scanning and in printing than much of their competition and even better than their more expensive MP970. This printer boasts a 4,608 nozzles, which is about 30 % better than most of Canon's top notch products.

What I wished they would have in this printer is :
1. networking capabilities
2. Fax
3. Built in Bluetooth.
(One can add blue tooth adapter but that's additional $50-100)

I usually don't buy new products on the market. I wait to see what the verdict of the online community will be.
But this time, I took the risk, basing my decision on the fact that the previous Canon models got exceptional reviews in the various PC magazines, including PC world and PC magazine, so I'm hoping this product will be the same.

The MP600 was one of their most beloved printers by reviewers all over the net and this one looked as if it's the same printer with additional features added and not a brand new printer.

The price is also attractive. I was willing to pay for a much more expensive printer, and because of this one's laser like print quality decided to give it a try.

I've used mostly HP and have always been unhappy with them.
The offer a lot on paper. They pack a punch in terms of features and are many times ahead of the pack in terms of design and overall offer.
Every time I was suckered to buy them cause they seem to be a little more advanced than the competition. Magazine critics seem to love HP. But all the HP printers I've had were flawed by manufacturer's defects and eventually forced me to spend dozens of hours arguing with unhelpful HP technicians on the phone.

This time I based my decision to buy the printer not on the critics reviews, but on readers reviews.
Like me there are many unhappy HP customers out there. Many models I've checked had high critics reviews but low readers reviews- so I listened to them.

Canon on the other hand has mostly happy customers who recommended and praised the Canon. The MP600 got stunning reviews from so many people that it made me feel safer to buy the revised version of this successful model.


This printer is still very new, and so there's little info about it online, except on Canon's website. I couldn't find any review of it anywhere.

Here's Canon's advertised specs. On paper their specs are amazing, The following info was copied from the Canon's website:

* Exceptional resolution: 4,608 precision nozzles create exceptional resolution up to 9600 x 2400 color dpi. More nozzles = high quality.1

*Exceptional detail: Microscopic 1-picoliter sized ink droplets produce exceptionally detailed photos.

*Vivid color, bold text: Four dye-based inks plus a pigment-based black ink deliver superb photos and laser-quality text.

*4"x6" Print Speed: Borderless 4" x 6" photo in approx. 21 seconds.2

*Scans: up to 4800 x 9600 color dpi.

*Easy-Scroll Wheel makes operation so much easier.

*Print 2 sided: Print or copy 2 sided — and save paper.

*Sharper previews: The 2.5" high-definition TFT display delivers sharp previews of your images, viewable from up to a 170-degree angle.

*Auto-Image Fix: The built-in Auto-Image Fix feature helps you produce amazing results on all your photos.

*Print from compatible memory cards: The memory card slot lets you print photos direct. No computer needed!3

*Snap and print, wirelessly: Print wirelessly right from your infrared-enabled mobile camera phone!4, 5

*Print Wirelessly: Print from a compatible Bluetooth device in another room, using our optional USB Bluetooth adapter.5

More info can be see on their MP610 website:

http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/controller?act=ModelInfoAct&tabact=ModelFeaturesTabAct&fcategoryid=116&modelid=15604
From their website:



To summarize- for a printer that costs nearly half of their competition's price- one gets a near laser like quality text print+amazing color scanning and printing.
It's a wonderful printer for those who mainly want to print text and have scanning and color printing as well.

It lacks some features that would make it the ideal home/office use as it lacks fax.
But it beats other printers on the market in it's laser like printing, ease of use and speed.

UPDATE:
I've been using this printer for several month's now. I still love everything about it except it does have one major flaw which has made me change my mind about this printer. The printer loves ink. The high quality of every printed page is due to the fact that a lot of ink is used to make it look so crisp and clean.
The cartidges are expensive but what makes it even more complicated is that they have a computer chip so that one cannot put the cheap substitute ones sold in various stores.
Also, stores that sell refilled cartridges like cartridge world have had problem with this cartridge as they manage to refill the ink, but the chip still sends a signal to the computer that the cartidge is empty.

I think Canon should have decided to either sell cheap cartidges for this one or allow additional vendors to sell cheaper cartidges like other printer manufacturers.

Since buying all the cartidges for the printer costs almost as much as the printer itself- and since the printer drinks ink faster than a Hummer drinks gas- I have changed my opinion about this printer from a buy to a maybe! Get this printer only if you print very few pages a month and thus don't have to worry about the price of the ink.

Update 2:
I've recently needed to print on DVD/CD's and discovered that quite easily with a part that can be purchased for about $20 online on ebay and other sites one can print directly on disks.
I've tested it and it works great.
So for those looking for a cheap printer for that type of work- this could be a deciding factor thought INK! as mentioned above isn't cheap.