Customer Reviews

Canon ImageCLASS MF4350d Laser All-in-One Printer

5 star:		(96)
4 star:		(42)
3 star:		(16)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(19)

 

 

Overall, this is a good all-in-one laser printer for its price in consumer class printers. Here are some detailed comments.

1. The automatic paper feeder is well designed - the situation that multiple pages go-through at once never happens (in HP 3050, this happens a lot).

2. Canon provided a well designed user interface - functions are easy to follow and operate, including scan / printer / copy.

3. The automatic duplex print is excellent and make the printer worth what you paid for. But when using automatic double sided printing - the print speed turns to be less than a third (instead a half) because the mechanical parts need a lot of time to flip the paper.

4. As some of you may have concerned, the latest firmware (02/09/2009) makes scan function smooth on a Mac - all you need is to press the scan button. This is tested on a Leopard Mac Mini.

5. In case some of you want know the compatibility with printer servers, this printer is full compatible with Netgear PS121 printer server under windows vista (including automatic duplex) x86 and x64. It is NOT compatible with Netgear PS121 under Mac Leopard (no idea why - installation smooth and prints went through - nothing comes out of printer). This printer is NOT compatible with Maxtor Central Axis printer server function.

To summary, this is a good printer for its price. However, concerning its powerful function, you may want spend some extra money for the 4370n to enable every function on network - if you are working in a networked environment.

I purchased this machine on Amazon in November. Overall, I've been happy with it. Duplexing was an important feature to me, and Canon appears to offer that on less expensive printers than other companies.

I don't have a lot of experience to base my judgments on, but I think the print quality is very good, with a couple exceptions. First, the printing is sometimes crooked on the paper, especially on the back side when duplexing. However, the Canon rep I complained to said that a variance within 2mm is considered acceptable, so I measured and this printer is within that tolerance. It's visible, though, especially on forms, such as printer checks. (Actually, my cheapest of Dell inkjets printed straighter.)

The other problem also appears when duplexing: on the back side there's a strip of blurred printing from top to bottom where the toner didn't bond. This only appears on the first sheet after the printer has sat idle awhile. The Canon rep had no answer, had not heard of this before.

Yes, you can scan from the machine if you download the firmware update.

I think I'd buy it if I had it to do over. It's quick and has really crisp printing. If you want to compare, some similar Canons I looked at are the MF4150, MF4370dn and MF4270.

I am a bit disappointed after I've played with this copier ImageCLASS MF4350d. Note that Canon calls this a copier, not a printer. Thus, when you call Canon or search its site for help/technical support, make sure you select the "Copier" category.

This ImageCLASS MF4350d has been in the market for a while but no one reports this problem: up to this moment of writing this review, the machine cannot scan a document by using its own START button. Everything must be scanned via the software "Toolbox" from the computer.

I bought it a few days ago. I called Canon 1-800 for help but it was useless. Then I went back to the store and tried their demo machine; it has the same problem. Whenever I push the START button on the machine for scanning, there is always a beeping sound as a return but the LCD doesn't show any error - it always indicates "Scanning Mode." So I called Canon again to go over the story. Finally they admitted the problem and said that they are aware of this issue; their engineers are working on the new firmware to fix this. However it won't be soon. The new firmware may be possibly released next month but could be later. I also wrote an email to Canon support to confirm this information one more time, besides their verbal confirmation over the phone.

In addition, the scanning has no detection senor. Thus, the scanned document (scanned from the computer) will go as large as the paper size, which is usually the Letter/A4 size depending on your settings. The scanned document will NOT be resized automatically according to the actual object(s). It is different from its ink jet printers, which usually detect the size of the document or photo and then resize automatically.

If scanning a document directly from the machine's START button is important to you, you should wait to buy until the new firmware comes. If resizing the document or photo automatically is important to you, this copier or printer is not for you; you may consider others or Canon ink jet type printer. After all, this all-in-on laser printer is classified a copier internally by Canon.

This is a really great little printer for the money, It is; fast, quiet, and really easy to use. Prints are clean and professional. It is only black and white, but you can scan color items and print on an inkjet ( I use my old epson ) It is also totally MAC compatible! You have the option to scan or copy using either the feed or the flatbed.... Gotta say, I love this machine ! Although you have to go to canon's website to download the drivers for Mac, if you call their support at 1-800-385-2155( if you're a bone head like me) they will walk you through it and make sure everything is configured right. I give this two thumbs up !Canon ImageCLASS MF4350d Laser All-in-One Printer (2711B001AA)

I've had this product for over 6 months now and have owned several other printers in the past. This printer by far is the worst for toner cartridge life. I am using the recommended cartridge, Canon cartridge 104. The printer is constantly alerting that the toner is low and then forces me to replace the cartridge much earlier than necessary. It will stop printing even though the printing quality has never even faded. No amount of shaking the cartridge, placing it in and out of the machine, turning it on or off helps. I have used this type of cartridge in the past on other machines and have never been forced to change them so frequently. I would not recomend this machine or the use of these canon cartridges to anyone unless you have an unlimited income to continually purchase new cartridges.

Reviewed unit: Canon MF4350d
Computer: iMac 20" 2.4ghz C2D (mid-2007) w/Mac OS X 10.6.5
Connected via: USB 2.0

[Update: Currently running Mac OS X 10.7. Everything worked without having to update the drivers, although there ARE new drivers to download at Canon's website. I have since installed those, and everything continues to work well.]

[Update: Currently running Mac OS X 10.6.6. No changes to report, the OS update didn't screw anything up - I didn't even have to reinstall the Canon software. See below about Apple's distribution of Canon software, however, which I recommend you avoid.]

I received my MF4350d just two days ago, so I'll revise this review if needed. So far, I'm very pleased with it overall.

I've had an Epson Stylus Scan 2500 inkjet printer/scanner for about a decade. I was quite satisfied with it, but it is very, very old. Although the Epson continues to work perfectly, scan bulbs and mechanical parts don't last forever. Besides, I always wanted a laser printer at home because 90% of the documents I print are text. The last couple of years I've been going to a local printshop or pharmacy when I want good color prints from my camera or for professional needs, as what I can get from them 5 minutes after handing over a USB memstick or emailing them the images is both better than anything that a consumer-level color printer can produce and WAY less expensive per print, too. Lasers, especially monochrome lasers, have a far less expensive per-page cost than inkjets, and tend to be much faster, too. I don't think I've sent or received a fax in 5 years but it can't hurt to have it handy just in case, especially since my current computer has no modem. And I figured I could keep the old Epson either in an out of the way place connected to my network if I really wanted a color page now and then, or just disconnected and left in storage as a backup. So my mind was made up to get a multifunction monochrome laser printer.

I did a lot of research on the web and eventually settled on the Canon MF4350d. It has all the features I want, has good reviews from users, and is fairly priced. I thought the roughly $150 price on Amazon was good, but also took a look at eBay. Some liquidator with a 90,000+ rating was selling an MF4350d in new/open-box condition, so I put in a bid and won for a solid discount below Amazon's price. Unfortunately for me, it turns out the unit I bought wasn't new or even newish - it had a third-party toner cartridge (albeit a full one) instead of the Canon starter cartridge, the machine's internal logs showed almost 1500 pages printed and also showed faxes sent from the machine from April 2009 through September 2010, and the inside was dusty and had a little bit of (easily-cleaned) paper and ink waste on the surfaces. Yes, I bought a used machine; used by its previous owner or owners for at least 18 months. I was not happy, but the seller apologized (apparently he didn't inspect the unit closely, and with only a quick look it DID seem brand new as the outside was aesthetically perfect and clean) and gave me a partial refund. So even though I have a nearly two-year-old printer now instead of a new one, I think the net price I paid for it (after the partial refund) was fair. I thought it might be important to note this, but now back to the review.

I went to Canon's website and downloaded all the Mac software for the MF4350d. There were three software packages to install: One is a printer driver, the second is a fax driver, and the third is a scan driver and GUI for scanning. Several versions of each are on Canon's website; obviously I downloaded only the latest version of each, but it did take a little bit of hunting and comparing to be sure I was getting only the most recent versions. All three driver packages installed without incident. Note that the drivers on Canon's website are more recent versions of those installed along with Mac OS X and also more recent than those available by downloading the latest "Apple Canon Print Drivers" from Apple's website. Note also that the manual that comes with the printer states multiple times that it's important to install the drivers before connecting the printer to the computer. Frankly, I think that only applies to Windows operating systems, but I followed the instructions anyway. All in all, the software installation process was very easy for me, but I can see how it might have been a major hassle for someone who is less familiar with hunting down and installing software. Canon doesn't include Mac drivers on the CDs that come with the printer - just a sheet that tells you to go to the Canon website to download the software. They ought to include an installer that pulls the latest builds from Canon's servers and then installs them in one step, to make the process as easy as possible for nontechnical users that just want to get started using the printer right away.
Update 2010-12-14: IMPORTANT! Apple released "Canon Printer Drivers 2.4.1" today. It supposedly has the latest Canon printing and scanning software for Mac OS X. DO NOT INSTALL THIS! It is NOT the latest software available at Canon's website. Installing it prevents Image Capture and VueScan from recognizing the MF4350d and using its scanning functions in 64-bit mode. I had to reinstall the software I downloaded from Canon's website, which is a more recent vintage than Apple just released. Shame on Apple.
Update 2011-07-21: There are new drivers for Mac OS X 10.7 Lion to install at the Canon website [...] They are dated July 19th and 20th but the version numbers indicate they are "re-dated" older versions. In any case, I've installed them and they work fine with Lion. On the other hand, whichever versions (perhaps the same...) that I had just before installing Lion also worked.

Physical setup of the printer was very easy, and would be easy even for people who've never set up something like this before. Remove some tape, pop in the toner cartridge, plug in the power cable, and turn on the unit with the side switch. It makes some noise, then settles down into ready mode within 10 seconds. I then plugged in the USB cable and that was it. (The instructions state to plug it in and turn it on before connecting it to the computer, but again I don't think this would matter for Macs.)

The front panel has a huge number of options. I set things up the way I wanted, which didn't take long. Some of the options are nested very deeply and might be hard for some people to find or use - but really, if you just keep pressing the "menu" button or read the labels, you'll eventually get to what you want even if you don't read the (very large) manual first.

The paper feeder holds a decent amount of paper for my needs. I don't print hundreds of pages a week, but those that do might need to move to a higher-end printer that stores more paper or you could find yourself wasting time multiple times every day refilling the paper feeder. The secondary paper feed accepts just one sheet at a time, so if you print dozens or hundreds of envelopes or other "secondary" paper items every day this also might not be a good choice for you - not a problem for me, but I thought it was worth mentioning.

I LOVE the duplexing. This thing can print and copy from one-side to two-sides, or two sides to two sides, or two sides to one side (and of course one-side to one-side) - AUTOMATICALLY, and COLLATED. This is so awesome that I am right now pinching myself as punishment for not replacing or supplementing my ancient inkjet with something like this years ago. I've always been able to do this at the office, but never at home. Really, the convenience of this cannot be overstated. Plus it saves paper. And it's all very smooth and fast. I've experienced no jams or other issues whatsoever with the duplexer.

You don't even need to connect the MF4350d to a computer to do copying (or faxing). There's a 35-page automatic document feeder (ADF) that makes copying and some document scanning much faster and more convenient. With my limited testing so far, the ADF is as good as the duplexer: It places paper straight, works smoothly, and is fast.

The Epson scanning software is very easy to use and comes with a number of presets (Mail, Save, PDF). It's possible to save up to four additional presets. (A "preset" I define here as a one-button way to scan a document on the platen or bunch of documents with the ADF with certain parameters such as resolution, file type (JPG, TIFF, PDF, etc.), save location, etc.) But only four, which is a little limited for me but admittedly should be enough for most people. And it's really not a problem for me, either, because I'll be using VueScan for most of my scanning, anyway. VueScan is shareware, and it drives the MF4350d just beautifully. Mac OS X's Image Capture application also drives the MF4350d's scanner nicely. VueScan can get optical resolutions up to 1200dpi from this unit, whereas Canon's software doesn't have an option for anything higher than 600dpi - which is weird, since the hardware can do 1200.

Printing uses the Canon printer application queue, not the Apple printer application queue which you might be used to seeing when you print a document on most printers with Mac OS X. It seems to work about the same, though: It's automatically invoked when you hit PRINT within a print dialogue and automatically quits itself when it's done driving the printer. Print quality is excellent, by the way, even with "Toner Saver" mode enabled. I'll probably print in "Toner Saver" mode all the time except for the most important final documents which have to go to clients. And most of those I don't print myself anyway, so I expect toner will last a long, long time and therefore cost very, very little (especially since high-quality third-party toner is available for this unit for about $20).

Speaking of saving money, the MF4350d switches to an energy-saving standby mode after it's been idle for a few minutes (the time before going into standby is one of the options you can set using the front panel controls). It wakes up from standby mode very quickly, within 2 seconds. The first page of one-sided text comes firing out about 6 seconds after that, and you get subsequent pages every 2 seconds or so after the first page warmup is done.

Printing is pretty loud, about on par with other lasers I've used and MUCH louder than the inkjets I've used. While scanning is audible but not distracting, printing does seem very loud to me. I don't care since I'm not 19 years old printing out term papers at 3am while my roommate sleeps off a bender. I don't think it would be a problem in most home and office situations, but it was startling the first time I fired it up since the unit is DEAD QUIET when in ready mode or standby mode. If you are putting this in your bedroom or a "Shhh, quiet!" library-type location, the printing noise could be an issue.

As I said earlier, I don't really have a need for faxing (Does anyone still use fax instead of just emailing PDFs or other image formats?) but I tested my unit to be sure it could both place and pickup calls. I did not test the actual sending or receiving of a fax document since (a) I don't really care and (b) I don't know anyone with a fax machine with whom to perform the test. It's a good guess that it works fine, though, given that faxing is very old tech, the previous owner of my unit was faxing successfully, and besides the telecommunications portion of the process it makes use of the MF4350d's scanner and printer functions both of which I did test extensively and work very well. In any case, both sending and receiving faxes is fairly straightforward, with large labeled buttons on the front panel devoted to these functions.

Faxing directly from the computer instead of by feeding pages through the MF4350d is simple. One sets up the fax process as a second "printer" - it's as easy as setting up the actual printer function, with a Mac you just go to System Preferences->Print & Fax and choose the unit's fax, then "print" to that. I did not, however, see in the manual or discover any way to directly receive faxes to the computer aside from printing them out and then scanning them in afterward. That seems like an oversight, but again - pfft - I don't much care about the faxing functions. It is nice to know I can do it if needed, though.

I have not tried hooking up my MF4350d to my Time Capsule or other network device, nor have I tried printing from another computer on my network by having my iMac "share" the printer. I haven't tried network scanning, either. I'll probably experiment with this some other time when I'm not so busy. I have read reviews from users which indicate that networking this printer doesn't work well, especially for Macs for some reason. Canon's own documentation on their website suggests going to the MF4370dn ("n" for "networking") which is pretty much the same unit only with better networking capabilities at a higher price. If sharing the printer on my network doesn't work well or at all, then I'll keep the old Epson Stylus Scan 2500 around for the rare occasion when network printing is needed at home.
Update 2011-02-25: Just for fun, I ran a little software package called AirPrint Activator (formerly called AirPrint Hacktivator) and I can now print from my iPhone directly to my Canon MF4350d, as long as my computer - to which the printer is connected via USB - is turned on.

My only disappointment so far is a minor one: Macs cannot be used to install firmware updates on these units. The firmware updaters are available only for various flavors of Windows. My unit does not currently have the latest firmware, but the latest firmware addresses an issue which is very close to being a non-issue for me: It fixes a problem which prevents the start button on the front panel from initiating a scan-to-computer operation. It's pretty much a non-issue for me because if I'm scanning something to my computer I'll be initiating the scan from my computer, anyway. Even so, Canon should make it possible for Mac users to install firmware updates on units that they advertise as being Mac-compatible. As it is, I'll get the firmware updated eventually when I can borrow a friend's Windows laptop.
Update 2010-12-06: I installed the firmware update so pressing Start while the Scan function is selected now opens up the Canon scanning software on my Mac, performs a scan using the designated preset, then automatically quits the scanning software. Instead of doing nothing. Woop-de-doo. Can't see ever using that function, but there it is.

As a final thought, it's worth mentioning that the stock images of the MF4350d make it appear HUGE. It doesn't look nearly as large when it's in front of you as it does in the pictures. It's about twice as tall as my 20th-century Epson but has a significantly smaller footprint, so it fit on my good old printer stand just fine. Of course, the scanning platen of the Canon is smaller than the Epson's which is what makes the Epson's footprint so much larger, especially in the width dimension.

Great unit so far, and I'm looking forward to many years of inexpensive black-and-white and greyscale printing, as well as easy and high-quality color document scanning.

Great multifunction laser. Love the ease of use, fast first copy - 9 seconds, and for its many capabilities (fax, copier, scanner, printer). Biggest selling point, besides price (on sale) is fast 2-sided printing and copying.

Note: My video review is at expotv.com but I am not sure links are allowed at amazon: (http://www.expotv.com/videos/reviews/17/161/Canon-ImageCLASS-MF4350d-Laser-All-in-O/287532). To locate it, on the top right, select Community | Search member: beta | Select "beta" without any numbers or digits, just "beta". Click on the Canon printer review which demonstrates the use of this wonderful Canon multifunction printer, including duplex copying.

No need to turn the paper over to print on the reverse side. This Canon takes care of it for you. Use the 35-sheet automatic document feeder to copy 2 single-sided sheets into 1 double-sided sheet (but does not appear to copy 2-sided sheets to 2-sided copies). Saves tons of paper plus easy to clip together or put in binders with less pages. Quiet. Comes with a starter toner cartridge, good for about 1000 copies. Comes with fax cord, but you need to get a USB printer cable Belkin F3U133-10 Hi-Speed USB 2.0 Cable (10 Feet) Cartridges are easy to change. New cartridges are good for about 2000 copies: Canon 104 Black Toner Cartridge. It is tall (to accommodate all the features - 250-sheet tray, fax, scanner, copier, printer), yet small enough footprint to fit on little TV table. Includes two disks (eManual and software. For Windows, includes ScanSoft OmniPage OCR (converts scanned images into editable text), Presto!PageManager, MF Toolbox, and NetSpot Device Installer (no network card in this model but networking is available in the higher end model Canon ImageCLASS MF4370dn Laser All-in-One Printer (2711B019AA) ).

Have not tried scanning but it says it can save to many formats, including multiple pages to one PDF document. Excellent - does the job of four machines in one. HIGHLY recommend this Canon imageClass multifunction printer!

Printing and copying are fast with good, although not so crisp print quality. There are many problem issues with this printer:
- Although duplex printing is advertised as selling point, this only applies to printing from PC. There is no 2 on 2 sided copying and certainly not 2 on 2 sided scanning, neither from ADF nor glass platen. It only does 1 on 2, or 2 on 1, for these functions. You would still need to turn the paper stack over manually and be aware of orientation and repeat the copy or scan process to get a 2 on 2. This feature is not explicitly mentioned in specs, and just hearing the word duplex printing might fool you to think it does have these features.
- Print quality is not as sharp or crisp as in Inkjet prints, which is ironic and interesting.
- Paper wrinkles in a wavy manner after print, applied heat seems to be excessive.
- scanning is unreliable and frustrating when using multiple papers through the ADF. It is slow and frequently fails and gives error message only at the end of the scan.
- It is too loud for home environment when dialing fax, even with lowest monitor volume settings, unless you turn it off, but then you don't know what is happening.
- The menu functions are tediously complicated and not user friendly. You have to go through a lot of steps to complete a function.
- Overall construction quality is flimsy, with cheap plastic all around. must be very careful when you move it around.
I would recommend this MFP only for basic light office work, or in a house room with good sound isolation.

This has been a great printer for me. The problems mentioned in the previous reviews have been fixed - There is a new firmware update already on the Canon site for the scan issue. The people complaining about the printer either had unique issues with their machine or just plain didn't read the box. No, it doesn't come with networking, so if you are looking for that, then try one of Canon's other printers. It has great print quality, a nice set of software tools, and is easy to use.

One other note about the printer: The toner cost is fairly reasonable at around $65-70 (online). I am still using the original starter cartridge a couple of months later, so I am thinking that I will get even more life out of a full cartridge. I was so used to toner cartridges over $100, so this was a nice surprise.

I need to use a printer just few times a month. I was tired of spending money on cheap ink jet printers with expensive cartridges. The cartridges dried up before I had finished using them, and every few months I found myself needing new Ink Jet cartridges.

Printing color photos at the local drug store or super market is so convenient, that I didn't really see the need to have a color printer at home.

I chose the Canon ImageCLASS MF4350d Laser All-in-One Printer (2711B001AA) Canon ImageCLASS MF4350d Laser All-in-One Printer (2711B001AA) primarily because I was looking for a basic laser printer with fax and copy functionality.

The setup was relatively easy, though the printer is bigger than I anticipated. Be sure to install drivers before connecting USB cable. Also, uninstall your old printer driver if don't plan to use it. I found that an older Dell printer driver interfered with the Scanning function.

The copies are crisp and sharp. The printer wakes up from Energy saver mode fast.

I did not have any compatibility issues with Windows XP. The fax works with a digital phone line.

I find it annoying that a USB printer costing hundreds of dollars does not include a compatible $2 USB cable. I believe that this is bone from printer manufacturers to the big box retailers so that they can rip you off by selling you "24K gold-plated and corrosion-proof connectors for maximum conductivity and error-free transmission" for $50. Fortunately I was able to recycle the cable from my older printer, but if you don't have one, be sure to order a USB A-B Cable with the printer. It should cost you about $5.

I also recommend that you give serious consideration to the Networked sibling Canon ImageCLASS MF4370dn Laser All-in-One Printer (2711B019AA) if you have would like a similar printer with networking. For me, the networking functionality did not justify an additional $80.