358 of 363 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Which Canon Multifunction is right for you?, April 19, 2005
This review is from: Canon PIXMA MP130 All-in-One Photo Printer (Office Product)
First off, if you're in the market for a printer, you can't go wrong with a Canon. Canon printers consistently beat out the competition in independent tests for print quality. Their items are elegant, well designed, and most importantly, ink is affordable.
We all know the razor and blade scheme: sell the printer below cost and make it up with pricey cartridges. Canon, however, saves you a lot of money by including the print head with the printer and not on each cartridge. Because of this, genuine Canon cartridges can be had for around $12, while 3rd party cartridges, which many claim work just as well, can be found for as low as $2.
If you've already decided on a Canon multifunction, lets see which model is right for you. Canon's current market list is as follows:
MP130 - New model, and the most affordable yet.
Copy/Print/Scan
18ppm black, 13ppm color
2 ink tanks
No auto sheet feeder!
Card slots
MP390 - Has a fax, About half the cost of the MP7xx's.
Copy/Print/SCan/Fax
18ppm black, 12 ppm color
2 ink tanks
card slots
MP750 - Older model - exactly the same as mp780 but no fax.
Copy/Print/Scan
25ppm black, 17 ppm color
5 ink tanks
Built in Duplexing
MP760 - New Model - geared towards photo enthusiasts.
Copy/Print/Scan + Special Photo Features
25ppm black, 17 ppm color
5 ink tanks
No auto sheet feeder!
Built in Duplexing
*Unique photo features:
2.5 inch lcd screen
Built in film adapter for 35mm slides or negatives
can print directly from negatives
Card slots
MP780 - Does it all except for the mp760 photo features.
Copy/Print/Scan/Fax
25ppm black, 17 ppm color
5 ink tanks
Built in Duplexing
Now, let's look more closely at some key differences between these models:
*Fax: The first thing you should do is decide if you need a fax or not. If you do, you should choose between the MP780 or the MP390. If not, don't rule those two out just yet, they may have have other features you can't live without.
*Note: There is NO auto fax/telephone switching on these models if you wish to use the same line for faxes and voice calls.
*Number of ink tanks: The next important thing you should look at is whether you want to be able to replace each color individually or not. The MP750, MP760 and MP780 all have 5 individual ink tanks (photo black, black, cyan, yellow, magenta), while the MP130 and MP390 have only 2 (black and tricolor). The cost of each cartridge is about the same, but you will waste some leftover ink by throwing out the MP130 or MP390's color cartridge when just one color runs out.
*Photo printing: If you're planning on printing a lot of photos, you should probably go with an mp7xx. These have a superior print head, as well as the 5 separate ink tanks. The MP760 is especially noteable with all the features Canon has added specifically for photos. These come at a price however, as the MP760 does not share the auto sheet feeder of its MP750 and MP780 cousins, or the fax of the 780.
*However - If you plan on printing directly from memory cards, beware! The mp750 and mp780 do not have card slots! The 2 cheaper models and the mp760 do.
*Auto sheet feeder: The mp130 and mp760 do NOT have an auto sheet feeder. All 3 of the others do. An auto sheet feeder is very useful when doing a lot of scanning or faxing.
*Duplexing: The mp7xx models each have built in duplexing.
*Size: The mp7xx models weigh around 30 pounds and are quite big. The MP390 is a smaller, and weighs 18 pounds. The mp130 has a tiny footprint for a multifunction printer, and weighs 14 pounds.
Some features that all of Canon's current MFPs share:
*Copying: Each of these models has a copy function, and all have the same resolution (600x600 black, 1200x1200 color).
*USB 2.0 connection
*Pictbridge direct photo printing support
*All 5 models are great looking and will complement almost any decor.
My recommendations:
If you want a great price on an excellent printer and don't need a fax: MP130
If price is an issue but you still need a fax: MP390
If you can afford an MP700 series and don't need a fax, card slots, or the MP760's photo features: MP750
If you need its exclusive photo features (but no fax or auto sheet feeder): MP760
If you can afford an MP700 series and need a fax (but no card slots and none of the MP760s photo features): MP780
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40 of 40 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great printer not to mention the extra features!!, August 5, 2005
This review is from: Canon PIXMA MP130 All-in-One Photo Printer (Office Product)
I'm not going to bore you with all the technical details of this printer. You can get that information anywhere.
The main reason I bought this printer was so I could use generic cartridges and save money. I am on a fixed income and I do mystery shopping and have to print out a lot of forms so being able to buy 30 cartridges for the price of 1 Lexmark or HP cartridge was really appealing.
The print quality of this printer is awesome. Photos look like photos. Text is clear and crisp. The speed is acceptable but it can be a little noisy when it feeds the paper. Copies and scans are quick and easy with this all-in-one.
One of the extras that is really neat is popping your cameras memory card in the printer and printing out an index sheet. The index sheep will have little boxes (similar to test sheets where you blacken in the circle) you check by each photo. You can select quantities of each photo you wish to print. THEN, you scan the index sheet and the computer carries out your checked instructions and prints your pictures! I doubt I will use this a lot but it is pretty cool.
I have been buying color printers for many years and have paid over $800 in the old days for a decent printer. This unit, at less than $100, is amazing.
When buying any printer, be sure to check the price of the ink cartridges. Is that $30 Lexmark a bargain when you have to pay $30 to $40 for each cartridge? I recently bought 15 color and 15 black cartridges for this Canon for less than $45 shipped.
I'm sure there are better printers out there, but when you weigh all the factors, this is a quality machine at a great price!
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