Customer Reviews

Canon PIXMA MP780 All-In-One Photo Printer

5 star:		(136)
4 star:		(48)
3 star:		(21)
2 star:		(14)
1 star:		(26)

 

 

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

We simply love this thing. We had been looking for a all-in-one for a long time. Late last year, we settled on the Canon MP730, only to find out that it had been taken out of production. Then we saw pictures and stats for the MP780 on Canon's website. Well, after several months of waiting (due to production issues I believe), we finally got ours a few weeks ago. It is amazing in every way. First, it really looks neat. Like another reviewer mentioned, the automatic door for the paper is kind of neat (I just wish it would close when the printer goes into sleep). Scanning and printing quality is fantastic. The document feeder is a godsend (nice for scanning stacks of documents). And to top it all off, the machine really feels solid. Not like some of those creaky models by other manufacturers. I really recommend this printer.

After owning a Brother MFC (garbage) and a HP D145 (a work horse but mediocre print quality) I decided to upgrade to the Canon MP780. What caught my eyes was the double sided feature that until now was exclusive only to HP machines.

Print quality is excellent as the MP780 is basically a Pixma photo printer. The borderless feature is great. It accepts paper from two (2) sources. From the back, in almost a straight path which allows you to print on heavy card stock, and from a cassette. This is a rather big plus.

BUT the MP780 that is sold in North America is crippled because the ones that are sold in Europe and Asia can also print directly on CDs/DVDs. I looked inside the machine and I believe that mechanically the machine should be able to print on a CD (even though the special CD tray is not provided it would be easy to make one) but the driver does not come with this option (I tried using a UK driver but it recognized that I have a US machine). Maybe a creative programmer can un-cripple the drivers? That would be awesome!

Scanning is good, not the fastest in the world but acceptable with good quality.

Copying, which is a factor of scanning, is also good in quality and descent in speed (but I've seen faster scanners)
One small issue is that black copying in draft (fast) mode produces a faded result. I suspect this is because the unit is using the dye-based black cartridge as opposed to the pigmented black cartridge (this machine has 2 black carts) . Since I am a refiller of carts, I plan to refill both black cartridges with pigmented ink which I believe will significantly improve the faded look.
For non-refillers simply copy in normal quality and you'll get excellent results.

Faxing is fast and beats my HP D145.

This is a multi function with emphasis on the multi, and can multi task where possible. For example, while faxing you can also make a copy or print etc, while my HP D145 can't chew and walk at the same time.

The only other significant issue with this unit (other the crippled direct CD printing) is the software. It is short of acceptable.

For example you cannot setup the fax from your PC. You have to use the machine and the tiny LCD display to set it up. Because the LCD is small instead of using full terms they have codes for everything and one ends up getting lost in menus and submenus with weird codes and terms. The question is why? Why can't I set the darn thing from my PC? Also when faxing from the PC the address book is paltry and does not provide an option for a cover page or to look at faxes I already sent.

Hopefully someone from Canon will read this and maybe will decide to write better software. It's not too late just release an update.

Canon includes additional software to browse and print photos and documents but I don't use it.

Finally it does not have flash memory slots. It does have a USB slot in the front but it is only compatible with Pict-Bridge cameras. Regular USB devices cannot be connected. Thumbs down to Canon for being proprietary.

Best of all the price is surprisingly low especially for all the features.

All in all I would give it 4 1/2 stars, but I gave it a 5 since Amazon does not have 1/2 stars.

This is a very good all-in-one device but not perfect. There are plent of glowing reviews to be read, so I'll just touch on a few things that I did not see in the other reviews.

One of the main reasons I bought the Canon MP780 was for the auto document feeder.
Unfortunately the auto document feeder (ADF) was not up quite up to my expectations. Scans and copies made using the ADF tended to come out a little crooked. Not horribly, but enough to make a document look unprofessional.The ADF also added considerable weight to the scanner lid, making it necessary for the user to be extra careful when lowering the lid or risk having it come crashing down.

The scanner also does not scan both sides of the document. You have to flip the documents over and then rescan. The MP780 includes software that allows you to convert your scanned documents to Adobe Acrobat. When scanning a stack of document you end up with thumbnails of the documents that you can then select and convert to an Adobe Acrobat file. This worked easy enough, but I could find no way to re-order the pages before converting to Adobe. So, if you scanned one side of a stack of documents then flipped them over and scanned the other side. You would end up with a Adobe Acrobat file with the pages out of order (and crooked). Unless you own a full copy of Adobe Acrobat you would not be able to correct this.
Also note that the paper is pulled through the ADF and then is redirected over the scanner head. Heavyweight paper cannot be scanned.

I thought seriously about keeping the MP780, as the other features seem to work great. The scanner is fairly quick (not nearly as fast as they claim) and the printer is quiet and seemed to work great (I liked the Canon Pixma printer so much I am going to toss my noisy, ink-jet clogging Epson and buy a Canon.) The dual paper import was nice also. However, I just could not live with the ADF. I considered just not using the ADF, but that left me using a flat bed scanner with one bulky and heavy lid. I reluctantly packed this unit up and took it back to Staples today.

Don't get me wrong, this is a great All-In-One. If you have limited space and don't want to purchase a printer, scanner, and fax machine separately (or could care less about a few crooked scans) the Canon MP780 is the one for you.


Pros:
All-In-One.
Good scans (without ADF).
Nice prints.
Make copies or fax with the computer off.
Dual printer paper input.
Replacement ink cartridges are inexpensive.
Auto door on the printer is neat.

Cons:
Crooked scans when using the ADF.
Heavy scanner lid (due to ADF).
Bulky.
Less than perfect software.
No memory card slots.
Come on Canon, how much would it cost you to include a USB cable?

Note: I have since purchased a Fujitsu SnapScan scanner which does a great job of scanning documents (both sides at once) and includes a full copy of Adobe Acrobat 6.0. This one-trick pony is expensive though, costing more than Canon MP780.

This is a great printer for the money. I loved my Canon i850 and the new Pixma print engine is a worthy successor.

Let me get to my gripe, though. One reason I bought this printer was automatic duplex printing. The good news is that using 24lb inkjet paper at default print quality, the ink does not bleed through at all, even with color printing, which is an improvement over the i850. The bad news is that automatic duplexing is extremely slow. I did not time it but I would say it takes about a minute per sheet at normal quality, vastly slower than single sided printing.

I still consider this a 5 star printer, but I thought this information could be useful to prospective buyers.

I've become a Canon fan through their cameras. After my frustrations with a Lexmark printer (that's another review), I looked for a printer with good reviews. I decided to try this out.

PROS

1. It looks stylish, with two-tone grey and shiny black. The front cover is really neat, you can close it to make space on your computer desk, and when something prints out, it opens automatically.

2. It was packed very well. Yes it did have lots of packing foam and it was taped everywhere, but I would rather see it secured like this than open a brand new box and find that things are broken (like an HP printer that I'd bought previous to this).

3. I love the fax feature where it scans all your documents all at once, stores it in memory, and transmits them from memory. Faxing speed is very satisfactory.

4. I love being able to scan and fax things with a choice of using the glass or the automatic document feeder. The glass is for copying and scanning things like books, cards, and other thick items. The ADF is for multidocument scanning, faxing and copying. This dual feature was a must for me.

5. It has two blank sheet compartments, in the back and in a tray in the bottom. I store blank white paper in the back and photo paper in the bottom. Very handy.

6. Ink usage is excellent. Compared to HP and Lexmark printers which went through ink like crazy, this was much better.

7. Quality of photos is comparable to a dedicated photo printer. I've printed out photos that looked really really good.

8. Ok, this printer is quiet. Sometimes I'm not sure it's printing out but then I look inside and see the printout. And it's fast.


CONS

1. It doesn't have wireless capabilities but then I don't need it. Someone out there might need it, though.

2. It doesn't have a memory card reader. At least, not my unit. Newer models might so make sure to check.

I echo all of the positive comments previously made about this product. I have owned and operated several stand alone and multifunction printers, scanners and faxes and none have offered the versatility, functionality and reliability that the MP780 offers - and at such an affordable price. All 4 primary functions are seemlessly operational from either the user panel or from the PC. This has proven especially useful in conserving paper with the fax feature - simply open the file, select the MP780 fax option from the printer field and it sends the fax to the selected recipient. I have yet to figure out how to attach a prefabricated cover letter to the transmitting document, but that is a minor inconvenience compared to the time and paper saved. A few previous reviewers mentioned that this model did not allow voice/fax line reception, but the MP780 that I purchased does. In fact, I almost avoided the purchased based on those reviews since we needed a unit that would allow voice/fax from the same phone line. Fortunately I was not able to find the MP750 (same as MP780 minus the fax) so purchased the MP780 anticipating not being able to use the fax feature - not the case! The unit offers 6 different fax reception modes that are explained in detail in the electronic and hard copy of the user manual:

1) Fax only mode
2) Manual mode
3) Answering machine mode
4) Fax/Tel auto switch mode
5) Distinctive ring pattern detection
6) Network switch mode

My phone line is used for both voice and fax, so the answering machine mode works beautifully. The answering machine attached to the unit accepts messages and automatically detects fax signals and recieves faxes. I highly recommend this unit.

Strengths: This AIO manages to combine excellent performance both in text and photo mode at a very good cost per page. The scanner is good, producing some very fast and crisp results.

Weaknesses: Very large. Software subpar. Output door won't open if the surface the printer is sitting on is not perfectly flat. Front buttons can be accidentally pressed when scanning books/bound material.

Summary: I'm a former HP AIO user that was tired of the high cost per page of the HP products. So this time I decided to try the Canon AIO. The Canon Pixma MP780 is basically a photo printer at heart with a decent scanner thrown in. I think this hardware is without doubt some of the best being made right now. But this product has a huge downside, software. The drivers, scanning and printing software included with the MP780 are sub par at best.


Here are the software problems I've encountered thus far:

Scanning software: - No auto correction for angled scans. - The "simple" interface does not allow for any other options for DPI settings besides 150 and 300 DPI. You have to use the "advanced' interface for any other DPI settings. The "advanced" interface is not a good choice for novice users. (just ask my wife)- After scanning you still have to "accept" the scans in another dialog. Very annoying. (Why can't they just be put into the output folders as you go?)

Printing Software: - The included "Easy Photo-Print" software cannot print multiple images from differing folders. All images have to be in ONE folder for it to work. - The "Easy Photo-Print" software cannot print TIFF images. Even though this is the default format from the scan software.

Printer Driver: - Mostly ok, but the interface is very pixilated. Reminds me of an old 16bit windows application.

All in all this could be the "killer application" if the software package was re-written. But as it is, it's just an exercise in frustration.

Excellent print quality and number of functions for the price, purchased for about $260.

Pros:
1. space-saving: i consolidated a huge flatbed scanner, color injet, b&W laser copier/fax/printer into this one machine. Saved soooo much space AND got rid of all the extra cables.
2. Aesthetically pleasing: looks pretty damn sleek and nice!
3. ADF: love the automatic feeder. convenient AND saves time. however, it does feed a bit crooked (see below).
4. Print quality: excellent photo printing. I recently printed a 8.5x11 color photo and the quality was very good. previously i was using a canon S520 (which was a consumer report best buy about a year ago), and this printer is a notable upgrade in quality.
5. Scanner quality is also good.
6. Speed: Fast USB 2.0 connection. Both b&w and color text printing are very quick, comparable to laser. Color photo printing is understandably a bit slower. Scanner speed is also fairly good (Previously, i was using the HP5470). When printing multiple or double sided pages, there is a slight delay between pages. The reason being that the printer waits for the previous page to dry before putting down the next page on top of it...very considerate.
7. Compatibility: have NO problems so far with windows XP. (Incompatibility was one of the reason i ditched my Brother office machine and HP scanner.)

Cons:
1. crooked feeder: if you care about your documents being completely straight, got to do it yourself and open the damn lid.
2. Not network capable: can only connect to my main computer and accesses it through that computer acting as server. Can't find any network adapters that could connect it directly to my home network since this is a multifunction machine.
3. though space-saving, it is slightly bulky. If you are looking for something truely slim and compact, check out the HP's line of multifunction machines.
4. no usb 2.0 cable included in box, cheapo.
5. only accepts canon direct printing (ie. from digital cam.) Not a big deal for me since i have canon powershot, which incidently i highly recommend, at least in terms of picture quality.

I had owned an Epson all-in-one. Worked great for about a year, then had massive printhead clogging issues. Buy an Epson -- you'll eventually regret it.
Got a Pixma MP780. Very happy with it.
The build is sufficiently robust. Controls are easy to reach and understand. Print quality of photos is outstanding. Regular text printing is very fast.
As the other reviews here have mentioned, you can EASILY AND INEXPENSIVELY REPLACE the printhead. Someday, no matter which printer you're using, you'll have to do this. This Canon makes it very easy. (Epson makes it very expensive)
I'm on a Mac running 10.3.8. All software worked as expected. Upgrading to Tiger 10.4 soon; we'll see if it breaks anything/everything.