Customer Reviews

Canon PIXMA MX330 Inkjet All-In-One Printer

5 star:		(40)
4 star:		(36)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(18)

 

 

This review is actually on the Canon MX320. It is the MX330's little brother. Both printers are identical except the MX320 does not have the color lcd screen, it has a 2-line dot matrix screen. Since I do all of my editing on my computer, and can't see much on the little screen anyway, I chose to save about $40. Either printer offers great value in my humble opinion.

PROS:
1. Photo quality equal to my Canon MX830. I don't know why or how but the prints look the same. Even better if you use Canon's "VIVID" setting in the Easy Photo Print software under paper selector.
2. The scanner reproduces colors and details that are very close to original and you have the option to touch up photos after scanning. Using the ADF you can copy legal size papers.
3. The fax options are not perfect but they work. This is the first all-in-one that I've owned that I can actually leave the fax running in the back round without it interfering with phone calls on the same line. Using the TEL Preferred setting the fax will start automatically if you answer the phone and it is a fax. This even works from a remote phone by dialing 25 if you hear the fax noise when you answer. Up to 50 (20 pages of documents) faxes will be stored in memory if you run out of paper or ink.
4. My favorite option on this printer is the fact that you can choose which cartridge to print from. This will save a lot of the more expensive color ink, especially from advertisements faxed to you. Simply follow these steps to print from black only:
a. Click on the MY PRINTER icon the software installed on your desktop
b. Click on the PRINTER SETTINGS tab
c. Click on the MAINTENANCE tab
d. Click on the INK CARTRIDGE SETTINGS tab
e. Choose from using BLACK ONLY cartridge, COLOR ONLY cartridge, or BOTH cartridges
The black only setting only works with plain paper and envelopes so photos will still print in color. Plus it takes only seconds to change settings if you need color in your text documents. This setting works great if you have teenagers that print everything they see.
5. You can fax straight from your computer without first printing the fax. Just click on PRINT and choose Canon MX330 Fax as your printer. The fax works just like you ran it through the printer, including printing a receipt if you have set this up on the printer.
6. At about $.05 per black and white page printed, using the XL ink cartridges, and the ability to print photos that will last up to 300 years I feel the print costs are reasonable.
7. I bought the MX320 after trying the Epson NX300. There is no comparison between the 2 printers. The Canon exceeded my expectations in every category. At $69 the MX320 (MX330) is an all-in-one printer that works perfectly for a small home business on a tight budget.

CONS:
1. The lcd screen on the MX320 is hard to read sometimes because there is no backlight. Luckily you only have to use it to set up the printer and fax one time.
2. There is only 1 paper tray.

CONCLUSION:
Every printer requires a compromise in some area. Users of the HP printers I was interested in are reporting problems with Windows Vista, which I confirmed on HP's own site. The Epson model I tried was noisy, slow, and draft text was barely readable. Not to mention I went through 2 Epson's because of print head clogging problems. Brother and Kodak printers are unknown entities to me, although I bought one of the first Kodak printers when they came out and returned it the same day.

I have had good luck with other Canon printers and I like their print quality. The MX320/330 seem to be following in the Canon tradition of good quality printers. Unlike many others, I chose a 2 cartridge print system on purpose. My Canon MX830 was an excellent printer but if you change inks one at a time to save ink it seems like you are changing inks 2 times a week. For the money I don't think you can beat the MX320/330 for an all-in-one printer with a G3 fax. If fax capabilities are not needed I would buy the Canon MP480 or MP620 as these are both excellent all-in-ones without the fax at reasonable prices.

I have a Canon MP830 multifunction printer connected to my Mac running OS X10.5.X. In many ways I find the Canon unit to be functional and more than satisfactory. I print the occasional photo and have been please with the results, although I have to admit that I am increasingly using photo printing services because the results are overall better and there is little wastage of ink, paper and time to get good results. The scanner works great and I love the sheet feeder on it. I use the fax for outgoing occasionally and it works well enough. Copier function is fine as well.

Most of us know that printer companies really sell ink to make their money, and Canon is no exception. I have long noticed that my Canon is constantly pestering me about replacing a color ink tank when I haven't been doing color printing. These tanks ain't cheap. If you buy canon inks, a 4-tank (CMYK) pack is going to set you back about $45 discounted.

After being hit up by my printer for yet another color tank, and knowing I have printed no color images lately, I investigated more carefully. Referring to the Canon support website under "greyscale printing", which is the only such option offered by the printer driver. I find the following words:

" Color ink may be consumed even when printing a black-and-white document or when black-and-white printing is specified."

I started looking into other models of the Canon multifunction printer sets and found the same answer for this and other models.

Just be aware, that with simply modest B&W printing, you are going to go through a lot of color ink. Since I can buy a B&W laser printer for less than $100 now, I am strongly considering this option, and relegating my Canon to scanner/fax service only. A rather big disappointment, because I don't like being taken advantage of. If I were shopping again, I would look carefully at the KODAK printers simply because they are making a marketing point of the abuse consumers have been suffering at the hands of the other ink vendors.

My Epson all-in-one bit the dust this week, and, after a bit of online research, I ordered a Canon MX330. It lists for 109, and I got it for 79. The MX330 doesn't include a USB2 cable, but you probably have one already from the printer you're throwing away. My primary use is as a scanner or occasional copier (I scan the page, save it as a PDF, and print it to my laser printer). Ink cartridges seem priced much more reasonably than my Epson, too. The refill cartridges are available in 2 sizes as well - a big plus.

The MX330 is VERY well packed. There's a slot for Bluetooth on the front (however THAT'S used). Software for my G5 iMac went in easily enough. It printed and scanned immediately. The first few photos were washed out in color, and the "VIVID" setting noted in the online documentation wasn't in MY print dialog box (10.5.6). After 3 prints, the colors started to look better. I recall the literature says that the cartridges will print about 350 pages -- not a heluva lot. Scanning worked perfectly from Preview (didn't try it on Photoshop Elements). I have no use for the fax feature, so I didn't set it up. Like the other reviewers have noted, it also has a pretty big footprint.

For $79, you can't beat the price (but remember, I use a cheap laser printer for 99% of my printing.)

I eventually printed a photo of known "correctness" through Preview, and it came out OK, but a bit washed out. Then I printed it via the Canon-supplied "Easy-PhotoPrint EX" software that came on the CD, and the results were simply spectacular - AND it printed borderless as well. I recommend that any quality photo you want to print be copied to the desktop for ease of location, and then printing it with the Canon software.

Like any inkjet printer, it gets pretty pricey if you use it as a general purpose printer.

Edit: Looks like they raised the list price to around $130 since I bought mine.

I decided it was time to upgrade my printer, and wanted to get an ALL IN ONE, since I was also in need of a scanner and copier. My previous printer was a canon printer ( i 960) , and since I was very happy with the quality and ease of use of that printer, I decided to stick with a canon product. After some research I determined that the new Canon MX330 would be perfect for my needs. This printer delivers as promised. It does a great job at all functions, and was very easy to set up. Photos ( when printed on canon's glossy photo paper) look great, and are near or as good as photo lab quality. Documents printed out come out very sharp, and the automatic feed feature for multiple pages during scanning/faxing works great. The Fax feature I could not test totally yet since I don't have an actual phone line, but use a "Magic Jack" line, and there are some issues when trying to fax using a "magic Jack" phone line. I am going to play around with the fax settings to see if I can get it to work through my "Magic Jack" line, but this is no fault of the Printer, since "Magic Jack" says its phone line may not work for faxing. The Printer is pretty large, so it does take up a fair amount of space, so make sure you have plenty of room before getting this model. For just over $100, and with Canon's Quality and performance, this is a great All IN ONE Printer to get.

Pros:

- Printing Speed

- Image/Text quality

- Price

- User-friendly Software and customizable features



Cons:

- Size - kind of bulky


Additional Thoughts:

***UPDATE 9/26/2009***

After receiving a flood of e-mails from people asking me for tips on how to refill the cartridge, I've decided to remove my e-mail from this review and include the instructions for your benefit:

Lately, I have been refilling the very same cartridge this printer came with. I've been fed up in the past with having to buy overpriced proprietary cartridges.

What you will need to refill:

1. Power Drill(Bought one for about $20-$30 at Home Depot
2. A thin drill bit (forgot the radius, I just went to Home Depot and asked for the smallest one available)
3. Black ink refill Kit (You can obtain one on eBay for $5-$10 depending on whether you buy in sets like I do. The kit will include an instruction manual, a syringe, and a small bottle of ink).


Instructions:

Create a tiny hole at the upper portion of the cartridge underneath the sticker where a small imprint is located. After making that hole, use a syringe and fill it with ink. Push the syringe needle through the hole you've created until you feel the needle pushing through sponge inside the cartridge. Squeeze the ink in gentley.

The only downside to this approach is that I have to go disable to printer monitor so that Canon's manual page counter can't force me to replace my cartridge. To do this, follow these steps:

Go to

1. Canon Utilities
2. My Printer (folder)
3. My Printer (application)
4. Printer Status
5. Option (top left)
6. Uncheck "Enable Status Monitor"


Last part:

Reinsert the cartridge back into the printer. The printer will still whine that the cartridge is empty. With the printer on, hold the "Stop" button down for 5-8 seconds. Whining begone.


Eventually this ink cartridge I've been refilling is going to dry out permanently one way or another. At that point, I'll be buying another one.

But you get the idea. Save tons of cash. Pay a few bucks for the price of the typical $20 cartridge.

We've only had it for a few weeks, but so far the only complaint I might have is that it is bigger than I anticipated. It is replacing an HP All-in-one that I was having trouble with and I thought since it was a new model that it would be smaller. Instead it is noticably bigger, but all of the functions are easy to setup and use. I've used it to copy, fax and scan without any trouble. The only thing I haven't done is print pictures.

I hate this printer! Besides being really freakin' big, it's beyond annoying. When you click 'print', it makes a bunch of whirring noises and thinks about the fact that it has to print something. Then it whirs some more, and decides that maybe printing what you want it to print might be an OK idea. Then it rests for a moment, sends out another little whir, and just when you think it's actually going to print, instead you get a popup telling you that HEY YOU HAVE ME SET FOR BLACK ONLY! DO YOU REALLY WANT THAT? BECAUSE YOU'RE NOT GETTING ANY COLOR WITH THIS SETTING!! Um, yeah, I do that to save ink. So you click on 'ok', and it starts whirring again, probably wondering why in the world you only want black ink. It's just so wrong for a color printer, after all. You can almost hear it sigh. But then it decides, ok, I'm going to print in black, draft mode no less, for this plebeian. FINALLY it prints. Pretty quickly I might add, probably to make up for all the time it wasted whirring and fretting. Afterwards, it whirs for awhile again, ruminating about what it just printed, and obviously distraught that it could not use the color cartridge.

I am going to return it this weekend, and I actually look forward to paying the restocking fee!

This printer was look great and easy to set up, etc. However, the ink usage was sadly inefficient. One brand new XL size ink did not last me more than 3 weeks. I was getting a lot of fax but my other old fax's ink went at least 3 to 5 months. I was so disappointed with this printer so I got rid of this eventhough I only used for less than 2 months. This printer also has memory but this is so small that it was not that useful.

It's a great printer for $79. I replaced an older Canon. I would like to make you aware that if your volume of color printing is medium to high you could spend five times as much on cartridges as you did on the printer, per year. All the printer manufacturers give you the printer so that you will buy ink cartridges. If you don't want to be a slave to the printer manufacturers REFILL YOUR CARTRIDGES. YOU WILL SAVE A FORTUNE. Even a moderately mechanically inclined individual can do it. There are a half a dozen web sites that will step you through.

Canon Pixma MX330.
I purchased my Canon All-In-One to replace an HP All-In-One. It prints a higher quality document, scans true colors , and faxes easily. In addition to the higher quality output I receive, the ink cartridges are much cheaper. I can ink my printer with both cartridges for about $38, and before one cartridge cost from $30 to $40 each. I have a small Canon printer for my laptop and was so satisfied I was anxious to try a larger printer for more functions. I was not disappointed.