Canon PIXMA MX870 Wireless Office All-in-One Printer (4206B002)

1. 
   Jimmy Morelli permalink

   Rating

   I bought this to replace my HP all in one wireless printer which I was having many issues with and had to return. This Canon printer works fantastic as well as looks fantastic, its a bit slower than the HP but the quality is 100% better. It is very simple to set-up and operate and has some cool features my ancient HP did not.

   I like the fact that everything is self contained into a small square that is the machine, the paper is kept in a drawer that slides into the bottom of the machine. The bump tray folds into the machine and opens when you print. Its a square grey machine nice and clean with nothing hanging out, no paper trays, no bump trays at first glance one would not know it was really a printer.

   I also like the fact that the inks are contained separately by color and can be bought separately as needed, there are also two black cartridges, one to work with the colors and one for non color text. This is what offers a much better color print quality than the single color cartridges. Every day you use the printer it will self clean itself to ensure a quality print. The only maintenance required is to replace an ink when it tells you to.

   It is a fantastic machine and I highly recommend it over any HP develop. I have had no issues with mine and I am highly satisfied with it.
2. 
   To be or Not To Be permalink

   Rating

   This is my first “All In One” printer that can scan, fax, copy, and print. I don’t use the fax that much, but I do use the other functions often in my home. Anyway, I ordered this printer on Feb 28 and it came in on March 2. I was quite surprise on how huge this printer is. Its nearly 2 feet wide and just over a foot long. First thing I had to do, remove all the orange tape and wrap on the printer. There’s a whole bunch of orange tape and there’s more inside the printer. The instructions are pretty much straight forwards and very thorough. I had to install this part to hold the ink cartridges. After that, I had to install 5 ink cartridges. To me, taking off the plastic orange safety cap off the ink cartridges was frustrating. You have to carefully twist the cap and don’t apply too much pressure on the cartridge. You will know if you have successfully installed the ink cartridge because each cartridge has a built-in red light. When you see the red light, you have installed the ink cartridge correctly. After that, I place paper in it. Then I had to add a network key because I’m using the wireless function. After the printer is all ready to go, I had to install the software. Installing the software took about 20 minutes.

   Anyway, I started using some of the functions. I made a copy, sent a fax to myself, scan some pictures, and printed some stuff. So far no problems. The default print settings is set to print on one side of the sheet of paper. If you want to print on both sides, you have to go to print properties and brilliant “duplex printing” What happens is that it will print on side of the paper and then paper will rewind back into the printer to print on the other side.

   Scan images are not that fantastic, even if I set at peak resolution of 600 dpi. The images look a bit blurry.

   The best part of all this is that I can access the printer wirelessly from multiple computers! You don’t need a USB cable connected to one machine if you have a wireless router.
3. 
   Maurice J. Reagan permalink

   Rating

   It just glows, right out of the box. I had a fantastic one for five years and this one is even better. Uses ink like all of them, but if that is a failure, it is it’s only one. That ink produces perfect pictures, so I can easily deal with it. My wife is now happily using the ancient one.
4. 
   James E. Johnson permalink

   Rating

   After having many HP and Epson printers over the past 20 years or so, this is my first experience with a Canon and I am very glad to report that this is one fantastic all-in-one machine. My ancient HP all-in-one was excellent, but this one seems to be so much better. And, the fact that it’s wireless makes it just about perfect for my personal and home office uses. I took my time background up this machine, subsequent each instruction carefully and had absolutely zero problems. The party ink tanks were a “snap” to install and the whole printer looks as if it should cost much more than the price I paid.

   I have two laptops “hooked” to this printer through the wireless connection and they both worked perfectly the first time I tried to print something. I have also used the copy and scan functions and have sent a fax. I have not had occasion to receive a fax yet, but I’m confident there will be no problem when and if I do.

   I like this new Canon so well that I donated my ancient HP all-in-one and gave my other HP printer to a family member. The Canon PIXMA MX870 Wireless Office All-in-One Printer is a large, well-made, simple to use, very affordable unit that I hope to delight in for years to come.

   By the way, I ordered this printer from Amazon on a Thursday using the free “super saver” shipping. Two days later, at 10:00 on Saturday morning, the deliveryman was ringing my doorbell. Now THAT’s service!
5. 
   Jeff Hayden permalink

   Rating

   I was in the market to replace 3 devices; a laser printer. photo printer and a scanner. I also wanted something that I may maybe share across my home network. I’ve had the printer for 2 weeks it has met my wants. It is currently being accessed by 5 PC’s plus my IPhone using the Canon Ap. Setup was quick and simple. I had the unit hooked up and all printers connected within an hour or so. The unit is quick and prints fantastic. I would highly recommend it.
6. 
   R. Peter Valentine permalink

   Rating

   If you are looking at these reviews for the MX870, you are probably wondering what I was wondering… “What is the difference between the MX870 and MX860 and maybe also how does it compare to the Epson Artisan 810?” They are all top rated by Amazon customers for inkjet all-in-one printers.

   They are all awesome! The Epson has more color cartriges, but I am not sure if that matters. I give the nod to the Epson on photo quality, but it might just be a subliminal issue of ‘more is better’. My last Epson printer was the Epson 785EPX and it printed incredible photos and graphics, and it also used 6 colors.

   Both the Canon and Epson have gorgeous quick drying inks. The Canon has a special black ink that is a tint instead of a dye, which you might like since pigments don’t run when wet, so theirs is excellent for flyers and such. And, by the way, if you’ve learned that you really benefit from tint ink, look into the Epson Workforce 610. It is quick, and all its different colored inks are pigments. Graphics and text are outstanding, but photos a small lacking.

   The Canon is a small slower to start printing, but once it gets going it is pretty quick. Both Epson and Canon models have an optional duplexer mode (prints on both sides to save paper – this feature significantly slows down print time if that is vital to you) and an automatic paper feed. The paper feed on the Canon is fully integrated and two-sided, so it can copy/scan both sides of a document automatically as well. There are a few hiccups with the 860 on this that the 870 solves.

   It’s a small pain to reload the reglar A4 8 1/2 by 11 paper in both machines in their lower tray. The Epson has an additional slot on its lower tray for photo paper that some may like. The Canon has an extra paper feed at the back of the unit that is fantastic for printing envelopes, prints, or other types of paper, so you don’t have to change your main tray. The rear feeder should accommodate heavier papers and have a less likelihood of jamming because the paper comes straight through the machine with small bending. The projecting tray on the Epson looks and feels flimsy and most people seem apprehensive about that, but remarkably I have never heard of anyone breaking it. The Canon has a cool feature… when you send it a wireless command to print, it automatically lowers its front door for the paper to be collected on, so you can keep the unit all closed up when not in use.

   If you use OCR, and I like OCR (optical character recognition that allows you to turn your document scans into text files), you will prefer the Epson because it is integrated into their software package. Canons used to have OCR software, but have stopped in the contemporary year. Note: If you have Microsoft Office Student and Home translation, its program ‘OneNote’ has OCR for you to use. Most people are really unaware of it being there. By the way, OneNote is the best program on Microsoft Office. It is what keeps me from just using the free open source office software that is so incredible.

   Price-wise, the Epson is about 100 more than the Canon. Amazon has some of the best prices. The newer Canon MX870 isn’t even available in most stores yet and probably will run about 50 dollars more than the MX860 for the next six months. Apple users will like the smoother integrated software application of the MX870 that was a small problem on the MX860.

   Interval-wise the Canon is larger. Look-wise, the Epson is sharper with its shiny black end, like a piece of fancy stereo equipment. The Canon has a neutral light beige look. Very officey with clean shape.

   They both fax if you ever need that every now and then instead of having to run to your local print shop.

   The user interface of the Canon and Epson are both simple to use in different ways. I sort of wish the Canon buttons weren’t so flush with the unit, but its not really a huge deal. You will need to use the interface to copy and scan, but most print jobs you will want to do from your computer.

   The Epson has some fun graphics software extra on it. Again, frequently ‘fun’ stuff. It also prints on printable CDs and DVDs. This may maybe be vital to you. It is the best of any printer at this. I don’t need it because I print on CDs using LightScribe on my HP. I like that look better if I am going to customize the CD face.

   The Canon has some very useful proprietary software that you will like if you surf the Web and want to copy and print out multiple bits and pieces of articles with ease… even on the same sheet of paper. You can do this anyway with Windows, but Canon’s program is simpler and quicker.

   Both Canon and Epson have ink cartridges that are separate from the print head, so it is simpler to find third-party ink and save money. Third party ink is better than what it used to be, but the OEM (original equipment manufacture) cartridges are truer and quicker drying for vital projects and to bring out the full glory of these machines.

   I chose the Canon MX870, but all the printers I mentioned here are rated tops at their price-top. I hope I covered a few of the more notable differences to help you narrow in on your search.
7. 
   Terry I permalink

   Rating

   A very nice All-In-One unit. In my first week with this printer: I faxed a few documents, scanned a few pictures, scanned a 30 page document into a pdf file, copied a 1-sided -> 2-sided document, copied a 2-sided -> 2-sided document, and printed 4×6 and 8×10 photos.

   Initial setup was pretty simple. The most hard part was installing the inks because the cartridge carrier is toward the back of the printer and the lid only opens to about 40 degrees. You need a lot of light to see what you are responsibility. Once you figure it out, though, snapping in the ink cart is very simple.

   My printer is set up for wireless, so Wi-Fi configuration was next. This was also very simple, just picking your network and (in my case) inflowing your WEP key. The last part was to set up my computer (WinXP) to talk to the printer. Again, very simple because the setup is all driven from a CD program, auto-detecting the printer and installing the drivers. Rinse and repeat the CD for additional computers.

   Scanning ID and photos was simplest through the Canon application that gets installed during setup. The app guides you through the various options of scanning single sheets, using the document feeder in single-sided or double-sided mode, and destination file. I scanned photos, single-sided docs, and 2-sided docs with no problems.

   Photocopying ID was even simpler, as that can all be done from the printer front panel. Using the panel, I was able to copy a 1-sided document into a 2-sided copy by changing the Standard Copy print options. I was also able to copy a 2-sided doc into a 2-sided copy by changing the Copy Menu from Standard Copy to Two-Sided Copy. It was a small confusing at first, but I got the hang of it.

   On my first few dozen document pages, I had an intermittent black smear at the bottom of the pages. That eventually went away and I have not seen it since. I’m not sure if it was because my paper was slightly wrinkled or if the ink had smeared during installation, but it’s gone now.

   For printing photos, I again used the installed app. It allows very basic photo editing and positioning functions, but nothing fancy. You’ll want to use your own application for photo editing, if you are so inclined. You certainly want to change the settings for peak photo quality, as the default settings can yield artifacts.

   I’ve never owned a fax machine, but I’ve used them many times before. The fax operations seem pretty standard, although they have a nice option to share the buzz line by assuming that all calls are voice calls until it hears the fax protocol. This avoids having to switch any settings to allow faxes to come through. I received one fax and it worked just fine. Maybe this line sharing is a standard feature in all fax machines these days, but it was new to me.

   Print speed is a small on the slow side, but tolerable. Also, I wish that the paper tray had a higher capacity, but again tolerable. As with many inkjet printers, printing a single-sided document will result in the pages in reverse order in the output tray (but using the Auto-Document Feeder, the original is still in right order). Fascinatingly, printing/photocopying with 2-sided output will result in the document in right order because each sheet of paper has been flipped over. Regarding the Auto-Document Feeder: make sure that your document is lined up precisely within the page guides, as the feeder can pull in the sheets slightly bent if you are not careful.

   I bought this printer at full price and thought it was a go quietly. At its current price, it’s pretty awesome.
8. 
   Jeff permalink

   Rating

   I bought this printer a couple weeks ago and so far it works fantastic. I had an HP all-in-one, but it started giving me problems, so I chose to switch to a different manufacturer. I establish Canon to be rated pretty high, so I chose to give them a try. So far, I am glad I did.

   Once I ordered the printer, it was on my door step in 2 days and that was with the free shipping. The printer was packed extremely well. It took longer to take all of the packing and tape off the printer than it took to set it up.

   I am pleased with how simple it is to use and it prints very clear. I printed a couple of photos and they came out looking very sharp.

   Most of the negative reviews mentioned the use of ink. Most ink jet printers I have ever owned used quite a bit ink, mainly if you print photos, but I don’t use this every day, so I didn’t see that as a negative. Overall an brilliant printer.
9. 
   M. Ransom permalink

   Rating

   I needed to replace my aging HP-85 multifunction printer. My initial thought was to buy another HP and had looked closely at the Officejet 6500; but, the larger number of out-of-box failures that users were reporting place me off. The features and reviews of the MX870 were impressive, so I chose to switch to the Canon. After three weeks with the product, I can say that I continue to be impressed. Setup was straight-forwards. I use it both via a USB cable (when my notebook is docked) and wirelessly. I have multiple computers, some running Windows 7 and others Mac Snow Leopard. All my computers print and scan wirelessly to it without a problem. I was impressed that I was able to install it without the CD, over WiFi, on Windows 7 machines by simply selecting “Add Device” in the control panel — whatever drivers it needed it establish itself over the Internet.

   I like the extra rear paper source for feeding heavy notes straight through the printer. With the HP-85, heavy notes was a recipe for paper jams. The automatic document feeder has worked impeccably thus far. I’m amazed at how quickly the scanner works even in high precision — typically only a few seconds per page. The print quality is brilliant, and the printer itself is gorgeous. It is silent when not printing and reasonably silent when printing. I cannot note on how long the ink lasts (I’ll admit that the ink tanks look a small small). I would have liked a larger paper tray as this one holds only a quarter of a ream.
10. 
    L. Kenner permalink

    Rating

    Canon PIXMA MX870 Wireless Office All-in-One Printer (4206B002)

    I set up my new Canon Pixma MX870 last night. Took me 30 minutes to setup the printer and install on both my iMac and MacBook. Both Mac’s run Mac OS X 10.4.11. I did have a hard time selecting a brand. I normally buy only HP printers but after my last AIO deskjet 6200 chose to breakdown again and the wireless deskjet 6800 worked only 1/2 the time I wanted to try a Canon or Epson. I will admit, I haven’t owned a Canon printer since my ancient bubblejet from 1994. But it lasted until new OS’s would no longer support it. I chose to buy the MX870 instead of the MX860 since I have read on several different sites that the 870 solves plenty of issues plagued by Mac users and has a better print speed. I also read that the MX860 was slow to start. Well, my MX870 was pretty quick early up and gives a quality print. The wireless is awesome. Much simpler to install than my last HP. I haven’t tried printing any photos just yet. I am pleased to see that there are 5 separate print cartridges. This printer is a fantastic value for the money. I will say that if printing high quality photos and CD/DVDs is vital to you, you should go for the Epson Artisan 810 instead. But, if you want a quality AIO without breaking the bank, choose the Canon Pixma MX870.

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