Canon Pixma MP520 Photo All-On-One Inkjet Printer (2178B002)

I have been using this printer for about six months and I have thoroughly been enjoying it. Here's some of the primary advantages:

- Excellent print quality with vivid colors.

- The print speed is acceptable. I can print a full page, high-quality image in about 15 seconds.

- The scan quality is excellent for a multifunction printer. It's fast and makes photocopying a page a real snap. Just a press of the copy button and you'll have your photocopy in either black/white or even in color, if you wish.

- Product advertises that you can do borderless printing. However, I have never gotten this feature to work on my new Macbook Pro -- and yes, I followed the installation directions, step-by-step, when setting up my printer. Not sure if the borderless feature is only for those using "Windows?"


The Disadvantages:

- This Printer is DRUNK on ink!

Each person will have their own experience with ink usage, but so far, I have printed out about 5 full page photos, and about 75 pages of black and white text on brand new cartridges. The printer is now letting me know that nearly all of the cartridges are out of ink and need to be replaced. Depending on where you shop, the best price that I've found for this is around $50 to $75 dollars, including Amazon.com.

If you think about it this way, 80 pages = $50 in ink, which is close to 63 cents per page. Ouch! Those black and white pages were quite expensive...

I know, some of you are probably thinking, it was those five full color pages that did it. Sure, let's think of it like this: 5 pages = $50 in new ink cartridges. Wow, those images cost $10 per picture. Should of gone to Kinkos...

I haven't opened my new printer yet, but I was very impressed with the efficiency with which my order was handled. Thank you, Amazon.

We've been very happy with this printer.
We've moved from die-hard HP printer groupies to hating Epson to loving Canon as a brand and especially this all-in-one.

It prints fast in both color and greyscale
It copies with a push of a button
It scans and saves it to your computer or prints it if you want.

My only complaint is that if you have it hooked up via a printer switch box, the switch has to be an expensive box that handles true bi-directional communication. I can't scan with my print box even though I can print just fine. I have to plug the cable directly into the PC for the scanning to work. Part of me blames Canon, and another part realizes it's the switch box.

I have my printer hard-wired, so I don't know about wireless.
Ink cartridges are individual color of Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black. Replacements were easy to find in any store, so shop around for the best price. They also have a back-light to let you know if it is truly seated in the slot or if the cartridge isn't aligned correctly.


It was up and running in a snap.
The quality and speed are worth make us love Canon and it will take the deal of the century to get us to consider anything else.

I selected the Canon Pixma MP 520 Photo All-in-One Inkjet printer based on a recent "Consumers' Report" rating. I use it more for document printing, scanning, and copying than for photo printing. Set-up was quick and easy, and I am pleased with print and copy speeds. Printing and copying in color is impressive! The order process was exceptionally satisfying because Amazon.com offered the best pricing and because of the speed of shipment; the vendor Amazon used for fulfilling the order promised a ship date 10 days from date of purchase and it arrived in two and a half days.

Excellant machine for printing and pictures, easy to use and very helpful add ons to make it easier to use.