Non-Techie Review: Canon PIXMA MX860 Multifunction Printer

After jamming for the millionth time, I decided it was time to replace my all-in-one Samsung SCX-4016 printer with something more dependable and priced right. After comparing features and price, I settled on the Canon PIXMA MX860 from my local Best Buy. I was looking for a value - low price, tons of features, and great copies.

The PIXMA MX860 is an inkjet multifunction all-in-one printer, fax, copier, and scanner. It prints from photo memory cards like an SD or SDHC memory card, and it does not have to be connected to a computer to print from a card or copy a page. A 4"x6" photo takes about 40 seconds to print - surprising considering the quality of the image.

Color print resolution is up to 600 x 600 dpi and black is 300 x 600 dpi. The tray takes all kinds of paper and medium, including envelopes. The auto sheet feeder holds 150 sheets and the paper cassette 150 sheets. The fax has speed dialing and a 250 sheet memory, and works through the phone line or from your computer.

The five features most important to me were that it had to be wireless, replacement ink had to be cheap, the cartridges needed to be separate rather than all in one unit, it was duplex printing capable, and it had to have a page feeder. Until I started comparing printer models, I thought these were common needs - boy was I wrong. A found a lot of models that were missing one or more of my specs so I narrowed down the field pretty quick. My budget was $150 and all of the printers I looked at were over $100 and most were over $200.

Wireless was not negotiable; in addition to being able to print from any computer or laptop or PS3 in the house, there's already a thousand wires snaking in and around my desk. I certainly did not need another one to get tangled in. I also want to keep the Samsung if I can get it fixed. Of course, I was also hoping that a little competition might scare the Samsung into behaving a little better, too. Being wireless also makes a limited number of USBs available for other things. There are only a few on my Dell Dimension and the Samsung is still hooked up.

Replacement cartridges can be very expensive, especially if they are set up as one unit with multiple colors. I had a color printer once that I kept running out of red, but the other colors were still full - and I had to replace the entire set of colors. I threw away too much money on partially used cartridges.

I do a lot of text printing so printing the backs of pages saves paper. Many printers on the market today cannot duplex, including my Samsung. The old printer does not have a page feeder either so if you have several pages to copy you have do them one at a time. I needed to be able to load the new printer/copier without wasting time standing around laying papers on the glass.

At Best Buy, the Canon PIXMA MX860 was $169.99, which was $20 off the online price of $189.99, but higher than my $150 budget. However, I found the specs I needed and justified the extra $20. The salesman at Best Buy was in a hurry, and I got the feeling I knew more about the printers in his store than he did.

I will put a warning here - the box is huge and heavy. The printer itself weighs 26.5 pounds! Size matters when it comes to printers, and the MX860 is not a little desktop model - when the trays are open for operation, it is 19.5" wide, 11" tall, and 21" deep front to back. My plan was to put it on top of a standard metal file two-drawer file. It is sitting there right now and it hangs over the edges of the cabinet.

A software CD and a "Getting Started" book are included. Warning #2: set up is not for the novice. There are a million pieces of orange tape and foam stuck in the printer's nether regions and you are advised: "Before turning on the machine, remove all the orange tapes and protective sheets." Count on 10 minutes for this activity. Opening and installing the cartridges is also a bit of a puzzle but if you pay close attention to the line drawings, you should be OK.

If you are in a hurry, forget it. The "Getting Started" book forces you to make some choices right at the beginning. Are you setting up the fax? Using wireless? LAN? Need to connect a telephone? The print is very small - if you need large print, sorry you are out of luck. Oh, and if you don't follow directions very well you are definitely out of luck. You have to follow certain sequences depending upon how you want to set up the printer. If you are a non-techie, you might want to call your nephew the computer nerd to help out.

The 2.5" LCD display is good, but it takes a few minutes to figure out what the little symbols mean. OK, here's a test: what's the difference between the symbol that looks like two pages and the symbol that looks like two pages with a line drawn horizontally through the middle? The second one is a special mode to create borderless copies. See what I mean? What ever happened to words - do we need cute little pictures all the time?

I do not like the paper cassette tray underneath. You have to pull it out all the way to load it and then push it all the way back in. If you are printing a photo, you can't use photo paper in the cassette, page 73 reminds you in very small print "To print photo paper / Hagaki (D), be sure to load it in the Rear Tray (B)." I am not sure what Hagaki is, but you get the message.

The price of the ink for the PIXMA MX750 is reasonable, but not as cheap as some on the rack. At Best Buy, the CLI-221 black ink cartridge is $13.99 and the CLI-221 multicolor pack, which contains all four colors, is $48.99. A full set of inks is included in the box. I haven't printed enough to know how quick the ink gets used up.

The quality of the printed pages is very nice and photos look super. I can see no feathering or graininess, like with some cheap printers. I am very impressed with how quiet the MX860 operates. No loud plastic slaps and thwaps like my Samsung. It doesn't wiggle and squirm when printing like some I've had either.

There's lots to like about this all-in-one: the price, the features, and the good print quality. However, I thought the set up was way too complicated for the casual user and the instruction book worked like a puzzle. The PIXMA MX860 is a big and heavy printer so you have to have plenty of room, too. I'm a little worried about the cassette paper tray that tucks underneath, and hope that I don't jam it in too fast and break off some $169.99 critical piece of plastic.

Overall, the Canon PIXMA MX860 is working perfectly for me and doing exactly what I bought it for. It simply does what I tell it to do; it quietly prints the job fast and clean with absolutely no fuss. Maybe the old Samsung will be jealous after all?

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Are you a Non-Techie, too? Here's another Non-Techie review: Samsung P2370 23" Widescreen Flat Panel LCD HD Monitor.