The Students Printer... (Canon Pixma MP220)

Member Name: NJ_Warlock

Product:	Canon Pixma MP220
Date:	23/01/09 (138 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good features, cheap, compact

Disadvantages: No cable supplied, first one had to be returned

I am a student, and decided to buy a printer rather than trekking down to the library every time I needed something done. I decided to go for the all in one approach, as a scanner can come in handy too.

This printer has a lot of features to it, as i said, it can scan things, it can do borderless printing and has memory card slots to print directly from them.

The size of it is fairly large, however the shape of it is very good in my opinion, as when it is all folded up, it is just basically a solid block, so does not have plastic flaps sticking out everywhere which could be damaged when transporting (especially when, like me, you go to university in a small hatchback and have to pile up the boot with assorted belongings). Also due to this convenient shape, in the majority of situations it is not going to take up any more room than a standard printer.
It feels well made, and solid, the buttons are nice to press, and nothing on it feels like it could snap with a moments carelessness.

The performance of it is very good, it has a high resolution, and it is quick enough for most users, and the quality of the prints and scans are good. It is easy to install on your computer, and I have had no problems with the software provided, it just worked straight away, which was good.

I was pleased that it was supplied with cartridges, and it was quite cheap, being just under £40 from Argos on special offer. I was a little disappointed that it did not come supplied with a USB printer cable, as the vast majority of people using this will be using it from a PC - although apparently this is a common thing for modern printers, as they work on the assumption most people have one from there previous printer. I didn't and had to shell out an extra tenner for one (you can get them cheaper than this, but they were sold out, but this one did have a lifetime warranty so it should last me).

Next annoyance was a week into having it, it started jamming every time it went through, and after a few attempts, it just said it was constantly jammed despite no paper being inside, so back to the shop it went. It was easy switch however with no arguments. Didn't turn out to be a too bad thing in the end, as I had done a substantial amount of printing over the previous week, and the new printer came with brand new ink cartridges so it effectively saved me money. I have had no problem with it since, and have not read about many reliability problems, so I can only assume it was a rarity.

Summary: Reccomended, best printer for the price, good all rounder