A Brilliant all in one, with amazing features, but still easy to use! (Canon Pixma MP460)

Member Name: aled99

Product:	Canon Pixma MP460
Date:	26/09/09 (54 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Useful LCD for great photo printing (& with no pc), memory card reader, usb input-can add bluetooth!

Disadvantages: Black splodges were appearing on top of paper, but seems to have fixed itself.

This is a fantastic all in one printer. It's much better than the old hp psc 750 I had previously. It's so simple to use, and doesn't get in a tangle every time you accidently push a wrong button or when in runs out of ink. It's got an amazing list of functions which all seem to work perfectly!

First of all, the important thing about a printer; printing. The mp460 is excellent. It is extremely fast and it really sucks the paper through at a incredible rate! The print quality is good, even on fast settings. The photo quality is good - and almost excellent in best photo mode. I only use genuine Canon cartridges, after rubbish compatible inks finished off my hp (still got an ink stain on the desk). The mp460 uses either the half filled pg40/ cl41 or the full pg50 / cl51 (black/colour inks). I have to recommend the full ink cartridges as these are much better value than the half filled cartridges.

The scanning part of the all in one is great. The lcd screen is helpful when trying to scan a document, as it lists all the possible options, such as scan to file, scan to email, scan to program, etc. You simply press the scan button (middle button of the three large buttons on the left) then select where to scan to and then choose black/ white or colour scan. All the options for where to scan to have default settings, but they can be tweaked to your needs through the driver software on your pc.

The copying function is even simpler to use than the scan function. You select copy mode (left end button from larger buttons on the left) and then choose black/ white or colour. It's not quite as easy as my old hp, which had one touch black / colour copying, but with all the additional functions on the canon it would be impossible to have one touch buttons for every function. The copying speed is good, and I'm generally impressed by the results.

Now I've mentioned all the standard features you'd expect from any all in one, but what makes the mp460 special is the extra features. Firstly, the lcd display is not just a fancy way of showing all the menu options. With either a memory card inserted into the built in memory card reader or a camera connected to the usb input socket (on the front), the lcd display can be used to view all the photos on the card/ camera, choose which photos to print & how many to a page and all the usual simple photo printing options. This is really useful for standalone photo printing (no pc required!
Another amazing feature of the mp460's, which I never expected to work, is Bluetooth wireless printing. I thought you'd have to buy some ridiculously expensive add on kit which would require hours of setting up etc etc.... but no. I just plugged a normal, cheapo Bluetooth adapter into the usb socket on the front and it worked! I tested it out by taking a photo on my phone and bluetoothing it to the printer. The passcode was something simple like 0000, and away it printed! So far I've only printed that one photo from my phone via bluetooth, and there are not many options on my phone for photo editing, but I have connected a laptop to the printer via bluetooth, so I could print wirelessly to the canon without the computer it was connected to having to be switched on.

The cartridges may seem expensive, but the fully filled cartridges aren't too bad value if you shop around. It does give you a very long warning that a cartridge is low, before it actually runs out, but this depends on the amount you print with it. The only slight problem is that a small splodge of black ink appears on the top thin edge of the paper after printing. This only happens occasionally, and I haven't noticed it with the currently installed black cartridge.

Overall I think the Canon is a great buy. It does everything I want and more. I would easily recommend this to anyone requiring an easy to use all in one, with interesting features to try out.

Summary: Fantastic all in one printer, with great lcd/memory card reader/usb input for printing without a pc!