Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 475
 Buy now, read review while you wait for delivery truck! February 21, 2009
A. Michalove (Fort Worth, TX USA)
440 out of 456 found this review helpful
The Canon PIXMA MX860 is the iPhone of All-In-One Printers - it is feature packed, easy to use, and exceeds expectations at every turn.
SUMMARY
Excellent quality, clear menus/instructions/software, Wireless setup, printing, and scanning on OS X is flawless. ADF and Duplexer in a high quality wireless printer from Canon is a steal at $199.
PROS
Build quality, setup instructions, feature set is huge, price tag isn't
CONS
Weight, could be quieter, internal paper tray doesn't handle photo media, no wireless faxing
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
The build quality is striking. It is very well packed and instructions are the best I have seen of any consumer electronics product including previous Canon products. There is a "kickstand" for keeping the printer open while inserting the 5 ink tanks and closing it reveals that it has a gentle piston like a luxury car's hood. Other details include a mechanism on the output try that automatically opens when printing to keep papers from spewing onto the floor. There is definitely some weight to this device and it is much larger than a printer you might get free with a PC purchase. Still I said to myself as I unpacked "was this really just $199?" as I had been looking at more expensive models and was concerned the quality would suffer to provide the MX860's price point.
PHYSICAL SETUP
Okay, I was flat out scared to insert the print head and break the caps off the five delicate ink tanks to insert them, but I think the instructions were just trying to make a point. In any case, do prepare your setup with lots of light as the print head insertion process is both dark and covered in warning stickers. I had no problems however because the on-screen instructions were clear (both visually and intellectually) and after printing a three step printhead alignment, output quality was definitely promising. I went with the wireless setup so I left the included USB cable (thanks Canon!) and phone lines (don't intend to fax) in the bag. The built in paper tray (letter size only) hides away neatly under the printer and there is a second input on the back of the unit for other media, plain paper, envelopes, or photo paper (hey a free 4x6 sample pack is included, cool!)
NETWORK SETUP
I installed the OS X drivers on a MacBook and it was very easy. Note that there are different instructions for 10.4 and 10.5 which are the only two versions supported as of Feb 2009 (Vista, XP, and 2000 are also supported, though it is unclear if 64-bit drivers are provided for those OSes). Software is as straight forward as the printed instructions. I did not install Canon's included photo software as I am expecting iPhoto to handle those tasks.I put the printer in Wireless LAN setup mode. A couple items to note though: Canon does proide for totally wireless setup though Wi-Fi Protected Setup though I went with the more straight forward USB connection to get the printer setup on the wireless network (turns out that included USB cable was helpful). The second item to note is that the software required a reboot which I am not accustom to with OS X software but none the less went along with. It was very cool to see the results of a two minute Wi-Fi quality test that shows the signal strength from base station to printer. (I was in the green zone from about 50 - 60 feet from the base station through two walls.)
PRINTING
Printing is so subjective I'm not going to try to quantify it. I'll say that it looks very crisp to me - not laser printer crisp, but every bit as sharp as I expected. Have not printed photos yet. The printing is about moderate in speed and as loud as my $300 HP All-in-One from 2004 but lower in tone so not as annoying.
SCANNING
Wireless scanning was what I was very interested in and the MX860 did not disappoint. Can scan from the glass, or the Auto-Document Feeder (ADF) and even do front and back duplex scans from the ADF. The awesome on-screen menu system is intuitive and allows you to choose your target wireless device to scan to. Scanning was faster and quieter than I expected and the resolution is truly excellent for an All-in-One. This is not a dedicated scanner and it won't scan a legal document, but when you want to quickly front and back scan those rebate forms before you send them in, this will be a good friend to have. I also look forward to batch scanning old printed photos for import into iPhoto.
OTHER FEATURES
I haven't had time to test printing from a memory card, duplex or ADF copy/print/scanning, faxing or receiving a fax, or Bluetooth (didn't purchase the optional module for $30). But what I was keenly impressed with is the crisp, intuitive menus. Very easy to navigate and follow. Things are where you think they will be. I wanted to turn down the volume of the keypad confirmation beeps and pleasantly had a whole menu of selection to do so for various volumes including off, as well as different settings for key press or alarms. The attention to detail and user experience really shows.
I hope this review was helpful and you enjoy your new Canon PIXMA MX860.
Excellent All in One Printer February 20, 2009
Kathleen A. Bromead (Raleigh NC)
52 out of 55 found this review helpful
I bought this printer to replace an old Canon S800 that was a very good printer. This new one arrived quickly (3 days), was in perfect condition and took about 1 hour to setup. Most of your time is taking off orange tape which is used to protect the parts that move. I did the usb connection to my desktop on Windows XP which was perfect. I have printed color photos they are awesome, did the copy function and did a scan to email (very nice). I have always been pleased with Canon products. The only part that is a little cheap is the paper tray, but how often do you have to change or add paper? Thanks Canon a great print/scan/copy/fax device.
Wireless Installation March 1, 2009
George A. Zolla (San Diego, CA)
53 out of 57 found this review helpful
I had some problems connecting my MX860 to my wireless network. It is up and running now so I thought I would pass on some insights. Bottom line; use the manual setup through the USB connection if you have any security on your wireless network.
I have a home network consisting of a new Linksys WRT160N wireless router, a 24-inch iMac with OSX 10.5.6 and an old Windows XP Pro SP3. My wireless network has the network name (SSID) turned off and uses WEP hex encryption.
I assumed that I would be able to go to a MX 860 menu screen and manually enter in the IP address, gateway, SSID and encryption. I looked through the Getting Stated Manual and the onscreen manual but I could not find anyway to connect the wireless network through the menu LCD. Too bad, that would have been great!
Next, I tried to connect using Wi-Fi Protected Set-up (WPS) to no avail. I made sure the wireless connection was selected then installed the software on my iMac but I could never get a connection. My guess is that the network security was the problem.
Next, I connected my iMac to the MX 860 via USB cable and used the manual wireless network connection configuration procedure. I was finally able to put in the network security information. When I disconnected the USB, the MX 860 was connected wirelessly. The MX860 showed up but interestingly was connected via its Mac network card address instead of its IP address. Everything worked fine though.
Finally I connected my Windows XP to the MX860 by installing the software and connecting to the MX 860 via the USB cable. I used the manual wireless connection and this time it connected via IP address and allowed me to enter a static address.
BTW - all the materials and packing are first rate. The printing, scanning and copying look good too. The Windows applications that come with the CD are more complete than the Mac ones.
Do not attempt wireless setup without the manual March 7, 2009
C. Lozach
24 out of 25 found this review helpful
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Our setup: MacBook w/Leopard, MacBook Pro w/Tiger, same MacBook Pro w/XP in Parallels. All connected wirelessly w/WPA password security.
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WARNING: RTFM truly applies here. If you attempt to set up wireless printing without following the manual step-by-step, there's a good chance you'll end up cursing your printer. This takes some patience as the manual is written like a Choose Your Own Adventure book. Time-consuming, but it works!
SETUP
I started with the MacBook, attaching the USB cable when instructed, installing from the CD when instructed, etc. There was one bit that confused me slightly in the "register the printer" section, but I just closed the browser window that came up and carried on without issue. Printing works like a charm.
Next I installed the software from the CD onto the MacBook Pro, which involved far fewer steps because the printer was already on the network, ready to be seen as soon as I rebooted with the software installed. No USB cable required.
The hardest part was getting printing to work from XP in Parallels, but it wasn't Canon's fault. The solution came from the Parallels manual, which specifies a very specific network configuration in order to get network printing to work. Since we've got an old version of Parallels, I won't muddy the issue by describing the settings here: suffice it to say that if you install the Canon software in Windows and find that your printer can't be found, it's probably a Parallels network configuration issue. Again, no USB cable required.
QUALITY
I haven't tried scanning yet, but everything else has been working great, with good quality prints, and very reasonable resolution on copies. For the price, it's amazing how much they've fit into the package without any of the components being inadequate to the task. Especially love auto-duplex!
ISSUES
Aside from the one-time challenges of wireless setup, the only issue we've encountered thus far is that a paper jam from the bottom tray was reported by the printer as "No paper in tray." Getting the paper out was easy enough: remove the paper tray and tilt the entire printer back a bit. Not even bothersome enough to warrant a one-star penalty.
Excellent printer, exceptional versatility, a company with great service April 22, 2009
Nathan Andersen (Florida)
22 out of 23 found this review helpful
I am very impressed by the performance and versatility of this sleek little workhorse of a printer. I picked it up for its color printing capacity and thought I might occasionally use the copier and scanner (our office has both of these readily available, but I thought every once in a while it would be convenient to have them handy at my desk). While I have no use for a fax and haven't used that, I've discovered that many of the other capabilities of this machine will be very useful.
One excellent feature I know I'll use a lot (and didn't expect) is that if you scan in documents the built in software can convert them directly to text files. I know that will be useful, since I often need to transcribe long passages from texts I'm reading onto the computer (usually to share with students). This way, I can just scan them in and convert the text and email it, rather than typing it in or cutting and pasting to give on a handout.
This makes color and black and white copies or scans, and they look quite good. One thing I really like is that instead of having to change the settings every time (between color or b/w) there are two "go" buttons, one for color scans/copies/etc. and one for b/w.
I love the wireless feature, love that I can print directly from my laptop and send scans directly to my desktop. What I'm most impressed by, however, is the quality of Canon's service. It did take me a while to figure out how to set the printer up on my network - I followed the manual, and installed the software (on a mac) and then when it didn't work I reinstalled it, checked everything on the troubleshooting guide, and still didn't get it. So I called Canon's customer service, quickly reached a tech guy, and was amazed by how helpful he was. He walked me through the process step by step and I finally figured out what I'd done wrong (it was my misunderstanding and not something wrong with the manual) and it was set. I've had similar experiences with Canon in the past - that time with a camcorder accessory - where I had a problem and their customer service patiently helped me to resolve it. I have always been impressed by the quality of Canon products, but I am consistently amazed by the helpfulness of their support and their support team.
Highly recommended for anyone looking to replace a scanner, fax, copier and printer with a do-it-all device that is well built, looks good, and is supported well by a reliable company.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 475
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