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MikeD · Oct 18, 2002, 10:44 AM

I currently have a HP and am happy.. But now we're looking at multifunctions and was looking at the Canon Multipass f80. Now in terms of printing, I hear that epson is pretty good quality but you can't replace the print head which leads to "bad" prints later down the line. Whereas HP has a new printhead each time you buy an expensive cartridge. But I havn't heard much about canon printers? The multifunction printer I'm looking at uses the canon bubble jet print technology.. I don't know!

If anyone has any knowledge, please pass it on! Thanks,

Mike

Anomalous · Oct 18, 2002, 03:21 PM

I bought a Canon printer and had to return it because it cut off the left edge of every page under OS X. To the best of my knowledge, this problem still exists. I got an HP DeskJet instead, and I like it much better.

bradoesch · Oct 18, 2002, 03:45 PM

I have an Epson Stylus Color 760 printer. It has worked excellent for me. It has grabbed two pages once in all it's life, and has worked great in general. I always thought it was nice not replacing the print heads because it cost less money. I've had my printer for maybe 2 years and it's always worked great.

Brad

G4ME · Oct 19, 2002, 01:21 AM

hell my 740 is still running strong

OreoCookie · Oct 19, 2002, 11:49 AM

I've had five HP printers (three LaserJets, one DeskJet, one OfficeJet)), but my Canon is really the best buy yet (S630). I'd recommend the S530.
Cheap ink cartridges (complete opposite to HP).

MikeD · Oct 19, 2002, 11:50 AM

So with epson print heads, is there a special procedure to maintain them since you can't replace them? I mean, do you have to clean them with a special cartidge or something?

What I like about canon is that you can replace each color ink tank. But if it won't work well for our computers, forget it..

I just noticed now that HP makes one (multifunction) that's actually network capable!!! We'll be able to hook our 3 home computers up through the router then probably! 2 macs and 1 pc could possibly share this printer.. But it's pretty expensive. sigh..

X-Ray · Oct 19, 2002, 03:05 PM

I have a Canon S820 (separate ink cartridges - the only way to go regardless of brand). The print output is gorgeous and I have never had it chop off the left margins in Jaguar, all in all a great printer. It's fast and Canon has been good about drivers for OS X. I only use it for printing photos and color work. The problem with Epson printers is that without regular use the print heads clog and it is a pain to unclog them. Currently I own an HP 950 (good printer), an Epson 870 and Canon printer. Needless to say the Canon is my favorite. My only regret is that I didn't spend a little more and get the next model up from mine, although as I said above the 820 is great. I wouldn't recommend getting a low cost printer unless you're on a tight budget. If you do go with Canon go with an 800 or 900 series printer.

Justin W. Williams · Oct 19, 2002, 04:15 PM

I have a Canon s800 and love it.

Wish I could say the same about canon scanners though

supernature · Oct 21, 2002, 12:27 AM

Great output. Best I've seen yet. Prints great photo quality pictures on their photo pro paper. Much better than any Epson or HP I've seen. Fast printer. Inks going and going.. haven't changed them for quite a while.

MikeD · Dec 11, 2002, 11:27 AM

When you replace ink tanks on a canon printer, do you change the print head too, or just the tank? ie is it like the HP system (without having all the colors in one tank) or the epson system where the print heads are on the printer and not the tanks you buy?

Mike

dav · Dec 11, 2002, 01:34 PM

another canon s800 owner. great printer, no problems. highly recommended.

zigzag · Dec 11, 2002, 01:35 PM

I've read that Canon's print heads are semi-fixed, meaning they're not part of the print cartridges or the printer, but separate. That way, if they become clogged or worn out, you can supposedly replace them under warranty without replacing the whole machine. However, if you're out of warranty, I don't know how expensive this is or how easy it is to buy replacement heads.

Another advantage of Canons is that their ink costs are the lowest, only a third or half of HP, and somewhat lower than Epson. And if you do a lot of printing, the risk of clogging the print heads is reduced. So it would make sense to get a Canon if you use the printer every day and go through a lot of ink.

Epson's print heads are integrated into the machine, so if they get clogged or worn out, you have to replace the whole machine if it's out of warranty. Again, if you use it every day, the risk of clogging is reduced.

HP's print heads are part of the ink cartridges. This makes them easy to replace if they clog or wear out, but the ink cartridges are correspondingly expensive. Therefore, an HP makes sense if you don't do that much printing.

As for print quality, it's kind of a horse race, and every review seems to draw different conclusions. Canon invented ink-jet technology so they're right up there with HP and Epson. If you're buying an all-in-one, you're not likely to get the most advanced printing system anyway. But the printer in today's all-in-one is probably still better than the best stand-alone was a short time ago.

I've seen reports of problems with HP's all-in-one OS X drivers - see macintouch.com

tomshardware.com has useful reviews of printers and all-in-ones - check the peripherals section. Also pcmagazine.com, pcworld.com, cnet.com, amazon.com, epinions.com

MikeD · Dec 12, 2002, 10:18 AM

Thanks for the help everyone and zigzag especially. We actually just purchased our All in one and it's a Canon Multipass F80. However, it's not OSX compatible yet so it's hooked up to our Vaio Laptop. That really disappointed me. How do we get mac drivers for a currently unsupported printer? Can we request from Apple or do they just support newer printers with every OS update? I think this multifunction printer came out in mid-november but I noticed that Canon says that none of the F series Multipass printers are supported in OSX. (real bummer). So for now, we have the Deskjet 970 (HP) on the mac and the Multifunction to be connected to the laptop.

But these MFP's!! They're so handy! I woke up this morning thinking of all the things I had to do and one of them was to go to Kinkos to make a few copies, but hey, I have this Canon right here! Saved me a trip, and a few cents in the making! Now I don't have to wait to get to the office everytime I have to fax something or go to a friends house too! I havn't really tested the scan quality yet but I'm sure it's great. I know it's a CIS rather than a Cold Cathode lamp but hopefully, it'll still do it's job. See, I'd really love the mac to support this printer then I'd have an OSX fax and scanner in addition to the printer w/borderless printing!

So back to the topic... what can I hope for in terms of drivers for this thing to work on my mac?