Need an All-In-One, Considering These Two

[Monica]

Need a fax machine for (very) light duty faxing. My flat bed scanner and my
printer are both old enough to replace. All of my devices (printer,
scanner, fax) will see light duty but I still want very GOOD quality,
especially printing. Just don't have the room for a stand alone fax machine
so I need to do an AIO. I'd like to stay with Canon or HP. Auto duplex
printing is a must. So far the Canon MX850 and HP Pro 8500 are contenders.
Looking for advice (and/or warnings) about these two printers other
comparable suggestions.
Thanks,
Monica

 

[Monica]

How about the HP Photosmart Premium Fax AIO? Has it been out long enough
for any feedback? The
"Maximum optimized color print resolution" is 9600x2400 on the Photosmart
AIO and 4800x1200 on the Office Jet
8500 prints on CDs/DVDs, has a LCD print view screen (don't need) and is a
little less expensive...hummmm.
Seems to have more features, prints at a higher res and costs less. Maybe
the quality isn't as good as the 8500?
Monica
maximum optimized color print resolution

 

[IntergalacticExpandingPanda]

Need a fax machine for (very) light duty faxing.  My flat bed scanner and my
printer are both old enough to replace.  All of my devices (printer,
scanner, fax) will see light duty but I still want very GOOD quality,
especially printing.  Just don't have the room for a stand alone fax machine
so I need to do an AIO.  I'd like to stay with Canon or HP.  Auto duplex
printing is a must.  So far the Canon MX850 and HP Pro 8500 are contenders.
Looking for advice (and/or warnings) about these two printers other
comparable suggestions.
Thanks,
Monica

I have the older mp830 model. It lacks network and the extra 2pl
medium sized nozzles. The mx850 looks like it fetches more money over
the newer mx860, but newer isn't always better, they may have cut the
number of print nozzles and reduced the size of the cartridges. If
it's light duty, you might not notice the difference but if it's
anything like the ip4600 it'll cost a fair bit more per page.

If you don't have your heart set on networking, there is the mp530.
It has a smaller printhead than the mx850, but it at least costs
less. Amazon has it for like $150 or so. It's smaller.

Both the mx850 and mp530 have the option for CD printing.

The pgi-5bk black cartridge has a page yield of about 525 pages and
runs about $15ish or so. Typically it runs at about 3-3.2c/page for
the ink. This isn't bad. The HP 940XL is double the price and
quadrupedal the yield. This doesn't include print head cost for
either model, but I'd wager the running costs are lower on the HP by
33% to 50%.

A monochrome laser fax would be an option as well.

 

[Don Phillipson]

Need a fax machine for (very) light duty faxing. My flat bed scanner and my
printer are both old enough to replace. All of my devices (printer,
scanner, fax) will see light duty but I still want very GOOD quality,

1. No one nowadays needs a fax machine as such. If you send
by fax several pages every day it is convenient to have a fax
machine. PC users can however do all this in software alone.

2. Printers and MFC are now so cheap your criteria may simply
be (#1) colour or monochrome? If long unused, laser printers do not
gum up like (some) idle inkjets. (#2) Whether a printer accepts
cheap (unbranded) refill inks and produces the quality you want.
My Brother 330 does so I have two of them.

 

[measekite]

1. No one nowadays needs a fax machine as such. If you send
by fax several pages every day it is convenient to have a fax
machine. PC users can however do all this in software alone.

2. Printers and MFC are now so cheap your criteria may simply
be (#1) colour or monochrome? If long unused, laser printers do not
gum up like (some) idle inkjets. (#2) Whether a printer accepts
cheap (unbranded) refill inks and produces the quality you want.

Total Garbage

 

[Monica]

Come on guys. I'm seriously looking for advice here. Please don't start
this stuff!

 

[Monica]

I *think* maybe the 860 is wireless?? I don't need wireless or (or
networking for that matter) so the 850 would be fine. I have a ip4000
printer. Maybe it's me, but I've never been thrilled with the print
quality. It was my first Canon printer. Had HPs before that. Thanks for
the tip on the mp530. What does the difference in the size of the print
head mean to print quality? Canon doesn't show this AIO on their line up
page of Office AIOs. Glad to find another option. Could you point me to
the information that says both the 530 and 850 do CD printing? I'm not
finding it. Cost of consumables is certainly an issue, but which, of the
three I mentioned, would have the best print quality? A fax component is
what's driving this purchase but since I'm going to replace my current
printer and scanner, I need to focus on the quality of the printer and
scanner too.
I'm leaning towards the HP 8500 but sure love the look of the Canon
850...real technical isn't it? <g>
Monica
"IntergalacticExpandingPanda" <[email protected]>
wrote in message

Need a fax machine for (very) light duty faxing. My flat bed scanner and
my
printer are both old enough to replace. All of my devices (printer,
scanner, fax) will see light duty but I still want very GOOD quality,
especially printing. Just don't have the room for a stand alone fax
machine
so I need to do an AIO. I'd like to stay with Canon or HP. Auto duplex
printing is a must. So far the Canon MX850 and HP Pro 8500 are contenders.
Looking for advice (and/or warnings) about these two printers other
comparable suggestions.
Thanks,
Monica

I have the older mp830 model. It lacks network and the extra 2pl
medium sized nozzles. The mx850 looks like it fetches more money over
the newer mx860, but newer isn't always better, they may have cut the
number of print nozzles and reduced the size of the cartridges. If
it's light duty, you might not notice the difference but if it's
anything like the ip4600 it'll cost a fair bit more per page.

If you don't have your heart set on networking, there is the mp530.
It has a smaller printhead than the mx850, but it at least costs
less. Amazon has it for like $150 or so. It's smaller.

Both the mx850 and mp530 have the option for CD printing.

The pgi-5bk black cartridge has a page yield of about 525 pages and
runs about $15ish or so. Typically it runs at about 3-3.2c/page for
the ink. This isn't bad. The HP 940XL is double the price and
quadrupedal the yield. This doesn't include print head cost for
either model, but I'd wager the running costs are lower on the HP by
33% to 50%.

A monochrome laser fax would be an option as well.

 

[Monica]

Don, I've been using the MS Fax software for years...no fax "machine".
Since getting a new computer in March, I've been having problems with
receiving faxes. Occasionally one will come thru but it's not at all
reliable.
I don't have a problem with using unbranded ink. I didn't do it in my HPs
but have in the Canon and haven't had any problems.

 

[measekite]

Don, I've been using the MS Fax software for years...no fax "machine".
Since getting a new computer in March, I've been having problems with
receiving faxes. Occasionally one will come thru but it's not at all
reliable.
I don't have a problem with using unbranded ink. I didn't do it in my HPs
but have in the Canon and haven't had any problems.

You will

 

[IntergalacticExpandingPanda]

I *think* maybe the 860 is wireless??  I don't need wireless or (or
networking for that matter) so the 850 would be fine.  I have a ip4000
printer.  Maybe it's me, but I've never been thrilled with the print
quality.  It was my first Canon printer.  Had HPs before that.  Thanks for
the tip on the mp530.  What does the difference in the size of the print
head mean to print quality?  Canon doesn't show this AIO on their line up
page of Office AIOs.  Glad to find another option.  Could you point me to
the information that says both the 530 and 850 do CD printing?  I'm not
finding it.  Cost of consumables is certainly an issue, but which, of the
three I mentioned, would have the best print quality?  A fax component is
what's driving this purchase but since I'm going to replace my current
printer and scanner, I need to focus on the quality of the printer and
scanner too.
I'm leaning towards the HP 8500 but sure love the look of the Canon
850...real technical isn't it? <g>

It's your dime, if you want the mx850, by all means get the mx850.
But if you don't like the print quality of the ip4000, there is NO
change in text quality between the ip4000 and the mp830. No change
what so ever. Given the mx850 uses the same ink and a similar
printhead, I expect the mx850 to be the same.

The mp530 has the same text printhead size as the ip4000. This will
affect the speed at which the printer prints. IIRC the ip4000 and
mp530 have 320 nozzles. Assuming 600dpi that's about 1/2 inch printed
per stroke. The mx850 like the mp830 have 512 which is over 5/6 an
inch per stroke. I believe the mx860 switched to the smaller size as
well. This also means more nozzles fired per page, so the printhead
will burn out sooner, though I can't say how much sooner. A given
printhead is rated for about 10 cartridge changes or so, but reality
is higher. I've personally seen about 15, others have seen 20+. But
given the mp530 is 50% less, and given the live isn't reduced by 50%,
I'd consider it. If the price difference was only $20, I'd get the
bigger head.

The mp530 is an older model, and isn't on the current lineup. It's
the AIO version of the ip4200, where the mp830 is the aio version of
the ip4300.

The mx700 can be had cheaply. It's identical to your ip4000 except
newer ink and no auto duplex, and no cd printing.

The mx860 is the next generation, which uses cartridges smaller than
the ip4000 with no real improvement to the ml/page ratio. The mx850
will cost a tad more to print using OEM ink, like 2.5c/page to
3c.page, where the mx860 will cost even more, I'd guess 3.5c/page. If
you use aftermarket ink, there is no chip resetter for the mx860.
Afermarket ink will drive this cost down which is an option best on
the mp530/mx850.

I don't really use the fax feature of mine, I scan to PDF, then print
to fax.

CD printing is not a feature enabled in the united states. But it's
an option if you buy a tray off e-bay and enable the feature.
http://damnprinter.com/

Near as I'm aware, the options for CD printing on HP AIOs are the
D5460 and C5580 and neither offer sheet feeders.

But again, if you're not pleased with the quality of the ip4000, canon
has not made any improvements on text. I'm pleased with the quality,
600 dpi and decent enough to do barcodes.

Wireless is handy, but the mx850 at least offers network, as in you
can hook it up to your network hub. Not as cool as wireless but
placement is more liberal than USB.

 

[IntergalacticExpandingPanda]

How about the HP Photosmart Premium Fax AIO?  Has it been out long enough
for any feedback?

Sorry I wasn't aware of the HP Photosmart Premium Fax AIO when I
responded. It has the sheet feeder and takes the new #564
cartridges. The price is a little deceptive over canon since it comes
with the small cartridges 1/3 and 1/2 the size of the XL versions.
Canon comes with full sized cartridges. This is a minor complaint.
The XL black is reasonably price if you don't buy it from HP.

Still, the other model you referenced earlier would likely have even
lower running costs, presuming you use OEM ink. It just lacks CD
printing.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16828102334

Referb mx850 for $120 shipped.

Though if you're unhappy with the ip4000's printing, you'll be just as
unhappy with the mx850. The price is right though, running costs are
good, aftermarket ink support exists.

 

[Don Phillipson]

Don, I've been using the MS Fax software for years...no fax "machine".
Since getting a new computer in March, I've been having problems with
receiving faxes. Occasionally one will come thru but it's not at all

reliable.

FWIW I still run WinFax v.8, bought on discount when
superseded, for use under Win98SE, still flawless, and
MS Fax on the WinXP PC, with no troubles sending.
Receiving is usually on Win98/WinFax, no errors in 10 years.

 

[Monica]

I bought a HP AIO Pro 8500. Had some configuration issues to work out
(answering machine has to be directly connected to AIO) and some other
irritating but minor issues but everything is working fine now and I'm
really liking this new machine.

 

[jw]

I bought a HP AIO Pro 8500. Had some configuration issues to work out
(answering machine has to be directly connected to AIO) and some other
irritating but minor issues but everything is working fine now and I'm
really liking this new machine.

Is it networked? Do you scan with it? Has it ever failed to scan?

Duke

 

[Monica]

Networked? Is that more than one computer using it? If so, no. I bought
the base model (not wireless
or the Premium version).
Yes, I've scanned with it, copied, faxed and printed. No, it's never failed
to scan.
I was iffy about this AIO at first because I didn't have viewable log of my
sent and received faxes
due to not being connected wirelessly or with an Ethernet cable. Once I
re-enabled the "Digital Imaging
Monitor" at Startup all my received faxes started showing up in the folder
I'd earlier designated (but ts said
wouldn't work without a wireless or Ethernet connection). Documentation is
crappy too. But, once I worked
thru the issues (no fault of the printer it's self) and had some help from
the HP user forum, I'm LOVING this AIO
I don't know what the difference is between copy and scan. Seems you get
the same end result, but the one test
I did of a magazine cover, the copy version was better than the scanned
version.
Monica