Canon PIXMA MP280 All-In-One Colour Photo Printer (Print, Copy and Scan)

I bought this to replace a faulty I455 printer and did not really need an all-in-one but the price was cheaper than a dedicated printer. However, the trade-off is that the printer is almost twice the size of the I455 (and heavier), a significant factor since it is used with two laptops so is hardly in the same place twice. Canon have decided to place the two cable connections (power and USB) on opposite sides of the machine which means extra space is required on each side. However, the machine is much quieter than the I455 and the quality of prints is outstanding.

Buttons are provided on the top to allow direct copying without using a PC and the device is supplied with compehensive software to allow printing and scanning with minimum fuss. Installation was straight-forward and only took a few minutes to complete.

The biggest problem with the printer is the cost of replacement ink cartridges. The replacements are chipped and come complete with new print heads which guarantees good quality printing but at a very heavy cost. Also the Canon original cartridges have very little ink so do not last very long (larger capacity cartridges are available but at a premium), the colour cartidge lasted all of three days before it reported as 'running low' by the software.

I have managed to source alternative remanufactured cartridges which contain more ink but the software for this printer has no way of manually resetting the ink levels so the PC is constantly warning of low ink once the new cartridges are installed. However the printer still works beautifully though I have no way of knowing when it is running low on ink.

Overall, an excellent purchase for the price but beware the replacement ink costs if you do a lot of printing.

I am not lucky with printers probably because I make my own greeting cards and have trouble with paper feed due to the thickness of the card.
The previous model MP270 had been recommended to me but as it has been discontinued I ordered this one and Amazon delivered it the next day.
The printer arrived with a USB cable and ink cartiridges.
So far it has handled every type of paper that I have tried, and also quite heavy cardstock.
I cannot recommend it highly enough to crafters, or anyone else that needs a very reasonably priced excellent printer.

My old HP all in one died after eight years of continuous sterling service. It didn't like remanufactured black cartridges, but thankfully was not averse to the cheaper colour ones, and also I could easily get an extra week's worth of printing after the first prompt that ink was running low. I really could use the ink to the very last drop. Photo printing was also very good for an all in one.

While the HP was in it's death throes, I bought a Canon iP4500 photo printer, and began using that for everyday printing as well. Admittedly a bit more expensive than the MP280, it was very quiet, fast and smooth, and separate four colour cartridges plus black meant that I could buy the black, which of course always runs out first, very cheaply. The cartridges lasted well, and also allowed me a good deal of printing after the 'ink low' notification.

I soon missed the convenience of an all in one however, and because the iP4500 was so good, I decided to get the MP280 on the strength of the some of the good reviews and because it was much cheaper from Amazon than say Staples.

The first time I used the printer I nearly jumped out of my skin. It is VERY noisy, and the reviewer who said it does a lot of clattering backwards and forwards before it decides to print is quite right. That wouldn't matter so much if you could position it some distance away, but mine is right by my left ear on the table. I don't understand why it has to be so noisy - surely Canon is capable of making a printer that is quiet as well as cheap? Maybe not.

It is slow, and not at all smooth. Sometimes it pauses halfway through printing a page, as if thinking what to do next. Other times it prints in jerks, and only occasionally will a page go through smoothly. Although the print quality is generally good, I have noticed a very slight distortion on some lines of type, presumably from when it pauses to think.

I am really annoyed with the very short time that the cartridges last. This was totally unexpected from previous experience. Is it true that manufacturers deliberately put in low capacity cartridges with the package you initially buy, or is this actually what I will get if and when I buy a new cartridge? The black only lasted a couple of weeks, and that is no use to me, after five or six weeks from an HP cartridge. I did check the price of the remanufactured cartridges before I bought the printer, but if they only last five minutes (and there is some doubt about them even working), I won't bother.

As for paying the full price for genuine Canon cartridges, as other reviewers have said, you might as well buy the whole printer package instead and throw out the old printer (or barely used in my case), which seems incredibly wasteful in today's supposedly recycling mad society.

Can anybody please recommend a remanufactured cartridge that will work with this printer? I don't have the skills or desire to start refilling them myself.

Another gripe is that when the printer says 'ink running low', it's certainly not kidding. A few pages later, and it's gone almost completely. No messing about with giving you a bit of time to get a new cartridge like my old HP or the excellent iP 4500. Obviously I've been lulled into a false sense of security with better printers.

Three stars for being cheap, not too large, and reasonably stylish for a printer. I suppose you get what you pay for.