Canon PIXMA MP780 Multi Function Device (Print/Copy/Scan/Fax)

So, does the photo print qaulity match the IP4000? Yes! Absoultely fantastic results. Placed side by side, there doesn't appear to be any difference between prints from the two machines. When printed on a premium quality glossy photo paper, they really are as good as prints from a photo lab.

Standard day to day 'letter' printing is really quick too, though the first page out time is a bit longer than I expected. There's lots of whirring before anything happens from standby (you begin to wonder if something's gone wrong at first) but the actual print speed is pretty good. And it's quiet, even before you select quiet mode. Very little vibration too, unlike certain other well known printers.

Incidentally, dont be put off by the size quoted in the reviews. The macine is acualy smaller than they quote, because the control panel adds another 3 ins or so to the front. The footprint at desk to level is therefore 3" less than they say.

OK, so its expensive, but it does seem to be a very well put together machine. All in all an excelent buy, especially at Amazon's price. But why don't Canon include a USB printer cable. Amazon sell 'em for under 3 quid (Belkin), I can't believe that Canon cant get them even cheaper than that to include with the printer.

As for delivery, even standard (free) delivery got the machine to me in 3 days. Fantastic service all round. Well done Amazon, well done Canon!
(Oh & it'll take you a good hour to remove all the packing bits. I've never seen so many bits of tape holding things securely in place. Canon certainly don't risk anything being damaged in transit! Another plus I guess.)

BUT. It is possible to configure the machine to link to a telephone OR dedicated answering machine (i.e. auto-divert to telephone/ans machine for voice calls). This does not work with combined telephone/answering machines.

In order to use the MP780 and my telephone/anwering machine on the same telephone line, I had to buy an additional external fax switching device. It is not possible to configure the MP780's internal fax switch to do this (as confirmed with Canon Customer Support).

My criteria was for an all-in-one printer that included a fax, copier and scanner; that used individual ink cartridges for each colour (this uses 5); and could print on CD/DVD media.

My printer was delivered within a week of ordering. It took a while to unpack, as it had all its moving parts held together with bits of sticky tape. Dozens of them! I'm glad Imanaged to find them all before I plugged it in.

It is an amazing design. I was most impressed by the way it fits everything into such a small space, and it is aesthetically pleasing.

It is economical to use. I've used it every day for the past few weeks for relatively short runs of printing and the ink is still not even half empty. My previous printers would have got through at least one set of ink cartridges by now!

The print quality is superb! I printed a borderless photo from a jpg I had on my PC and the result is indistinguishable from a lab processed print. From the moment I unpacked this machine, it has given me perfect copies every time and the colours are true to what I see on my computer screen. So far I have not had to do any of the usual chores of cleaning the print heads or removing bits of jammed paper. It has worked perfectly on every occasion and is FAST and QUIET. In fact it is so quiet that sometimes I forget that is is still working. On monocrome mode it is as fast as most laser printers.

It is economical on electricity too. The display switches itself off after a few minutes to conserve power and it automatically switches on again as soon as it is called upon to print something. The paper exit tray opens automatically too! Pity it doesn't close automatically though!

The scanner includes a document feeder that takes up to 35 sheets and can collate reports as it prints. This has proved to be a very useful feature that I was not even looking for!

You dont even need to connect it to a PC. All the features run independently. You can even plug a digital camera into it and print your photos directly from your camera.

It comes bundled with some very useful software. I've found the "easy web print" bar, that it installs on the browser window, very useful for quickly printing web pages. The CD design software is very simple to use, although it took me a while to figure out how to change the size and position of the background image. The photo printing software is also very user-friendly and has some useful features.

My only criticism is that it comes with multiple mains cables and manuals in all languages, but you have to buy the USB cable as an extra. Although, some people may only want to use this as a stand-alone machine, I'm sure the majority of customers will be wanting to connect it to a PC. I would have preferred to have the USB cable included instead of all these redundant mains cables!

All-in-all, it is the perfect machine for a small office and well worth the price tag. I'm hoping it stands up well to the test of time.