Canon PIXMA MP830 Review
Recently PC Mag reviewed the MP830 and they were pretty impressed by it. Based on a few other sites, it seems like a lot of people are impressed with this machine. It is currently ranked 44th on Amazon’s list of their top selling elcetronics. What is impressive about that ranking is that even though it doesn’t seem that high, it is still the highest ranking for any type of printer. The MP830 barely edges out another Canon, the iP4200, a less expensive model which has been out a little longer.
We’ve written about the MP830 before, first when it was introduced and then recently about a couple of deals on it. The most recent deal from a few days ago had it at $239.99 from Amazon, but the price has since gone up to $247.99. That may seem pretty expensive, but this printer was originally listed at $299.99 and it has only been out for a couple of months. The price still might seem high compared with some of the deals you can find on all-in-one printers, since some of them can be found for under $100. But based on the reviews and the various feedback we have seen for the MP830, it definitely seems to be worth the money.
All the reviews/feedback you will read about the MP830 stress the number of features and how good those features are. Canon meant for this to be a business all-in-one, which means that the fax/scanning features are for real. In addition to a 35 page automatic document feeder and standalone faxing capabilities, the MP830 has double-sided printing and scanning. Although these features are meant more for people who use their printer for business purposes, the MP830 also performs well as a photo printer, so it not limited to business use.
You can check out PC Mag’s review here.
You can check out some user feedback on CNET here.
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August 24th, 2006 at 12:29 pm
This is my sixth printer over the years. The Epson 600 stunk, and all of the HP’s have been good solid, if not impressive, work horses. (The HP952C has more lives than the energizer bunny.)
Have used the Canon MP830 for a month now, and I’m simply dazzled. Breath taking print quality, superb scanning quality, and everything is fast…extremely fast…and ultra intuitive. Software is just excellent. I fax from my PC so haven’t used that feature, but if it’s like the rest of the machine, all other printers that I’ve used seem like mere toys by comparison.
October 31st, 2006 at 3:10 pm
When my excellent Canon MP730 died and was beyond repair, I immediately sought out this printer. The MP730 was an admirable performer. This one is too. Terrific quality prints, scans and solid ease-of-use characteristics. The fax machine is easy to use and the nicely-lit, hinged digital menu is a vast improvement over the 730. One thing that bums me out about buying a spanking new model is that they really gouge you on the ink and there’s no way around it for awhile. Ink is minimum 13.99 per cartridge and this one takes four — magenta, cyan, yellow and two blacks. No volume packs for the color and no 3rd party cartridges available as of yet.
November 14th, 2006 at 9:36 pm
I do installations for a large Australian computer support company, I have installed many different MFC’s AIO’s etc But! Wow! I really like this one, installed perfectly all the features, faxing, printing, copying etc etc Ease of setup for a product with so many features, nice setup menu etc. I have been looking for a Vista compatible MFC and after installing this one, i have ordered another for myself. In short, the best i’ve seen in this range.
December 7th, 2006 at 6:41 pm
excellent printer/fax/copier. only complaint is that the inks run out fast. i use mine for buisness and it’s on 24/7. i have found re-fill companies to supply ink at a fraction of staples/ bestbuy etc.
February 8th, 2007 at 4:13 pm
I bought an MP830 in September. It is a truly great all in one. The print quality is better than my aging Xerox laser printer. I am an attorney and scan almost everything I feel is important. That can be a 2 page letter or a 90 court filing. The ADF works almost flawlessly, even with papers that had been stapled and folded.
The photo print quality is lab quality.
I’d be griping about the cost of ink, but I’ve been refilling with ink from Atlascopy.com from the start. If anyone knows of a higher quality ink than Atlascopy, I’d like to hear about it. They actually sell both pigmented black and dye black.
March 25th, 2007 at 7:53 am
Have just owned it for a few days, but I have absolutely fallen in love with it!
I needed a scanner with a document feeder, but I had no more space for a scanner on my desk. So I chose to sell my old HP7350 color inkjet, and put this one multifunction machine in the place. I also have a small laser printer, so most documents I will still print on that as the laser is economical when it comes to printing high volumes in B&W. I only occassionally print in color, seldom print photos or make a photocopy, but I still need these features once in a month or so. Therefore ink price is not really a big issue for me.
The ADF is superb! Scanning is good quality and amazingly fast compared to what I was used to with my ScanLide20. The scanner driver is really smart and intuitive.
Color photo prints look great. I now still use the HP photo paper I had for the old printer, but I am satisfied with what I see. I will get hold of some recommended Canon stationery and try if there is any difference. The print preview feature is great, and helps avoid bad copies!
The card reader function is a nice plus, at least I now posess a card reader which can read the MemoryStick I have in my cellphone
Printing photos directly from memory cards is easy!
Fax: have only tried sending (I use eFax for reception) Well, it must be that I have hooked it up to a VoIP adapter rather than a real phone line, so I had to set the MP830 to start speed negotiations at max. 7200 baud, otherwise it will not succeed. But I am sure it would be much better on a normal landline.
My only small gripe is the bit slow startup. I do not have the gear running 24 hrs a day, and it takes a while until the AIO starts working. It is not intolerable though, switched-off photocopiers often need longer time to heat-up before you can use them
September 28th, 2007 at 2:13 am
Only 2 serious problems I have found with this machine:
1. It is far to expensive to run because of its ink usage.
2. Canon’s attitude to the misrepresentations it made which induced me to buy the thing.
SEE www.inkjetfraud.com for more info.
January 12th, 2008 at 10:34 pm
Ink is very expensive - especially when this oprinter requires you to change out half empty taqnks or it will not print! This is what Epson got sured for. I wish I had known this before I bought the printer.
February 8th, 2008 at 4:33 pm
Actually… the ink doesn’t run out nearly as fast as the system REPORTS that it is out. Long after you get the message that the ink is dry it still prints. But I found that the system blocked printing of my faxes after it “declared” the ink empty on one of the cartridges… the red one, even though the faxes were coming in black only.
I really don’t care for the “business” approach do you?
March 14th, 2008 at 1:14 pm
This machine has been nothing but a disappointment. The print speeds and amount of ink used do not match at all what the advertising said in the store. The photo quality is great but I didn’t buy it for that nor use it for that. Should have gone and will be going to laser soon. They are so cheap now and ink lasts longer.