Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

My five year old Canon MP500 finally died. So I spent a weekend reviewing all-in-one printer reviews, but it seemed that for any given printer, 20% of the reviews were very negative, which wasn't helpful. So I decided to just get something inexpensive and to buy locally so I could return it easily if need be. A local chain store had this printer on sale, and I also had a "rewards" coupon that I could apply to it, so it was definitely inexpensive. Setup was incredibly easy: unpack the printer (its very light weight), connect the supplied USB cable to the Mac (v. 10.6), insert the CD, and follow the online instructions. The instructions show you how to install the ink, switch to wireless mode, and runs an initial alignment test. There are just two ink cartridges: black and a tri-color (61/61XL is the cartridge type). During setup, I saw the message "Authentic HP Ink Cartridge," so I don't know if it will accept refills. I'll post later when I find out. I don't print a lot (another reason why I wanted an inexpensive printer), but I did try to print, copy, and scan, and it all worked. FYI, you can scan to jpeg or PDF. This printer does not print duplex (two-sided). Also, the supplied USB cable is only 3' long, which would restrict locating the printer, but if you go wireless you won't need the cable. All things considered, so far it seems to be a very good printer for home use or just occasional printing. If it printed duplex, I'd have given it 5 stars. UPDATE: I ran into a problem when trying to scan to JPEG. If you are trying to scan something that has a lot of white space and no border (like the back of a check!), the scanner apparently gets confused because it can't distinguish the edge of whatever you're trying to scan from the white pad under the cover. As a workaround, I literally taped the check to a piece of paper and drew a border around it with a pen! Then the scanner worked just fine! Scanning things that have more contrast and color seems to be ok. UPDATE 2: Ok, I've resolved the scanning issue thanks to Karen of Tacoma who posted the hint that helped me! The printer has an LCD screen with a set of menus. If I try to scan from the LCD screen menus, I get the poor result I mentioned in the first update. However, if I start the "HP Utility" software on my computer and choose the "Scan" application from there, then I get a complete scan and some editing features.