Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I have been looking at all-in-ones casually for the last couple of years. After considerable research, I purchased the MX870. My old printer, a HP I purchased in 2000, still works well. With that in mind, here is what I was looking for in this purchase: - Primarily, I was looking for a good scanner that could also replace my existing printer should it fail since it is so old. - Easy to use scanning software - Duplex scanning was desired - Duplex printing was desired - Separate ink for each color - The ability to print in B&W even if a color ink is out - Print speeds were not a concern - this is for home use - Print quality was not much of a concern either - I haven't had a color cartridge for my current printer for 4 yrs - I don't print photos, so printing on photo paper/borderless printing/etc. are not attributes I researched (in my opinion, it is just easier and cheaper to upload them to a service and have them sent to you. In the rare instances I need pictures sooner than that, I go to CVS, which I think is still cheaper than printing from home.) So far the MX870 has lived up to my expectations. - Set up was very easy. I would say it took 30 minutes, including unboxing and setting up the wireless (and I was taking my time). - Scanning has been great. It scans really well from the feeder, and there are very easy to access options for color, dpi, etc. Last night I scanned a 25 pg document, front and back, and had no issues. - The software does not seem to be a resource hog. You can select exactly what you want to install on the CD (just drivers, scanning software, photo software, etc). I think this is great. For my laptop and desktop, I needed the scanning software, but was able to opt out of installing the photo software for now. For my netbook, I can easily just install the drivers, and none of the other software. - The scanning software is light on resources and easy to use. You scan something in, a window pops up so you can review it, rename it, etc. Couldn't be easier. - Print quality is fine. I have it set to print fast duplex by default and this results in a product that works for me. In the 4 days I've had it, I haven't tried to print it on normal or best quality, so I cannot speak to those results, but judging by the quality of the fast, I would assume it would work for most home users. - Copy is easy - no complaints. - Print speed is a little slow. As I stated above, I've only printed on Fast, but this printer's fast is definitely not any faster than my old HP - even with duplex printing turned off. If speed is critical, this may not be your best bet. For most home users I would suspect it prints fast enough for general use. I'll quickly mentioned the competition. Based on the criteria above, I was very seriously considering three other printers: (1) The HP 6500 wired for $150 or wireless for $200 (2) The HP 8500 Pro wired for $200 wireless for $260 (3) The Brother MFC 6490CW - $200 on sale at Office Depot, regularly $300 (1) I decided against the HP 6500 wired because for $50 more you got wireless and duplex printing/scanning. I decided against the 6500 wireless because for $200, I could get the 8500 - from HPs better printer line - which even though it was wired, had more features and a higher quality scanner. (2) I decided against the HP 8500 despite the fact that it is: (1) recommended by CNET, (2) discounted through my employer, (3) I have enjoyed my current HP for a decade. The reason I did this was simply because there are just too many bad reviews. I know there are a lot of reviews for it - almost double the amount there are for this printer - but they seem to be too recurring: bad printer heads, failing after a couple months, bad software, driver issues with Windows 7 and XP, and the list just went on. Before buying the HP, I would read not only the reviews on Amazon, but also the reviews on CNET and [...]. After an hour of reading "stay away" and "do not buy!" I imagine you'll be as scared as I was. (3) I chose the Canon over the Brother because quite simply because it was cheaper on Amazon ($146) than the Brother on sale ($199, currently back to $299 it looks like) and it is much smaller. Both have great reviews all over the web, so without any reason to pick the more expensive Brother, I chose the Canon. I hope this review helps and I'll update this review if I encounter issues (my expectation is a printer of this cost should last at least 5 years). --- UPDATE --- 2 of the 3 color inks have now run out and it still prints black/grey with no problems. A definite feature in my book. After a few months, I am happy to report I still have no issues with this purchase. The trial black ink is just about gone (comes with a small and large black ink tank) but overall, I would say it seems to use black ink efficiently. My history/comparison with color ink is limited so it's harder for me to say there.