Planning to buy a Canon MX700, need an opinion

[zamsak]

Hi,

I am planning to buy a Canon MX700 for a small office, and I have a few queries. I was impressed with it, after reading it has an ethernet port

1. Is this MFD good for regular, medium use. I am not concerned about speed, but good quality prints. Nothing spectacular
2. Should I go for Canon, or go for some other brand?
3. Does it support CIS and do CIS systems have problems, like they stop working if there are air bubbles or anything?
4. The MFD is available in India for an approx price of $325(INR12750). Is there a better option like HP or Epson in the similar price range?
5. How many times can I refill the cartriges?
6. How much does a decent CIS system cost? And what is its life?

Anything I should know before buy this MFD?

Thanks in Advance

 

[websnail]

Right... first off here's a review I wrote on the printer a few months back:
http://www.nifty-stuff.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=2497

In terms of your questions in detail though, here goes:

1. Is this MFD good for regular, medium use. I am not concerned about speed, but good quality prints. Nothing spectacular

It does ok... It takes a fair while to warm up though so as a copier it's not great. Print quality isn't bad all things considered.

2. Should I go for Canon, or go for some other brand?

Depends on what you want to do... They're good printers, the CIS, refilling question tends to be the killer.

3. Does it support CIS and do CIS systems have problems, like they stop working if there are air bubbles or anything?

You should be able to get a CIS for these. There are lots of ways to bugger up any Canon though so reading general CIS tips re: canons is worth the time.

4. The MFD is available in India for an approx price of $325(INR12750). Is there a better option like HP or Epson in the similar price range?

Having finally sussed out the problems I've been having with the L7680 (L7000 series) HP printers I'd actually recommend going with those now. Coupled with a decent CIS (see www.inkpouches.com) you can't go far wrong.

5. How many times can I refill the cartriges?

If you're talking about refilling, I'd take a long look at the discussion on Canon cartridge refilling there. The MX700 uses the PG-5 and CLI-8 cartridges so they are chipped and require a quick routine to accept refills. The short version is that if you go with refilling you can get a lot out of your cartridges so long as you invest the time in learning how to refill properly and flush the cartridges regularly.

6. How much does a decent CIS system cost? And what is its life?

"decent" CIS's are a bit of a question mark. Given that you're in India I'd look for the Australian resellers for these as support is more your timezone and secondly the support is excellent. Look for reviews on "Rihac" for more info.


Whatever you do it's going to be a little messy... good luck