Canon MP480 All-in-One Photo Printer

The Canon MP 480 multifunction printer, copier, scanner is a great machine for the money. Very dependable machine.

I needed a cheap photo printer to make prints for my photography portfolio--this fit the bill wonderfully. I wasnt particularly expecting quality, but the details quite nice, even just from jpegs. Mine came with a free pack of Canon Photo Paper Plus Glossy II 4x6 (might be in description, but I wasnt expecting it... nice surprise :-) which prints well and feels nice. Well see how long the ink lasts, but note that there is an extended (XL) version of the black ink for 25% more than the regular ink, which apparently lasts much longer. If theres no update, you can assume that Im happy with ink longevity. The LCD is a bit small, but its nice to be able to print directly from SD cards. Note that I cant find a way to print documents from the USB stick, which would be really nice. I havent tried it with pictures, because Ill never use it for that. No cable included. I had an ugly offwhite one laying around--my printer mailed BEFORE the cable. Crazy fast shipping from amazon. No full length paper tray, theres a flip open holder, but if you print a lot dont leave it sitting by itself. Im only using it to print 5 large pages at a time tops, so its not an issue for me. 4x6s wont fall or flop. Overall, really nice. I wouldve preferred a gloss black, silver/black, grey/black, or solid grey or silver. The colors more like a dull white/black. Doesnt look bad, but I cant imagine it goes well with much. Edit: I didnt actually end up using the printer extensively until this week, Ive printed about 40-50 color 4x6s from a recent trip to D.C. It looks like its been reduced to somewhere between 1/3 and 1/2 ink on the photo ink cartridge (though, a good half of the scenes I printed were very dark of the monuments at night, so that may skew the typical results a bit). Im thinking I should get at least 80 and possibly up to 100 4x6s per color cartridge. Ive only printed a couple of pages of black print, and its still at full, so I cant say how long it lasts yet, unfortunately.

It gets the job done, but as someone in another review said, not without a ten minute drum solo first. Also, it seems to have issues printing from certain programs, such as Firefox web browser, for which it can randomly cause to crash.

The scanner function will not work. Very poor documentation and support. Ive been using systems as a professional for over 20 years. Ive helped develop and document numbers of systems. The better-name brands will usually install or troubleshoot readily. I have a new HP Pavilion with Vista pre-installed (of course, Vista sucks big-time in its own right.) The scanner on this device refuses to work. Spent a day on it. Nothing yet. I got it because I wanted the scanner. So far, no joy.

This is a compact all-in-one printer (about the length and width of a laptop). The software and flip up screen are very easy to use and the color quality of the copier is excellent. It also has a quiet mode for printing after dark. It uses a large deal of ink, but so do all of the Canon inkjet printers. Overall, a good value, but they forgot one thing. There is no auto power-on/off setting, so you either have to leave the printer on all the time or turn it on every time you wish to use it.

For the money, this is a dandy home printer for the non demanding. It gets the job done. Ive tried printing 8x10 pictures, and I saw about what I expected. If I want higher quality pictures printed, I need to spend more money, end of story there. But for basics, its just fine. Use the larger cartridges though. It is a tad thirsty, but not unreasonably so. UPDATE 10-02-2012: This printer/scanner still works flawlessly. Its a little slow but, it has NEVER let me down.

The Canon MP480 works great for my needs as a light-use USB-connected printer and scanner, and as a photocopier. Its inexpensive but provides quality color printing and excellent scans. I personally like the way it closes up with no exposed buttons or parts when not in use. For those in need of fax functionality, be aware that is not included.

I love my pleanty, much better than HP.

Initially the printer wouldnt work at all. I did not have the CD but I presevered. Then out of the blue it started to work properly after about 3 weeks. I cannot say what I did precisely but to this day, it works beautifully. No complaints.

Great printer and scanner! Pictures come out very nice and clear. It can be a little noisy, but the quality is worth it.