Top positive review
5.0 out of 5 stars10 copies outta 10++++++++++
Reviewed in the United States on December 9, 2016
My HP C5550 died recently. I've had two of them get to the point where the carriage locks up mysteriously, and there is no fix for it. You cannot even get the toner cartridges out of them. So HP is in my rear view mirror for good. I like writing reviews for truly great products, which this is.
This Canon laser printer is amazing. We didn't get off to the best start, because of a series of ME calamities. Here's the first one, I loaded this for USB connection to my laptop, because I needed something simple and quick so I could print out some shipping labels, since HP had shut me down for a while. I figured the USB thing was simpler to hook up than the WiFi connect. My first wrong turn. Laptop wouldn't print anything after loading software which took no time at all. I puttered around with that for some time until I realized my old laptop had a dead or going dead USB receptacle. Printed great after that USB switch. Second one is a good one. So I decide to program my other computers for the printer. I have a Vista laptop, win7 desktop, and a new win10 unit. I loaded the software on win7 and printed out a test page, great! Now, a week or two later, I had an order to place and print a ship label. Oh boy time to use my new printer, NOTHING happened. So I gnashed my teeth for the next two hours and got no where. OK, I'll call Canon, they are smart guys, really, I called them for camera help before, and they are sharp as tacks. I didn't want to return printer, so we worked on this and that for a while, until, I went over to disconnect the USB and try the WiFi hookup. OOPS! Get this, the USB connector I moved, when I put the printer in a more permanent position, got plugged into the Ethernet outlet. Honest to GOD, the USB fits perfectly into the Ethernet slot snuggly. Again, we dealing with black plastic, and it is dark back there. No wonder my printer wouldn't work. End my of idiot stories. I told the guy at Canon that I build computers and can't install a printer(?), we laughed. Enough of my dumb stories.
Before all these calamitous miscues, I had printed a test page using the USB. I was immediately disappointed. The paper just spit out of the machine immediately, like in a second, fell on the floor, and was blank. This was looking even more dismal. I picked the paper up off the floor, and to my surprise, the underside of the paper was printed. How is that possible? Is this a magic box of some sort? I hit print and it literally spit it out of the machine quietly in a seconds time, WHAT!? My old HP would have sat there for a moment, and then start making its little printer noises with the carriage zipping back and forth, and 30 seconds later you get your printed thingy. NOT here! WOW! I had to call my computer friend about my crazy laser stories of near disaster and wonderment.
Last part of the story, the Canon guy, after we discover the USB in the Ethernet mess, he suggests that we go WiFi on this, OK. BAM, we connected up all the computers in no time flat, and they are all networked now. The printer DOES NOT have WiFi in it. You connect the printer to the router by Ethernet, and everything WiFi's from then on. Many of the reviews for this B&W printer(no color) are negative for less than the dumb reasons my install went south. A bad USB port and then a USB into an Ethernet outlet on the printer. You couldn't make that up. We are talking winVista/win7/win10 all slammed into WiFi perfectly. I cannot imagine where all these other people were going awry with their installations. This is no-brainer proof, really! I am amazed every time I print something, because it rolls out of the machine instantly without sounding like it printed anything, honestly. I am five feet from the printer, I hit print, and need to hurry and catch it. My HP, I could get coffee, and catch it.
I have copied things, and there is no menu confusion that I read in the other reviews. HP is like hanging out with a bad marriage for too many years, and trying to make it work. I don't use the FAX function either. The toner cartridge that comes with this will provide over a thousand copies, I believe. That is a lot of copies for months upon months at my volume of printing. The print cartridge normally purchased is about $75 and will do 2500 printings, again, if my memory is correct. So the initial cartridge is half loaded. It takes some time peeling off all the orange tape and stickers, on the cartridge and the printer before you can get the thing in the machine. So be patient, and don't miss any. Putting the cartridge in there is not completely intuitive, because everything is dark, and directions are a little murky, but again, coax it in and be gentle. Did I just say that?
For a hundred dollars, if this Canon printer lasts 2-3 years, I'll be happy, but seriously, Canon stuff is built well. Some other camera makers are putting heat on Canon right now, but their cameras are solid tools, like if Fischer-Price made cameras. Canon makes imaging equipment that costs hundreds of thousands of dollars, and uses a lot of that tech in their lowly products too. If you just want a nice B&W printer, cheap, and super efficient this is it, BAM, as Emiril says. Get one!
