We honestly enjoyed our Epson 825 printer. There really is not a thing wrong with it. However, when our family upgraded computers and responsibilities, we realized that we needed to get another printer that did more than just push out pretty papers. We needed a copier, scanner, printer, and etc. type of machine. However, we were on a small spending budget and didn’t think we could find a multitasking machine for under $200. Yet there it was: the Canon MX700.
The Canon MX700 is advertised to do all of those home office jobs that require many more machines and dollars, except you get it all in one. The problem that comes with purchasing those all-in-one machines is that they usually do one or two things well, but the others are left to the side. Could the Canon MX700 break the mold and do it all well?
In a word, yes. The Canon MX700 is a surprisingly quality all-in-one on every aspect of its abilities. There were even features I didn’t know about until two months after purchase. For example, the Canon MX700 has two feed trays for printing, which makes it a more versatile printer when it comes to finding the right space for it. You can feed from a bottom tray or the top, changing the direction with one simple press of the feed switch button. What I DIDN’T know is that you can also do duplex printing on it! Go in the properties setting of the printer and select “duplex” and the Canon MX700 will give you very simple instructions on how to flip the pages correctly. This came in handy when we printed out our credit reports and they were dozens of pages long.
The Canon MX700 doesn’t skimp out on copying, either. Sure, it isn’t a high-speed copier, but the quality is better than using a fax machine to copy. It is perfect for when you just need a handful of copies for people to browse or use, like coloring pages for your kids. I can push out a black and white copy in less than seven seconds on average. It is the same with the faxing. Not much time wasted on getting it from point A to point B.
My favorite Canon MX700 feature is the scanner. Again, the assumption with all-in-one machines is that the scanner may not be as good as others. However, the scanning quality in the Canon MX700 rivals that of a traditional scanner. There are stunning reproductions of traditional 4″x6″ photos that were taken of me twenty years ago that look even better when scanned. You can barely tell when sending it off as an attachment that what people are getting is a scanned photo and not one from a digital camera!
The only thing you have to consider when buying a Canon MX700 is the size. It is a bulky machine at about two feet long, one and a half feet wide and eight inches tall. It also weighs a good twenty or so pounds. However, the Canon MX700 is worth making space for. It is an efficient, quiet machine that requires very little ink to do so much. All this for $159!
