 Works flawlessly with Mac Snow Leopard |
| Review Date: October 19, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Otto Olah, San Diego, California |
I wrote this review to help Mac OS X 10.6 users. If you are a Windows user, please read the other reviews of this product.
This is a high quality, versatile, quiet, well thought out, well built all-in-one printer. As with other brands, the included software is pile of unnecessary mediocre ugly looking confusing mess. Canon makes a mistake by not offering a driver only installation, which would allow us to use the printer and the scanner without installing their proprietary software suite. I am set out to correct their mistake...
Connecting the printer to WiFi is very simple, just navigate in the printer's setup menu on it's LCD, select your network and type in the password. The blue WiFi LED will confirm that the printer is connected.
To be able to print wirelessly, you have to have the latest drivers.To install them, forget about the CD in the box (it has OS X 10.5 compatible drivers only), and the 13 page "Getting Started" guide to install stuff you don't need. Just download the latest drivers from the Canon USA website. Go to Canon USA :: Downloads :: Consumer Products :: Multifunction :: Photo All-In-One Inkjet Printers :: PIXMA MP560, grab and install these files:
- MP560 series CUPS Printer Driver Ver. 10.26.1.0 (Mac OS X 10.5/10.6)
- MP560 series Scanner Driver Ver. 15.4.1 (Mac OS X 10.3/10.4/10.5/10.6)
- ICA Driver (Mac OS X 10.6)
(the version numbers might change when updates are coming out)
Once the printer drivers are installed on your Mac and it's connected to the same WiFi network as the printer, just go to System Preferences / Print & Fax / + (add printer) and wait a few seconds. You will see a "Canon MP560 Series Bonjour Scanner" and a "Canon MP560 Series_NNNNNN0000000 canonijnetworkr" printer listed, you can add them and you are ready to print and scan! When adding, you can edit the name to make it look a little bit nicer. If you prefer, you can connect the printer via an USB cable and the printer will be automatically installed.
I spent hours trying to figure this all out on my iMac, I installed the contents of the CD, tried to upgrade the drivers from the Apple and the Canon websites. Once I understood what needed to be done, it took only minutes to install the drivers on my two MacBook's. Save yourself some headache and keep your Mac clean of bloated junkware by installing only the drivers you need. These will allow you to control all the printer's functions (duplex, paper size and type, alignment, head cleaning, ink levels, etc.), and even your spouse and kids will be able to use them.
Why can not these instructions be found on Canon's support pages? Why is their installation procedure so messy? Trust me, it's not a Mac problem, their Windows soluition is equally complicated. Will the situation be better once their printers ship with OS X 10.6 compatible drivers? I think the core problem is that they are not listening to their customers. If they did, you'd see a reply from a Canon official under my review. Don't look, it won't be there...
This printer supports direct iPhone printing if you install the free "Canon Easy-Photoprint" app from the Apple App Store. You will be able to print to 4x6" photo paper right from your iPhone when both devices are connected to the same WiFi network.
I recommend this printer, it does a nice job once it's set up. Do not hesitate to buy it if you are on Snow Leopard. But call Canon's support line and tell them they should not overcomplicate the printer installation process.
Update 1: If you have any kind of trouble with the printer or the installation, call Canon Support at 1-800-828-4040, they are very good with Mac's and willing to spend the time figuring out problems. My iMac could not detect the printer through WiFi no matter what I tried while my MacBook's could print flawlessly. Canon support figured out that Parallels was interfering with the network settings even when not running. I doubted it, but Parallels support confirmed it. I had to remove Parallels, install the printer and re-instal Parallels. All works now.
Update 2: For occasional single page scanning jobs Snow Leopard's built-in Image Capture is sufficient. If you want to catalog your scans, convert them to multi-page PDF's, use OCR (Optical Character Recognition) to create editable text files from of your scans, you should download and install Canon's "MP Navigator EX 3.0". The name is not very catchy, but he interface is nice, the functions are not too hard to learn, and the program does well what it's supposed to do. It's a decent scanning utility, go for it if you don't mind the 80 MB installation footprint.
Update 3: Thank you everyone for your kind words in the comments! I am not an educator, just a frustrated customer who wanted to save others from the trouble I went through. I'm very pleased that this review helped so many fellow Mac users with installing a nice multifunction printer. Thank you Amazon for the opportunity! If any of you purchases this printer and finds that a Snow Leopard compatible installation disk is included, please let us know, I will update the review. |
Nice printer, nice scanner, great for novice users
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| Review Date: October 23, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Nick R., Oregon |
This printer was purchased as a birthday present for my mother, who has been hampered by a Windows Vista computer and a malfunctioning HP Printer (it worked great with XP...). We purchased the Canon PIXMA MP560 printer for $85 (free shipping) on Amazon, and comparing the price to other retailers online (and the retail price), it was no contest.
This printer has some features that you may already know of via the product description page, but I'd like to elaborate on some of these features.
Thoughts out of the box:
-The MP560 has a folding LCD screen that covers the function buttons. The screen is not too large, but it does seem to have large enough text (and a simple GUI) to work well for novice printer users. There are not too many buttons, and they're large, well-marked, and simple enough for anyone to recognize.
-The printer has a lower paper tray (for regular inkjet/copier paper) and an upper vertical tray (for thicker photo paper and other things). The vertical tray has an automatic two-sided width adjustment/alignment, so any size paper is aligned to the proper position every time (and the thickness is adjustable from maximum printing width of the printer, down to only an inch or so).
-The basic instruction manual is printed on paper, and easily guided me through the process of installation of the print head/ink, paper, software, and wireless network capability. This guide has simple words and illustrations, though it does not include every detail of the printer's operations (the more complex instruction/user manual is electronic, and is installed with the printer software). There is a Network Troubleshooting guide, as well, that seems to be rather detailed (though unnecessary in my case). The printer comes with a sample pack of 4"x6" photo paper, which we immediately tested (and it passed the test with flying colors). There's other throw-away junk included, but nothing that surprising.
-The printer is clearly labeled so as to make it simple to place cartridges in the right location, once the print head is installed.
-The fact that the MP560 has multiple single-color ink cartridges may seem expensive at first, but with tri-color cartridge printers, we would always seem to run out of a single color much faster than other colors... so we were wasting a good amount of ink each and every time we replaced a cartridge. This printer seems to have ink cartridges that would be easier to refill than some other cartridges, as well.
After powering it on:
-It was EFFORTLESS to set up the MP560 on our wireless network. It quickly detected the network (our router is on another floor in the house, on the other side of the house), and it still had a good quality signal, and it only took a few minutes (and only a couple pushes of a button... plus entering our internet security key) before the printer was connected. There is a rotating pad (similar to an IPod) on the printer that lets you select any security codes you may have (and navigate through the GUI)... so it may take awhile if one has an alphanumeric password, but it was rather quick for a numeric 8-key code. Heck, my mom is not too familiar with computers, and I have no doubts that she could have set up this printer with the network.
-The printer comes with easy to use software (again, in Vista), though it does take a few minutes for the software to install itself on a PC. The basic instruction manual makes it rather easy to install everything, whether using Windows or Mac. Once installed, the printer is rather effortlessly found (remember to have attached the printer to the wireless network), and before you know it, you're ready to print.
-The printer has a laser ink level meter for every cartridge, and it can be displayed on the computer and on the 2" LCD screen on the printer (actually, pressing one button on the "Home" screen will allow you to see each ink level). So far, it does not appear as if this printer over-uses ink... in fact, printing on glossy photo paper seems to suggest there's less "gunk" on the paper than some other printers, perhaps due to the finer ink jets this printer allegedly uses.
Using the printer for the first time:
-The printer and software actually WORK WELL with Windows Vista!
-The printer does take a few seconds to warm up, but after the first print job, it seems to be much faster.
-The MP560 didn't have a single problem feeding thicker photo paper.
-The quality of printed pictures is very good, showing very tight pixels even on plain paper. Photo paper shows an excellent picture quality, and the software included with the printer makes it effortless to print photos with certain photo papers... no need to change printer settings manually.
-The scanner/copier seems to produce quality pictures, although this isn't the fastest, nor the quietest, copier I've seen in a multi-use printer.
-The Duplex printing feature is a great thing to have in a lower-cost home printer, as few documents are of an official, legal nature, hence there's no need for one-sided printing. It gets to be inconvenient to flip the pages by hand each and every time one wants to print on both sides of a piece of paper, so it is great to find a lower-cost printer that has this feature. This printer does not print internally, it prints on one side and extracts the page, then gathers the page back inside the printer and prints on the other side, so I don't know how well Duplex printing would work on thicker media such as fabrics.
All in all, this is a great printer so far. It beats anything I've ever owned, in terms of print quality and functionality, and I'd say it's a pretty good value to boot. Mom is certainly happy about this printer, and she's going to test it with some of her crafts... let's see how it stands up to the test of time when she puts it to use. |
Suits my needs
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| Review Date: October 15, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Trilless, Massachusetts, USA |
I did research when deciding what printer to buy and had been looking at the earlier model the canon mp620. I decided to wait until the mp560 was released because it had a couple extra features. I purchased it on August 28th and it has worked well since.
I use it mostly for text and occasionally for photos, 8x11 and 4x6 both. I have not yet replaced the ink though the indicator says the black text ink is halfway down.
I was able to follow all the instructions for inserting the print head and the cartridges. I selected the password method to hook up to my network just like I do with computers connecting to the network. It worked flawlessly and I can print to it from the laptop or the desktop.
The software is easy enough to use and the red-eye fix is nice for my family photos, though obviously the software isn't that complex like photoshop. It is less intrusive than the bloatware I used to have with the cheapo HP printers I had purchased in the past. It also doesn't need to constantly update like that hp stuff.
I went for this mid-priced model and it works every time. No longer do I have to wonder if the (hp) printer will choke up on me, or pull too many pages through, or say 'no paper loaded' when there is some.
Scanning and copying work fine. Recommended.
Edit: Addition 12/7/2009: works fine with my copy of windows 7.
Pros
- Wireless for multiple computers
- Duplex is great for longer text printing jobs
- 5 separate ink tanks
- Reliable
Cons
- Slow (but it doesn't really bother me) |
Very satisfied, to the point of being compeled to write a review
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| Review Date: September 14, 2009 |
| Reviewer: M. Bordin, Parkland, FL USA |
| Really beautiful design and engineering. Major improvement over the MP530 I had before: silent, responds quickly to "on/off" switch, apparently consumes less ink. Fast, good quality printing, specially on Photos. Great "usb drive" functionality (printing photos, saving scans in PDF or JPEG format). Wireless set up was easy on both Win and Mac (after downloading the latest Mac OS 10.6 version from Canon website). Not a glitch so far (1 week use/playing with it). Very satisfied. |
Nice Printer
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| Review Date: September 18, 2009 |
| Reviewer: F. Calabrese, NJ |
I'm not going to be too technical in my review. I've owned this printer for a week now and don't have many complaints. Loading the paper is very easy. Photo paper is loaded in the back. So far the pictures I've printed looked great. No problem with scanning and copying. It's very quick in handling all my tasks. Also, one major feature that I love is the built in double sided page printing. No need for a duplexer! The only thing I don't like is the little panel that comes up on the side. A bit flimsy for me.
So, overall I'm impressed with this device. Very fast and a nice looking printer for the price. I don't think you will be disappointed in purchasing this printer. |
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