Let’s face it; a low-cost printer-scanner-copier is a very useful tool to have in a house. It enables us to do many things, like printing school assignments, travel/movie tickets, or taking and storing scans of important documents.
An all-in-one device enables you to save on space and cost instead of buying an individual printer and scanner separately. But the thing is, which one should you purchase?
Hidden Costs – Cost of Cartridge
What most people fail to realize is that the cost of ink is a major factor in choosing such devices. Some devices, like HP’s 1510 or Canon’s 2570, cost less than the E400 but the cost of cartridges is so much that printing cost per page becomes unmanageable, especially if you print more than a few pages a day. For instance, the Canon MG2570 has a Rs. 800 black ink cartridge, and can print only 180 pages. This means, that best case, the cost per page is Rs. 4. That does not make such inkjet printers feasible.
On the other hand my Canon E400 has a black cartridge cost of Rs. 435 and I managed to print around 400 pages with that, making my ink cost only Rs. 1 per page, or cheaper that my neighbourhood cyber café.
But what about Refilling Ink?
A lot of people recommend refilling ink into an old cartridge to save on costs, and that may be worthwhile. But I did not want that hassle, as refilling can damage the cartridge and printer head. Besides, the person at the refilling store told me the cartridges can typically be refilled only 2-3 times max. In such a case, I would rather buy a new cost efficient cartridge which the E400 offers.
Is Laser not cheaper?
Another point to consider is whether laser printers make sense. The simple answer, if you are printing lots of black and white documents in a month(over 500 pages for instance), a laser printer makes sense. However, laser printers, while cheaper for per-page cost, cost a lot more initially. Most laser printers below Rs. 10000 are black and white, not colour. To buy an equivalent colour laser Printer-Scanner-Copier would cost you over Rs. 14, 000 which does not make sense unless you plan to print a lot of documents.
My Choice – Canon E400 – and other alternatives
I had initially shortlisted my preferences to the Canon E510, HP Ink Advantage 2545 and the HP Ink Advantage 1515. All cost around Rs. 4, 500 – 5, 500.
But then I found the Canon E400 which cost only Rs. 3, 699 online. The MRP was Rs. 5, 499. As the cartridge cost was lower(at par with the others) I decided to go in for it.
Design and Build Quality
First things first, the design… well it is a printer-scanner-copier, and looks rather plain and boring. The top lid is grey while the rest of the device is white. It does not take up too much space on the desk, and there are only a few buttons for on-off, scanning and copying.
The build quality is rather flimsy in my opinion. The scanner lid and paper in-try in particular feel like they are made of very thin plastic, so you might have to be a bit careful if kids are around. Otherwise, the printer is very light and no problem to move around. The rubber grips at the bottom hold onto the table surface rather firmly so there is less danger of it moving / falling.
Canon Software
Canon supplies a CD containing the drivers and Canon Printer Suite software which enables you to access the printer’s functions easily. I found the interface to be nicer and cleaner in design compared to HP’s own supplied Printer Suite, and it is easy to use for most novices. Unfortunately as my laptop did not have a CD drive, I had to download the software from Canon’s website. This took around 15-30 minutes for installation.
Printing Quality and Speed
Now comes the main point, does this printer deliver on what it is supposed to do, i.e. print. In a word, Yes.
The printer spools up rather noisily and does not sound as good as the HP printers, but the speed is at par with them. I could print around 8-10 pages of documents mixed with images in a minute. On draft, the print quality appears to be rather moderate and light toned, but on normal the quality is quite acceptable for documents.
Photo Printing is one area I would not recommend you use for this or any other home based printer. Why? While the quality is good, printing just one A4 photo on photo paper uses up at least 10% of the ink, which makes it around Rs. 80 per photo.; It is cheaper to take it to your neighbouring GK Vale / Printo, where they’ll do it for much less.
Keep in mind there is no automatic reverse / double sided printing in this devices, or any of its competitors in the Rs. 5000 price range. You have to manually print odd number pages, then turn the paper and print even number if you want double sided printing. Still, not a big issue if you only print a few pages at a time.
Scanning Quality and Speed
Here is where the Canon loses out, especially compared to the HP Ink Advantage series. Scanning quality leaves a lot to be desired in case of photos. For scanning documents there is no problem, but in photos the quality is a bit grainy. I tried maximising resolution and scanning, but that simply increased the scanning time without increasing quality much.
Still, it is at par with the HP1515, but interior to the Canon E510 and HP 2545, which you should get in case you want good photo scan quality.
The Scanning speed is ok. I could scan one photo is around 20-30 seconds, which includes warm up time for the scanner.
Copying speed is much faster, with a cope being scanned and printed in only 15 seconds.
Maintenance Tips
One important tip with inkjet printers is to ensure you take a print at least one a week, in order to let the ink not dry and clog the print heads. Else, it will force you to perform a cleaning when you need to print after a long time, and that wastes more ink.
Other Devices in Budget
The Canon E400, at Rs. 3, 699 is an excellent budget choice for a colour printer-scanner-copier. But if you can stretch more, you can get a
HP Ink Advantage 1515 for Rs. 4, 500
Canon E510 for Rs. 4, 900
HP Ink Advantage 2545 for Rs. 5, 500(with wireless printing)
