This is a review of Canon imageCLASS MF6530 All-In-One Laser Printer. But I believe the comments here apply to the Canon imageCLASS MF6500 and MF6550 All-In-One Laser Printer as well because the primary difference is that MF6500 and MF6550 have a fax machine while MF6300 does not. (MF6550 also has more paper feeding capacity in its automatic document feeder, but this feature is irrelevant in this review.)
I updated my original review based on subsequent experiences.
Pros:
(1) Much quieter than the Brother all-in-one laser printer I used. Especially, the Canon turns quiet immediately after the job is done, whereas the Brother keeps on making a loud noise for longer than five minutes before it goes to sleep (and there is no way to adjust that). If you like a quiet office setting like I do, this can be quite important. In fact, this was one of the reasons why I dumped the Brother and bought the Canon.
(2) The main paper tray is very easy to load and has reliable paper handling (when it's not broken, of course). The fact that it holds a whole ream (500 sheets) of paper is a great plus. With other printers which have a lesser capacity, you always end up having a small amount of paper left behind making a mess. For example, with the most common 250 sheet loader, you are under pressure to divide each ream of paper absolutely evenly, otherwise some paper will be left after two loads. If you do this only once every few months, it may not be a problem. But if you have to do that once every few days in a busy office setting, you might have a problem as I did. So a big thumbs up to Canon FM6530's 500 sheet loader.
(3) The automatic document feeder is also very reliable and seldom has paper jams.
(4) Software installation is straightforward.
(5) The printer is quite fast, seems to be close to the 23 ppm claim.
(6) The quality of the scanner and copier is very high, noticeably better than the Brother I used.
Cons:
(1) The worst user interface I've ever experienced with a printer. This will be discussed in further detail below.
(2) The worst multipurpose tray performance compounded by the incredibly bad user interface and software. This will be discussed in further detail below.
(3) The LCD display is small and dark (with no backlit), and very difficult to read. In fact, if you place it in a not-so-well-lit area, it is almost impossible to read. And unlike other printers, you do need to read the displayed information on the LCD frequently.
(4) The main paper tray makes up the very bottom of the whole printer and directly sits on the surface of the support (a table for example). Not only does this make the opening and closing of the main tray noisy and difficult, it also damages the surface of the support furniture. Worst of all, the main paper tray of our unit broke after about a year and won't hold the position. So the whole thing had to be replaced by another printer. And you know what, everyone was glad to see this thing go.
There are so many good copier/printers out there to choose from. I can't think of a good enough reason to choose this one over others. In fact, with the problems it has caused, I wouldn't even want one for free. It's just not worth the trouble.
More about the user interface and multipurpose tray:
The printer has the worst user interface and multipurpose tray I have ever used. The overall user interface design of the multipurpose tray is difficult and confusing, and is further made even worse by the inadequate documentation. The main problem isn't its paper loading mechanism, which is actually fine, although not the best. The problem is the software part that controls how the printer interfaces with the computer. It turned out that you must set BOTH the printer panel (which itself was extremely difficult to figure out), AND the application on your computer in order to print on a nonstandard media (such as an envelope) using the multipurpose tray; and you need to do all the setting EVERY time when you print on a paper size different from what you did last time; and both settings must be just so. Any mismatch will result in a no-go error (with beeps and flashing lights, you name it).
With many variables and no instructions, it is highly frustrating to figure it out initially. And even after you have learned how to set it up, the problem does not go away as you need to change the setting on the printer panel every time when you change paper type/size used in the multipurpose tray. The fact that the setting for printing is hidden deep down in the menu on the printer panel adds further confusion and frustration.
In beats me why Canon designed this printer this way. Intuitively, you'd think that as long as you load the paper correctly, the rest of the printer settings should be done on the computer, either in the printer properties or from the application you are using (for example, Microsoft Word). Other printers I used behave just like that. Some are simpler and some more complex, but all can be figured out fairly quickly if you are familiar with printers. Not so with Canon. With the poor logic of the user interface design, even if they had a very clear instruction, which of course they don't, you would still need to spend at least half an hour to figure out how to do this conjunction. But because they don't have a clear instruction in this regard at all, it is close to impossible for most people to do this. I persisted and did it eventually only because I couldn't help. I read other reviewers' frustration and thought to myself, well, I'm sure I would know better. But I underestimated the unreasonableness of a product. It took me almost 2 hours to figure out how to print on an envelope using the multipurpose tray, and I'm highly experienced with the printers.
As of now, I still don't know how to print checks on partial letter-size sheets from the accounting software QuickBooks. We happen to use the check format that has three checks in one letter-size sheet. For the first of every three checks, you have a full letter-size check sheet which can be handled using the main paper tray without a problem. But for the second and the third check, presently there is no way we can print on this printer, unless the checks are printed at the same time with the first check. Once the first check is printed and removed, you end up with a partial letter-size sheet which is impossible to print on this printer from QuickBooks. To be fair, I don't know whether it is QuickBooks or the Canon printer, or both, to blame. But the Brothers Multi-functional we used before had absolutely no problems printing checks. Looks like we'll have to destroy all the existing blank checks and order some new checks that comes with just one check on each letter-size sheet.
After all that, I would become anxious every time when I need to use the multipurpose tray, not only because of the unnecessary trouble of setting up, but more because of the uncertainty involved, as I never know if it will work or not. After hitting the print key, I'd nervously watch the printer with a sickening anticipation of a beep and lit orange light showing an error signal. This has essentially discouraged me from using the multipurpose tray.
Well, if you don't believe me, try it. Just try to print an envelope from Microsoft Word using its built-in envelope and label printing options. I bet your printer would be still beeping with that orange light flashing after three hours. Just try it. Set aside a whole afternoon, prepare a bunch of envelopes to be wasted, bring whatever techniques you use for handling anger and frustration, and start to do trial and error. You may actually get some exercise because you need to run between the printer and your computer so many times, at least one round-trip for each trial.
I highly doubt Canon has really paid any attention to its multipurpose tray. Alternatively, I suspect it was a hoax by ill-intending Canon employees.
In comparison, the multipurpose tray of Brother all-in-one laser printers not only prints envelopes very intuitively and easily, it even has an automatic bypass feature. It works in this way: if the multipurpose tray is not loaded, the printer automatically chooses the main tray. If the multipurpose try is loaded, the printer automatically chooses the multipurpose tray as a priority, thus bypassing the main tray. This works wonderfully if you do mixed printing of both plain paper and letterhead. You would load plain paper in the main tray to handle the regular printing. And as you occasionally need to print on letterhead, you just grab a few sheets of letterhead and put that in the multipurpose tray. Often, you may be printing the first page of a letter on the letterhead, but the rest of the letter on plain paper. With bypassing feature, no special setup is required. You just put a single sheet of letterhead in the multipurpose tray, and the printing job will be done just the way you like.
It is sad that Canon's multipurpose tray isn't capable of doing anything remotely resembling the above. Even if Canon's design of multipurpose tray were perfectly implemented (easy to set up and easy to use), I would rate Canon's design itself a three-star, while the Brother's design a five-star. But because Canon's multipurpose tray really is a mediocre design with a pathetic implementation, I don't know how I would rate it.
With such a failure of design and implementation of a key component and feature, I just cannot give the Canon even an average rating despite that the printer excels in some other aspects.
