Canon PIXMA MP160 All-In-One Photo Printer (Gray)
I brought this printer for 20 bucks on black Friday at Best Buy. I didn't need anything fancy for my college dorm. While a little on the bulky size, this printer is very fast in both printing and scanning. However, I noticed that the text quality is lower than the HP printer I have at home. The ink price relative to HP is lower. The PG-40 offers 16ml of ink for around 20 bucks whereas HP's entry level all in one (F380) uses the HP 21 cartridge that offers only 5ml of ink for 15 dollars. Personally, if the MP160 was not on sale, I would opt for the MP180. The MP180 offers a LCD screen (as opposed to the MP160's LED screen), memory card slots, and a higher resolution scanner.
I did a lot of looking around before I bought this printer. I needed the top feed for all the different kinds of printing I do and we were also needing a scanner. The printer is really fast and the scanner works perfectly and easily. I couldn't be more pleased with this purchase. It even fits nicely on my desktop.
Bought this printer on Black Friday for $20 from Best Buy. I am very pleased with the quality of printing, ease of use and the all-in-one feature. If you are copying documents, there are distinct buttons for Black/White and Color printing options. Scanner works without a problem as well. Overall, BEST BUY for the price.
This is the first printer I have ever owned and it has been terrific. Good clear copies, reasonable speed, light and easy to handle. Makes me smile when I use it. Only catch is the price of the ink catridges. Friends told me Canon ink was cheaper to replace but that's on the more expensive models. However, Canon tech service - I had some problems in setting up - cannot be beaten. Best I ever had.
Wow! This all-in-one machine really is a useful gadget to have in your household. It makes lovely color copies and prints out faster than most printers. The reason why I give it 4 stars is because it doesn't print crisp photos on photo paper. Other than that, a good buy!
Alas, I was not so fortunate as a few of the other reviewers who practically STOLE this printer for a mere [...] on Black Friday.
However, for the just-under [...] that I paid after rebate, I am extremely happy with my purchase. This printer is not compact but neither is it particularly hulking, and otherwise is very aesthetically pleasing. More importantly, the software does not hopelessly bog down my Pentium 4's system resources like my old HP multifunction did. A plague upon HP for its infamous bloatware!
The printing is a tad on the noisy side (takes a good 30 seconds to get ready upon powering on) but nothing I'd really complain about. Print quality is excellent, though I have not tried printing photos with it---I bought it mainly for text printing, copying and scanning which it all does quite well, even though I had not bothered to align the print cartridges straight out of the box. (Developing digital photos is still much cheaper and more convenient at my local Wallyworld or Sam's Club so why bother.)
At first I was a bit hesitant about this model not having as high a scan resolution as the higher-priced models, until I realized that I actually don't even use higher than 600dpi anyways! Copying is also a one-touch, standalone (no PC required) breeze.
Two lessons learned herein:
1. Don't buy more printer/scanner/copier than you actually need! The mp180 would have cost about twice as much, and for features that I can VERY happily live without (higher scan resolution, a tiny LCD screen, and memory card slots).
2. God bless cheap overseas manufacturing and the steadily declining cost of better technology: my 4 year old crappy HP multifunction (a T65) cost about 4 times more and couldn't hold a candle to this baby!
Not the best printer, photo printer, copier -- but a great low cost solution if you want all three in a limited space.
This printer has been wonderful since we purchased it. It prints very clearly and quickly. The ink is inexpensive compared to our last which was an Epson printer. Great price too! Thanks for the great product!
I also bought the $20 Best Buy Black Friday MP160. My old Printer just ran out of ink so I'm just getting to setting it up. I aligned everything, and it was working great. On about the 6th page, the paper jammed. I pulled it out, ran another page through and it spit out the next page along with a piece of foam. The help desk was very responsive and indicated it was the ink obsorber. They are sending me a new Printer in 2 days. This one is still working fine, but they recommended not putting the obsorber back in. Since their support was so good, and everyone else is having good luck, I guess I'll try another one and see how it goes. For $20, I don't have a lot to loose, except time!!
I say it again; Great Printer and we are very satisfied. Dollar for dollar it is a tremendous value! Sincerely, James R. Glauser.
For the life of me, I could not get this printer not to smear, make random ink marks on the pages, or print clear text. One or all of those problems was constantly happening. Even on the "fine" print quality setting. I continuously did all the "deep cleanings" and "nozzle alignments" and even tried the expensive printer paper. If I want to buy a camera, I'm all for Canon. But as a printer? I'd recommend an HP. I finally gave up on my Canon and got an HP all-in-one F380. It was cheaper than the Canon, prints PERFECTLY, and does not eat ink cartridges like the Canon does. (I print about 30 pages a day.) Also, it is much, much smaller than the Canon, which I love because it takes up less desk space. I will say that I used the Canon scanner a good bit and it worked great. But so does the scanner on my HP all-in-one.
ok so if you are looking for a printer that prints quality photos, dont buy this printer. if you are just looking for a printer that prints great quality documents, buy it. but the photos are hardly crisp and lack detail. i was very disappointed in that respect. but i did buy it during black friday also, and only paid 20. so how can i expect quality photos when paying that price? right? other than that, its a fine printer for the money.
I've only had the printer for a few weeks and haven't done any big printings yet but when used it's fast with good print quality.
I had a lexmart from walmart and it broke within a year. This cannon was rated high on line on cosumer reviews. I like it for the easy ink cartriges they are more solid and have more ink in them . Also printer seems to use less ink by printing out documents a little lighter (which saves ink). I trust a name like cannon for a printer. And I must say the price was remarkably low.
Very well packaged. Easy to set up and learn how to use. Photocopies are good quality.
I recently got this printer to replace my Dell AIO 922. My review is mostly based on the comparison between MP160 and my old printer AOI 922.
Pros:
1. Good basic printer/scanner.
2. Satisfactory print/scan quality for my use. Given that it's a low end printer not much to complain about the print/scan quality.
Cons:
1. It is not possible to print two pages side by side on the same page using Standard Printing options. This task is possible with the Canon Easy-WebPrint utility but this Easy-WebPrint is available only through a Web Browser. IE Only. It does not work with Mozilla Firefox. I have no idea why this option provided through Easy-WebPrint and is not available as a Standard print option. My 2 yr. old AIO 922 had this option. I can't believe Canon latest printer does not have it.
2. Software provided for scanning MP Navigator/ScanGear is extremely bad. Specifically, to scan and save document as a PDF file.
3. Lacks LCD screen.
4. Software does not show ink levels before printing.
5. Very noisy. It does have an option to turn down the noise level but it did not make any difference in my case.
6. Does not turn on automatically.
In a nutshell, although MP160 print/scan quality is as expected the software available with this printer turned me off. If you need a basic printer/scanner and usability is not an issue for you then by all means get this printer. But if productivity matters to you then stay away from this printer.
Also, I have no idea why Canon provides a lot more features in MP180 for a few $ more. Please read Cnet review for more information to compare MP160 and MP180.
I was reasonably happy with my 5-month old printer until I discovered how Canon's ink management works. These comments are not necessarily specific to the MP-160 and some are probably relevant to any printer using Canon's new chipped cartridges. I learned a lot from a Canon MP-150 (v. similar to the 160) service manual obtained from the net.
Here are my beefs:
--the driver provides only 4 warning levels: 70%, 40%, "low," (whatever that means) and out. After "low" comes on, I've been able to continue printing for a long time, but I'm afraid to start an important job because I don't know how much ink is really there. And I now realize I replaced my first color cartridge prematurely - when the "low" light came on - not realizing I could probably go for quite a lot longer without replacing the cartridge. FWIW, I got into the service readout. I'm still on my 1st standard black cartridge (low warning light is on) after having printed 368 pages since I got the printer (the vast majority in black economy mode). Canon estimates 355 pages/black tank in standard mode. I'm on my 2nd standard color cartridge (low warning light is on; having replaced the 1st prematurely). Canon estimates 308 standard sheets/color tank and 120 4x6's. I've printed 9 photos.
--If I understand the MP-150 service manual, a standard black cartridge contains 43 gm of ink. The printer periodically cleans itself and uses 0.1 gm of ink when it does. My service readout says that my printer has cleaned itself 10-13 times and if the MP 160 uses the same amount of ink to clean itself, that means that 3% of my ink has gone to cleaning. This system of ink management would also explain why my color ink level suddenly went from 40% to "low" even when I hadn't recently been printing in color. I was probably near "low," the printer cleaned itself and since there are only 4 warning levels, the ink level appeared to drop suddenly for no reason.
--Canon has made it difficult to refill their cartridges or use 3rd party cartridges because the ink monitoring system is disabled unless you're using a new Canon cartridge. So if you use a refilled or 3rd party cartridge, you won't know how much ink you have left.
Very telling: the MP-150's product life, per the service manual, is 6000 pages (about half in black, half in color) or 3 years of use, whichever comes first. That is, Canon **expects the MP-150 to fail in 3 years or less**. This doesn't bode well for my MP-160.
I did not spend much on the printer. In fact, I'll pay more for a couple sets of ink cartridges than I paid for the printer. It seems to me that by building low-end printers with very limited product life and by making it hard to use generic inks, Canon is encouraging us to fill landfills with their printers.
I purchased the Canon Pixma MP160 all-in-one about a month ago. I am happy with it overall, and feel that it is the best printer I could have gotten for the money that I paid for it. The print quality is pretty good, text comes out fine, and the scanner and copier work well too. The printer is not great with design program such as Photoshop and Freehand because you cannon control much of the printer options such as quality and paper type, but I knew not to expect too too much from a printer under a hundred dollars. Another perk is the fact that the ink seems to be less expensive than many other ink cartridges out there, and that is always good since we end up spending more on the ink than the printer itself. Overall I'm happy with the purchase, but it is meant to be a temporary solution until I can afford a nice color laser printer.
Printer, copier, and scanner all in one. Prints fast too. Although, would have been nice to have fax capability (for a few more dollars).
When checking printers in" Consumer Reports " this was rated "best buy".I see no reason to call it anything else!
This little printer was the perfect fit in our limited space. Setup was a breeze and it has worked flawlessly.Canon PIXMA MP160 All-In-One Photo Printer (Gray)
I'm very pleased with the print quality and the ease of use. I also like that you can close the front and the back when not in use to keep dust from getting into the machine. The Easy Photo Print software is truly easy to use. This is a really good buy for the quality. I definitly recommend this printer.
I made my decision to buy this all-in-one printer based on Consumer Reports testing and they were right on. It was inexpensive and does everything I ask of it very well.
STRENGTHS:
Canon printing and scanning quality; reliable; prints photos directly from camera; can make copies as stand-alone copier without being connected to PC.
WEAKNESSES:
Tiny ink cartridges run out quickly and are very expensive for small capacity!; Somewhat lower scanning resolution 600 dpi is ok for documents but for high quality photo scans 2400 dpi is preferred.
OVERVIEW:
Overall, I thought it was a great all-in-one machine, printing high quality color photos and grayscale documents. It saves space and is packed with features. So far, I printed one page in color. Colors are OK but ink runs out quickly! Therefore I will be using it mostly for scanning, printing, and copying documents in grayscale mode. You may even copy your documents without connecting it to PC. One of the cons is a bit high noise of its paper loading mechanism. For ink replacement I recommend buying original Canon ink cartridges only! Because generic ink may clog printing nozzles. Canon MP160 appeals only by its 3-in-1 function, nothing much exciting beyond that.
PRICE PER PAGE ANALYSIS:
If you use it mostly for grayscale printing, then I don't recommend it because it is VERY EXPENSIVE to run! I counted about over 200 pages printed in grayscale mode and now both ink tanks showing low ink indicator and asking for replacement. Capacity of PG-40 blank ink is 16ml and it cost $20. I have Canon IP3000 printer, it uses BCI-3eBK black with 27ml capacity, which cost $15. Which one is a cheaper to run?! I think it is evident from comparison of capacity and price. Now let's go into a deeper analysis. Although I don't print in color, this printer uses both ink tanks, PG-40 black and CL-41 for grayscale printing. Replacement of these two original inks will cost you $45 (PG-40 $20 and CL-41 $25 ) shipped free from Amazon as any orders over $25. Now do the fair calculation. You can print maximum 300 pages in grayscale using both inks though. Now,$45x100(cents)/300(pages)= 15 cents per page. I have to cry out loud to Canon - WHAT A RIP OFF! Although I don't like HP brand, now I'm planning on buying HP 1020 monochrome laser printer. Because it is better quality and better value for grayscale printing. Even though cartridge (HP Q2612A) of HP 1020 is more expensive ($59 shipped), it will last for about 2000 pages. Divide $59 to 2000 pages, it will be about 2.95 cents a page (59x100cents/2000pp=2.95 cents)! Nothing personal against Canon, I still love Canon cameras, scanners and other printers. It rather was just fair calculation of expenses. Bring on your counterarguments in comments, if you have any.
FOLLOW-UP:
If you open "My Printer" from setting you may select use black ink only option. Here is how:
Open "My Printer" and click on Printer Settings;
From there, click on "Maintenance" tab and then click on "INK CARTRIDGE SETTINGS", select Black Only. You may change this option any time if you decide to print in color later. However, if you print mostly in grayscale mode I'd highly recommend black-ink-only setting.
I'm not sure if it will help saving ink if you intend to use printer for grayscale prints exclusively, like I do. Because I still think that for cleaning purposes printer will be using color ink as well. And believe me, printer cleans itself more often as it needs too! I'm suspicious if it does cleaning almost or close to every time you turn it on.
Of course that's the only way to make even a thrifty user who uses printer occasionally to buy ink over and over again.
The ONLY thing that this printer does well is print documents. Printing envelopes leaves each and every envelope smudged with ink. Printed photos are as bad as I have ever seen. No more Canon printers for me!
I just love my new Canon All-in-One! I have used all it's features and am very happy with all of them. The colors are so vivid and you can barely tell you are printing pictures from a home printer. Excellent printing quality! It is the perfect size and I like the digital read out for the page numbers and the way it animates when it is "thinking" Overall, this is a great product and I got it at a great price [...]
I bought this printer for basic home use (except photographic printing). I'm pleasantly surprised at the overall package and the cost of about $70. It seems like a very high value. Text and graphic printing are quite acceptable. It is a little noisier and slower than our last printer, but then again that one was a business printer. Delivery was quite fast.
The ONLY thing that this printer does well is print documents. Printing envelopes leaves each and every envelope smudged with ink. Printed photos are as bad as I have ever seen. No more Canon printers for me!
I just love my new Canon All-in-One! I have used all it's features and am very happy with all of them. The colors are so vivid and you can barely tell you are printing pictures from a home printer. Excellent printing quality! It is the perfect size and I like the digital read out for the page numbers and the way it animates when it is "thinking" Overall, this is a great product and I got it at a great price [...]
I bought this printer for basic home use (except photographic printing). I'm pleasantly surprised at the overall package and the cost of about $70. It seems like a very high value. Text and graphic printing are quite acceptable. It is a little noisier and slower than our last printer, but then again that one was a business printer. Delivery was quite fast.
I made my decision to buy this all-in-one printer based on Consumer Reports testing and they were right on. It was inexpensive and does everything I ask of it very well.
STRENGTHS:
Canon printing and scanning quality; reliable; prints photos directly from camera; can make copies as stand-alone copier without being connected to PC.
WEAKNESSES:
Tiny ink cartridges run out quickly and are very expensive for small capacity!; Somewhat lower scanning resolution 600 dpi is ok for documents but for high quality photo scans 2400 dpi is preferred.
OVERVIEW:
Overall, I thought it was a great all-in-one machine, printing high quality color photos and grayscale documents. It saves space and is packed with features. So far, I printed one page in color. Colors are OK but ink runs out quickly! Therefore I will be using it mostly for scanning, printing, and copying documents in grayscale mode. You may even copy your documents without connecting it to PC. One of the cons is a bit high noise of its paper loading mechanism. For ink replacement I recommend buying original Canon ink cartridges only! Because generic ink may clog printing nozzles. Canon MP160 appeals only by its 3-in-1 function, nothing much exciting beyond that.
PRICE PER PAGE ANALYSIS:
If you use it mostly for grayscale printing, then I don't recommend it because it is VERY EXPENSIVE to run! I counted about over 200 pages printed in grayscale mode and now both ink tanks showing low ink indicator and asking for replacement. Capacity of PG-40 blank ink is 16ml and it cost $20. I have Canon IP3000 printer, it uses BCI-3eBK black with 27ml capacity, which cost $15. Which one is a cheaper to run?! I think it is evident from comparison of capacity and price. Now let's go into a deeper analysis. Although I don't print in color, this printer uses both ink tanks, PG-40 black and CL-41 for grayscale printing. Replacement of these two original inks will cost you $45 (PG-40 $20 and CL-41 $25 ) shipped free from Amazon as any orders over $25. Now do the fair calculation. You can print maximum 300 pages in grayscale using both inks though. Now,$45x100(cents)/300(pages)= 15 cents per page. I have to cry out loud to Canon - WHAT A RIP OFF! Although I don't like HP brand, now I'm planning on buying HP 1020 monochrome laser printer. Because it is better quality and better value for grayscale printing. Even though cartridge (HP Q2612A) of HP 1020 is more expensive ($59 shipped), it will last for about 2000 pages. Divide $59 to 2000 pages, it will be about 2.95 cents a page (59x100cents/2000pp=2.95 cents)! Nothing personal against Canon, I still love Canon cameras, scanners and other printers. It rather was just fair calculation of expenses. Bring on your counterarguments in comments, if you have any.
FOLLOW-UP:
If you open "My Printer" from setting you may select use black ink only option. Here is how:
Open "My Printer" and click on Printer Settings;
From there, click on "Maintenance" tab and then click on "INK CARTRIDGE SETTINGS", select Black Only. You may change this option any time if you decide to print in color later. However, if you print mostly in grayscale mode I'd highly recommend black-ink-only setting.
I'm not sure if it will help saving ink if you intend to use printer for grayscale prints exclusively, like I do. Because I still think that for cleaning purposes printer will be using color ink as well. And believe me, printer cleans itself more often as it needs too! I'm suspicious if it does cleaning almost or close to every time you turn it on.
Of course that's the only way to make even a thrifty user who uses printer occasionally to buy ink over and over again.
This little printer was the perfect fit in our limited space. Setup was a breeze and it has worked flawlessly.Canon PIXMA MP160 All-In-One Photo Printer (Gray)
I'm very pleased with the print quality and the ease of use. I also like that you can close the front and the back when not in use to keep dust from getting into the machine. The Easy Photo Print software is truly easy to use. This is a really good buy for the quality. I definitly recommend this printer.
When checking printers in" Consumer Reports " this was rated "best buy".I see no reason to call it anything else!
Printer, copier, and scanner all in one. Prints fast too. Although, would have been nice to have fax capability (for a few more dollars).
I purchased the Canon Pixma MP160 all-in-one about a month ago. I am happy with it overall, and feel that it is the best printer I could have gotten for the money that I paid for it. The print quality is pretty good, text comes out fine, and the scanner and copier work well too. The printer is not great with design program such as Photoshop and Freehand because you cannon control much of the printer options such as quality and paper type, but I knew not to expect too too much from a printer under a hundred dollars. Another perk is the fact that the ink seems to be less expensive than many other ink cartridges out there, and that is always good since we end up spending more on the ink than the printer itself. Overall I'm happy with the purchase, but it is meant to be a temporary solution until I can afford a nice color laser printer.
I've only had the printer for a few weeks and haven't done any big printings yet but when used it's fast with good print quality.
I had a lexmart from walmart and it broke within a year. This cannon was rated high on line on cosumer reviews. I like it for the easy ink cartriges they are more solid and have more ink in them . Also printer seems to use less ink by printing out documents a little lighter (which saves ink). I trust a name like cannon for a printer. And I must say the price was remarkably low.
Very well packaged. Easy to set up and learn how to use. Photocopies are good quality.
I recently got this printer to replace my Dell AIO 922. My review is mostly based on the comparison between MP160 and my old printer AOI 922.
Pros:
1. Good basic printer/scanner.
2. Satisfactory print/scan quality for my use. Given that it's a low end printer not much to complain about the print/scan quality.
Cons:
1. It is not possible to print two pages side by side on the same page using Standard Printing options. This task is possible with the Canon Easy-WebPrint utility but this Easy-WebPrint is available only through a Web Browser. IE Only. It does not work with Mozilla Firefox. I have no idea why this option provided through Easy-WebPrint and is not available as a Standard print option. My 2 yr. old AIO 922 had this option. I can't believe Canon latest printer does not have it.
2. Software provided for scanning MP Navigator/ScanGear is extremely bad. Specifically, to scan and save document as a PDF file.
3. Lacks LCD screen.
4. Software does not show ink levels before printing.
5. Very noisy. It does have an option to turn down the noise level but it did not make any difference in my case.
6. Does not turn on automatically.
In a nutshell, although MP160 print/scan quality is as expected the software available with this printer turned me off. If you need a basic printer/scanner and usability is not an issue for you then by all means get this printer. But if productivity matters to you then stay away from this printer.
Also, I have no idea why Canon provides a lot more features in MP180 for a few $ more. Please read Cnet review for more information to compare MP160 and MP180.
I was reasonably happy with my 5-month old printer until I discovered how Canon's ink management works. These comments are not necessarily specific to the MP-160 and some are probably relevant to any printer using Canon's new chipped cartridges. I learned a lot from a Canon MP-150 (v. similar to the 160) service manual obtained from the net.
Here are my beefs:
--the driver provides only 4 warning levels: 70%, 40%, "low," (whatever that means) and out. After "low" comes on, I've been able to continue printing for a long time, but I'm afraid to start an important job because I don't know how much ink is really there. And I now realize I replaced my first color cartridge prematurely - when the "low" light came on - not realizing I could probably go for quite a lot longer without replacing the cartridge. FWIW, I got into the service readout. I'm still on my 1st standard black cartridge (low warning light is on) after having printed 368 pages since I got the printer (the vast majority in black economy mode). Canon estimates 355 pages/black tank in standard mode. I'm on my 2nd standard color cartridge (low warning light is on; having replaced the 1st prematurely). Canon estimates 308 standard sheets/color tank and 120 4x6's. I've printed 9 photos.
--If I understand the MP-150 service manual, a standard black cartridge contains 43 gm of ink. The printer periodically cleans itself and uses 0.1 gm of ink when it does. My service readout says that my printer has cleaned itself 10-13 times and if the MP 160 uses the same amount of ink to clean itself, that means that 3% of my ink has gone to cleaning. This system of ink management would also explain why my color ink level suddenly went from 40% to "low" even when I hadn't recently been printing in color. I was probably near "low," the printer cleaned itself and since there are only 4 warning levels, the ink level appeared to drop suddenly for no reason.
--Canon has made it difficult to refill their cartridges or use 3rd party cartridges because the ink monitoring system is disabled unless you're using a new Canon cartridge. So if you use a refilled or 3rd party cartridge, you won't know how much ink you have left.
Very telling: the MP-150's product life, per the service manual, is 6000 pages (about half in black, half in color) or 3 years of use, whichever comes first. That is, Canon **expects the MP-150 to fail in 3 years or less**. This doesn't bode well for my MP-160.
I did not spend much on the printer. In fact, I'll pay more for a couple sets of ink cartridges than I paid for the printer. It seems to me that by building low-end printers with very limited product life and by making it hard to use generic inks, Canon is encouraging us to fill landfills with their printers.
I say it again; Great Printer and we are very satisfied. Dollar for dollar it is a tremendous value! Sincerely, James R. Glauser.
For the life of me, I could not get this printer not to smear, make random ink marks on the pages, or print clear text. One or all of those problems was constantly happening. Even on the "fine" print quality setting. I continuously did all the "deep cleanings" and "nozzle alignments" and even tried the expensive printer paper. If I want to buy a camera, I'm all for Canon. But as a printer? I'd recommend an HP. I finally gave up on my Canon and got an HP all-in-one F380. It was cheaper than the Canon, prints PERFECTLY, and does not eat ink cartridges like the Canon does. (I print about 30 pages a day.) Also, it is much, much smaller than the Canon, which I love because it takes up less desk space. I will say that I used the Canon scanner a good bit and it worked great. But so does the scanner on my HP all-in-one.
ok so if you are looking for a printer that prints quality photos, dont buy this printer. if you are just looking for a printer that prints great quality documents, buy it. but the photos are hardly crisp and lack detail. i was very disappointed in that respect. but i did buy it during black friday also, and only paid 20. so how can i expect quality photos when paying that price? right? other than that, its a fine printer for the money.
I also bought the $20 Best Buy Black Friday MP160. My old Printer just ran out of ink so I'm just getting to setting it up. I aligned everything, and it was working great. On about the 6th page, the paper jammed. I pulled it out, ran another page through and it spit out the next page along with a piece of foam. The help desk was very responsive and indicated it was the ink obsorber. They are sending me a new Printer in 2 days. This one is still working fine, but they recommended not putting the obsorber back in. Since their support was so good, and everyone else is having good luck, I guess I'll try another one and see how it goes. For $20, I don't have a lot to loose, except time!!
Not the best printer, photo printer, copier -- but a great low cost solution if you want all three in a limited space.
I brought this printer for 20 bucks on black Friday at Best Buy. I didn't need anything fancy for my college dorm. While a little on the bulky size, this printer is very fast in both printing and scanning. However, I noticed that the text quality is lower than the HP printer I have at home. The ink price relative to HP is lower. The PG-40 offers 16ml of ink for around 20 bucks whereas HP's entry level all in one (F380) uses the HP 21 cartridge that offers only 5ml of ink for 15 dollars. Personally, if the MP160 was not on sale, I would opt for the MP180. The MP180 offers a LCD screen (as opposed to the MP160's LED screen), memory card slots, and a higher resolution scanner.
I did a lot of looking around before I bought this printer. I needed the top feed for all the different kinds of printing I do and we were also needing a scanner. The printer is really fast and the scanner works perfectly and easily. I couldn't be more pleased with this purchase. It even fits nicely on my desktop.