Canon Color imageCLASS MF743Cdw - All in One, Wireless, Mobile Ready, Duplex Laser Printer (Comes with 3 Year Limited Warranty)

Comment

My first look at this thing provoked trauma memories from when I was an executive assistant back in the 80s fresh out of college. This behemoth is every bit as intimidating looking as the monsters that used to jam up and start smoking, resulting in visits from repair guys and exasperated looks from angry bosses who never in a million years would have been able to figure out how to run one of those things. Surprise - its three decades later, and this gentle giant does more than any of those nightmares did - at least the ones in the smaller offices - including FAX. You would think faxing would be a thing of the past, but trust me, if you ever have the need to deal with a government agency, there will be a fax number and you will be expected to use it. Its easy to set up (once you get it out of the box - it weighs like 70 pounds). Printing is fast. Really fast. So far, theres nothing I dont like about having an all-in-one color laser printer. Everything that I would have expected to be a pain (paper jamming, toner issues, software problems) has been stellar. However, the size and the price are probably overkill if you arent running a lot of paper through your home or business.

Show more

Comment

Its almost a good printer. Sadly, everytime it goes into powersave mode it looses wifi connection and won’t reconnect. A power cycle is required. Most annoying.

Show more

Comment

This is an exceptional mid-size office multi-function device. First and foremost, as you would expect from a Canon, print quality is outstanding. Image colors are rich, details are sharp, and text is crisp and clear. As usual, full-duplex prints have a bit of a curl to them, but Ive yet to see a printer with this "small" (relatively speaking) of a footprint that doesnt. Other than that, print performance is flawless. In addition, single-sided printing is so fast that I kept thinking the "finished" beep was an error message telling me the printer couldnt start. Scanning (unless you crank up the DPI) is also super-fast and full-duplex. The document feeder only had one jam, which was my fault for putting a torn check into it. The ADF doesnt always get the alignment perfect, but that can be quickly corrected with software, or by using the flatbed if it needs to be "just so." The Windows 10 software is thankfully not overly burdensome, and actually works quite well. My only recommendation is to set the driver to default to Black & White, and only turn on color when you need color prints. The default on-screen menus are, as with the MF733, a paint to navigate. However, the main (only?) improvement over the otherwise excellent MF733 is the Canon Application Library, which allows you to customize the menus and add considerable functionality to the interface (e.g. if theres a particular document you print over and over). The only other change I can detect from the 733 is the switch to a different toner cartridge. The 743 uses the 055 toner cartridge instead of the 046. Those are extraordinarily overpriced at the moment, and I havent seen any generic alternatives yet. Until generics become available, high-volume offices might want to stick with the MF733. With the exception of the cost of consumables, this is an outstanding workhorse that produces fast, high-quality work. Its only a small quality-of-life upgrade over the MF733, but - in some usage scenarios - the Application Library may be enough of an improvement that its worth choosing the newer model. On the other hand, if you are primarily concerned about consumable costs, and you dont mind using generic toner cartridges, the MF733 might be the better choice - while its still available. One final note: pay close attention to the dimensions and weight of this printer. Make sure you have room for it, and someone to help you install it if you plan on using it in a home office. It is big, and heavy, and the box it comes in is enormous.

Show more

Comment

This is a quality AIO printer for home or small business needs. It has all the standard ways of connecting to print to it. The colors come out nicely. The speed of printing or scanning is not bad. Its a big and heavy machine..

Show more