Canon imageCLASS MF3240 Monochrome Laser All-in-One Printer

• Compact multi-function unit prints, copies, color scans, and faxes
• Up to 21 ppm print speed at 600 x 600 dpi resolution
• Color depth of up to 24-bit internal and 24-bit output to help ensure scans are faithful to original documents
• Built-in 33.6 kbps super G3 fax modem

I bought the Canon imageCLASS MF3240 about a month ago, and so far it has exceeded my expectations. I''d definitely recommend it to anyone who is in the market for a multifunction device without the need to print in color. If you prefer getting your digital photos printed by an online or in-store photo processor, a laser multifunction is usually the way to go -since it''s a lower cost per page, it''s faster, and the output is better quality than an inkjet.

APPEARANCE/CONSTRUCTION:

You can tell that it''s a sub-$200 machine by the construction. Don''t expect the same kind of solid feel that you''ll get from a much more expensive piece of equipment. A few of the plastic parts feel a little flimsy, like the paper tray. But they all seem to work fine, and I don''t have any concerns about durability. Unless you''re really tough on your office equipment, you should be ok.

The MF3240 isn''t the sexiest looking multifunction out there (if you''re looking for a great looking device, try the Canon PIXMA MP830, which uses inkjet technology so you can print in color too). In fact, it kind of looks like a cooler sitting on the desk. But the buttons are laid out logically on the keypad, and from the investigating I''ve done into a lot of different multifunction devices, the footprint on this one seems to be a reasonable size.

PERFORMANCE:

So far, so good. If you''re really a stickler for the highest output possible -if you need the most crisp, darkest text and flawless images -this probably isn''t the machine for you. Don''t get me wrong...the output is very good, borderline excellent. But you can tell that it wasn''t printed on a $1,000 heavy-duty laser printer.

This baby is fast! Total time for the first page to arrive in my hand after clicking the Print button (including warmup time) was 13 seconds. It''s considerably faster warming up than my old HP laser printer.

It''s not the quietest machine I''ve ever heard, but I wouldn''t call it too loud either.

It has a toner saver mode, but I''d call this an annoyance. You''re supposed to be able to set the toner saver either directly on the printer control panel or through the printer driver. I''ve tried a number of times to set up two profiles: one that uses toner saver and another that doesn''t. It works sometimes, but other times it''ll end up in the wrong mode. Even when I get it to work, I don''t notice much of a difference in output between toner saver mode and the regular mode.

I''ve also been having a minor problem with the fax. I have the MF3240 hooked up to my phone line, and a phone extension hooked into the fax machine. The fax machine is set in Manual mode, so it shouldn''t do anything unless I take action on my own. But I''ve had one or two phone calls on the extension that''s hooked up to the fax where the machine hangs up on the person I''m talking to after about 10 minutes! If I can''t get this problem to stop, I may end up getting a splitter for the phone line and hooking the phone extension into the line separately.

SOFTWARE:

It comes bundled with a light version of OCR software. I tried it once, and it seemed to recognize every single word on the page I scanned. I was quite impressed -much better than older versions of OCR I''ve tried (although I must admit this is the first OCR software I''ve tried in at least 6-7 years, so I''m sure the technology is much better now).

It also installs a piece of software called Canon Multifunction Toolbox 4.9. This is the most pleasant surprise I''ve experienced with this printer so far. It allows you to click one button, go through a couple simple settings, and then get a scan and go straight to an e-mail, or straight to a PDF, etc. The smartest feature is that it allows you to pick a target file size, and it''ll adjust the resolution to achieve that file size. So it eliminates trying to scan something and then finding out the resulting file is 20MB, then needing to go back and re-scan it at a lower resolution before you e-mail it. You simply pick your target file size (let''s say 1MB) and the software will scan your document at the proper resolution to achieve that file size. Very smart!

OVERALL:

Amazon has even knocked ten dollars off the price since I bought it...now it''s going for about one hundred fifty bucks...so it''s an even better value today. This is a very good multifunction device for light/moderate home or home office use. Given the chance to do it all over, I''d definitely buy the MF3240 again.

UPDATE 9/2010: The Canon Multifunction Toolbox software doesn''t work with Windows 7. It''s not a huge problem, since you can still use all the main functions of the machine. But you will lose a little functionality, such as the one-touch scanning capability.

Buy Canon imageCLASS MF3240 Monochrome Laser All-in-One Printer Now

Pros:

Inexpensive (I paid $155.99/free shipping here at Amazon which is amazing considering all the functions I get from this solid machine)

Good computer printing... it does what a b/w laser printer is supposed to: great on text and ok on graphics. It does a comparable job as my previous HP LJ1100 laser printer. Internal paper tray which holds 250 pages is an improvement over my HP.

Appropriate scanning result. Good for document archiving purpose. I tried to scan an old color photo and print it in another color inkjet printer. The result is beyond my expectation.

Copier does what it is supposed to. Pretty easy to operate and configure different settings.

Cons:

FAX function in general is a dispointment. First, if I connect the printer with my phone (i.e.,in-line or serial), the printer "wakes up" from idle mode whenever I pick up the phone. I have to use a splitter to avoid this nuisance. As a result, I pretty much need to set it to Manual mode for FAX. Also, as other people mentioned, there is no auto feeder for FAX. Fortunately I only use FAX occasionally.

A little too loud for my taste. I have seen many other models that are much quieter than this.

Bottom line:

If you are like myself who does not use FAX that frequently, you will love this unbelivable bargain. It does everything I used to get done at Kinko''s at $156!

Read Best Reviews of Canon imageCLASS MF3240 Monochrome Laser All-in-One Printer Here

This is a good product for its price. I have not found any deficiencies so far in the features this machine offers.

There are two major features (from my point of view) that this unit lucks:

automatic document feeder;

double-sided printing;

For those of you who would like to have those features, I strongly recommend to consider another model, like Canon MF4150 for example (which btw costs only $40 more). If I could turn back time, I would definitely go for the MF4150.

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The parts feet flimsy, so I was little surprised when the printer stopped due to a recurring paper jam within 4 months of purchase.

Canon asked me to take it down to their authorized service center. I did as was told, but then was called back by their service center in a few days that ''they couldn''t repair the printer, and I should take it back!"

Upon calling Canon customer service again, they are now asking me to get the printer back from their (Canon) service center, and ship it to Canon. Ridiculous! Now I am supposed to provide courier service between Canon and its service centers? The printer is in warranty and lying at their service center!

The Canon MF3240 is a decent printer for the home user and small business users. I got my Canon MF3240 at a pretty low price so initially I was quite happy with it. When I received it, the look of the printer seemed old fashioned and not good looking at all. The printer is fairly large, but it is typical for most decent multifunction printers. The print quality for this laser printer is excellent and it prints quite fast. The usability of this product is good although some tweaking is needed here and there. I found the lack of a power button to be extremely annoying. The software was much better than my old Epson multifunction printer, but it still is a bit annoying here and there. I also could not find a way to stop printing when I had numerous sheets printing, except by unplugging the printer. It seems like that stop/reset button is nearly useless under normal circumstances. The scanner works great although it can be a bit slow to start. The manual multipurpose tray works good with envelopes. Printing double sided (duplex) is extremely annoying as when the odd pages are printed, the heat curls the paper. Even the slightest curl will cause a paper jam when it is loaded back in to print the even pages. This is a huge flaw that makes double sided (duplex) printing almost impossible. I absolutely cannot give the MF3240 anything more than 3 stars due to the amount of little quirks and the constant paper jamming for double sided (duplex) printing.

Edit: I know this has been mentioned in other reviews, but I have been experiencing this quite often. I like to use sheets that are not 8.5" x 11" and this causes a an error if the correct paper size is not selected. The only correct way to clear the error is to insert the correct sized sheet and this will waste toner. The incorrect way is to "unplug" the printer which probably will cause damage in the long run. This is another flaw with this printer model.