My printer I

Back when I was in graduate school, often times the course text would be a stack of photocopied papers for sale at the student union, or Kinkos or something, for as high as $30. I had always wished I had a photocopier so I could photocopy them myself, for much less (the only copier at the graduate student lounge came with straight usage guidelines and there was always someone watching so it wouldn't work). That's why I was exhilarated when I bought my Canon MultiPASS MP360 back in July 2004 for less than $100.

The MP360 is an all-in-one scanner/printer/(thus)photocopier unit. The photocopy function is so simple even my mother can use it - no computer needed, just power it on, press Black for black and white copies and Color for color copies. I know they are all pretty like that nowadays but back then it was cool.

The scanning function wasn't complicated either; just press Black or Color and it sends the scan result to the default image software on your computer, no special software needed.

Print quality is good, for an inkjet. The best part is the ink itself. Canon brand black cartridges only go for $6.50. After market brands are as low as $1.99. Even better, the MP306's print head is detached from the cartridge itself, so I can just buy bottle inks and fill the cartriges myself, saving a bundle.

The only complain is its long start up time. What happens is there is some machanism that rocks the ink cartridge before printing, to minimize clogging I guess. In fact, this weekend I have just discovered more ink/print head features that this unit has. For example, there is a machanical print head sweeper that scrapes off excess residues. And when the unit is powered off, the print head returns to a resorvoir bay where it is capped with a rubber ring to prevent drying.

My MP360 when it first came out of the box more than 5 years ago

How do I know all these? Because it broke, and I spent the past weekend tearing it apart, learning so much about this unit that has been sitting on my desk for more than 5 years...