Canon Laser Shot LBP 2900 > Reviews > Good Hardware, Bad Software

Author's product rating:   

Picture quality	Good
Printing speed	Average
Colour sensitivity	Satisfactory
Ease of use	Awkward
Value For Money	Satisfactory

Advantages:	good print quality
Disadvantages:	bad software

Recommend to potential buyers:

no

Full review

If you take a look at Canon LBP2900 you will see that this printer mimic HP LaserJet 1020 and HP LaserJet 1022, not only in the design but it take the SAME cartridge (Q2612A or 12A for short)....The seller tell me that and I saw that with my eyes

The top cover should have a sensor to tell you that the cover is closed so if you forget to open it the papers will not accumulate under the cover..

And if we compare it to HP LaserJet 1022 you will find that LBP2900 have no tray cover which prevent the papers from dusts (Canon LBP3000 have a tray cover).

LBP2900 produce good quality prints but this printer is an example for the product that you hate because of its software...

If you have a 64-bit system (like Vista64 or XP x64) or you are using Mac OS X then don't buy it, because there is no drivers for these systems, also there is drivers for Linux but only 32-bit.

The usability of the printer software is bad; you will always forget where the printer options are located.

The printer software does not support printing on 2-sides (duplex), not even the manual duplex (via driver)...I see manual duplex very common nowadays even in the lowest printers in the market and I don't think adding this feature is hard for the developers in Canon...(This was the most annoying problem that make me replace the printer)

Finally, the printer software replaces the printer job manager which comes with Windows, and I found it silly a little

After all that I decided to replace LBP2900 with HP LaserJet 1020 which have two disadvantages:
600x600 dpi
No Mac OS X drivers (I don't have problem with this)

These two disadvantages were eliminated with HP LaserJet 1022 and a lot of features have been upgraded like speed, maximum input capacity or added like tray cover, 8 MB memory, Go and Cancel buttons...

After all, I advice you to think twice before buying this printer...

Regards... and excuse me for my English