The Canon PC420 copy machine is a great gift you can purchase for someone who has a home office. I needed a really special gift to give to my dad for Christmas last year. I remembered that every time he needed a copy of something for his files, he was hopping in the car and riding up to the local print shop and paying for one or two copies of his document. He was spending more money in gas to get to and from the copy shop, than he was paying for the copy he needed.

The local office supply store had copy machines of every kind. They had big floor models that cost several thousand dollars, to the desktop copiers that were rather inexpensive. All my dad needed was a small desktop copier to make copies of his letters and documents to keep in his files.

The Canon Company had two small copy machines that would be perfect for him to use. One was $199 and the other was $299. Since my dad does not do large volume copying, I decided that the less expensive copier was perfect for his use (and for my pocketbook).

When he opened his Christmas present, he was very surprised and excited. We decided on the perfect spot to put his copier, told my niece to keep her paws off of it (she could break a nerf ball), and started unpacking the copy machine.

Set Up

Setting up this copier was so simple. The paper trays were folded up across the top of the copier and all we had to do was unfold them and they fell into place. We plugged the copier into an outlet, pushed the power button to turn it on and voila! Setup was complete. This could not have been any simpler.

Placing the Original

When we lifted the cover to place the original document onto the glass, I noticed that the edges were ruled so that you would know exactly where to place the original. For a standard eight and one-half by eleven sheet of paper, we just placed the original document in the upper right-hand corner of the glass. Easy as pie.

Copying

All you do to make your copy is push the copy button. To the left of the copy button is a slide adjustment to darken or lighten the printed copy. If the printed copy is still too light or dark, there is an additional adjustment slot on the right side of the copy machine. To move it up or down you have to use a tool. The picture in the instruction book shows someone using a coin to adjust this control. We had a tiny screwdriver that fits perfectly into the slot. However, the first copy we made was the perfect darkness level so we did not need to adjust these settings.

Continued Use

We all have made use of the copier. It has come in very handy on many occasions. My dad was making a copy of a certificate for my niece one day and he called me to say that the original was rather light, and the copy came out even lighter. I went over there and adjusted the settings and we got our good copy. Just the other day I had to make some copies of my son’s art work to send off with his school application and they too, turned out great.

One of the features that amazes me about this copier, is that as soon as you turn it on, it is ready to copy. There is no warming up required like those big copiers at my office. I get really annoyed with the copiers at work because my work is delayed from having to stand there and wait for them to warm up. As soon as I hit the power button on the Canon copier, I can hit the ‘copy’ button and it prints out immediately.

Toner

When I purchased the copier, I asked the salesman how much the replacement toner would be. He said that the toner comes in a cartridge so that it is easy to replace. All you have to do is slide out the old cartridge and slide in the new one. The replacement cartridge is $79.00. Whoa, 79 DOLLARS? “Rather high” was my response. He said that the replacement cartridge was good for up to 4,000 copies. I asked about the cartridge that came with the copier. He said that it was good for approximately 1,000 copies. I mulled over this before I purchased the copy machine, and then decided that 1,000 is a lot of copies for home use. When this cartridge gets low, I can purchase the replacement cartridge as another gift at birthday or Christmas time.

Final Thoughts

I am very impressed with the Canon PC420 copy machine. It is a sturdy and reliable little copier. Another neat feature that it has is a handle. If you need to take the copy machine along with you to a meeting or a trip, the paper trays fold up across the top and there is a convenient pop up handle on the end of the copier. It is lightweight and easy to carry. Since set-up is so easy, I could see this being a great gift for people who have to travel on the job.

I am glad I purchased this copier for my dad. He has made good use of it and I also overheard him telling his coffee buddies how neat it is to have his own copy machine at home.

Thank y’all for reading.
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Recommended: Yes

Purchase Price (if leased, monthly payment): 199.00
Machine age (Months in use): 2