Canon L800 Printer Review
The Canon L800 laser fax is designed for the home or small office user. Its fast ADF and great paper handling features are impressive, but its slow transmission speeds are a bit disappointing.
The Canon L800 laser fax has most of the features one would expect from a dedicated fax machine, and also includes the capability to operate as a copy machine, though its lack of a flatbed scanner limits copying and faxing to documents that will fit into the automatic document feeder. The 50-sheet automatic document feeder is a very convenient feature, however, as it allows users to quickly and easily fax or copy up to 50 sheets at once.
Paper capacity is impressive, as the unit features a 500-sheet input drawer and a 100-sheet multipurpose tray, which is convenient for users who often use two or more kinds of paper. If more paper capacity is needed, a second 500-sheet tray can be added, bringing the total capacity up to 1,100 sheets.
What is most disappointing about the unit is its slow transmission speeds. It supports only G3 speeds up to 14.4 kbps, falling far behind the speed of competing units. It also can not be used as a laser printer, a feature which many competing units offer.
Canon L800 toner cartridges have a capacity of 4,000 pages. The laser toner cartridge is easy to access and replace directly from the front of the machine. The unit also includes a toner save mode, which helps users get more from each fax toner cartridge.
Print quality for faxes and copies is good, but somewhat limited. The unit's printing engine is not as high of quality as a dedicated laser printer, and seems geared toward the lower quality output of a fax transmission or scanned copy. Its toner also costs considerably less than some competitors.
Overall, the Canon L800 is a solid fax machine, but its slow transmission speeds really decrease its value, with competing units offering more features and faster speeds for a similar price.
