To verify this, a few times, the LED light on the chip resetter will blink. This press ensures that the chip makes contact with the cartridge.
You have to make sure that the chip is in contact with that plate. The chip must make contact: There is a contact plate in the resetter.Then, into the main channel of the resetter, the cartridge is inserted. Remove the cartridge: The first thing you need to do is remove the printer’s ink cartridge.Black text looked excellent–crisp and sharp–as did monochrome graphics, though the latter had a purplish tint on plain paper and bordered on sepia with glossy paper. This emphasis adds warmth to many subjects and the effect is quite subtle on glossy photo paper, but on plain paper the spray-tan look that some human faces acquire can be annoying. If you’ve read PCWorld’s other Canon inkjet reviews, you won’t be surprised to learn that our test prints of the Pixma MX512’s color graphics had an orangish tint. Of course, the cost per page will increase if you don’t use the three colors evenly, as you must replace the unified-color cartridge when one of them runs out, even if plenty of the other two colors’ ink remains. Added to the XXL black that comes to a relatively affordable 13.8 cents for a four-color page. The unified-color (three colors in one cartridge) CL-241XL costs $30 and lasts for 400 pages, or 7.5 cpp. Meanwhile, at 6.3 cents per page, the 600-page PG-240XXL ($38) black cartridge isn’t much cheaper.
The PG-240XL Extra Large black cartridge ($21) lasts for 300 pages, which works out to a pricey 7 cents per page. The replacement black ink costs are well above average, but replacement color can be relatively affordable. The PG-240 and CL-241 cartridges that come in the box are very low-capacity–delivering just 180 pages apiece–and they are currently not for sale in the United States.
The Pixma MX512 uses Canon’s 240 and 241 series ink cartridges. This arrangement works most of the time, but occasionally a sheet printed in the unit’s speedy draft mode will sail to the floor. The output tray is oddly designed: It’s short, so that paper hangs over the edge and is stopped by the catch extending from the input tray below it. The Pixma MX512’s paper handling features are adequate for light use, with a 100-sheet paper tray, automatic duplexing, and a 30-sheet automatic document feeder for the scanner. Still, the 2.5-inch nontouch LCD display is nice to have. The like-priced Canon Pixma MX410 has a far better control panel design though it still suffers from the three dubious function buttons. Among the control panel’s foibles are three intermittently used function buttons, an odd-feeling four-way rocker, an inefficient layout that requires too much hand movement, and a keypad whose numbers are backlit only when needed–though the buttons have no other use.
But while its software is nicely designed, the Pixma MX512’s control panel has a Rube Goldberg aspect to it–and that’s being a bit harsh on Rube’s designs, which, though comically convoluted, are not confusing.