Customer Reviews
Another black ink failure 
2005-04-18
If you read the other reviews for this printer, you'll notice that when this printer first came out, it got a bunch of great reviews. Now that it has been out for a couple of years, you will notice a bunch of bad reviews with the same complaint: the black ink stops working. It is a print head failure and the print head costs as much or more than the original price of the printer. I have always been a fan of Canon printers, but now I must rethink my loyalty, because it is unacceptable for Canon to behave as if the performance of this product is acceptable. I've only gone through about 3 cartridges and now the printer is useless, not to mention the expensive ink tanks I have left that I can't use. Think twice before buying a Canon, because you may end up with a very expensive paper weight.
nice printer for the price 
2004-10-15
Pros: you can replace the individual colors of ink, print quality isn't bad, good price.
Cons: sometimes takes a lot of ink, especially when printing pictures. It also self-cleans when you turn it on which seems to waste more ink.
Originally I loved this printer, BUT. 2004-09-27
After 18 months fairly low-volume use at home, the printhead suddenly stopped printing black. It looks like an electronic failure in the head itself; it is not clogged, and has only been run on genuine Canon cartridges.
When I bought this printer I was given to understand that the printhead was a consumable product, that it would last about 5,000 pages and that the cost would be around USD50 to replace it. Hah!. They sure were accurate about the lifetime. But the cost!. More like USD150!. This is ridiculous. I have now bought an Epson C86 and I am furious with Canon for deceiving me. I am also angry that all the environmental pollution that resulted from making this printer was in vain; its not economically repairable, so it will have to be dumped; more pollution. Canon are obviously gouging me; how could they sell the printer for the asking price if the head really cost anything like what they want for it.
My Canon is 2 years old. 
2004-04-11
It's the best piece of electronics that I have ever invested in. Problems with printers are the rule rather than the exception. My printer is the exception. I've never had a problem with it. It printed everything I've ever wanted without flaw. Since I am a student, I run thru ink every two months during the school year. However, i don't run out during the Summer. Ink WAS expensive.(...)
Best bang for the buck!!! 2004-03-26
I got a great deal on my S520. Only $60 after rebate and coupon. I took it to the 3 day NFDA convention in Vegas. We were printing full page color photos of our booth visitors standing next to our mummy. In the 3 days I printed over 200 full page, edge-to-edge photos. The printer was so fast that I rarely had to use our backup printer. ... Our background was very dark and mostly blue. I only used 4 blue ink tanks, two red and two yellow tanks to print over 200 letter size photos. Think of how much savings you get in ink by having the colors seperated! Pure genious! Anyone that doesn't do that is trying to make more money on ink. Apparently the printer uses all three colors to print black looking colors. I say this, because the new black ink tank I had in the printer was still full at the end of the three days.
I read a few people complaining about how the print head would get clogged up. This is what prompted my desire to post a review. If you don't use your bubble jet or ink jet printer a few times a month, this will probably happen. Every ink jet printer I've had has clogged up when I stopped using it for over a month.
FYI: This printer has been replaced by the Canon I560
Print Head Failed after some heavy use 
2007-06-06
This printer worked great for about 3 years. After printing 200 or so pages of picture indexes some of the color jets seemed to be clogged. Then it stopped printing altogether. Diagnostic light flashed amber 7 times followed by green flash = failed print head. Why can't Canon replace this part for about $10?
Wonderful and Faithful Printer 2006-10-05
I've had two of these babys for several years now and they never cease to put out great copy, whether b&w or photos. I have no idea why others are disappointed (probably the same dude) but mine work great and it's sooooo quiet. Do the print heads ever clog??? Sure, like all printers without built-in printheads in their ink cartridges (which cost way more). I had two HP's and they always printed poorly except on the HP high quality paper. These printers print great on a grocery bag. If the head gets gunked up do what every other normal person does... boil some distilled water in a sauce pot and swirl the head around in it several times, but don't get the electronics wet. Works every time.
Pretty good, 2006-08-28
My mom's friend had this printer for some time now. and he gave the printer to her to give to me. So when I got it. I didn't have the installment CD so I went to canon's site and they had software to use for it for free! Alright so I got it all installed, Got new ink or it (since the old ones where empty) and I started it up for the first time in forever! I print something and it came out really swell for an older printer. I was pretty happy with the results for an older printer. I have had no problems with it so far. only thing I am not to happy with is sometimes grey looks kinda green. I am not sure if that's something in genral or what.. But it's kinda nasty. >.<
at first you'll be happy, then you'll be mad 2005-10-19
When the printer is new and loaded with fresh ink and prints on *Canon* brand photo paper, prints come out great. Take a month or two off from your photo hobby and try again. Presto. Your color ink tanks have dried up - time to shell out $35. Try to print something out a few weeks later. Presto. Your blank ink tank is empty - time to by another. Try using any other brand of photo paper - crappy prints - you must by expensive Canon photo paper. A few weeks/months later, try to print with fresh tanks - zippo. The print head is clogged - buy a new one for $150... no chuck the S520 and buy a new not-Canon printer. But first, try soaking the print head in some isopropyl alcohol overnight, dry thoroughly, and see if it works.
Junk 2005-08-04
The paper never fed correctly. When I installed the printer, I felt that there was something not right with the print head. The print head would have to go thru a little warm up routine before each time it printed. But it printed well, printed quickly, but was noisy. So I never sent it back to the company from whom I bought it. I figured it was too much of a hassle. BIG MISTAKE!! 18 months later the black ink will not print. I have tried all the troubleshooting tricks. It needs a new print head. I know I didnt even print more than 1000 pages from this printer. The print head should have lasted a lot longer than that. I have had my old lexmark for 7 years without 1 problem.
