Like an Epson, the draft mode can be used for fast printing, but in poor quality. The resulting pages are only good for checking layout. Results are better if the resolution is increased, but then the speed is halved. In default resolution, the characters still lack precision and the colors are uneven. So you have no choice but to work at top resolution if your documents are designed for business purposes. The results will not be too bad, but won't have the quality of those in normal resolution on the Canon and HP devices. Forget about photos; the MFC 590 is not designed for them and results are disappointing.

The cost per page in normal resolution is fairly low, almost the same as the Canon SmartBase / MultiPass.

At 3000 pages (purchase price + 1500 monochrome pages + 1500 color pages), the cost works out at $636, which is a lot higher than the Canon multifunction, but lower than HP and Lexmark.