Canon PIXMA MP750/Multi-function Printer

Having been through a succession of cheap printers in the past, we decided that this time, if we were going to get a printer, we were going to get one that lasted the course. We wanted something with ink that didn't cost the same as the printer to replace, and actually printed more than 2 sheets before running out!

Our other specification was that as we had a digital camera, we were looking for a machine that would be able to print out all our photographs. (We have been storing them up on CD for well over a year and I was getting seriously fed up of relatives asking for photos of the children!!).

With a little advice from Which Extra to point us in the right direction, and a lot of consideration, the Canon MP750 was our final choice. The manufacturers specification is as follows:

Dimensions: (WxDxH) 48.6 cmx 47.2 cm x 31.4 cm
Weight: 13.5 kg
Media Type: Transparencies, envelopes, plain paper, photo paper
Printing Technology: Ink-jet ( colour )
Max Copying Speed: Up to 25 ppm (mono) / up to 17 ppm (colour)
Max Copying Resolution: Up to 600 x 600 dpi (mono) / up to 1200 x 1200 dpi (colour)
Max Printing Speed: Up to 25 ppm (mono) / up to 17 ppm (colour)
Max Printing Resolution: Up to 4800 x 1200 dpi (mono) / up to 4800 x 1200 dpi (colour)
Scanning: 2400 x 4800 dpi
Original Size: Legal (216 x 356 mm) (max)
Document Feeder Capacity: 35 sheets
Standard Media Capacity: 150 sheets
PC Connection Availability Built-in
PC Connection Hi-Speed USB

The printer is quite a stylish machine and not that large considering it's a scanner and copier too. The casing is grey and black, and I would say that it would fit on most desktops. It comes with the usual software, compatible with Windows and Mackintosh, which is very quick and easy to load.

One of the main reasons for getting this model were the five ink tanks. Each can be replaced individually rather than having to buy a single unit for all colours, and at about £5.50 each they are quite reasonably priced. The Canon MP750 takes two different types of black (one for photographs and one for straight printing), magenta, cyan and yellow.

The printer also has quite high print and copy speeds and I have to say that I was very impressed at the speed it prints out photographs. You are also able to print directly from your camera without the need for a computer - just plug it into the USB port.

The scanner provides a high 2400 x 4800 dpi resolution and you are able to scan quite a few photos in one go using the multi-photo mode. As for copying, you can reproduce onto 4 x 6", 5 x 7" and A4 sizes

Other features include dual paper trays with a 35-page document feeder, direct printing on CD-R/DVDs (which we are still to try) and an automatic duplex unit for double sided printing.

And now to the crunch question .... is it any good? The answer is a resounding 'yes'. The print quality for black and white is excellent, and the quality of photographs is outstanding - you really can't tell the difference between professional prints and our own - superb print quality. Scans and photocopies are crisp and clear and the paper is very easy to load.

As mentioned earlier, the printer comes with a piece of software - Easy Photo Print - which is really useful if your photography is not quite up to the standard of Litchfield (like mine!). You can resize, zoom, cut and enhance to your heart's content. It has certainly improved the quality of my photographic endeavours!!

We've printed out about 15 photographs of varying sizes (tthe majority 4 x 6), about the same in black and white pages, 3 scans and 2 photocopies - all without a single paper jam or any problems at all. The ink is still showing full!

What else is there to say? A great all round printer, and at around £170.00 it is worth paying that little extra - the savings on ink will definitely be worth it in the long run, and the print quality is absolutely superb.