Canon Pixma MP180

...Picture Quality ~
Canon have a reputation for high quality colour reproduction technology. For many years they led the field in mid-range SLR camera and printing techniques. I am not an expert on colour printing, so you should probably do further research if this is very important to you. The dpi, or dots per inch is: 4800 x 1200. (You can compare this with other models).

I printed photographs (from a non-digiital camera) ...
...the following observation about the Canon printer (they used a Pixma 1800 for their tests): it produced 'excellent photos' on Canon's own premium brand paper, but for regular photo paper, they looked washed out adn and pale. (the best results for a canon paper came on Lemark everyday paper).

This was not directly about printers, being a comparison test for photographc paper. I have read good recommendations about its print quality ... more

This is a multi function printer, a good basic model at a reasonable price, suitable for home users. It contains a colour and black and white printer, a photocopier and scanner. It also has a memory system, but this model has been on the market for a few years now, so although good value, it may not have the most recent features for digital imagery. At the moment it retails at around £60-£80 on amazon.co.uk.

It is an inkjet printer, which means that the print is formed by very tiny jets of ink from a cartridge, and a page is printed a line at a time, unlike a laser printer, which produces one page fully printed at a time. (Both these types are non-contact, whereas a dot matrix or old fashioned daisy wheel would be contact printing).

An inkjet printer is any printer that places extremely small droplets of ink onto paper to create an image. If you ever look at a piece of paper that has come out of an inkjet printer, you know that:

The dots are extremely small (usually between 50 and 60 microns in diameter), so small that they are tinier than the diameter of a human hair (70 microns)! The dots are positioned very precisely, with resolutions of up to 1440x720 dots per inch (dpi). The dots can have different colors combined together to create photo-quality images.

Multi function printers have become increasingly popular over the past few years. I think one reason is that they are an easy to way to set up a simple home office: you can scan or copy a document when you need to. Some also have a fax connection, although this one does not. If you expect the copier to churn out copies like the one does at work, you will be disappointed - it takes around 50 seconds to copy one page (see below). But how often do you need to make larges quanities of copies at home?

There is a small screen at the front, which allows the user to select from options for photocopying menu, eg paper size and quality of print. There are 3 buttons to the left, for scan, copy and print functions. On the right hand side are 4 more: off/on switch (a green light comes on), 'go' buttons for each of the functions, and an 'OK' button under the small screen.

Using the criteria listed below pro forma, I have given my best answers.

Picture Quality ~
Canon have a reputation for high quality colour reproduction technology. For many years they led the field in mid-range SLR camera and printing techniques. I am not an expert on colour printing, so you should probably do further research if this is very important to you. The dpi, or dots per inch is: 4800 x 1200. (You can compare this with other models).

I printed photographs (from a non-digiital camera) on ordinary copier paper, after scanning them, adn thought they came out well (see also below). I even compared them to the original prints and there was not much difference between them.

Print Speed~
The blurb says it has a 'Print speed of 22 pages per minutes (mono) and /17 pages per minute (colour).' It will also 'Print a 10cm x 15 cm borderless photo in approx 52 seconds'.

Likewise, the copy speed (mono/colour) is 22/17 copies per minute respectively. I timed how long it took to make a single black and white photocopy, and it was around 50 seconds.

Colour Sensitivity ~
Which magazine recently performed a consumer test (April 2008) on photographic paper, and made the following observation about the Canon printer (they used a Pixma 1800 for their tests): it produced 'excellent photos' on Canon's own premium brand paper, but for regular photo paper, they looked washed out adn and pale. (the best results for a canon paper came on Lemark everyday paper).

This was not directly about printers, being a comparison test for photographc paper. I have read good recommendations about its print quality elsewhere, but perphaps it is something to bear in mind.

Reliabilty~
My machine has not broken down in nearly 2 years of use. I have only once had a paper jam, and it was pretty simple to release the sheet stuck inside the machine. (There were no little torn bits of paper that were a pain to remove, as in some models I have used at work.)

One brief note: inanother part of their report, Which stated that many Canon (and Kodak) printers have the print head buitl in asa integral to the printer. While other makes incoroporate it into the print cartridge, so that it is renewed each time you change the cartridge. I have not been able to ascertain whether this is the case with this model.

East of Use~
I find it very simple to operate. The paper feeder (at the rear of the machine) is pretty basic and my model does not even have one of those 'stand up' devices. The paper stands of its own accord, and there is a slight clunky noise as it feeds into the machine.

It is simple to change the cartridges, the printer takes one black and white, and one colour. Lift up the top, and a blue prop on your right side slots easily into place to hold the lid open while you fiddle about inside.

You have to have the printer on to change the cartridge. Usually I find the print cartridge is tucked away inside on the right hand side, and inaccessible, the best thing to do is turn the printer on (and the PC), and hit the print command in Word, for example. This sends the cartridge scurrying across the belt, so you can access it on the left hand side. The cartridge slots in slightly upwards direction, and then you have to give it a bit of prod to fix it at the horizontal.

Design~
Width x depth x height: 443 x 381 x 183 mm. Weight: 6.5 Kg, so it is not exactly slimline - you will know that it is on your desk.

USB 2.0 connection. Direct photo printing from PictBridge. Photo Index Sheet for printing from memory cards. scannerChromaLife100 Scanner resolution (dpi): 1200x2400 (enhanced)Up to A4 document size

Software includedMinimum operating system: Windows® 98/ME/2000/XP, Mac OS X v10.2.8-10.

Extra Features ~
Not many other than those functions outlined above. The photocopy will decrease or increase the image, from 25%-400%, but you cannot photocopy in colour on this model.

Instruction Manual~
This is adequate, but not in depth. Mostly in picture form and multi languages.

Manufacturer support~
41 year on-site warranty. I have not had to contact them so far, so am unable to judge.

Value for Money~
Good price for a sturdy machine. Canon are a leading brand name, and have a reputation for quality.

This is one of their cheaper models, but it seems sturdy, functional and reliable. One drawback is the cost of replacement cartridges - a black and white one RRP is around £14-£15, although I have managed to pick up one for approx £7.50 (plus P&P) online - try amazon.co.uk or ebay.co.uk, etc. They also seem to wear out fairly quickly, although to be fiar, I did a print out quite a lot of colour photos and balck and white scans.

CONCLUSION

If you are interested in buying a printer, I DO suggest you shop around and make some price comparisions. The consumer magazine 'Which' has a good website, www.Which.co.uk, although you have to pay a subscription to access some reviews. They have a good introductory section tho, which explains many of the basic terms and features to look out for. 

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