Meet the whopper Canon printer that does it all

Zatni Arbi , Contributor , Jakarta | Mon, 03/24/2008 1:10 AM | Sci-Tech

WHOPPER CANON: The Canon Pixma MP970 printer, a genre of printers Canon calls AIO ("All-In-One"), is shown printing a color sheet. (JP/Zatni Arbi)WHOPPER CANON: The Canon Pixma MP970 printer, a genre of printers Canon calls AIO ("All-In-One"), is shown printing a color sheet. (JP/Zatni Arbi)Just when you thought nothing could be done to make a printer do more than just churn out paper documents, the world's leading printer makers -- such as HP, Epson and Canon -- introduced what was known as multipurpose or multifunction devices.

They print, scan, make copies and sometimes send and receive faxes. There is a lot of choice out there; but a printer that can also print high quality photos is quite a rare bird.

The Canon Pixma MP970 is one such printer. Canon calls this genre of printers AIO, which stands for "All-In-One". On the top, there is a flatbed scanner that scans at an optical resolution of 4800 dot per inch (dpi) and has the ability to capture 48-bit color depth. Under the scanner is a seven-color ink printer that prints at a resolution of 9600 by 2400 dpi.

But any talk about dpi has long lost its significance. It should be about the things a printer can do -- and very well -- that is more important.

The MP970 can do almost anything except prepare mashed potatoes. In addition to scanning and printing documents, it can scan 35mm films, print great color photos, print to printable CD or DVD discs, read data from various types of memory cards and print photos directly from PictBridge-compatible cameras using a USB cable or wireless connection. In many cases, there is no need for a PC or a Mac.

For example, you can duplicate a photo very easily using special paper. You can even edit and enhance the images before printing them out.

The MP970 is network-ready, which means that it can be shared among several users. What more could you want?

Well, it is missing something. The MP970 doesn't have a fax function. But, then again, a photo printer doesn't always mix well with a fax, does it?

The MP970 is big and heavy. I was surprised to see how large the box when it was delivered to my home. I almost dropped it when trying to get it out the box. I had to clear half of my desk top to make space for it.

Almost all of the body is made of plastic material. Yet, it weighs almost 12 kilograms. It has a glossy silver finish; I wonder how long the beauty will last.

At the back there are three ports. On the rear left is the jack for the power cable, on the right there is an RJ-45 port and a USB port. You can connect the printer directly to your PC, or make it available to all users on a network with a UTP (unshielded twisted pair) cable connected to a router.

I was particularly impressed with the interface. It must have been a challenge to design an easy-to-use interface for this printer as there are so many functions that it can do.

At the heart of the interface is a bright, 3.5-inch LCD screen. When this screen is flipped up, it reveals a set of clearly marked buttons. The power button is also found here. The printer powers up very quickly. There's a button for selecting the paper source, a button to select the number of copies to be printed, a button to change the printout to be monochrome or color and, of course, a button to cancel a job.

However, perhaps the part that makes the printer so easy to use is the wheel in the center of the panel. Turn the wheel left or right and the menu on the screen will also revolve accordingly. To choose the selected menu, all you have to do is press the hub of the wheel, which is the "OK" button.

Meanwhile, in the periphery of the wheel button, there are four navigation buttons. I think Canon has used here the same design prowess that it used when designing its very popular digital cameras.

Below the display there are two buttons. Press the left one, and you'll be able to see how much ink is available in each of the seven tanks. Press the right one, and a clear explanation is displayed on the top part of the screen. There is also a "Help" button.

Canon must have expected that customers would use this all-in-one printer mostly for copying materials; each time you turn the device on, the Copy function is always on the selected menu.

The paper cassette, which can contain up to 150 sheets of paper, is found underneath the output tray. At the back there is another 150-sheet paper feeder. Canon recommends using this feeder for photo paper as the paper will not have to go through a maze of rollers.

This printer can also be set to print in duplex, which means that it can automatically print on both sides of the sheet. It can also "print bleed", which means the printed image will be edge-to-edge with no margins.

Incidentally, if you forget to open the output tray, there's no need to worry. The moment you start printing, the tray will open automatically.

To the right of the output tray is a door that can be opened. There are two memory card readers behind the full-height door. Replacing the ink requires you to lift and tilt the scanner assembly. Fortunately, connecting a digital camera only requires the use of a USB cable between the printer and the camera. You can issue the print command using the camera.

I used a Nokia N82 to capture and print out a picture of our next-door neighbor's baby daughter, and the result was pretty impeccable.

Printing speed is not really record-breaking, though, as my informal testing showed. Also, in my test, the black was not black enough. But, beginners in a design communication class -- like my own daughter -- may consider it for their daily use.

However, at US$375, the price is a little steep. The inks are not cheap either. A black ink cartridge costs around $14 while a color one is $12. But, at least, with this printer in their dorm room, students won't need to go to commercial printing houses just to have their assignments printed out.