Canon's pro printers for 2010

Canon updates its range of printers in two big waves: models intended for the general public come onto the market between August and November every year, while professional printers hit the stores in the spring.  The pro model stand out by including a fax, and sometimes print faster too.

The 2010 range features three options.  The first two use a single cartridge for colour ink, which makes it easier to manage supplies, but also more expensive.  As ever, two different size cartridges are available, standard, which we don't recommend, and more economical XL cartridges.

Canon Pixma MX340
Entry level with a single colour cartridge: it's almost a MP270 but with a fax machine

Key Specs: Speed: 8.4 ppm black & white, 4.8 ppm colour Ink drop size: 2 pl Colour screen, WiFi, Ethernet, double-sided, fax: No/Yes/No/No/Yes

MARCHANDS €     Amazon.fr m...  19.95  Fnac  269.00  Darty.com  269.00  Pixmania ce...  329.65  Digit-photo...  396.90  Ubaldi  419.00  Compare prices

Canon Pixma MX350
Almost the same, but with a colour screen

Key Specs: Speed: 8.4 ppm black & white, 4.8 ppm colour Ink drop size: 2 pl Colour screen, WiFi, Ethernet, double-sided, fax: Yes/Yes/Yes/No/Yes

MARCHANDS €     Darty.com  269.00  Fnac  269.00  Amazon.fr m...  399.00  Priceminister  437.00  Cdiscount  1189.00  Grosbill  1249.10  Compare prices

Moving to separate cartridges makes a big saving in running costs.  Printing speeds also go up--although perhaps not by as much as you'd think, as most people will no doubt end up using the double-sided mode which also comes as you move up the range.  Photo quality also noticeably improves, with more accurate colours, and the fax can store 250 pages instead of 50.  One thing that goes down is the time it takes to make a copy: from 31 seconds on the cheapest MX models, it's just 24 on the MX870.

Canon Pixma MX870
Five separate cartrdidges: it's almost a MP640, but with a fax machine

Key Specs: Speed: 9.4 ppm black & white, 6.1 ppm colour Ink drop size: 1 pl Colour screen, WiFi, Ethernet, double-sided, fax: Yes/Yes/Yes/Yes/Yes

MARCHANDS €     Amazon.fr m...  19.95  Darty.com  269.00  Fnac  269.00  Priceminister  437.00  Cdiscount  1189.00  Grosbill  1249.10  Compare prices

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