Canon launches a barrage of new printers

The Canon Pixma MP970

(Credit: Canon USA)

Have you recovered from the onslaught of new Canon cameras yet? Now that you have a shiny new camera, how about picking up a shiny new Canon printer to go with it? Because as many cameras an Canon released this week, they're not losing pace on the printers. The new offerings include three photo-oriented multifunctions, three office-oriented multifunctions, two single-function photo printers, and one portable photo lab. Whew! Ready for the rundown? Here we go...

If you're interested in a photo-oriented printer but still want the flexibility of being able to scan, copy, and fax, check out the following three offerings. All three offer a color graphics LCD for previewing images and a scroll wheel for navigating menus and images.

Pixma MP970 ($300): 3.5-inch LCD; auto duplex; seven individual ink tanks; 30ppm black and 21ppm color; 1pL ink droplets.

Pixma MP610 ($200): 2.5-inch LCD; auto duplex; 31ppm black and 24ppm color; 1pL ink droplets.

Pixma MP520 ($150): 2-inch LCD; four individual ink tanks; 30ppm black and 20ppm color; 2pL ink droplets.

Small or home offices have slightly different needs. The following, which all offer fax capability, are geared for those needs.

Pixma MX700 ($200): 1.8-inch graphical LCD; auto duplex; four ink tanks; automatic document feeder (ADF); two paper inputs; built-in wired networking; 30ppm black and 20ppm color.

Pixma MX310 ($130): 2-line text LCD; built-in ADF; 2 ink tanks; 22ppm black and 17ppm color.

Pixma MX300 ($100): 2 ink tanks; 22ppm black and 17ppm color.

If a multifunction offers more features than you need, you can still find high-quality single-function printers:

Pixma iP4500 ($130): 5 ink tanks; 1pL droplets; auto duplex; two paper inputs; 31ppm black and 24ppm color.

Pixma iP3500 ($80): 4 ink tanks; 2pL droplets; two paper trays; 25ppm black and 17ppm color.

The Canon mini320 portable snapshot printer.

(Credit: Canon USA)

Finally, the mini320 ($180) is Canon's newest snapshot printer offering. It's capable of printing photos up to 5x7 size. Its 2.5-inch color LCD lets you preview images and the scroll wheel lets you spin through the menu options. A handle makes it easy to carry around, too.

Check back soon for full reviews of all of these products.

[mikegrahamjr]

970 and bluetooth

So I got the 970 from J&R and it is a great all in one. One thing that may have been a bad assumption on my part, but I assumed that the bluetooth connection for the device would work in both directions. I sent a not off to Canon, so if I get a reply I will post, BUT... as far as I can tell the bluetooth only works for printing and no the other way for connecting to the scanner. I am connecting to a MacPro with bluetooth so the idea of no cables sounded great. So far not the case. So be aware, that this module is only part of the solution so far and actually redundant if in the end I need to connect via network or USB anyway.