New York, NY -- Reviewed in February 2010 by Computer Shopper, the printer is another of the latest offerings from Canon’s popular PIXMA line. This particular model is a 4-in-1 (print, scan, copy, fax) device which could find a home as a personal printer, one for home office use, and also small business use. The PIXMA offers users a maximum resolution of 4800 x 1200 dpi and measures 7.8” x 18.1” x 16.4” (H x W x D). At only 19.4 lbs, it is not burdensome to move around your home or office if necessary. Considering that it is Wi-Fi ready out of the box that makes placement even less of an issue.
Some of it’s nicest features include a clear, 2.5” LCD screen and a very intuitive and user-friendly front display panel. It has the convenience of a 30-sheet ADF on top of the machine. It also does not offer any type of duplex capabilities either automatic or manual. Paper handling other than those things includes a input tray located at the top rear of the machine and output tray that folds up when not in use. If you forget to fold it back out when printing, Canon’s got you covered. The tray automatically folds back down when printing is initiated.
The MX350 is both PC and Mac compatible and has all of drivers for the latest operating systems. This is definitely a photo-centric printer as there are a variety of media card slots located on the front of the machine behind a closed door on the right and a PictBridge port as well. The review rated the photo printing quality highly. The quality of the text printing was good as well, but there was not much difference between normal printing and printing at the highest level. In general, the printing speed was a tad slower—black jobs in 8.4 ipm and color jobs at 4.8 ipm—than other devices, but the quality is likely worth the wait.
Unfortunately, the MX350 has somewhat expensive consumables. For one thing, it uses only a two cartridge system so when a color runs out, you are somewhat stuck with replacing it with an entirely new tri-color cartridge. To replace the black ink, a standard cartridge, the PGI-210 will run you $15.99 and each page will cost roughly 7.3 cents. The standard color cartridge, the CLI-211costs $20.99 for a cost per page of about 15.9 cents. There are high yield options for both (PG-210XL, $21.99 and CLI-211XL, $26.99) which can lower your costs to 5.4 cents and 13.1 cents, respectively.
Overall, if you can stomach the cost of the consumables and print speed is not a concern, this is a very good printer for you, your home office, or small business. If not, you can get almost the same features (no media card slots or decent LCD) in the Pixma 340 for $50 less and has the same print engine.
