Literally in the last few years, manufacturers of printing equipment still heard potential buyers and provided the market with popular products. This is not only about affordable cost and ergonomics, but also the functionality that is required to fully work with the printer.
This article focuses on the Canon inkjet printer . This is one of the best representatives of the market, it is able to fully satisfy all the needs of even the most demanding customer. The reader will get acquainted not only with the technical characteristics of popular models, but also find out what functionality a printing device should have in the first place.
Main criterion
Any purchase does not begin with a search for technical specifications, but with the determination of the budget for the purchase of a decent device. The Canon printer is no exception. Experts recommend purchasing an inkjet color gadget for home use in a budget class, limiting itself to a psychological price barrier of 10,000 rubles.
Devices priced higher are aimed at professionals and, in most cases, are designed for photo printing studios. As for the lower price limits (less than 5000 rubles), there are no restrictions for the buyer, just in the cheap class the functionality of the printing equipment is significantly reduced.
Print quality
The next step when choosing a decent printer is to identify the technical characteristics of the print head, which are equipped with all Canon printers (inkjet). Expert reviews on this issue are uncompromising: a decent printing device for home use should have the following characteristics:
- Minimum print resolution must be at least 2400 x 9600 dots per inch;
- the number of colors used must be at least 4, including black;
- the device should print borderless;
- the volume of one drop squeezed out during printing should be at least 1 picaliter.
It is clear that the requirements are too high and only 5-10% of printers in the computer market possess such characteristics, but it is these indicators that determine the print quality. You can sacrifice only the output of a borderless image - this indicator is not always in demand among home users.
Work with storage media
This is not about printing from removable memory cards (although this functionality is also considered popular), but about the density of the paper with which the Canon Pixma inkjet printer can work. Unlike laser technology, this device does not need to bend the sheet, conducting it from the laser drum to the stove. Therefore, the manufacturer is simply obligated to provide the user with the ability to print on solid media.
A good indicator can be considered a density of 60-300 grams per square meter. Support for printing on photo paper is required. As for applying paint to special optical discs, this functionality is already for everybody. True, many users, judging by their reviews, have not taken advantage of this opportunity since the time of purchase and consider this feature superfluous.
Local connection
In addition to the usual USB-connection, the printing device is simply obliged to be networked, that is, to work independently, from a personal computer or laptop. So, the Canon Pixma iP7240 inkjet printer , like all modifications of its class, is equipped with a built-in Wi-Fi module. This functionality is implemented not like that of competitors (we are talking about constant problems with connection), but fully, at the level of a wireless access point.
It follows that the printing device is available to any mobile device that works with Wi-Fi networks (phone, tablet, laptop, TV) - no restrictions. The manufacturer indicated in the technical description of the printer a list of compatible operating systems for connecting wirelessly. But this is unnecessary, because the real access point absolutely does not care which operating system is used by the connected device.
Cost of printing
The size of a drop of ink in one pikaliter already hints to the owner that his Canon inkjet printer consumes resources economically, but for many users this is not enough. The fact is that disposable cartridges have a low resource and high cost. The problem can be solved in several ways - to replenish the installed containers with paint using medical syringes or use the continuous ink supply system (CISS). Naturally, the second option is chosen by almost all users.
As for the installation of such a system, there are some problems with modern Canon printers. The fact is that the manufacturer, trying to please the buyer, made his devices so compact and elegant that you just can’t do without physical damage to the housing for the CISS installation. Therefore, the installation of the system should be entrusted to professionals in the store or to experts of the service center.
3 in 1 device
Canon inkjet printer scanners, which are popularly called MFPs (multifunction devices) , are very popular on the market . In fact, they have few functions: printing, scanning and copying. The remaining parameters are no different from the characteristics of a conventional printer. Such devices - 3 in 1 - allow the user to save a lot when buying office equipment, but there are many negative reviews from the owners.
The problem is that MFPs are a consumer technology. That is, in it all the functionality is implemented at an average level and is aimed at an undemanding user. Therefore, buyers will have to choose what is more important for them - print quality, or multifunctionality. Experts recommend not chasing cheapness, but entrusting your choice to two separate devices. For example, choose a Canon iP7240 inkjet printer and a CanoScan LIDE 220 scanner.
Active controls
Many potential buyers are interested in buying a decent printer with an additional control panel that allows you to print from different storage media. Of course, it’s convenient to connect a USB flash drive or memory card directly to the printer and print by selecting the desired image using the built-in LCD.
Such functionality is in demand in photo printing studios where it is required to quickly print a photo to a client from storage media, but at home this is rarely practiced, because it is easier to view (or maybe edit) a photo on the monitor screen and only then send the document for printing.
And if you take into account the same Canon Pixma iP7240 inkjet printer, equipped with a full-fledged wireless module, then there will be no problem for the user to print directly from the camera, because most modern devices support work in Wi-Fi networks.
Additional functionality
Focusing on the purchase price, many potential buyers try to pay more attention to the study of product characteristics. The fact is that many manufacturers equip their devices with additional functionality that may be useful to the user, for example, this:
- built-in system of double-sided printing (duplex);
- self cleaning of printheads when idle and on;
- silent operation mode.
Naturally, any Canon inkjet printer with additional functionality is able to attract the attention of customers. Only additional parameters should be paid attention only when the user has already decided on the basic characteristics of office equipment.
Finally
Judging by the feedback from users in the media, it is not so easy to choose a decent inkjet printer in the domestic market. Trying to capture the attention of the buyer, all manufacturers of printing equipment often go to deceive. Therefore, experts recommend that newcomers pay attention to the Canon inkjet printer, presented on store shelves with several interesting modifications. Indeed, in terms of price-quality ratio, the Japanese representative has not so many competitors in the market.