Efficient, compact and cheap!

Let's face facts, we are running out of space. With real estate prices climbing, the average home doesn't have room for a printer, scanner, and photocopier, leave alone a dedicated study for all of these.

For most, all-in-ones that cram all of these vital features into a device that isn't much larger than a standard inkjet present the most sensible, cost effective and space saving solution to the modern day nightmare, not to forget the mangled mess of wires you would end up avoiding in the bargain. One such All-in-One (AIO) is the Canon Pixma MP520.

Standing at 44.5cm wide by 37.8cm deep by 17.2cm tall, the MP520 is a hefty package at 7.5 kilograms, but it isn't something you would be moving around a lot. You get two paper sources – one rear input, which holds up to 150 sheets of plain paper, and a front input that can accept up to 110 sheets. It's a useful one-two combination punch that lets you keep photo paper in one tray and regular paper in the other, without having to swap them in and out – very handy for a family printer with varying needs.

Printer operation is controlled via a two-inch color LCD embedded under a panel on the printer's top surface. And instead of a bevy of dedicated buttons for specific functions, Canon has put most of the options on the LCD and provided a scroll wheel to navigate through the options (you also have the option of using 4 direction keys placed around the scroll wheel, if you wish). Spin the scroll wheel, and select the option you want via the OK button placed in the hub of the wheel. There are a few more buttons for common tasks, but the really useful one is the 'Navi' key, which provides quick explanations on how to perform the most common tasks. Like many current inkjets, the MP520 incorporates the use of four ink cartridges - one per primary color, plus black. And when you're running low on any particular ink, a red LED flashes to let you know you may be left high-and-dry during your next print.

As a printer, the MP520 churns out a maximum of 30 pages per minute in monochrome, and 20ppm in colour modes. Photos printed on photo-quality paper had beautiful contrast and very extremely sharp, though it has to be mentioned that the prints were really good even on plain paper. While printing dark text, I did notice some amount of horizontal banding – faint and occasional, but there nonetheless. If you are not connected to a PC, the MP520 supports reading from a bevy of memory card formats (see Quick Specs) using the built-in card reader, or directly from a PictBridge compatible camera – both standard features for any printer claiming to be a complete photo-printer.

The LCD also allows you to make last minute adjustments to photographs – automatic red-eye reduction, noise reduction, face brightener, and even more precise corrections like brightness and contrast – before printing. The LCD also shines in the amount of information it displays, taking the guesswork out of printing say one entire day's pictures. Lift the lid, and the MP520 dons the cap of a capable scanner and copier. You can scan your documents, photos or books, enlarging or reducing as you need, and then preview the copies on the LCD prior to printing/saving. Other handy scan options that can be initiated via the bundled MP Navigator EX software include saving the scans to PDFs, and saving in pre-designated folders on your folder for bulk scan jobs. Scan speeds are on the lower side, though.

Where the MP520 lacks is the some basic home-office stuff – no built-in networking, so you will have to use Windows' printer sharing to make it available to other PCs on your network. A document feeder would have been useful for heavy scan jobs, as would support for printing from flash-memory storage devices. It's mildly pricey for a home budget, though it fits in well in the SOHO segment. Well balanced on features and quality, this is worth considering if you work from home.

Printer Functions-

Print Resolution: Up to 4800 x 1200 dpi (colour)

Print Speed (up to): 4" x 6" borderless photo: approximately 46 seconds, Black: 30 ppm (as fast as 2.0 seconds per page), Colour: 20 ppm (as fast as 3.0 seconds per page)

Interfaces/connectivity: USB 2.0, Camera direct photo printing from PictBridge compliant digital cameras & camcorders, Card printing from CF, Microdrive, Memory Stick/Duo/ProDuo, SD/SDHC/MMC card, xD-PictureCard, mini/microSD

Scanner Functions-

Optical Scanner Resolution: Up to 2400 x 4800 dpi, 48-bit internal / 24-bit external

Copier Functions-

Copy Speed (max, mono/color): Up to 30 cpm/20cpm

Software: CD-ROM including Printer Driver, MP Navigator EX, Setup Software and User's Guide, Easy-PhotoPrintEX8, ScanSoft OmniPage SE7

Dimensions (W x D x H): 445 x 378 x 172mm

Weight: Approx. 7.5 kg

Power Source: AC 100-240V, 50/60 Hz

Rating: 8/10

Price: Rs. 13,995



Tushar Kanwar