The CANON PIXMA MX870 is a slightly more office orientated version of the PIXMA MP640, adding fax functionality and a 35-sheet ADF but losing the facility to print directly onto optical discs.

 

Canon’s inkjet all-in-ones are very much evolutionary products. Without any major technology changes, they continue to improve via subtle changes in their specifications. The base point on these machines is high, so any improvements are built on a solid platform.

 

Bring the ultimate wireless printing solution to you home or small office. The PIXMA MX870 Wireless Home Office All-In-One lets you print from any room in your home and boasts incredible 9600 x 2400 maximum color dpi with tiny 1pl ink droplets and a 5 individual ink tank system. A built-in, fully integrated 35-sheet Auto Document Feeder means fast copying or scanning of your originals so you can tend to other tasks while the printer is at work. Its built-in Auto Duplex Printing prints 2-sided documents without having to manually flip the pages and can reduce your paper consumption by 50%.   Combine both of those and you can automatically copy two sided documents without having to flip any paper manually at all.  Additionally, various security features like password protected PDF’s let you feel safe about creating and distributing your most confidential files.

In our tests the Canon produced a variety of outstanding prints that truly impressed. The MX870 ended up being a little bit slower compared to a few of the multi-functions which we have tested, although not by any significant margin. Moreover, the barely slower rates of speed were more than surpassed by the all round high quality of the end product.

 

The MX870 performed very well in our default-quality, plain-paper photo test, giving a very serviceable print with very little banding. The colours were a little bleached, but overall it’s as good as you could expect given the paper quality and print speed. But it’s when we slotted some photo paper in the rear tray and ramped up the quality to high that the printer really came into its own: beautifully rich colours, super-smooth gradient ramps and outstanding detail. If you value quality over speed, the MX870 gives no cause for complaints.

 

So, if you work in a small office that rarely prints anything more advanced than documents with the odd image, the MX870 is overkill. If you need a device that’s capable of rising to the occasion for top-quality photo output, however, this Canon is worth paying for.

 

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