Canon PIXMA MX320 Printer Review

The Canon PIXMA MX320 uses the now well known layout with an angled surround at the top, into which in turn the control panel is set. In the center of the surround is the ADF, complete with a fold-over feed tray, that enhances the machine's really clear lines.

There's only a solitary paper feed route from a fold-up support at the back towards the within the machine's front cover, that folds right down to be an output tray. In a smart small innovation, Canon rigs this front cover to drop down by design, in case you forget to open it before beginning to print.

The user interface is well laid out, with three big mode buttons on the left as well as black and colour copy buttons on the right. In the middle there exists a fax number pad along with a two-line by 16-character mono LCD display screen.

Whilst there's no colour LCD display, or memory card slots, you do get a solitary USB socket at the bottom right of the front panel, which doubles as a PictBridge feed for digital camera models. You may also apply it in order to scan right to a USB drive, which can be a helpful extra.

The flatbed scanner system utilizes a Contact Image Sensor (CIS), but nonetheless gives relatively decent black and colour page images. At the back are sockets for a fax line as well as a telephone handset, plus a sole USB data link. There's no Ethernet socket because, even though the MX320 is designed for small business, it is really still made for a single desk.

Both CL-511ink cartridges, one black and the other tri-colour, clip in to the print head carrier, if you lift up the scanner section of the machine and rest it on the blue 'bonnet support' that comes down.

Speed claims have come right down to far more sensible amounts with the development of the ISO test standard, and thus Canon now estimates 7.5ppm for black print and 4.5ppm for colour. The 5-page black text print required 58 seconds, which translates to 5.17ppm additionally, on the extended, 20-page document this rises a bit to 6.06ppm.

The five-page text and colour graphics print just gave 2.23ppm, on the other hand, not even half the publicized number. Photograph prints came through quite rapidly, with a 15 x 10cm picture at high-quality taking 1:34 and a comparable photo, in normal quality from a PictBridge camera, required a pretty zippy 57 seconds.

Text print quality is nice, although we did discover some fuzziness about emboldened characters in printed headlines. Colour business graphics tend to be pretty vibrant, although some dithering is apparent. Black text registration is good.

Photo prints, despite this particular device being mainly aimed at business, are excellent, having clean colour gradations as well as an abundance of fine detail in light as well as dark areas of a picture. Colours appear natural and this particular unit is really efficient at printing off photographs with a great home standard.

Canon promises a noise level of 47dBA, but when copying and feeding paper we assessed it at peaks of 66dBA. That is rather loud for an inkjet device but, as normal, it's the paper feed not the print mechanism which makes the actual noise.

The two ink cartridges are the sole consumables in this particular all-in-one and given its target market, it is reasonable not to require individual colour ink cartridges. There are two offered capacities with regard to the black and tri-colour cartridges.

The Canon PIXMA MX320 presents benefits for the majority of home office functions additionally, the integration of the ADF and fax facilities continues to be invaluable in transferring paper documents swiftly. Print quality is more than adequate with regard to basic use and even though colour prints are a bit lethargic, black print draws near the headline figure. Operating costs can be on the high side, unfortunately, which is a shame.


Canon PIXMA MX320 ink cartridges can be found here.