Review of the Canon Pixma MP540 printer and scanner

Product Overview

Features:90%
Value:95%
Performance:90%
Ease Of Use:17%

Pros:

  • Stylish, value, construction quality, speed

Cons:

  • Wheel controller

Product:

Canon Pixma MP540

Manufacturer:

Price as reviewed:

£80.00

The Canon MP540 fits easily into our £100 budget and manages to offer the best compromise for the money. The unit has the appearance and build quality that you would associate with a much more expensive product. It is the only unit of the three tested that has a proper TFT LCD display, even though it’s quite small. Pop the screen up and you reveal a neat looking control panel, with a very Canon-esque control wheel, though in practice I felt this was very fiddly to use. Unusually, there is a paper tray that fits under the unit, as well as the usual top-loader at the back. In general, plain paper goes underneath and photo paper loads, by default, from the top.



Print quality is pretty good, with maybe a small criticism of a lack of saturation in some prints, but they easily out-rank the other units tested this month. Photo print s speed is not bad either, with an A4 borderless sheet emerging in under four minutes.



There are no complaints about the scanner, either, which again easily out-paced the opposition and produced good colour and sharp detail.



Printer Max. Dots Per Inch (Dpi): Up To 9600  X 2400 dpi

No. Inks/Colours: 5 Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black, Pigmented Black (Single Ink Tanks)

Ink Type: Dye-Based Colour And Black Inks, Pigment Black (Plain Paper Printing)

Scanner Max Resolution: Up To 2400 X 4800dpi

Scanner Type: Contact Image Sensor (CIS)

Scanner Sheet Feeder?: No

Fax Facility: No

Copier Facility: Colour And Mono

Memory Card Types Supported: CF I&II, CF Microdrive, SD/SDHC/MMC, Sony Memory Stick Pro, Sony Memory Stick Duo

LCD Screen:  Colour TFT Display

Dimensions: 450 x 366 x 157mm

Weight: 7.8kg

Verdict

The Canon MP540 offers remarkable value for money.

Details

Weight:7.8kg
Dimensions:450 x 366 x 157mm
Ink System:Dye-Based Colour And Black Inks, Pigment Black (Plain Paper Printing)
Resolution:Up to 9600 X 2400 dpi
Build Quality:18