If you are a photo enthusiast, then Canon’s Pixma MP980 color inkjet multifunction printer will offer many premium level features to you. The printer is priced at $300 and is one of the better devices in its field. To start with, the control panel of the printer comes integrated into the scanner lid and is very well designed with a hint of innovation in it. Like the Apple’s iPod, it sports a scroll wheel. It is by rotating and using this scroll wheel that you can easily browse through the menu items on the large 3.5-inch color LCD that also is tilt-able. The printer also features traditional four-way arrow buttons around the scroll wheel to give you the old navigation feel.
For context sensitive on-screen options, the printer houses two black buttons below the LCD. A special button on the printer called “NAVI” enables you to jump to frequently used functions. The printer largely features a silvery and boxy design. It is loaded with connectivity options ranging from USB support to Ethernet support to Wi-Fi connectivity. You can also purchase a Bluetooth adapter for an additional $50. The printer features an automatic duplexer for two-sided printing. The input is in the form of two input trays, one with the capacity of 150 sheets of plain paper and the other with the capacity of 50 sheets of a wider variety of media. The output tray just holds 50 sheets. The printer is compatible with CF, SD, and MS media slots.
On the performance front, the Pixma MP980 offers average printing speeds of 8.1 pages per minute for printing text and 2.5 pages per minute for printing graphics. The text looks very black and crisp on paper and the color graphics look extremely sharp and vivid. The printer is shipped with a standard-sized 344-page pigment black cartridge and a 447-page photo gray, cyan, magenta, and yellow cartridge. The average printing cost offered by this printer comes out to be 13.1 cents per page. Overall, it is a versatile printer that delivers on what it promises.
