Canon launches new do-it-all PIXMA printers

MANILA, Philippines - Canon unveiled last week new PIXMA multi-function printers with Wi-Fi capability and an assortment of new features that company executives dubbed them as “fully loaded printers.”

The All-in-One printers with Wi-Fi are the PIXMA MP568, MP648, and MP 996 which also all support Bluetoooth, infrared, and direct printing from cameras, memory cards, and USB flash storage devices.

“PIXMA printers were first introduced in the market in 2004. As of the second quarter of 2009, we have the leading market share with 34 percent followed by our two ‘friends’ in the industry with 29 percent market share each. Today, we call our new PIXMA line the fully loaded printers because all of them are good as photo and document printers,” said Jill Santiago, Canon Marketing Philippines’ marketing manager.

At P8,995, the new PIXMA MP568 claims to be the most affordable Wi-Fi and photo multi-function printer in the market today. This model features individual color ink tanks, a two-inch LCD screen with Easy Scroll Wheel, and memory card slot for direct printing and scanning to memory cards.

The PIXMA MP648, targeted for home-office and corporate users, is a compact multi-tasking printer with a three-inch LCD screen where users can view the different things they can do with the MP648 such as auto duplex printing, DVD/CD label printing, borderless photo printing, on top of the usual print, scan, and copy jobs. This model costs P12,995.

The PIXMA MP996 is suitable for photo printing. At P20,495, this model gives a six-ink system that uses dedicated gray ink to produce professional monochrome color photos with reduced graininess and stable, neutral gray tones.

The MP996 also has a scanner that uses white LED lamp that is energy-efficient, warms up fast, and can handle scanning of negatives or slides. It has a 3.8-inch LCD screen for better viewing of the control panel.

The MP996 also allows multiple computers in the home or office to share the same printer with the use of a wireless router supported Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS) or Windows Connect Now.

Canon also unveiled a new A4 dedicated photo printer, the PIXMA iP4760 (P6,995) that delivers a virtually grain-free print resolution given its 9600 x 2400 dpi (dot per inch) specification.

This printer can print a borderless 4x6-inch photo in just 20 seconds. It comes with Canon’s full Advanced Media Handling capabilities for auto duplex printing, two-way paper feeding and direct printing onto CDs and DVDs.

Lastly, Canon acknowledged the continued demand for fax multi-function printers so it announced the PIXMA MX328 that can handle high-speed fax transmission on the Super 3G standard. This model is priced at P6,795.– Alma Buelva