Canon PIXMA MP990 Review

One of the cool things about writing Scraps of Mind is that every now and then I get contacted to try out different products.  And so when Canon Australia asked me if I’d be interested in trying out their PIXMA MP990 printer/scanner and all round multi function device I said I’d be delighted.

Let’s just make a couple of things clear at this point:

• Canon are not paying me, either in money or in product;
• There is no requirement for me to write nice things about them or about the PIXMA PM990;
• In fact, there is no requirement for me to write anything at all if I don’t want to.

So having got that off my chest, let’s take a closer look at the Canon MP990.

This beast is not just a printer it’s also a scanner, a fax machine and a photocopier. In fact if I looked hard enough I’d probably find a kitchen sink in there somewhere!

My main interest is in its printing and scanning functions. I tried out the photocopier but I don’t really have a use for a fax machine so that is not covered in this review.

First up I have to say this is a large beast, or at least it felt like that in my current restricted space environment. I guess that’s inevitable with all the different functions it provides. But with a paper in-tray at the back and the paper out-tray at the front it takes up a lot more space on my bench top than I like. It’s dimensions are 7.9 x 18.5 x 15.2 inches but that’s without the extension of the two paper trays. If space is a major consideration for you then this might be an issue for you.

Setting up the PIXMA MP990 whilst not difficult was very time consuming. There seemed to be a hundred different bits to install and configure. Having said that, the Getting Started Guide did provide very clear and well illustrated steps to guide me through it so I’m very grateful for that.  Plus it was written in a way that techno-dunces like myself can understand.

Ink cartridges are always of interest to the printer buying consumer; because that’s usually where the ongoing expense lies. The Canon PIXMA MP990 uses a separate cartridge for each color. I much prefer this system to printers that use a single cartridge containing all the different colors in separate compartments. At least with this system if you tend to use more of some colors than of others you only have replace the relevant cartridges. And that usually translates into a saving in the long term. I always hated throwing away a cartridge when I knew there was plenty of ink still in some of the colors.

So how does the Canon PIXMA MP990 perform?

As a Printer

I found the printer to be significantly quicker and quieter than my own printer.

The output was crisp and clean with good quality color. And the good news is that it seemed to be paper agnostic. By that I mean that you don’t need to exclusively use Canon photo paper to get the best results. I printed out oll of the digital scrapbook layouts from my Step By Step Digital Scrapbook tutorials on both the Canon paper supplied and also on some Kodak photo paper and I was very happy with the results on both. This is an improvement on my HP printer as it tends to reserve its best performance for HP paper.

I tried printing on ordinary plain paper and whilst not as good as the print quality on high resolution photo paper (only to be expected) the quality was still very good. Let’s face it, you’re likely to be doing most of your printing on ordinary paper, rather than more expensive paper so this is pretty important.

As a Scanner

Once again I found the scanning function of the Canon PIXMA MP990 was significantly quicker than my own scanner (which is also a Canon). The scanning control panel which comes up on your computer monitor includes some very handy features under the Advanced tab which let you adjust the quality of your image before you scan it. This is especially useful with old photos which have grown dark with age. If you adjust the lighting on the image before you scan it you will bring out a heap of detail in the photo. That means you don’t lose this detail in the scan and you can then refine this more in your photo editing software.

As a Photocopier

I’ve never really bothered about a photocopier before as I have always just used my scanner. But it can be a handy device to have. If you’re intending to make a print out of a hard copy page it’s much quicker to use the photocopier function than to scan and then print. And even quicker if you need multiple copies.

I must confess, working out how to use the photocopier function was more challenging than I expected. However once I discovered the instructions on the back page of the Getting Started Guide it all worked out happily. Photocopying was quick and quiet and the output was clear and crisp. That pretty much covers it for photocopying.

In a Nutshell

So taking everything into consideration I would have to recommend the Canon PIXMA MP990 as a good buy for a multi-function device for the home. As long as you have the surface space for a chunky sized home printer it’s a great machine. And of course it does come with all the other functions as well.

It’s a bit of a time consuming and fiddly exercise to set it up but once that’s done you can enjoy excellent quality output and a quick and quiet operation.

Having each colored ink in its own separate cartridge I saw as a distinct bonus and I was particularly impressed with the quality of printing on non-Canon papers.

So if you’re out there looking to upgrade or replace your current printer and you want a machine that can do more functions than just print — and can do them well – then you really should take a good long look at the Canon PIXMA MP990.

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