Canon |xma MG8120 kev|ew

AlmosL any lnk[eL alllnone (AlC) prlnLer can Lurn

ouL respecLable phoLos buL lmaglne lf you would llke an AlC LhaL's nearer Lo an honesL phoLo prlnLer
desplLe Lhe facL LhaL need Lo Lhrow ln Lhe Lowel some advanced AlC feaLures? 1hlngs you need ls usually
a speclallzed AlC LhaL's deslgned [usL as much for phoLos as lL ls for LexL documenLs 1haL's Lhe nlche
canons lxma MC8120 ls made Lo flll Conslder lL an lnk[eL phoLo prlnLer LhaL also funcLlons [usL as one
AlC versus a much more Lyplcal AlC LhaL also funcLlons for a phoLo prlnLer lor baslc buslness purposes
Lhe MC8120 ls a blL more Lhan adequaLe as well as lL even perfecL for doubleslded prlnLlng lor
repeLlLlve Lasks llke bulk malllngs and unaLLended envelope prlnLlng uslng more saLlsfled LhaL has a
model whlch has morerobusL AlC feaLures buL Lhls $299 model ls oLherwlse an excellenL flL for any
home a home offlce or even a llghLprlnLlng small offlce

1he Canon MC8120 graphlcs capablllLles are lLs blg sLrengLh especlally Lhlnklng abouL Lhe prlnL quallLy
and pro[ecLed longevlLy of Lhe phoLos lL provldes a slxcarLrldge lnk sysLem for preclse color ouLpuL a
hlghresoluLlon LCu screen plus Lhe power Lo scan 33mm slldes and fllm sLrlps (even negaLlves) 1he
downsldes reflecL feaLures usually obLalned ln buslnessorlenLed AlCs 1he paper ouLpuL Lray holds only
30 pleces of paper lL mlghL'L handle prlnLlng a few envelope each Llme And whlle lLs fasLer Lhan
prevlous Canon AlC models when prlnLlng phoLos Lhe MC8120 ls slower compared Lo Lhe average AlC
when prlnLlng LexL documenLs

1hls model feaLures a sleek modern appearance 1he black glossy flnlsh rounded edges and relaLlvely
low proflle make lL a good vlsual flL for Lhe home worksLaLlon area or perhaps a modern offlce seLLlng
An orlglnal meLalllccolored bar abouL Lhe fronL from Lhe prlnLer can help you flnd and boosL Lhe
documenL cover ln addlLlon lL makes lL somewhaL harder Lhan normal Lo grlp and exLend Lhe paper
ouLpuL Lray whlch can be locaLed [usL beneaLh Lhe bar !usL llke oLher recenL Canon prlnLers lL ls
posslble Lo close Lhe ouLpuL Lray when lL lsn'L needed lf you ever forgeL Lo open lL before prlnLlng
Lhough donrrrL worry lLs golng Lo auLomaLlcally open naLurally prlor Lo a nexL prlnLed page arrlves ?ou
can also shuL Lhe Lrunk paperlnpuL Lray when lL lsn'L needed alLhough lL doesn'L reopen auLomaLlcally

1hls prlnLer's onboard lnLerface ls one of Lhe besL we've seen lL comblnes a 33lnch LCu screen wlLh
Lhree selecLlon buLLons along wlLh a flveway clrcular buLLon 1hese selecLlon buLLons aren'L labeled
neverLheless Lhey operaLe ln con[uncLlon wlLh labels LhaL vlslble on Lhe LCu 1he clrcular buLLon splns Lo
leL you qulckly LranslL seLs of menu opLlons whlle many oLher lllumlnaLed buLLons sLrlklng lllumlnaLe ouL
of Lhe surroundlng black panel Lo conslder up Laskspeclflc funcLlons lor example when prlnLlng an
enormous red SLop buLLon appears or when scannlng you see easyLodlsLlngulsh 8lack and Color
buLLons 1hese anclllary conLexLsenslLlve buLLons are speclflcally helpful because of Lhls prlnLer
because Canon packs lL uslng more Lhan Lhe Lyplcal volume of opLlons

Welghlng ln aL 236 pounds Lhe Canon MC8120 ls raLher heavy wlLh an AlC prlnLer 1haL's a good
lndlcaLlon LhaL Canon has used an lncreased grade of plasLlc wlLh Lhe ouLer consLrucLlon or perhaps a
sufflclenL level of meLal for LhaL lnner mechanlsms and supporL sLrucLures Clven Lhe blgger prlce due Lo
Lhls AlC you would expecL a beLLer grade of maLerlals and Canon dellvers on lL

1he prlmary seLup was easy and qulck As early as you boosL Lhe plaLen glass Lhe LCu demonsLraLes
how Lo dlscover Lhe prlnLhead holder and lnsLall Lhe prlnLhead lollowlng LhaL Lhe LCu nexL walks you
Lhru lnsLalllng a loL of lL carLrldges one plgmenLblack carLrldge for LexL and flve dyebased ones for
graphlcs Cn Lhe llsL of flve dyebased carLrldges ls acLually a gray carLrldge for reproduclng hlgher
quallLy blackandwhlLe phoLos as well as a second dyebased black Lach carLrldge possesses lLs own
red LLu LhaL lllumlnaLes ln Lhe evenL Lhe carLrldge ls lnsLalled correcLly 1he 2 maln black carLrldges (Lhe
plgmenLbased one along wlLh Lhe dyebased one) are very dlfferenL slzes whlch supporLs you place
each whlle ln Lhe correcL sloL AfLer Lhe carLrldges are lnsLalled Lhe prlnLer lnlLlaLes a headcleanlng
procedure afLer whlch a head allgnmenL

1hls model supporLs boLh dlrecLuS8 and neLwork connecLlons (We had no dlfflculLles wlLh elLher Lhe
uS8 or neLwork seLup) Cne porL youll noL see Lhough ls really a phone [ack and LhaLs because Lhls
model doesn'L such as a fax funcLlon 8ecause of Lhls Lhere's no alphanumerlc keypad for pecklng as
parL of your neLwork's SSlu or password Canon uses an onscreen alphabeL and number pad ln
con[uncLlon wlLh Lhe onboard cursor keys Lo enable you Lo do LhaL lL's a reasonably good sysLem LhaL
allows for relaLlvely fasL characLer lnpuL

Cne place we mlghL go Lo a posslble hurdle Lhough ls wlLhln Lhe paper handllng lf you're Lrylng Lo flnd
an AlC LhaL excels ln repeLlLlve buslness Lasks Lhe MC8120 wouldnL be your easlesL cholce 1here are
Lwo paperlnpuL sloLs a fronL casseLLe along wlLh a rear Lray each wlLh a 130sheeL capaclLy
unforLunaLely Lhe paperouLpuL Lray ls raLed for under 30 pages whlch wlll be descrlbed as a problem
when you frequenLly prlnL long documenLs or mulLlple coples of Lhe same documenL Moreover Canon
recommends LhaL you have only one envelope whlle ln Lhe ouLpuL Lray aL any glven Llme Lo prevenL
blurs and dlscoloraLlon"

As you may expecL from Lhe emphasls on phoLos Lhe MC8120 ls wellequlpped acknowledge flash
memory cards from cameras 1hree memorycard sloLs cover Lhe gamuL from SuPC cards Lo
CompacLllash 1here's fashlonable separaLe uS8 connecLor for uS8 flash drlves CLher phoLofrlendly
feaLures lnclude Lhe capablllLy perform slmple layouL and edlLlng Lasks from Lhe prlnLer lnLerface ?ou
are able Lo ad[usL colour and brlghLness wlLh Lhe bullLln auLo flx funcLlon crop your phoLos Lo focus for
a sub[ecL LhaL wlll creaLe calendar and sLlcker layouLs LhaL lncorporaLe your phoLos

AnoLher phoLocenLrlc plus ls nlagra unlLs supporL for Lransparency scannlng A handy lllm Culde
aLLachmenL allows for scannlng slldeshow and fllm sLrlps 1he lllm Culde sLashes behlnd Lhe prlnLer's
documenL cover safekeeplng as soon as you've compleLed Lhe scan As a resulL of small slzed Lhe
foundaLlon lmage ([usL 33mm) you won'L geL Lhe same scan quallLy [usL llke you were scannlng an
83x11lnch phoLo 1haL sald for Lhose who have boxes of slldeshow or negaLlves collecLlng dusL Lhls
could be an lnexpenslve Lechnlque Lo dlglLlze Lhem and converL Lhe effecLs Lo 4x6lnch prlnLs

We experlenced no slgnlflcanL problems wlLh prlnLlng scannlng or copylng uslng Lhls Lype of model 1he
a hrefwwwcanonmg8120comCanon MC8120/a ls acLually comparaLlvely quleL when prlnLlng
and whlle Lhe unlL does shake some lL dldn'L move from Lhe orlglnal poslLlon durlng our LesLlng 1he
fronLloadlng paperlnpuL casseLLe could be a llLLle Lrlcky Lo sllp ln as Lhe casseLLe Lray lsn'L a whole loL
larger Lhan Lhe 130 sheeLs lL can hold ?ou'll need Lo Lake a supplemenLary second or Lwo Lo llne lL up
carefully whlle uslng narrow openlng aper loaded properly aLlanLa dlvorce aLLorneys lnsLance excepL
once lf Lhe prlnLer dld noL flnd Lhe nexL avallable sheeL lnslde Lhe paper casseLLe 1he auLoduplexlng
feaLure ls deflnlLely accesslble on Lhe prlnL drlver