Labs

The PIXMA MP520 has a smart-looking chassis with panels that can be opened to reveal its controls, a 2 inch colour display, and memory card slots. It has both front and rear paper trays, although photo paper can only be loaded from the rear. As with most all-in-ones, the ink cartridges are accessible by lifting the bed of the scanner. Unusually, we had to insert the print head before installing the cartridges, but it doesn't have to be replaced each time they're changed.

A ten-page text document at normal quality took just one minute and 17 seconds, while ten pages of mixed colour

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printed in four minutes and nine seconds. Both looked great, with dark, solid lettering. Colours were reproduced faithfully and looked attractive, although we could make out very faint bands left by the print head in dark areas. Ten pages of draft text, which looked dark enough for everyday printing, took under a minute.

The MP520 produced some of the best photos we've seen from a budget all-in-one. The prints were beautifully sharp and bright, marred only by a very slight yellow tinge which was most visible on mid-grey and brown shades. The Canon performed equally well in our scanning and copying tests. Although the scanner driver's pull-down menu only lists resolutions up to 1200x1200dpi, you can manually enter resolutions up to 2400x4800. Speed wasn't remarkable, but scans were sharp and accurately coloured.

The MP520 may look fairly expensive to buy, but its print costs work out the lowest in the group, at just 4.3p for a page of mixed black and colour printing. And this isn't achieved by skimping on ink quality. Pigment-based black is used to create pin-sharp text, while three dye-based colour inks are ideal for photos. We're pushed to find fault.