Product Reviews

Last year saw a flurry of affordable digital cameras and scanners arrive in the UK market, a trend manufacturers of SoHo printers have been quick to exploit. In February, Lexmark launched its Photo Jetprinter 5770 (reviewed issue 53, p166) and last month Epson replaced the Stylus Photo 700 with the 750 (reviewed issue 54, p165), currently our recommended inkjet printer. The challenge for Canon, one of the original inkjet printer innovators, is to match its rivals' combination of value and quality.

Each leading printer manufacturer promotes its own 'revolutionary' technology. In Canon's case it's P-POP (Plain Paper Optimised Printing). The idea behind P-POP is to coat plain paper just before the inks are applied, allowing them to bond with the paper and produce what Canon claims to be results of 'exceptional clarity'. But the printer's maximum resolution is just 1,200 x 600dpi, which can't quite match the Epson Stylus Photo 750's 1,440 x 720dpi.

Immediately out of the box, the first thing that strikes you about the BJC-7100C is its size. The automatic sheet feeder extends upwards and outwards from the back of the machine, while the output tray stretches out to form an ugly tongue at the front. The BJC-7100C measures 467 x 313 x 218mm (W x D x H) in its natural state, and when fully loaded and printing, its front to back size increases to 580mm. On a standard desk it would take up a lot of space, even more than the Epson Color Stylus 900 (reviewed p168).

One area where this printer is faultless is in setup and use: you should be ready to print your first page within ten minutes. Canon also spares users from the choice of whether or not to plug the printer into the parallel or USB port. By resisting the current trend of putting USB ports into its printers, only a parallel connection is available. This simplicity is carried through to the fascia, which is blissfully free of confusing flashing lights and buttons. Only an on light, error lamp and resume button accompany the large power button.

Canon claims a maximum print speed of 8ppm, but in our 25-page plain text test the BJC-7100C only managed a modest 3.1ppm at default settings. Here, the Hewlett-Packard Deskjet 880C

The most important aspect about printing photos, however, isn't the speed but the quality. Using Canon's high-gloss (and expensive) photo paper, the image was impressive at first glance, reproducing the photograph's vivid colours well, but on closer examination there was noticeable dithering in high contrast areas and a lack of detail in darker regions. Switching to Canon's standard photo paper saw the quality dip markedly, producing an image that was just as unimpressive at first glance as it was after close examination - this paper could make even the sunniest photo look gloomy. In terms of photo-printing, Epson's Stylus Photo 750 wins hands-down.

All these disadvantages could have been ignored if the Canon had performed well in our test business document. This combines colour graphics such as mastheads and graphs with plain text and borders, providing an accurate reflection of how the printer might be used by small businesses. Sadly, the BJC-7100C was not up to the job. In default mode, where it printed at a rate of 1.1ppm, solid colour was badly banded, and graphics drew attention to the poor standard of printing rather than making the page more interesting. To bring the quality up to an acceptable standard, users would have to switch to a higher resolution. The impact of this on speed is drastic, dropping it to five minutes per page.

A new, compatible print server - bundled for an extra £120 - has prompted Canon to promote the BJC-7100C as a 'plain-paper, photo-quality network printer', but it's difficult to imagine it holding its own in a busy office environment. The paper tray can only accommodate around 100 pages at a time, which even in a lazy office wouldn't last long, and printing a long document with graphics would tie up the system for half an hour or more. What's more, printing costs are slightly higher than for its two main rivals.

At £269, the BJC-7100 also costs £50 more than the HP 880C and £37 more than Epson Stylus Photo 750. Unfortunately for Canon, its new printer isn't of the same calibre of either of its two rivals: the 880C is a wiser choice for speed,while the Photo 750 remains streets ahead for all-round printing ability.