Canon Pixma MP190 review

Canon's Pixma MP190 is very different to its bigger brothers, such as the MP620, which have performed exceedingly well in PC Pro over the last couple of years. Without separate ink tanks, and lacking the extras that make most all-in-ones so useful, the MP190 instead aims to be quick, simple and very good value.

With this in mind, the design is plain, with no card slots and few control buttons around the single-digit LCD. The rear paper tray is flimsy but holds a reasonable 100 sheets, and like most budget models the Canon only connects via USB.

But the MP190 succeeds where others don't: despite a bargain price and a dearth of features, the underlying print engine produces good quality results. It doesn't really have a draft mode to speak of - draft prints came out at the same speed as in normal mode, they just appeared to use less ink - but a rate of 7.4ppm for normal mono printing is quick for a home inkjet.

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Photo printing speeds were slow, but the MP190 makes up for that with a pretty quick scanner. It took just 19 seconds to scan an A4 photo at 300ppi, and managed to produce a 1,200ppi scan in under a minute, which isn't too common. The quality was decent too, with clean edges and only a lack of vibrancy to keep it from higher marks. This didn't seem to affect copies, though; it matched the MP620's quality in that respect.

With only two cartridges it lacks the flexibility of dearer printers, and the cost per A4 page is a fairly high 10.7p. But with a purchase price of just £37, that won't matter one jot to the kind of budget user who just wants a good-quality printer for occasional use. The Canon MP190 may not be pretty, but it does its intended job better than any other budget model we've tested, so it thoroughly deserves our recommendation.

Author: David Bayon