After unpacking the unit, I loaded the print drivers from the included CD, installed the five-ink cartridge system and connected the printer to my laptop. Each image was adjusted with Adobe Photoshop and then sent to the printer. Each came out with photo-lab quality, and I never had to leave my house.
(Was it fast? Fast enough. Print quality impresses me more than print speed, and the PIXMA MX870 delivers.)
This model offers much more than lab-quality photo prints: It also features a two-way paper feed, fax and copying. A 2.5-inch LCD screen makes it easy to view menus or even images loaded via the built-in memory card reader. And it’s wireless, which means fewer cables to wrestle.
The MX870 is part of Canon’s PIXMA line, which all have a new and improved operation panel. This lets users operate all the basic functions (scan/copy/fax/print) with a Mode button.
And, naturally, there is an iPhone connection. In this case it’s the Canon Easy-PhotoPrint EX for iPhone application, which is free at the iTunes App Store. This enables users to print digital images from the phone wirelessly.
Other new features include the Auto Document Fix feature, which sharpens and improves the quality of scanned items. Newspaper clips are notoriously difficult to scan, because the image on the back side of what you’re scanning tends to come through. Not so with this feature, which removed that background and preserved the scanned image.
