If we judged colour laser printers
on their heft, the Canon i-Sensys MF8280Cw would exceed all our
expectations. It looks rather large, and feels larger still, packing a
26kg weight that comes as something of a surprise for a sub-£300 model.
It certainly isn't a feather-light model that you'll be whisking from
one side of the office to the other.
Having said that, lasers aren't generally bought for
their slim physique, and the Canon i-Sensys MF8280Cw makes up with its
comprehensive features set. Right? Well, only to a point.
The Canon i-Sensys MF8280Cw colour laser
printer's multifunctionality is rich indeed. Not just a printer, it also
delivers scanning, copying and even Super G3 faxing. The 600dpi optical
resolution (this can be stretched to 9600dpi) on the scanner makes for
some quality image capture, and the Canon can create 600dpi A4-size
output in a mere 18 seconds – photos take just 12 seconds at the same
resolution, and a mere 6 seconds at 300dpi.
Results are very pleasing, with good
attention to colour, and files can be seamlessly distributed across the
network or converted to a choice of formats that includes Compact PDF.
The Canon i-Sensys MF8280Cw's faxing is simple but very effective, and a
50-sheet ADF adds excellent support.
Connectivity is pretty good. Ethernet
doesn't stretch to gigabit, although you do get 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi to
compensate, making this quite flexible. Full cloud support is built in,
and iPad, iPhone and Android devices can be hooked up to the Canon
i-Sensys MF8280Cw colour laser. USB sticks can be inserted too.
Not all of the specifications are so
generous, though. Despite the Canon i-Sensys MF8280Cw's heavyweight
looks, some of the specifications seem a little underpowered. The main
paper tray only holds 150 sheets (with an additional single-sheet manual
slot), which seems a poor use of the huge casing. The colour laser
printer's control panel has simple-enough navigation, employing a pair
of select keys and a go back button, and backed up by a pleasing 3.5in
colour TFT. The control panel itself is a little over-laden with keys,
though, many of which don't have terribly descriptive titles.
The Canon i-Sensys MF8280Cw can stretch
its standard 600dpi resolution to a more sizeable 1200x1200dpi, and
prints are of very acceptable quality, with nicely defined text and
vibrant but not exaggerated colours.
The speeds are a little lacking, though,
with the Canon i-Sensys MF8280Cw colour laser turning out mono and
colour prints at 10.2ppm and 6.7ppm respectively. This mono speed is
eclipsed even by the £45 Pantum P2050,
and the colour performance isn't particularly impressive – even a
number of inkjets can get close to this at decent colour levels.
Part of this was down to the sluggish
start-up time, and the Canon i-Sensys MF8280Cw frequently took 20
seconds to turn out the first page. Large jobs should see the figures
coming down, although the small paper tray will impose some limits
there.
Toner cost is also a problem with the
Canon i-Sensys MF8280Cw, and even mono costs over 2p a page, with colour
requiring five times that.
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