Canon Color imageClass MF8080Cw

At first glance, the Canon Color imageClass MF8080Cw ($449 direct) seems a little large for a color laser multi-function printer (MFP) meant for light-duty printing in a micro, home, or small office or as personal printer in any size office. However, the size and weight would have been typical just a few years ago. More important, if you have room for it, the printer's capabilities?most notably its paper handling and print speed?are just right for the intended use. That makes it a reasonable choice, if not a perfect fit.

Very much in the MF8080Cw's favor is that it offers much the same capability as the Editors' Choice Dell 1355cnw Multifunction Color Printer ($419.99 direct, 4 stars) that I reviewed last year. It can print, scan, and fax, including over a network, work as a standalone copier and fax machine, and also scan to or print from a USB memory key. For scanning, its 50-page automatic document feeder (ADF) serves as a complement to the flatbed and lets it handle multipage documents as well as legal-size pages.

The key issue that limits the printer to light-duty use is its paper handling, with a 150-sheet input tray and no duplexer. If your print needs?including copying and printing incoming faxes?are more than about 30 pages per day, having to constantly add paper may turn into an annoying chore. However, 150 pages should be sufficient for the light-duty print needs in most small offices.

Setup and speed
The MF8080Cw is big and heavy by today's standards, at 16.9 by 17 by 19.2 inches (HWD) and a hefty 57.4 pounds. That's about 20 pounds more than the 1355cnw, and heavy enough so most people would consider moving it a two-person job. It's also big enough to be a potential issue in a small office where flat space can be at a premium. Once you find a spot for it, however, setup is standard fare.

The printer offers both WiFi and wired network support. For my tests, I set it up on a wired network and installed the driver on a Windows Vista system. On our business applications suite (timed with QualityLogic's hardware and software) it managed a lackadaisical 3.7 pages per minute (ppm).

That's an appropriate speed for the rating, at a relatively slow 12 ppm for monochrome and 8 ppm for color. It's also faster than some of the printer's competition, including, for example the similarly priced HP LaserJet Pro CM1415fnw color MFP ($449 direct, 4 stars) and the HP TopShot LaserJet Pro M275 ($399.99 direct, 3 stars) that I recently reviewed. However, it's slower than the Dell 1355cnw, at 4.5 ppm, and it's not fast enough for its speed to count as a strength.

Output Quality and Other Issues
The MF8080Cw's output quality is uneven, with better than par graphics for a color laser MFP, photos at the low end of par, and below par text. Fortunately, the bar for laser text quality is high enough that being a bit below par isn't much of an issue. Unless you have a highly unusual need for printing at small font size, you should find the text more than acceptable for any business need.

The graphics output in my tests was easily suitable for any business need as well, including output meant for potential customers who you need to impress with a sense of your professionalism. Most people would consider the graphics to be good enough for printing their own marketing materials like one page mailers or tri-fold brochures.

You may or may not consider the photo output to be high enough quality for the same sort of marketing materials or for, say, client newsletters. I saw some graininess and a slight color shift, which could be an issue for anything that needs to show well, like a landscape filled with colorful flowers.

I'd like the MF8080Cw more if it were smaller, faster, had a higher paper capacity, or some combination of these. Even as it stands, however, it's worth considering, with a more than acceptable balance of speed, output quality, and MFP features. Its size may make it a little hard to find room for if space is tight, and the 150-sheet capacity rules it out for offices with heavy duty print needs. But if you have room for it, and need light-duty printing only, it's a reasonable choice, if not a compelling one.

More Multi-function Printer Reviews:
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