Canon Pixma MP610 All-in-One Printer

While the Pixma MP610 All-in-One Printer does a fine job at scanning and printing photos as well as documents with graphics, it was at times frustratingly difficult to use, despite some real conveniences (like the very handy scroll wheel). Other all-in-ones at the same price did as good a job and were simpler to use.

Canon always does a great job in making even their larger all-in-ones desktop friendly, and the MP610 all-in-one is no exception. Everything folds up conveniently (including the very large LCD screen) so it conserves space as well as a machine this size can. And little things, like the hidden slots for multiple memory cards and the output tray that opens automatically, are reminders of why Canon's printers are so popular.

The Pixma MP610 was a little disappointing in some ways, however, particularly in terms of photo editing. The software bundle includes only MP Navigator, a hard-to-use utility that is both clumsy and lightly featured, offering little more than some sharpening and smoothing functions.

While it's possible to do some editing on the machine, these changes are difficult to preview and the menu doesn't explain what "Photo opt. pro" might be (in fact, it optimizes brightness and tone). This feature left a test photo lighter than I would've liked. An experiment with the "illustration" option didn't look very good, particularly compared with similar results using better image-editing software. However, Navigator's "digital face smoothing" did a fine job at knocking a few years and well-earned wrinkles off my mug.

Photos come out dry to the touch and looking great, particularly if you've done your image editing with another program (such as Photoshop Elements). A 4x6 photo took about 1:15 to print at the default resolution.

Copies come out fast, and the onboard display does a better job at explaining how to print multiple sheets on one page, which I find is a great way to save paper and ink.

The printer has an optional Bluetooth utility that allows printing to be done wirelessly, but this feature wasn't included in my test unit. Newer Pixmas are ready for action much faster than older models after pushing the Start button.