Canon’s New SOHO MultiPASS Print Systems

Canon introduced two new desktop flatbed multifunction printers (MFPs) this week designed to extend productivity in small office and home office (SOHO) settings.
The Canon MultiPASS MP700 and MP730 feature printing, scanning and copying while the MultiPASS MP730 adds faxing capability and a 35-sheet automatic document feeder to the service mix. The MultiPASS MP730 also provides a 35-page automatic document feeder that works with the copy, scan and fax operations.

Both products feature a new print engine and print head that increase printing speeds and photo printing quality over preceding models. Scanning resolution has also been increased from previous models and the driver software has been improved for greater ease of use.

The MultiPASS MP700 and MP730 use the print engine and print head from Canon’s award winning i850 Photo Printer. With this technology, the print and copy speeds increase to 22 pages per minute in black and 14 ppm in color based on letter size output. Borderless 4-inch by 6-inch are printed in 48 seconds, borderless 8-inch by 10-inch inch photos printed in about 90 seconds.

Canon contends that its borderless photo quality output is exceptional with up to 4800 x 1200 color dots per inch printing resolution. Canon’s trademarked MicroFine Droplet Technology facilitates how the print head lays down the ink. It produces both five and two-picoliter droplets. The five-picoliter nozzles increases speed by laying down more ink, while the 2-picoliter nozzles increase the detail on fine photos.

As the sales of digital cameras rise, Canon continues to focus on providing digital imaging solutions. The MultiPASS MP700 and MP730 both feature built-in memory card slots that will support CompactFlash, Memory Stick, SmartMedia, SD Card and MultimediaCard. Users can print standard-sized edge-to-edge borderless images directly from memory cards with or without using a computer. The versatile printers also come with software programs designed to facilitate printing photos and scanning documents — including Easy-PhotoPrint and ScanSoft OmniPage SE OCR.

Both the MP700 and MP730 scanner functions now support PDF formatting and have Multi-Scan and Dust and Scratch reduce modes. Couple this with an optical scanning resolution of 1200 x 2400 dpi and users will get better scans than ever before on Canon’s MultiPASS units.

The MultiPASS MP700 and MP730 copy speeds have increased to 22 copies per minute in black and 14 cpm in color. Reduction and enlargement features on both units allow for copying documents at 25 percent to 400 percent with size changes in one percent increments.

Super G3 Faxing and the automatic document feeder set the Canon MultiPASS MP730 apart from the MP700. Faxes are sent with the 33.6 Kbps fax modem either from the desktop using computer software or directly from the unit using the auto document feeder and one-touch or keypad dialing.

Both units use the Canon Think Tank System of individual ink tanks. This is a technology that offers users a cost performance advantage, especially when printing photos. Users only replace the individual color ink tank they have depleted. In addition, the Canon Think Tank System has an optical ink sensor that triggers an on-screen warning so that users are alerted when the ink has run low.

Both products are Windows 98, ME, 2000 and XP compatible using a USB interface. The Canon MultiPASS MP700 and MP730 will be start in May. The MultiPASS MP700 retails for just under $300 and the MultiPASS MP730 retails for just under $400. Both units include a limited one-year warranty and are covered under Canon’s InstantExchange program — you-ship, we-ship, shipments pass in the night — so downtime due to replacement is limited.

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Small Business Computing Staff
Small Business Computing Staff
Small Business Computing addresses the technology needs of small businesses, which are defined as businesses with fewer than 500 employees and/or less than $7 million in annual sales.

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