A Pro Indeed
Canon’s last launch of professional PIXMA photo printers included three models — the PRO- 1 ( 12- colour), PRO- 10 ( 10- colour), and PRO- 100 ( 8- colour). We reviewed the PRO- 10 model in the April 2013 issue. The PRO- 100 reviewed here is the lowend model among the three.
Design and Build Quality
All the above three PIXMA models are built identical. The Canon PIXMA PRO-100 is sturdy, with a tough engineering plastic exterior. The printers weigh approximately 20kg, and have dimensions of 689 x 385 x 215mm, making them less portable than most A3+ size printers. In a lighter vein, being heavy will certainly make the job difficult for robbers, but will provide an easy excuse for housekeeping staff for not cleaning the desk. The printer has the usual three buttons — On/Off, Resume/Cancel, and Wi-Fi. The device’s large form factor makes it ideal for spacious and sturdy desks.
Key Features
The Canon PIXMA PRO- 100 can print at a maximum resolution of 4800 x 2400 dots per inch. It has a total of 6144 nozzles, and uses eight individual ink cartridges — Yellow, Magenta, Cyan, Photo Magenta, Photo Cyan, Black, Grey, and Light Grey. This printer uses Chromalife 100+ series dye- based inks instead of the LUCIA pigment- based ink in the other two. What makes the Pro 100 different from the Pro 10 is the absence of a Red and Chroma Optimiser ( Epson calls this the Gloss Optimiser) cartridge. The printer delivers ink with a minimum droplet size of 3 picolitres. The device accepts papers from 4 x 6 inches up to A3+ size and facilitates borderless printing up to 329mm ( 13 inches, A3+), while the manual feed slot can accept papers up to 348.8mm ( 13.7 inches). It can accept a wide range of printing media, ranging from plain paper to Canon speciality paper of up to 300 gsm, and CDs. The printer features USB and ethernet ports in addition to Wi- Fi for PC and network enabled printing. Wi- Fi, Mobile Printing, and AirPrint allow you to print directly from your mobile devices. The printer comes with a detailed online user manual (to be installed from the CD). The printer software has a maintenance tab, which provides access to 10 operations — Cleaning, Deep Cleaning, Print Head Alignment, Nozzle
The Canon PIXMA PRO-100 is easy to install. For all Canon professional printers, you have to install the print head before installing the cartridges. This facilitates easy replacement in case the print head develops some trouble. Once the cartridges are installed, the LEDs on them will light up if they have been installed properly. The LEDs blink if the ink levels fall below a particular limit. The buttons are self-explanatory, and handling is very easy. Sturdy construction Feature-packed Good performance Very useful bundled software
Very heavy