When it comes to printers, there are only a few brand names that stand head and shoulders above the rest. One of those brand names is Canon. Canon has been around for several decades, is a publicly traded company, and has a lot of experience with anything related to photography.
Their Canon Pixma series is proof of this. While there are a few models that seem to have been misses, there are dozens that have been huge successes. The key is to find the right printer for you. In other words, you want a printer that has features that will meet your wants and needs. In this case, we will be reviewing the Canon Pixma mp180. Before you read on, you should know that this model is specifically designed for someone who is involved with photography.
Although the Canon Pixma mp180 is currently unavailable, whether on the Canon site or on Amazon, and when you find it you will most likely end up with used or refurbished. The last price that Amazon sold it for was around $100. Customers who had left feedback have given it a perfect customer rating of 5 out of 5.
While there are a number of features for this model, there are two things that make it stand out above many other models. One is ease of use. The other is that prices for ink cartridges are very fair and ink consumption is low. This is often not the case with many Canon printers.
As far as quality for photo prints go, with the print head ejecting tiny droplets of ink as small as two picoliters, resolution can reach up to 4800 x 1200 dpi. If you want the best quality possible, you should use Canon photo paper. This will also allow your photos to last up to 100 years. For copies, you will also be getting excellent quality due to the Dual Color Gamut Processing Technology. This technology will ensure that your copies nearly match your original in every way.
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There are several convenience features for the Canon Pixma mp180. One is that if you slide a memory card into the built-in slot, you will have an opportunity to print without having to use a computer. You can also print directly from many digital cameras and DV camcorders; they must be PictBridge compatible. Another great convenience feature is that you can copy and scan many items that don’t lie flat. While this might not mean anything to some, it is important to others.
The mp180 is best suited for someone with a need for good quality photo prints, convenience and ease of use. The first word that comes to mind with the mp180 is simplicity. The second word that comes to mind is value. With those two thoughts in mind and the information above, hopefully you will be able to calculate if this is the right printer for you.
At this point in the review, we would usually mention all the negatives for the model. In the case of the Canon Pixma mp180, there is absolutely nothing to review. This is obviously a good sign. There is most likely a negative out there, but for it not to have been discovered yet says a lot for this model’s design.
But the obvious downside is that it is now currently unavailable and it may be sometime before it comes up in the market again. Keep checking on Amazon as they do re-stock their products especially with the many sellers registered on their database, for sure there won’t be a long time to wait.
Alternatives
In case you don’t have all the time in the world to wait, there are other options that you could look at. There’s the Canon PIXMA MG5220 Wireless Inkjet Photo All-in-One which you can get for $78 only on Amazon. The difference between the MG5220 and the MP180 is the wireless connectivity that the former has and the latter doesn’t. Its built-in WiFi lets you print and scan from anywhere in your home or office, plus the ability to print your photos directly from compatible iPhone, iPod Touch, and Android devices.
You can print beautiful borderless photos of up to 8.5” x 11” in size, using a 9600 x 2400 maximum color dpi with 5 individual ink tank system and at least 1 picoliter of ink droplet. A 4” x 6” borderless photo prints approximately in 20 seconds, with black printing speed of approximately 11.0 ipm, and 9.3 ipm in color. Not only that, it includes Full HD Movie Print software that allows you to print still photographs from HD movies, and movie clips captured with your Digital SLRs or Powershot cameras.
It has Auto Duplex printing and copying capabilities included that makes this model Energy Star® qualified as you’re able to save half the amount of paper you will use as you can print on both sides.

Another alternative is the Canon PIXMA MG3120 Photo All-in-One Inkjet Printer. Like the MG5220 it also has built-in WiFi connectivity, and you can print outstanding borderless photos of up to 8.5” x 11” size, but on lower resolutions of 4800 x 1200 dpi.
It generates lower print speeds – 4″ x 6″ Borderless Photo: Approx. 44 seconds; Black: ESAT (Black) Approx. 9.2 ipm; Color: ESAT (Color) Approx. 5.0 ipm – but are still above average compared to most photo inkjet printers. Sells at $74 on Amazon.
Scan and Copy Functions are similar in MG5220 and MG3120, as well as Auto Duplex printing and copying.
So there you have it, two other options that are actually higher in specs than the MP180 yet a lot cheaper and packed with more features.
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