A four-color page would thus cost almost 16 cents–higher than average, but not the worst we’ve seen. The black cartridge costs $16 to replace–which works out to a whopping 7.3 cents per page, while the tricolor cartridge costs $21, or 8.6 cents per page. The machine ships with a 220-page black cartridge and a 244-page tricolor cartridge consisting of cyan, magenta, and yellow compartments. The ink costs for this model can build up in a hurry. On Canon’s own paper, photos looked pale and sometimes streaky, even after repeated maintenance routines. On plain paper, images appeared grainy and a bit off-color, with orangey flesh tones or purplish monochrome images, for example. In our tests, the Pixma MX330’s text speed actually exceeded expectations slightly, reaching 7.7 ppm, while our graphics samples topped out at 2.2 ppm.

At least Canon is honest about it, claiming a top text speed of 7.5 pages per minute, and a top graphics speed of 4.5 ppm. The included documentation covers the nuances well, but it didn’t make intuitive sense to me when I was using the machine.Īs you’d expect of a printer this inexpensive, speed isn’t a selling point. Sometimes you need to push the up/down arrows and other times the Settings button to move through the menus. All of the buttons have coherent word labels, but the 1.8-inch color LCD for viewing menu options is small and would be easier to use if its navigation cues were clearer. The control panel is fairly well designed. Connectivity is limited: A front port lets you print photos directly from a PictBridge-compliant device or save scanned files to a USB key drive Canon sells a Bluetooth adapter for $50 more.

Duplexing is a manual operation, and the Pixma MX330 offers helpful onscreen prompts to step you through the process. The scanner’s lid telescopes to accommodate thicker media. The ADF can handle legal-size media (five sheets at a time), but the scanner platen fits letter-size sheets only. A 30-page automatic document feeder unfolds from the top. It comes with a rear, vertical 150-sheet input tray and a front, flip-out 50-sheet output tray. If you print a lot, however, look elsewhere, because this unit’s inks can be expensive.Īs is typical of inkjet MFPs priced in the vicinity of $100 (the Pixma MX330 costs $110 as of May 5, 2009), this model has a feature set suitable for low-volume use. Canon’s Pixma MX330 color inkjet multifunction printer offers students and home-office users basic functionality for a low initial price.

Canon mx330 reviews