Who would have thought a few of years ago that it would be possible to get a copying machine, printer and scanner all in one device and on top of that for a highly affordable price tag of under 100$. Well today it seems very possible and actually frequently encountered. The Canon Pixma MP160 is one of these entry-level models that can do whatever your heart desires. Well, not everything your heart desires, but it can copy, print and scan and also offers other useful features. Since it retails for $90 it’s among the easily affordable devices that can sit well on the desk of a home user, in a home office or even a small working environment that doesn’t have high printing needs.

Compared to other more expensive multifunction printers, a couple of features are obviously not included in the MP160. For example, the printer doesn’t have memory card slots or a LCD screen. People who find this bothersome may want to take a look at the MP160′s bigger brother, the M810 that offers both the memory card slots and a mono LCD, for a very small amount of money added to the price tag.

The design used on the MP160 isn’t a first for a Canon color printer. In fact it has been used for many of the printers in the same line as this one. It includes a mix of black and grey plastic and smooth rounded edges.On the front side of the printer you’ll find a PictBrige port. This allows direct printing from any compatible digital camera. Unfortunately,because there’s no LCD you won’t be able to preview anything on the printer, but rather directly on the camera. The control panel is, however, well designed and simple and you’ll find all the needed functions. From color and mono copy buttons, to a cancel printjob button and three indicator LED’s for ink level and eventual paper jams, everything like that is included in the control panel sitting right on the front ot the MP160. On the back side of the printer you’ll find a USB port, which is also the only way you may connect this printer to a PC.

While as features the MP160 doesn’t offer much, and the MP180 tends to be a more viable choice with its included memory card readers and LCD screen for around $10 more (although the LCD still doesn’t offer photo previewing), it does shine when it comes to print quality. Mono text is clean and sharp enough, graphics are printed out in good quality, whereas the photos look natural and exceptionally well for such an affordable printer. According to Canon a 10 by 15 inch photo should take about 52 seconds to print, which we must admit isn’t bad at all.

For an entry-level and highly affordable printer, this Canon color printer actually delivers good quality printing and satisfying printing speeds. While it’s really truly worth the money spent on it users who really require the use of memory cards will find the MP180 from the same line of printers an even better deal.

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