WebUser – 04 April 2018

24 4-17April 2018

ProductTestCanonPixma TS3150

ThePixmaTS3150isn’t

idealif youregularlyprint

alot of pages,becauseit’s

slowand comparatively

expensivetorun,

particularlywhenprinting

text. But if youjustwant

abasic, competent

multifunctionprinter for

light,homeuse,it’sagreat

choice, easytoset up and

has avery lowinitialoutlay.

Canon Pixma TS3150

PRODUCTINFO

CanonPixma

TS3150

Price: £39.99

Buy from Amazon:

bit.ly/can446

SPECIFICATIONS

■Two-cartridgesystem

■60-sheetpaper tray

■3.8cmLCDdisplay

■4,800 x1,200dpiprintresolution

■600 x1,200dpiscan resolution

(RGB16-bit)

■USB

■802.11b/g/nWi-Fi

■435x316 x145mm

■3.9kg

FOR

✓Highquality, crispprints

✓Easytoinstall

AGAINST

✗Highprintcosts

✗Slowtoprint

OURVERDICT ★★★★★★★★★★

FEATURES ★★★★★★★★★★

PERFORMANCE ★★★★★★★★★★

EASE OF USE ★★★★★★★★★★

VALUEFOR MONEY ★★★★★★★★★★

SimonHandbytestsacheapandcheerful

printerthatalsoscansandcopies

forblacktext,anddippedas

lowas1.6ppmforcolour–

theslowestwe’verecordedin

sometime.Youneedtowait

anagonising2.5minutesto

printacolourphotoatbest

qualityandyouwon’tbeable

todoit onA4:thedriverlets

youcreateandsendthejob,

buttheprinterrefusestoprint

onA4photopaper.

At 26 secondsforblackand

thatholds 60 sheets,whileat

thefrontthere’sasimilarly

utilitarianoutputtray,which

managedtokeepeverything

impressivelytidyduring

printing.Whennotinuse,the

reartrayflipsshuttoactasa

lid.Thereareseveralbuttons

onthetopofitscasing,

includingtwoStartbuttons

(oneforcolourcopies,the

otherforblackandwhite)and

Cancel,alongwithacouple

tohelpoperateasmall,mono

LCDdisplay, whichshows

basicstatusmessages.

Canon’ssetupprogram

makesshortworkofthe

installationprocessandcan

usuallydetecttheprinter

wirelesslywithoutany

configurationontheuser’s

part.If thatdoesn’twork,

there’satemporary

USBconnectiontosetup

wirelessaccess.

Setup,cartridgesand

performance

Unlikethemoreexpensive

Pixmamodels,theTS 3150

usesjusttwoinkcartridges:

oneforblackandtheother

containingcyan,magentaand

yellow.It’s morewastefulthan

havingseparatecartridges

foreachcolour,becauseyou

havetoreplacetheentire

cartridgewhenyourunoutof

justonecolour,whichmakes

printcostshigherthan

average.UsingtheXL

cartridgesizes,wecalculated

thecolourcomponentofan

A4pageatareasonable5.4p,

buttheblackcomponentwas

verypriceyat4.3p.

Wedon’texpectbrilliant

across-the-boardperformance

fromsuchacheapdevice,

andtheTS3150’sweaknessis

itsprintspeed,whichpeaked

at7. 4ppm(pagesperminute)

57 secondsforcolour,copies

weren’tfasteither,butscan

speedscomparedwell to

mid-rangedevices–overUSB,

it tookusjust37secondsto

capturea6x4inphotoat

1,200dpi(dotsperinch).

Printsandcopieslooked

great, withboldcoloursand

crisp,darktext.Scanswere

similarlyimpressiveforsuch

acheapdevice.

I

t’shardtobelieveyoucan

getanymajorpieceoftech

hardwareforunder£40,

letalonesomethingasuseful

astheCanonPixmaTS 3150.

This multifunctioninkjet

printer/s canner/copierlacks

thesophisticatedfeatures

you’dfindonapriciermodel

–there’snoduplexoptionto

automaticallyprintonboth

sidesofthepaper,for

example–butit does

supportwirelessnetworking,

soyoucanconnectit toyour

Wi-Fiandshareitbetween

allyourhomePCsand

mobiledevices.It’s asmall,

lightandinnocuous-looking

printer,availableinblack

(theTS3150)orwhite

(theTS3151).

Thebackoftheprinter

housesasimplepapertray

Canon’ssetupprogrammakesshort

work of theinstallationprocess