PRINTERS
74 DECEMBER 2019|COMPUTER SHOPPER|ISSUE 382
YOUMIGHTNOTexpect much from an inkjet
printer that costs less than some cartridges,
but don’t betooquick to writeoffC anon’s
Pixma TS205. There’s no denying it’s basic; it’s
easier to mention that it hasaUSB port than
to detail the lackof networking, scanner,
display, duplex printing or otherfeatures.
Still, it’s under £30, and if you’re realistic
with your expectations the TS205 is unlikely
to disappoint. It’s very light, and there’s a
flexible and approximatefeel bothto its trays
and covers and the waythe print cartridges
slot int oplace.The paper input and output
trays are basic, and there’s no lip at the endof
the latter,sop ages can beginto overspill by
the endof longer print jobs. Without network
access, there’s no scopeforcloud services or
printing fromamobile device.There’s also no
memory card slot, so if you wantto print
photos, you’ll needto do it viaaPC.
DIN FORAPENNY
Start printing and you’re struckby two
simultaneous realisations: that the TS205 is
aslow printer,and that despitethis, it’s
CANON Pixma
TS205
★★★★★
£29•From http://www.eǔuyer.com
VERDICT
Itma ybeb asicandslow,butifyou’reaftera
cheapprinter,thePixmaTS205isabargain
rather noisy.Its paperfeed mechanism
clatters away, while the print heads move
across the page with wheezy monotony.It
managedapeak of 7.5ppm on our 25-page
mono lettertest, and droppedto just 1.6ppm
when printing complex colour graphics. On
6x4in photopaper,each printtook around
two-and-a-half minutes.
Print quality is quitegood, however.On
plain paper it’samatch formost mid-range
inkjets, with sharp blacktext, and bold,
streak-free graphics. Photoprints hadawarm
colour bias, which can work well on skintones
but won’t beto everyone’s taste. Although
photos didn’t match the detail levelsof the
best printers, theywere more than good
enoughforoccasional prints.
The TS205 comes with standard cartridges
good for180 pages in black or colour.To
Canon’s credit, the printer wasn’teven
running low on ink after our standardtests,
which onasingle-function printer amountto
about 80 pagesof text and graphics plus six
borderless 6x4in photos; we’ve seen more
expensive printers exhaust their ink before
we’ve finished. That said, usually ourtests
also include at least three A4 photos, but
the TS205 doesn’t support printing on A4
photopaper.Annoyingly,itw ill nonetheless
let you configure and send the job,which
then produces an error.
EXTRA,EXTRA
After the supplied cartridges are exhausted,
you can buy XL black cartridges rated at 400
pages, and XL colour items rated at 300.
Using these,running costs are9.2p per mixed
black and colour page–hardly cheap,but
surprisingly reasonable given the low costof
the printer.Less reasonable is thefact that
the black component is 3.9p per page,which
is about as high as it gets.
The Pixma TS205 is strictly frill-free,but
forless than £30 it can turn out great
results without ridiculous running costs.
If you won’t print lotsof black text, don’t
mind abit of noise,and can live with slow
ѡThe TS205͙s ̟rinΛ o̟Λions are ʺimiΛed, ǔuΛ ΛhaΛ͙s hardʺyasur̟rise ɽiѮen Λhe ̟rinΛer͙s rockʟǔoΞom ̟rice results, it’s easyto recommend.
Printqualityisquitegood. On plain paper it’samatch for
mostmid-range inkjets, with sharptextand bold graphics
