There are printers and then there are printers. We all know the little cube-shaped laser printers that spit out some bakery brochures or a schoolbook report designed to sit on a shelf near your home desk. Then there are giants like ImageClass MF743Cdw from Canon, a printer that oscillates directly between the average home laser printer and the huge office multifunction machine.
While this printer does not collect and staple your projects, it will do almost everything else. It has an integrated scanner; just lift the lid to the top, drop the page, and use the built-in LCD screen to send the file to a mobile device, PC, or, if you’re in 1996, a fax machine. —And a couple of paper trays, one for odd sizes and one for letter / legal.
This guy is great. It measures 64 pounds and is 43 inches tall with a 21 x 29 inch footprint. It takes up a lot of space. Please note this before dedicating a space to your desktop.
The printer outputs in duplex color or black and white and supports wifi and Ethernet connectivity. You can also connect it to a computer via USB. A generous 5-inch screen allows you to choose from a variety of features and configurations, and you can also use the built-in NFC feature to connect phones to the printer with a single tap. There is also a USB port on the front of the device to quickly print documents and photos.
G / O Media may receive a commission
The speed was above average in my tests, with about three seconds for black and white printing for seven seconds for color printing. This last issue was definitely affected by a system in which the printer spit out three pages of color at once and warmed the color toner for the next three pages. Canon estimates about 3,000 impressions of the included black toner cartridge and about 2,000 for the color cartridge, although your mileage may vary.
As a standard printer, it works perfectly. It’s one of the few printers I’ve tested recently that connects seamlessly to my home network and was available for all in-house devices, including phones and laptops. It was surprisingly refreshing, because I’ve certainly experienced frustration trying to get multiple printers to connect to my local network. The MF743 found my network and stayed connected constantly.
The speed, as mentioned above, is about average and I was able to make quite strong impressions (50 pages or more) in a few minutes.
The screen of the device is large enough to access the basic functions of the printer. Setup is best done with the remote administration system that turns the printer into a web server, allowing you to enter address book entries for scanner emails and faxes, update user profiles, and change the configuration. Unless you have the task of setting up this printer for a small office, you can use it directly and can easily ignore the more complex settings.
Canon does not recommend photo paper on this printer, so I tried all of these prints on plain letter-size printer paper. Black and white playback was perfect and you won’t find any flaws in this template for text documents. The color proof prints were surprisingly bright and clear and I found the color accuracy to be acceptable. Again, this is not a photo printer, but photos sent from an iPhone directly to the printer have come out bright and clear.
The copy function was a bit disappointing. I placed a print of a color test page I had previously printed and ran it through the copier again. The result, as you can see, is quite messy. All the colors had an orange hue and there were many artifacts caused by the light shining through the print. I also tested the ID copier with a standard driver’s license and some other cards. The copied results were inferior but legible and, if you are not demanding, can be used for document registration. The printer scans at 600 DPI, which should have been more than enough, but it looks like the built-in scanning and printing system isn’t working as well as it could.
The scan was a whole different story. The scanned images came out wonderfully on the computer and Canon includes the MF Scan Utility for scanning on Windows or macOS. Because it is connected to the network, you can start scanning from anywhere and the results are stellar. In fact, scanning and printing from a computer may be the only viable method of copying color documents using this printer.
But look: the best place for this printer is in a small office. It is an excessive firepower for domestic use: the paper tray contains 300 sheets, which is much more than even a family with children in need. If, for example, you analyze procedures in a doctor’s office or in any other professional situation, it is the perfect printer. Because it costs $ 400, with black-and-white toner replacements amounting to just under $ 100 each, you’ll spend less than you’d pay on a more powerful copier / printer combo, and that’s almost all you need in a small office . ID and passport are nice add-ons (as long as you scan and don’t copy) and the fax function is, as they say, the icing on 90s Pudding Pop.
There are some features that standalone devices could probably do better. If, for example, you purchased it for the ID scanner and plan to print it immediately, the best solution might be a stand-alone ID scanner. Or, if you plan to copy many documents and color images, there are definite limitations in this printer. But if you’re good at transferring scans to your computer and then storing or printing them as needed, you’re definitely in good hands.
Canon makes fantastic photo printers. This is not one of those. It is a heavy workhorse of a printer aimed at small and medium offices. Print quality is fast, economical, and solid, and it’s a definite upgrade to other multifunction printers I’ve seen in this price range.
READ ME
- High print speed.
- Heavy duty paper design and tray.
- Color copies are not great.
- Perfect for a small office.