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At a casual glance the MG6350 might seem a run-of-the-mill device providing print, copy and scan facilities.  However closer examination of this lacquered black box with dimensions of 486 x 369 x 148mm (W x D x H) reveals some innovative features that sit alongside the standard arrangement of an A4 flatbed scanner mounted on top of an inkjet printer supported by two paper input options. 

The lower paper tray provides the main supply of paper with a capacity of 125 sheets of copy paper up to A4 in size.  A second paper tray, positioned a little higher, is used for smaller sizes of photo paper or, with the addition of a supplied insert, for printing labels directly on to appropriate optical media.  While not exactly innovative, the ability to print direct on to optical disks can prove useful.  Both paper trays felt a little flimsy, this did not affect their performance.

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As with the PIXMA MG5450 that I reviewed earlier, the MG6350 features a drop-down cover that automatically opens whenever a printing job is detected.  Not only does this front cover open with a smooth movement but a spring-loaded paper support arm automatically flips out ready to perform its designated role of keeping printed documents under some sort of control.  This support arm automatically slides away when the cover is closed.  The support arm has a pull out extension but this requires manual intervention.

This particular model is a six cartridge unit.  The full complement consists of Black, Grey, Yellow, Cyan and Magenta inks plus an extra Pigment Black cartridge.  When either initially inserting or replacing these cartridges as and when required, you need to raise the front section of the unit’s top to reveal the cartridge docking station with its six compartments.  LED lights on each compartment will indicate when a replacement unit is necessary.  This is a feature that appealed to me, as I am sure it will to others.

As well as giving access to the ink cartridges when open, this front cover also reveals slots for memory cards.  There is support for SD, CF and Memory Stick format for direct photo printing options.  When closed this front panel acts as the unit’s operation panel.  Arranged around a 7 x 5cm touch screen are touch sensitive buttons for power, monochrome, colour, home and back plus an indicator if wireless is the chosen connection method rather than the alternative of USB.  These buttons are only visible when required.

The supplied software that comes with this AIO device leads you through a choice of Wireless or USB connectivity.  You also get various utilities that include a Quick Start Menu, On-screen manual, My Image Garden and Easy-Web Print EX.  The latter of these utilities could cause an error message if you are running Internet Explorer.  To clear this problem you will need to download the latest version of Easy-Web Print EX from Canon’s website.

When used in photocopying mode, the MG6350 can produce up to 99 copies in a single run as it combines the A4 flatbed scanner with the inkjet printer.  With a scanning area of 216 x 297mm, this element has an optical resolution of 2400 x 4800 dpi, interpolated up to 19200 x 19200.  A full-colour A4 photocopy was produced in 21 seconds while the same image only required 14 seconds for a monochrome copy.  Both TWAIN and WIA interfaces are provided when scanning to a computer.  Scanned data can be sent via email, to the Cloud and memory cards.

The print driver supplied with this model has three different print quality levels.  These levels are Fast, Standard and High with additional options for Duplex and Eco printing.  Print speeds for both monochrome and colour documents at the three print speeds, with a 102-word Word document, are listed in the table below.  While you may not want to use the Fast print mode for really important documents, it would be fine for most other tasks.  Standard and Best modes can produce almost laser-quality documents.  Turning on the Duplex option in Standard mode, a ten-page 5,300-word document was produced in 145 seconds.

While more than capable of producing text documents, the MG6350 comes into its own when printing photos from memory cards or stored on a computer.  Actual print times for 10 x 15 and A4 photos are shown in the table below.  To these timings you need to add a certain amount of processing time.  In the case of images stored on memory cards, processing time is minimal.  However when printing images stored on a computer using the supplied Canon Image Garden software, the processing time does increase considerable.

A Canon Easy PhotoPrint App is available for downloading that will enable you to print from your Smartphone and/or tablet.  There is also support for Apple AirPrint for remote printing tasks.

This is a well-specified All-in-One device that will suit the home and small business user.  At the time of writing this review Amazon was listing this product at £129.85.  Replacement cartridges have been priced at £9.56 for each of the standard range of black and colour offerings.  High yield cartridges are priced at £13.55.  A Pigment Black cartridge is listed at £6.81.

http://www.canon.co.uk/For_Home/Product_Finder/Multifunctionals/Inkjet/PIXMA_MG6350/