Buy Now...
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The printer is a near cube at 36x36x34cm and as the last figure the height you need as least a couple of extra centimetres to place anything on the flatbed then it’s even nearer a cube. It weighs just under 12kilos.
The software refuses to install on 64bit systems and although I looked on the Canon site and there were a couple of drivers that claimed to be for 64bit Windows they refused to install for me, so I installed it on a 32bit system and it installed without problem.
All the controls are on the front with the on/off button being bottom left next to the main paper input tray. On a lift up shelf there are five buttons to the left of the 6x3.5cm five line display, to the right of this the ubiquitous five position joystick and two more buttons. Next the 12 buttons for the units fax facility (if fitted) and then eight more buttons including ones you can program for specific functions.
The back left is where the power and USB input port are. I assume the fax and network facilities are on the higher specified units in the series.
I got 22PPM without problem but you need to be there while printing as the sheets topple from the shelf they are delivered to and if nothing else the order gets messed up but they can cause more problems than that.
Copying of course does not require the PC to be on or even connected and has a range of options from the five line display. A single page placed on the flatbed copied in 8seconds from standby.
Scanning should work in either direction but just like another recently reviewed product I only managed to get it to work when asking from the PC then after making all the choices the first page was received and delivered as an image in 8seconds. You can of course OCR the output should you wish so the text is editable.
Almost the whole A4 sheet can be printed on but you need to leave 5mm borders all round.
The paper input tray is stated to be 250 sheets I think this maybe a tight fit but I can see 200 being a reasonable figure, as regular readers will know I always use a mix of weights and types to see how well it adjusts between then mid print and I can report that I got no paper jams.
There is a manual feed slot above the main paper tray ideal for letterhead or envelopes etc.
I note from the PDF file that the paper output shelf is meant to handle 100 sheets; unless there was some part not supplied to me that holds the paper in place I cannot see this being possible.
Time from power on to being ready to print/scan/copy is stated to be 13.5seconds in my tests I found this to be slightly less at 12seconds.
For a no frills printer that is pretty rock solid that can scan from flatbed or page feed and has a decent copy function this is worth a look but remember it needs – as far as I can tell – 32bit Windows.
The Canon i-Sensys MF4730 is available from the link below for £140.38 with free delivery.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00A35DJZU?ie=UTF8&tag=gadge0a-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634
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