Canon Pixma iX7000

Canon Pixma iX7000 Inkjet Business Printer

The Canon Pixma iX7000 Inkjet Business Printer ($399.99 direct) is the third inkjet printer I've seen in the past several months that can print on tabloid (11- by 17-inch) or larger-size paper and is aimed tightly at small offices - particularly micro and home offices. Together with the Epson WorkForce 1100 ($199.99 direct, ) and HP Officejet 7000 Wide Format Printer ($229.99 direct, ), it represents a newfound interest on the part of these three manufacturers in offering budget tabloid printers suitable for a small office on a tight budget. The Canon printer is the most expensive of the three, but also the one with the fewest compromises. It's second to the HP printer for speed, and second to the Epson printer for output quality, but not by much in either case. On the plus side, it offers an Ethernet connector, which the Epson printer lacks, and it outshines both the HP and Epson printers when it comes to paper handling. The iX7000 is the only one of the three that includes a duplexer for automatic printing on both sides of a page.