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Canon Releases Color Printer Trio

Versatile ink jets can even print photo-realistic images on T-shirts.

By Melissa Riofrio, PCWorld   

Canon Computer Systems announced three color ink jet printers today: The Canon BJC-250, the Canon BJC-4300, and the Canon BJC-7000. Aimed at the home and SOHO markets, these models can print on a variety of media from banner paper to fabric sheets to T-shirt transfers, and they can produce images that look fairly photo-realistic using special inks and papers. All three printers come with Canon Creative 3, the newest version of Canon%squots CD-ROM of printing software and Web utilities.

The Canon BJC-250 is the lowest priced of the new models, with an estimated street price of $179, and replaces the Canon BJC-240. Its speed is rated at 4 pages per minute (ppm) for text printing and 0.52 ppm for color printing. It can print text at up to 720-by-360-dpi resolution, and color images at up to 360 by 360 dpi. It%squots one of the few remaining color ink jet printers that cannot hold color and black ink cartridges at the same time.

The BJC-4300 is Canon%squots midrange color ink jet, with an estimated street price of $239. Although this printer closely resembles its predecessor, the BJC-4200, the BJC-4300 has two new features. The first is %dquotDrop Modulation Technology,%dquot a new printing method that varies the size of the ink droplets for smoother print quality; it also has the IS-22 Color Image Scanner Cartridge, a $99 optional scanner head with a 360-dpi optical resolution and 24-bit color. It fits into the printer like an ink cartridge and turns it into a color scanner. Canon rates the BJC-4300%squots speed at 5 ppm for text printing and 2 ppm for color printing; the maximum resolution for both black and color printing is 720 by 360 dpi. This printer will also be sold as the BJC-4304 Photo, which includes a photo cartridge and sample media.

The Canon BJC-7000 is a completely new printer that Canon says promises better plain-paper print quality and faster graphics printing. It has the highest resolution of any Canon ink jet printer, and higher than that of most other personal ink jets: 1200 by 600 dpi. It also comes with %dquotInk Optimizer,%dquot an additional drop of clear fluid that works when you print on plain paper. It lands on the page before the ink droplet and stabilizes it to minimize the classically fuzzy look of ink jet-printed text. In addition to a regular triple-color ink cartridge, the printer can take a photo-ink cartridge with six colors, designed to provide more realistic photo quality. The BJC-7000 will sell for an estimated street price of $449.