Canon ImageClass MF3010 – A Normal Daily-Use Printer

Introduction:

The Canon ImageClass MF3010 is a mono-laser multifunction printer targeted at small offices and dorm rooms which needs a laser printer for printing Web articles, e-mails, recipes, and some other printing tasks that doesn’t need a potent complete color output. The ImageClass MF3010 is priced at $150, which is one of the lowest priced we’ve seen for any all-in-one laser printer. So, what’s the catch here? This is what you must be thinking after reading all those good things about the ImageClass MF3010. So here it is, the major trade-off here is that you will not be getting any additional features such as ADF (Auto Document Feeder) permitting hands-free scanning, and neither will you get the advantage of multi-user networking.

But the Canon ImageClass MF3010 has its own assets, and the biggest that we found was the speed. The MF3010 performed exceedingly well in our performance testing without any sort of paper jams. So if you want a simple, reliable laser printer for your small office or personal usage then the ImageClass MF3010 is one fine choice.

Specifications:

• Price: $109.95
• Manufacturer: Canon
• Part Number: 5252B001
• Device Type: Printer /Copier / Scanner
• Printing Technology: Laser – Monochrome
• Copier Type: Digital
• Standard Memory: 64 MB
• Office Usage Features: Quick first print, Single cartridge system and I.D. card copy
• Weight: 16.8 lbs
• Dimensions (W x D x H): 14.7 in x 10.9 in x 10 in
• Shipped With: Power cord
• Operating System Support: Microsoft Windows Vista, Microsoft Windows 7, Microsoft Windows XP and Apple Mac OS X 10.4.9 – 10.6
• Supported Media Type: Labels, Plain paper, Envelopes, Bond paper and Heavy-weight matte paper
• Included Accessories: Power cord and Starter cartridge 125
• Manufacturer Warranty: 1 year warranty
• Service & Support Details: 1 year Limited warranty

Design and Features:

The all new Canon ImageClass MF3010 flaunts a brand new chassis shape from Canon. This new chassis has been designed to occupy least amount of space on any desk it is being installed. Measuring 14.7 inches x 10.9 inches x 10 inches (W x D x H) saves the additional room in the quiescence with a brand new collapsible paper output tray and a slim plastic door, which unfolds to reveal the routing for the paper for its input drawer having capacity of 150-sheet. The ImageClass MF3010 is rather light weighing less than 17 lbs only. Canon has give two string inlets at the bottom of the printer to help you in shifting the printer. The all new modular design of the printer makes it easy to use and store when it’s not in use.

The operation console for the printer is positioned under the scanner lid, and although initially it is a tad difficult to decode in the beginning, but once you are familiar with the meanings of all the different icons that are being displayed here the operation becomes easy. The operation panel is pretty intuitive as well. Canon has omitted the physical manual for the printer and ships it only with an online e-manual, which allows you to get complete details about the printer including every icons such as paper jam indicators, buttons for adding and reducing the number of copies to make and even a very small single-digit LED display, which shows the status of the printer or copy setting.

Sadly, in comparison to all the other laser printers the ImageClass MF3010 has few physical limitations. As we stated above, the printer doesn’t have an ADF and autoduplexing, and that it can only be connected to a single host computer using the USB port given on the rear end, though there isn’t any cable bundled with the printer. In addition to all that, the copy machine here is undersized by a maximum of 29-sheet copying ability, even the scanner bay here is smaller and is limited to 8.5 x 11-in prints at 600 dpi x 600 dpi.

The good thing here is that the Canon ImageClass MF3010 is friendly with approximately all the PCs running Windows and Mac operating systems, and has all the drivers that you need are provided on a single disc bundled in the box. Installing the printer is rather simple and it takes only a couple of minutes because there aren’t any wireless details to fit in and you could also install 2 addition tools: Presto PageManager and MF Toolbox.

Performance:

The ImageClass MF3010 didn’t excelled in our monochrome-text printing performance test, but the good thing here is that the difference between the scores was so less, which you even wouldn’t find a difference in speed, unless you aren’t printing in excess of 20 pages constantly. The ImageClass MF3010 didn’t reached the incredible score of 33.86 PPM of Oki B431dn in our text print speed test, but what was nice to see here was the printer still somehow surpassed the 10-page presentation test of Lexmark E460dw by in excess of 8 pages-per-minute. In addition to all this, we’d say that the Canon MF3010 is exceptionally good with outputting nonstop pages without any pause or for that matter even break, which normally affects the overall speeds of rivaling lasers.

As far as print quality for the print outputs are concerned, we neither surprised nor were impressed with the middling output quality of Canon ImageClass MF3010. Just as most of the monochrome laser printers, it also delivered incredible work for our text test documents. The output prints for pictures weren’t also all that great, but the prints still were sufficient for amateur photographers.

Service and Support:

The Canon ImageClass MF3010 gets one year of standard warranty from the purchase date, from Canon. The 1 year standard warranty includes replacement and repairs, and if the company finds that your printer is defected then a replacement. Canon also gives assistance with operation and installation of their printer through telephone support and online troubleshooting from Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. ET.

Verdict:

The Canon ImageClass MF3010 is a normal daily-use printer, which is pretty easy to set up and delivers ideal print quality for office usage and college students. But the usability of the printer for high-volume printing gets limited with its lack of additional features and single-user connection. We would recommend the MF3010 for budget minded buyers and college students.