Canon Selphy CP740 Compact Photo Printer – Respectable Inexpensive Compact Photo Printer

Pros

The Canon Selphy CP740 compact photo printer delivers high-quality quality prints and is very easy to use. On top of this the printer has got a nice touch in the form of retractable USB cable/connector and is comparatively inexpensive.

Cons

The Canon Selphy CP740’s print speed is comparatively slower than some of its contenders and also has quite imperfect committed photo-editing features even the photo colors of the printer can use a bit of improvement.

Introduction

The Canon Selphy CP740 compact photo printer, priced at $100, is an entry level compact printer which comes with a very limited onboard feature set. The limited feature set of the printer are the reason behind the relative position of the printer among the dedicated 4 x 6 photo printers. But despite all this the print quality and the ease of use of printer impressed us.

The Selphy CP740 is a great out-and-out snapshot printer for the buyers who are in need of an affordable dedicated snapshot printer. But if you are looking for slightly more features and don’t have problems in paying for them, then checkout the Epson PictureMate Snap.

Design

The Canon Selphy CP740 is without a doubt a compact printer that can be easily carried into a big purse or a tote bag. The printer measures 2.5 inches tall by 5 inches deep by 7 inches wide, and weighs around 2.1 pounds with no ink cartridge installed, power brick plugged in or the paper cassette attached.  Though, with all the essential accoutrements the printer becomes a bit heavier.

The control panel and the interface of the printer live right at the top floor. While the 2-inch color LCD of the printer is entrenched straight at the right surface of the printer. Also as they are not mounted on any movable pieces and hence you will have to adjust your view according to it, if you want to get a good angle. Buttons for power, red-eye removal, and mode, zooming in and out of an image, date and layout are positioned along the LCD of the printer. The other two buttons on the printer are a four-way rocker switch and stop/print.

Located at the fascia of the printer are three memory slots which can accept most of the memory cards, though some of them may ask for an adapter, which is not included here. The camera also has a retractable mini-USB cable, which can be used for connecting PictBridge cameras; we think that the retractable cable really was a nice touch. Lastly, there is a panel that opens to unveil the paper input area, instead of loading the paper straight to the input area. Or rather than loading the paper straight into the printer, you can also load the paper using a paper cassette, which is attached to the frontage of the printer.

Positioned on the left edge of the printer is the two USB ports; one connects the printer to a PC and another one connects it to a PictBridge device. It’s kind of an alternative to the front-mounted mini-USB port. Positioned on the right edge of the printer is a door which conceals the ink cassette.

System Configuration

Price: $119.94
Manufacturer: Canon
Part Number: 2094B001
Printer Type: Compact photo printer – Dye sublimation – Color
Operating System Supported: Microsoft Windows Vista / Microsoft Windows 2000 / Microsoft Windows XP, Apple MacOS X 10.3 – 10.4
Copier Type: None
Dimensions (W x D x H): 7 x 5 x 2.5 inches

System weight: 2.2 lbs
Supported Media Type: Business cards,   Photo paper,   Photo postcard paper and Photo stickers
Supported Flash Memory Cards: miniSD , RS-MMC , Microdrive , miniSDHC , MultiMediaCard , Memory Stick , Memory Stick Duo , SD Memory Card , SDHC Memory Card , Memory Stick Pro , Memory Stick PRO Duo and CompactFlash Card
Direct Printing Specifications: PictBridge, Canon Direct Print
Software Included: Canon ImageBrowser, Canon PhotoStitch, Canon ZoomBrowser EX, Drivers & Utilities and Canon Easy-PhotoPrint

Connectivity Technology: Wired
Expansion Slots: Memory Stick, CompactFlash Card, miniSD, SD Memory Card, RS-MMC
Microsoft Certifications: Works with Windows Vista
Printer Features: Borderless printing
Service & Support: One year warranty
Built-in Devices: Preview screen
Interface: Direct print USB and USB

Performance

We were expecting a sluggish performance from Canon Selphy CP740, but surprisingly it didn’t come just as we expected. On the contrary, the Canon Selphy CP740 compact photo printer stunned us by printing 4 x 6 photos at the rate of 0.92 pages per minute, which is faster than plenty of other single-function and multifunction inkjet printers, but surely is slower than the Epson PictureMate Pal which delivered the scores of 1.0ppm and PictureMate Snap with a score of 1.24ppm. Both the aforementioned printers are inkjet printers and are rather more expensive than the Canon.

Support

The Canon Selphy CP740 comes with a one-year standard warranty. The support is available through toll-free telephone number on weekdays from 5 a.m. to 8 p.m. and on Saturdays it’s from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. PT. the E-mail is also available through web-based form. Canon’s website also offers drivers and downloads manuals and FAQs.

Word from the Experts

The Canon Selphy CP740 offers a respectable set of features and great quality prints. The printer is comparatively inexpensive compact photo printer. The printer will be satisfying for the Casual Snapshooters, but if you are here expecting for slightly more features should head somewhere else.