Review of Canon PIXMA MX340 Office All-In-One Printer
Happy Valentine’s Day to all of you out there, to the girls anyway… Today for review I’ve got another all-in-one style printer. I’ve taken a look at printers from HP, Epson and Brother but it’s time to add a Canon to the mix, specifically the Pixma MX340 Office All-In-One Printer. The MX340 is all about business really, it’s a no frills kind of printer that gets the job done and does it well. You won’t find cute features like printing stationary and editing pictures on the MX340, you will find though that it’s fast at printing both black and white and color prints and it does photos very well also. The Pixma MX340 can be connected to your computer via USB or wirelessly connected to your network, it also allows you to print directly from your iPhone or iPod touch which is a neat little feature in itself. If you’re looking for a capable printer for your business needs then be sure to read the rest of the review…
We’ll start with the unboxing:
Then the still pictures of the printer and the accessories that comes with it.
The Canon Pixma MX340 is a big printer, one of the biggest I’ve reviewed actually, it’s shorter than my WorkForce 610 but a wider so you’ll need a fairly large space to put it.
On the front panel you’ll find the controls of course for faxing, scanning and copying.
The top is where you’ll find the auto document feeder for scanning and faxing.
On the back is the paper tray, it’s folds out and is adjustable for paper size.
Beneath the document feeder is the flat bed scanner.
Beneath the scanner you’ll find the ink cartridge carrier.
There’s a door on the front of the Pixma MX340 that opens where you’re printed documents come out.
On the back of the printer you’ll find your connections for phone and USB along with the power connection.
Specifications:
PIXMA MX340
Office All-In-One Printer
Wireless All-In-One Home Office Printer with Auto Document Feeder
The PIXMA MX340 Wireless Home Office All-In-One delivers the versatility you need to experience increased productivity in your home or small office. Its built-in Wireless connectivity allows you to print or scan wirelessly from anywhere in the house. The built-in, fully integrated 30-sheet Auto Document Feeder delivers fast copying or scanning of your originals so you can do other things while your printer is at work. Plus, various security features like password protected PDF’s let you feel safe about creating and distributing your most confidential files.
Super G3 High-speed Fax2 ensures efficient communication and thanks to Dual Color Gamut Processing Technology, your copies will maintain the integrity of the original. This versatile Wireless Office All-In-One also prints photo lab quality pictures. Speaking of photos, take full advantage of Canon’s fantastic Wi-Fi printing technology and print your photos wirelessly from compatible iPhone 3G, 3GS and iPod touch devices. Enjoy additional computer-less printing capabilities via PictBridge4 and optional Bluetooth while you set your quantities on a Full Dot Matrix LCD. Easy-WebPrint EX allows you to print what you want off the web, when you want. So surf the web, create your layouts, combine text and pictures and print out pages however you like.
Whether you’re running your business on a PC or Mac, the PIXMA MX340 meets all of your printing needs and can fit virtually anywhere!
Specifications:
Printers Attributes:
Printing Method: Inkjet
Print Speed (up to):
Color Photo: 4″ x 6″ borderless photo: approximately 43 seconds
Black: ESAT; 8.4 ipm
Color: ESAT; 4.8 ipm
Number of Nozzles
Nozzles: Black: 320
Color: 1,152
Total: 1,472
Print Resolution (up to):
Black: Up to 600 x 600 dpi7
Color: Up to 4800 x 1200 dpi7
Paper Sizes: 4″x 6″, 4″x 8″, 5″x 7″, 8″x 10″, Letter, Legal, U.S. #10 envelopes
Automatic Sheet Feeder: 100 pages
ADF: 30 Sheets
Printer Features:
Auto Document Feeder, Auto Document Fix, Auto Photo Fix II, Auto Sheet Feeder, Borderless Printing12 Document Printing, Photo Printing, Template Print
Copier
Copy Speed (up to): Color ESAT: 3.4 ipm10
Reductions Enlargement: 25% – 400%
Copy Features:4-in-1 / 2-in-1 Copy, AE (Auto Exposure / Intensity) copy, Borderless, Fit-to-Page, Gutter Shadow Correction Copy, Image Repeat, Intensity, Multiple Copy: 1-99 pages , Preset Copy Ratios, Sort (ADF), Zoom
Scanner
Scanner Element: Contact Image Sensor (CIS)
Max. Resolutions:
Optical: 1200 x 2400 dpi
ADF 600 x 600 dpi (Optical)
Interpolated: 19,200 x 19,200 dpi
48-bit internal / 24-bit external
Scanner Features: Auto Scan Mode8, Push Scan, Scan To Memory, Network Scan
Max. Document Size:
Flatbed: 8.5″ x 11.7″
ADF: 8.5″ x 14″
FAX
Modem Speed: 33.6 Kbps (Super G3 color FAX)
Transmission Speed (approx.): Black: Approx. 3 sec. / page
Color: Approx. 1 min. / page
Memory Capacity: Approx. 50 pages
Speed Dialing: 20 Locations
General Specifications:
Other Features: Dual Color Gamut Processing Technology, Fully-Integrated Auto Document Feeder,Full Dot Matrix LCD, PictBridge, Quick Start
OS Compatibility: Windows 7®, Windows Vista®, Windows XP/2000 and Mac OS® X v10.4 – v10.6.x15
Standard Interface: Wireless LAN (IEEE 802.11b/g)1 (Compatible with IEEE802.11n)14 USB 2.0 Hi-Speed, PictBridge (Cable not included), Bluetooth® v2.0 (Optional)
Software Included: Setup Software and User’s Guide CD-ROM,MX340 Printer Driver, Easy-PhotoPrint EX, MP Navigator EX, Easy-WebPrint EX (Windows Only),Solution Menu
Dimension (W x D x H): 18.1″ (W) x 16.4″ (D) x 7.8″ (H)
Weight: 19 lbs.
Warranty: One year limited warranty with InstantExchange program. 1-Year toll-free technical phone support
Price: $99.99 (At Amazon at time of review) (It’s not available yet, but it can be pre-ordered)
The majority of the other all-in-one style printers I’ve looked at have had fancy displays on them like the ability to preview pictures and even ones with touch screens. The Canon Pimxa MX340 though has a very basic screen, very small actually, but it’s a business printer really so all the fancy stuff isn’t exactly needed. Still though there are printers out there in the same price range that have nice, full color, large displays on them.
Installation is easy, just pop in the disc and follow the prompts. I installed it wirelessly, for that you use the UBS cable and then unplug it after the setup is complete.
It does have a progress bar that at the beginning said 18 minutes to complete, but i timed it and it was about 7 minutes total from start to finish.
As I said I used the Wi-Fi connection and when connected the logo on the front of the printer lights up.
Once you’re installed you can access the control and diagnostics panel
From here you can access the printer settings as well:
On the Maintenance tab you’ll find all kinds of options:
If you go to the troubleshooting section from the main menu you can diagnose problems and check for updates.
One thing I didn’t like about the installation was the icons that appeared on my desktop, a lot of them. I guess they’re nice and all but I don’t care for the clutter on my desktop.
I printed a few pictures with the MX340, full sized 8 1/2 x 11 sheets and they look really good actually, I’m really surprised by the good quality of the prints. They’re very close to what you would find professionally, no lines in them, and the ink was dry immediately after the print was finished. The printing was very fast also, I had the printer set is high quality or photo mode on glossy photo paper and the picture came out faster than other printers I’ve tested.
Black printing is very fast as well, and it looks very good, very nice quality. Just regular reading distance it looks nice and sharp and clear. There is a tiny bit of fuzz to it, but it’s only there if you’re actually looking for it as I was. If you’re just reading you won’t notice it. The quality was just set to Standard, you can also select Fast or High quality as well, Standard is the middle choice. The paper I used was 20# stock, 92 brightness, it’s actually called Recycled Multipurpose Paper so it wasn’t anything specialized , just basic stuff really for everyday use. Speaking of paper, the MX340 can hold up to 100 sheets in the feeder which is very nice.
Here’s the print through my 4x macro lens:
and here’s the print through my 10X Macro lens:
Going to the 10X lens of course really gets in close to the print so you can really see everything, with my eyes I can’t see that and I’ve got very good eyesight especially for fine details, so I don’t think anyone else will either… There are spots were you can see a bit of bleed with the naked eye, but that’s only if you’re looking for them as I was for this review. Even looking at the 4X picture of the print, that’s really more than the eye can see as well, unless you’re looking for it.
For scanning you can use the software built in to scan and save on your computer, you’ve got the choice of single on the flatbed or using the auto document feeder for multiple pages.
Scanning was fast at the default settings of 300DPI and the result looked pretty good.
I grabbed a Wii game cover to scan because it’s nice and colorful, it’s scaled down to 1024×768 for the review but the original scan was 2549×3299 resolution.
One thing I didn’t see with the Pixma MX340 is the crop option like other scanners have, unless I missed it, but I looked for it.
You can also go in and change the settings of the scan though the ‘Specify’ option.
Faxing is just faxing, not much to say about that expect that it works fine.
One of the things with any printer I like to look at is the cost of the ink for it, and for the Pixma MX340 it’s actually not that expensive. The HP printer I reviewed not long ago had cartridges that cost about $35 each, while the regular ones for the MX340 cost $16 for black and $21 for color. You can also get the large capacity cartridges as well for $22 for black and $27 for color. I got those prices directly from the Canon website, so you most likely can find them cheaper other places.
If I compared this to the Epson WorkForce 610 then you wouldn’t find all of the features on the Canon that the 610 has like specialty printing options. The Canon Pixma MX340 is a no frills business printer, it’s built for speed and usability. That’s a good thing and a bad thing I guess, it all depends if you want or use all of the other features.
Conclusion:
If you’re looking for a printer that’s all about business then you’ll want to certainly take a closer look at the Pixma MX340. It’s a very capable printer that works fast and produces a quality print for both documents and photos.
The MX340 doesn’t have all of the features of other types of Multi-Function Printers, but it doesn’t need them really. The cute stuff like stationary etc is a nice feature but who really uses it all that often? I want a printer that prints fast and produces good quality results and the MX340 does that well.
For about $100 you’ll get you get a printer that is reliable and works well.
I ran into no issues with paper jams in my time with it, but that was only about three weeks, so it’s a bit too early to tell on that part.
Pros:
+Well made and designed
+High paper capacity
+Inexpensive really
+Ink is actually inexpensive
+Quiet scanning
Cons:
-Large in size
-Not much in terms of features for printing
-Small and limited LCD display
| Grades: | |
| Overall |  |
| Design | |
| Performance | |
This product was given to TestFreaks for review by the company for review purposes only, and is not considered by us as payment for the review, we do not, and never will, accept payment from companies to review their products. To learn more about our review policy please visit this page HERE.
I am ancient – just had my 90th. birthday – I need clarity and simplicity in reviews.
I am in the market for an all-in-one and your review was extremely helpful. Only one question was not answered – can I load a batch of 4 x 6″ glossy cards quickly and easily for making cards from Photos for family use ?
I am not as ancient as appollyon
) (I’m only 63) but I am retired from IBM and do a lot of “business like” printing/faxing/scanning at home for my volunteer work. I am researching printers online and comparing reviews. I am about to get a new printer. I do a lot of online review(s) and comparisons for many of my purchases. I like your style, layout (photos/video, etc.) and I agree with appollyon – I like the clarity and simplicity along with the completeness of your reviews. I am book marking your site. And, I am leaning towards getting this Canon MX340. I hope it prints envelopes effortlessly (one of my current problems)? Well done TestFreaks!
Just purchased the MX340 – for the notice the instructions are nightmarish – the wifi instructions are also complicated for the novice – however – since I’m fairly experienced with comp stuff the install was okay. I purchased this for my wife who just prints hobby stuff so it’s great. I prefer my Lexmark Prestige for work and flexibility. I thought the video unpacking would be interesting but not very helpful although I enjoyed the whole experience. Thanks.
Just wanted to thank you for the straightforward review on the mx340. was shopping in a store during a no tax event and found the printer on sale for 60$ no tax. was able to google the printer from my iphone and read your review on the spot. Helped seal the deal on the printer for my girlfriend and I and I am extremely pleased thus far. will definitely be bookmarking you guys for future review needs.
Dear Sir:
I bought a Canon PIXMA MX340 in Canada, now I has returned China carry it. In specifications ,power supply AC 100-240V,50/60 Hz. But its power cord is 125v, 7A.
Can I use the MX340 in China? If not, How to use it in China?
Hi,
Your review was great. Just scanned my first pict. Thanks for being so thorough…but the set up was REALLY quick and easy…just popped in the CD and away I went. There was one for Windows and MAC, which is great!
great and very thorough review. helped me make a better choice in my final buying decision. Have a networked HP printer currently and that one took hours of tech help to connect to my network so i’m hoping canon is better than hp. own a canon mp30 and that is a great workhorse printer/scanner , have had no issues.
great review! looking to pick it up today after shopping at office depot who has it on sale for $79.99 for a few more days.
I was curious about the size, it is huge! But if it gets the job done with simplicity and clarity then I’m sold!
Liked the review, particularly the macro shots of the text quality. That’s a nice touch you don’t see in many other printer reviews. Keep up the good work!
Can anyone please tell me if this printer has an Ethernet (wired) port for direct connection to my router? Thanks.
Is it compatable with windows 7? Have a scanner and a printer – nothing wrong with them – just not compatable with new computer. Need something quick and cheap, but decent. This sounds like just the thing, but am I wasting my money?
Hey Robby G, I bought this printer today and yes it does have an ethernet port for router connections.
Can this scan or fax when the ink or toner is low or empty?
I just bought this from amazon, and having tried to set it up, discovered it does not work with WPA/WPA2. As those are commonplace, and required for wifi certification, this seems pretty shoddy. Buyer beware.
Hey, I was trying to install the printer, but the computer won’t read the CD what should I do?
Huh, and today it works with my network. Looks like it supports WPA person, but not enterprise, and just didn’t see signal yesterday. I retract my earlier complaint.
Good video, you were quick about getting all the tape off, HP’s use lots too. One small correction however would be that you called the phone jack labled “L” a ethernet port. Its actually the phone line in jack. This machine does NOT support wired network. Wireless only.
Thank you for your detailed review…I was leaning towards this product, and you’ve sealed the deal for me, too. It’s on sale at Staples this week for 79.98.
My previous printer was a Kodak AIO ESP-3. Piece of total crap that required two print head replacements. They sold it on “cheaper ink cartridges”, but since I can get Canon replaced at Cartridge World, and Kodak is NOT at all cheaper even at full retail for either, this was a total waste of money for me.
I’ve had this printer for a little over a month. I do (did?) love it. it has a professional look, it certainly does print amazing quality images and text, and I like the wifo option, since there are 6 computers in my house, and we can each print direct to the printer without the need to have another computer “share” it. Also, I have the Canon app for my iphone, and printing directly to the device was a snap.
BUT…..
This morning, I have a complaint. I’ve run out of black ink. From all the alarms the printer started making, I though WWIII was going to break out. I wasn’t concerned though, I’ve done a LOT of printing, and I’ll just pick up a new cartridge today while I’m out. Except one problem…. I now need to scan what I printed so I can email it as part of a report. And guess what? Yep, you can NOT scan, fax, or otherwise use the machine at all when the ink is out. This includes all the functions that don’t even require ink in their process! (ie. scanning). This seems like a major flaw! Regardless of ink levels, you should be able to scan or fax! Or somehow say “OK” to the alarm so you can continue. This printer just dropped from a 9/10 stars to a 6/10 for this.
I bought the MX340 to be used mainly as a fax. Big mistake. You can only store 20 numbers for speed dialing or group dialing. I have to fax the same document to 40-50 numbers each morning, so the group handles 20 numbers and I have to dial the rest individually. I incorrectly assumed that no one today would manufacture a fax with such a low number of stored numbers, and the box does not give you that info. Surprise when you open it.
The instructions are not well written. When you call tech support, you get different answers from different people.
Printing seems to be good but not what I was looking for.
This is an incredibly solid and impressive review. For the last three weeks I’ve been reading printer reviews, but I’ve yet to come across one as thorough and helpful as this one. The level of detail is extraordinary; I can appreciate the amount of effort that must have went into this.
I spend a good 10+ hrs online every day, and I do a TON of product research. Prior to today I had never been to or even heard of testfreaks.com — but I’m bookmarking your site now, and plan to come back often for additional research.
Yes, the ink cartridge prices don’t seem too bad, but other review sites have mentioned that the monochrome cost per page is higher than average.
Do you do any testing in this regard?
Yes, the printer works very well. I do have a complaint though. Canon has set the printer up to say that you are running low on ink, automatically, even when it is not, after about 30 days of use. Even though I do not use color, it now says the color cartridge is low also. The whole system will shut down completely, forcing you to buy more product (Ink) when there is truely no need to buy it. I am actually going to return my Canon MX340. “Shame on you Canon!” Clients will buy ink when it is needed, not when you make them buy!
Does the copier work without it being hooked up to a pc?
Set up was simple except for setting up the fax. I only want to send (not receive) faxes and chose fax only, but the array of choices is confusing and not well explained in the manuals. For instance, what is TX/RX?
I tried to fax 4 pages from the ADF (which worked) but the line was “busy.” Fine, but then I tried set it up to stop “reports” but run two 3 minute interval retries and ran into trouble. After I retried sending (busy again) the display kept flashing “waiting for report” and “autoprint disabled.” I couldn’t get rid of it. “Stop” did not work. Could not get out of fax mode. The “In use/memory light” would not go off. I finally held the “ON” button down until the printer went off.
HELP!
Jan, a 2 second google search would tell you tx means transmit and rx means receive.
Canon mx340 is a garbage.
90% of the time the scan halts when I use auto document feeder for several pages scan in WIFI.
This will be the first and the last Canon product I buy. Cannot believe how it can still survive with such poor product.
Does the Canon MX340 have an ink monitor? I’ve spent an hour researching, and other than Jason’s and Randy Stubb’s suggestions that it doesn’t, I still don’t know. This particular feature is very important to me.
Is the CANON PIXMA MX340 compatible with Mac Air?
Best reviews anywhere – you’re my HERO!
I could have hired a calligrapher for the value of the time I’ve spent searching for objective reviews of printers that cost less than $100.
Reading your readers’ comments, I almost changed my mind – three times. But here’s what I’ve learned my research: all inexpensive printers have their irksome idiosyncrasies. The great thing about your site: better the devil you know.
Bottom line: I can live with the annoying ink tank issues if I can count on fast printing, reasonably priced ink, good resolution, clean scans. PLUS this printer’s on sale this week at Best Buy for $60 (cheap Canadian dollars).
SOLD! Canon owes you for this one. Thanks!