Canon Pixma MP540

The Canon MP540 is a multifunction device with an impressive specification.

It has two paper trays and a memory card reader, a screen on which to change settings and view images, and it can print, copy and scan.

The printer has separate ink tanks for each colour, which helps to even things out when it comes to buying ink (you don’t have to replace a whole tank for one spent colour).

As well as the usual colour tanks, the MP540 has a special photo black ink to improve the quality of pictures. The memory card reader allows users to print directly from a camera’s memory card without first having to transfer the pictures to a computer.

The device is quite large, but it is well constructed and all the flaps and doors have a robust look and feel. The screen sits on a hinged door on the top of the unit with all the controls underneath.

The MP540 was very impressive across the board in our tests. Text quality was exceptional even in draft mode, with a page of text printed in just six seconds, in quality that could easily be used for everyday printing.

At the highest quality text was even better, although it took a bit longer than we’d have liked at nearly 100 seconds for a page.

Photos were fantastic with exceptional colour accuracy and striking levels of detail. The prints were speedy here too with an A4 borderless picture printed in just under four minutes. A 6x4in picture at normal quality took just 40 seconds and even at this lower setting it was an impressive print.

The scanner produced great results with crisp detail and accurate colours. The supplied software was easy to use and a full A4 scan took just 21 seconds so like the printer, scans were speedy too.

Copies were quick and faithful to the originals and again fast at just 14 seconds for black and white and 31 seconds for colour.

For the price the Canon MP540 is a fantastic performer: its photos alone were worthy of high praise, but text, scan and copy quality excelled too.