The Canon Pixma MP780 Photo All-in-One has a lot in common with the Canon Pixma iP4000, which is our current Editors' Choice for ink jet personal printers (February 2005). Built around the same engine, the MP780 is designed for photo printing, with five inks that include both a pigment-based black for standard printing and a dye-based black for photos. More significant, it delivers the same fast performance as the iP4000 and offers the same high-quality output. It even includes a PictBridge connector, so it can print directly from cameras.
As an AIO, the MP780 can work as a color scanner and a standalone fax machine and copier, and it comes with a fax driver, so you can fax from most programs. It lacks a fax utility, however, which means you can't send a fax from your computer except by sending a document from within another program. Setup is typical for an AIO that connects by USB 2.0, except for the minor annoyance of a registration routine that you can't end or bypass easily. Canon says this will be corrected as updated installation discs work their way through distribution pipelines.