Canon PC 160

Canon is one of the biggest names in the electronics industry. The company has built a decent following with its good quality devices and useful after-sales service.

The Canon PC-160 is a monochrome desktop laser copier aimed right at the home office market, which is designated by the PC in the name. It doesnt have the large duty cycles of many other devices, so the prospective owner should be aware of that. It will handle a SOHO quite easily however and is sold as such.

Once the PC-160 is unpacked and connected to something, thats about it as far as configuration goes. It has a very simple set of controls and can be up and running in moments. It is after all a personal copier so is designed to be up and running as quickly and as painlessly as possible.

Copy quality is pretty good, we certainly have no complaints about its capabilities. The 600 dpi print driver produces text that is crisp and black. Images and photographs were well rendered with minimal banding and even toner coverage. Overall, the reproduction is easily good enough for business use, and is better than some other devices much more expensive than this one.

Toner cartridges are well priced at around $40 for 4000 sheet coverage. The cartridges also come in pairs, and threes if you want to save even more money. The cartridges are Canons patented one piece system, where the drum, toner and fuser are all included in the one item. This lowers waste and makes it very easy to look after. Changing a laser drum can be a pain, and an expense. With the PC-160 there are no such hassles.

The PC-160 is a good quality home copier that does exactly what it says on the box. Its simple to set up, simple to use and produces prints good enough for most uses. Running costs will be minimal thanks to the Canon one cartridge system. There are many personal copiers on the market right now at varying prices. The Canon PC-160 is a great example of what you can buy for a decent price if you shop around.