The Canon Color imageClass MF820Cdn ($1,299) offers good print quality and a full feature set as a workhorse color MFP (multifunction printer) for small to medium-size businesses. It brings enough to the table to be worth a close look, as long as speed isn't critical, as it's on the slow side for its price.
Design and Features
The MF820Cdn can print, copy, scan, and fax both single- and two-sided documents, print from a USB thumb drive or mobile device (the latter only if your network has a wireless access point), and scan to a USB thumb drive, network folder, or PC. It also works as a standalone fax machine and can send faxes from a PC.
Weighing 95 pounds and measuring 24 by 22.1 by 23 inches (HWD), the MF820Cdn is a large and heavy MFP. It's too big for a desk, and you'll want at least two people to move it into place. Its large, tilt-up front panel includes an alphanumeric keypad, a four-way controller, and a 3.5-inch color touch-screen LCD. On the side is a port for a USB thumb drive.
A 50-sheet duplexing automatic document feeder (ADF) lets users copy, scan, or fax both sides of multipage documents at up to legal size, scanning one side of a document, flipping it over, and then scanning the other side. A 550-sheet main paper tray and a 100-sheet multipurpose feeder are included, as well as a duplexer for printing on both sides of a sheet of paper. Up to three optional 500-sheet paper trays ($299 each, or $549 for three) can be added. Its maximum monthly duty cycle is 88,000 pages.
Similar Products
Dell C3765dnf Color Laser Printer
Dell Color Multifunction Printer - C5765dn
Brother MFC-L8850CDW
Canon Color imageClass MF8580Cdw
The MF820Cdn offers Ethernet (including Gigabit Ethernet) and USB connectivity. It doesn't support Wi-Fi, but you can still print to and scan from it from an iOS or Android mobile device if there's a wireless access point on the printer's network. Apps and protocols supported include Apple AirPrint, Mopria Print Service, Canon Mobile Printing, and Canon Mobile Scanning for Business. I tested the printer over an Ethernet connection with its drivers installed on a PC running Windows Vista.
This printer comes with several drivers: two Canon host-based (UFR II) drivers (one that supports the little-used Microsoft XPS Document Writer); two PCL drivers; and one for PostScript 3. Not all businesses need or use PostScript, but for those that do, a printer with a PostScript driver is a must.
Printing Speed
In its default duplex mode, the MF820Cdn printed out our business applications suite (as timed with QualityLogic's hardware and software) at 7.1 pages per minute (ppm). That's slow for its price and rated speed of 36ppm. It was a little faster in simplex (one-sided) mode, where we clocked it at 8.3ppm. In comparison, we timed the Dell C3765dnf Color Laser Printer at 8.3ppm in its default duplex mode and 10.1ppm for simplex. The Dell C3765dnf, our Editors'Choice medium-duty printer for small to midsize businesses, is rated at 23ppm for duplex and 36ppm for simplex.
Output Quality
Overall output quality is good, with average text and graphics and slightly above-par photos. Text should be good enough for any business use except those requiring very small fonts.
Graphics are of typical quality for a color laser. Colors are bright and well saturated. One illustration showed posterization, a tendency for abrupt shifts in shading, where they should be gradual. Thin, colored lines were faint. The graphics are good enough for any internal business use, and most people would consider them suitable for PowerPoint handouts.
The one issue of note with photos is that a couple of prints showed a slight reddish tint. Otherwise, colors are bright, and details are good. Photos should be good enough for use in company newsletters and the like.
Running costs for the MF820Cdn, based on Canon's prices and yield figures for toner and other consumables, are 1.6 cents per monochrome page and 13 cents per color page. The black-and-white cost is good for a printer at its price, while color costs are on the high side. The Dell C3765dnf's color costs are 1.5 cents per monochrome page and 10 cents per color page. If you print in volume, the Canon's higher color costs quickly add up. For 10,000 color pages, the MF820Cdn incurs $300 more than the Dell in color costs.
The MF820Cdn has better photo quality, and more paper-tray options than the Dell C3765dnf. But the Dell model is considerably faster, prints better graphics, and has substantially lower color costs than the MF820Cdn.
Conclusion
Although the Canon Color imageClass MF820Cdn doesn't bring quite enough to the table to unseat the Dell C3765dnf as Editors' Choice, it's still a strong product. Its multiple printer drivers, good output quality across the board, and generous standard and optional paper capacity make it worthy of a close look by smaller businesses that need to frequently print a mix of monochrome and color documents.
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