🖨️ Review: Canon PIXMA TS9520a – A Versatile All-in-One Inkjet for the Modern Home
The Canon PIXMA TS9520a is an ambitious all-in-one inkjet printer that aims to be the single printing solution for busy homes, creative hobbyists, and small home offices. It distinguishes itself from the crowded market of standard AIOs with a few key features, most notably its ability to handle wide-format (11" x 17") printing. This review delves into its design, performance, connectivity, and overall value proposition.
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| Review: Canon PIXMA TS9520a – A Versatile All-in-One Inkjet for the Modern Home |
Design and Build: Compact Powerhouse
Despite its wide-format capabilities, the TS9520a maintains a surprisingly compact footprint (approximately 18.5" W x 14.5" D x 7.6" H), allowing it to fit comfortably on most standard desks without dominating the space.
User Interface: The printer features a bright, responsive 4.3-inch color touchscreen LCD that tilts for easy viewing. This control panel makes navigating menus, changing settings, and managing print jobs highly intuitive, even for complex tasks like copying or scanning.
Paper Handling: This is where the TS9520a truly shines. It boasts a 200-sheet capacity split across two input trays: a front cassette and a rear feed.
The front tray is perfect for standard letter-sized paper.
The rear tray is essential for specialty media, including photo paper, card stock, and, critically, wide-format (Tabloid/11" x 17") paper. This versatility is a major draw for crafters, students, and graphic designers.
AIO Functions: As an All-in-One, it includes a flatbed scanner and an Automatic Document Feeder (ADF) for multi-page copying and scanning, rounding out its utility for any home office task. It even features a built-in SD memory card reader for direct photo printing.
🎨 Performance and Print Quality
The Canon PIXMA TS9520a employs a five-individual-ink system (Pigment Black, Dye Black, Cyan, Magenta, Yellow). This combination of dye and pigment inks is crucial for achieving high quality across different print types.
Document Printing
Text is consistently crisp, sharp, and highly legible, thanks to the dedicated pigment black ink.
Speed: It delivers decent speeds for a home inkjet, rated at approximately 15 images per minute (ipm) for black-and-white documents and 10 ipm for color. This is adequate for most home and low-volume office needs.
Duplexing: The Auto-Duplex (two-sided) printing feature is a standard but valuable inclusion, helping to save paper and time on document printing.
Photo and Graphics Printing
Canon's reputation for photo quality is upheld by the TS9520a.
Color Accuracy: Colors are vibrant and faithful to the original image, with a high degree of detail. The dye-based inks excel on glossy photo paper, producing borderless photos up to 11" x 17".
Creative Versatility: The printer’s support for 12" x 12" paper is a huge bonus for scrapbookers and crafters. It even allows for direct printing onto compatible CDs and DVDs, a niche but highly useful feature for media creators.
📶 Connectivity and Ease of Use
Setup is generally considered easy and straightforward, guided by the on-screen instructions. The connectivity options are robust, offering maximum flexibility.
Wireless: It supports Wi-Fi for seamless network printing. Critically, it also supports Wireless Direct/Wi-Fi Direct, allowing you to print directly from a mobile device without a local network.
Mobile Printing: The Canon PRINT app for smartphones and tablets is reliable, enabling quick printing of documents and photos from anywhere in the house. It also supports popular services like Apple AirPrint, Google Cloud Print, and Mopria.
Wired: Standard USB and Ethernet connections are also available.
Note on Connectivity: While most users report an easy setup, a small number of reviews have noted occasional difficulty connecting to newer, more secure Wi-Fi protocols (like WEP 3), which may require a call to Canon support.
💰 Cost of Ownership
The primary drawback, typical for many cartridge-based inkjets, is the cost of ink.
Individual Inks: The five-tank system is convenient as you only replace the color that runs out. However, the standard-yield cartridges can be expensive and may require frequent replacement if you print heavily.
High-Yield Option: Users are strongly advised to opt for the XL or XXL high-yield cartridges to significantly lower the cost per page, especially for frequent users.
Upfront Value: Considering its wide-format printing, ADF, and excellent print quality, the TS9520a offers great value for its initial price point, especially when compared to specialized wide-format printers.
Conclusion: Who Should Buy the Canon PIXMA TS9520a?
The Canon PIXMA TS9520a is an excellent choice for a specific type of user: the one who needs more than a basic home printer.
It is the ideal machine for:
The Creative Hobbyist/Crafter: Its support for 11" x 17" and 12" x 12" paper, alongside its photo quality, makes it invaluable for scrapbooking, posters, and graphic projects.
The Home Office Professional: The ADF, fast speeds, and reliable all-in-one functions capably handle day-to-day document tasks.
Anyone Needing Wide-Format Printing: It offers tabloid (11" x 17") printing at a price point where this feature is rarely found in an AIO.
While the ink costs warrant planning (always choose high-yield), the TS9520a delivers a rare blend of versatility, high-quality output, and comprehensive features in a sleek, user-friendly package. It’s a solid, high-performing inkjet that justifies its place as a top-tier home and small office solution.