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Tour
Like the Epson PictureMate series, the mini320’s design incorporates a cover for the control panel, which also serves as a paper support. The mini320’s cover folds in half when it’s open, making it less obtrusive than the Epson PM printers.
Front
When closed, the narrow front of the printer shows simply a gray panel edged with white plastic. This panel is actually a combination door/paper tray that covers the output paper path when closed and holds the prints (sort of) when opened. The paper path is visible at the bottom of the front, while a spring-loaded release switch sits at the upper right for opening the top of the printer to gain access to the cartridge.
Back
The rear of the mini320 simply contains two features. The most prominent is the handle, which sits flush against the printer when not in use and can be slid out when needed to carry the unit. The handle is made of stiff, strong, white plastic.
Two small plastic covers, one inch by one-and-a-half inches in size, can be removed to reveal the connections for the optional battery.
Left Side
The panel that dominates the left side of the mini320 is the same silver-gray color as the front panel. This side does not open and features only the power connector socket at the bottom left, toward the back.
Right Side
All the important ports are clustered on the right side of the printer, surrounded by the silver-gray panel. The top center features the memory card slots, with the CompactFlash slot on the bottom and the SD/MMC/MS slot on top. The LED to the left indicates memory card status. The plastic square to the right of the cardslots serves as an IrDA port for wireless printing from phones and PDAs. Below this at the bottom sits the PictBridge port for connecting compatible cameras, and to the right of this sits the USB port for connecting to a PC.
Top
With the cover closed, the top of the mini320 is a simple white rectangle just long of a square. The edges of the door are visible around all four sides of the top, as is the central hinge running through the middle. A window just slightly larger than the LCD screen sits in the center just over the screen, enabling the user to see the screen when the printer is on and the cover is closed. The Canon logo is emblazoned at the top center of the cover, and the Pixma logo at the bottom center. The door release button sits at the front left corner, and the indicator lights shine in the front right corner. Two lights, one indicating power on and the other indicating error messages both shine blue.
Interior
Opening the printer requires using the release switch behind the front door / tray. Once open, a blue arm to the left locks the door in the open position, like a car’s hood. Closing the door requires lifting the door and pulling the bottom of the arm forward to release the lock.
The inside of the mini320 features a wide opening for accessing the CLI-36 printer cartridge. Simplified installation and removal instructions are printed on a sticker to the right of the opening.
Components
Display (7.00)
LCD displays are one of Canon’s strong suits. They’ve included a 2.5-inch, high-definition, TFT LCD display with the mini320, which provides good image viewing quality with a nearly 180-degree viewing angle. The screen tilts to afford the best angle for the viewer. The size of the screen is adequate to get the job done, but the printer is large enough to accommodate a larger screen, which would make this printer a lot more competitive and appealing.
Paper Trays (6.50)
Compact printers call for compact paper trays, and the mini320 delivers. Most of the company’s other compact photo printers—the Selphy CP line making up most of them—have external paper trays that are difficult to use. In addition, they are in addition to the printer, which means that it’s another thing to carry around and fiddle with when traveling with the printer or moving it around.
The mini320’s input tray is just a well at the top rear of the printer, and the Paper Guide can be slid in to snug up against the paper. As mentioned previously, the printer cover serves as a paper support when open and folded back in place. The printer can accommodate up to 5x7-inch paper (a size not accommodated by most of the competition) and a maximum of 20 sheets.
The output tray leaves a lot to be desired, but this is the case with nearly every compact photo printer we’ve tested, except for the Hi-Touch Imaging S400 and 731PS. Although the trays on these printers are additional components, they’re better designed and provide secure slots for both input and output. The mini320 just uses the front door as its output tray. It does partially keep the print off the table surface, but its long narrow shape perpendicular to the exiting dimension of the paper doesn’t fit or hold the paper very well. Perhaps a folding tray akin to the folding top would provide better print-catching and -holding abilities.
Power supply
The mini320 uses a standard external AC adapter and power cord, both included with the printer.
Battery (5.00)
Canon does offer an optional battery for the mini320, available on the company's website.
Internal Memory (4.00)
The mini320’s buffer only features 42 kilobytes of RAM, a piddling amount compared to other manufacturers’ offerings, such as the HP Photomsart A626, which features 64 megabytes of RAM.
Multi-Tasking (2.00)
Not much multi-tasking is to be done with the mini320, other than queuing jobs from a PC.
Hard drive (0)
No hard drive is available with the mini320.
CD Burner (0)
The mini320 does not have the capability to read images from or write image files to a CD. At this point, just a few compact printers can do that; this includes the new Epson PictureMate Zoom.
Accessories (6.50)
The majority of accessories available on Canon’s website for the mini320 include paper. Twenty sheets of 4x6-inch Photo Paper Pro are available for $8.95, twenty sheets of Photo Paper Plus Glossy are available for $5.99, fifty sheets of Photo Paper Plus Semi-gloss are available for $12.49, and 120 sheets of matte paper for $12.99. Credit-card-sized paper and photo stickers are also available.
Users can also expand wireless printing with a Bluetooth adapter available for $79.99 on the Canon website ($49.99 with a rebate as of 9/20/07).
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