Canon PIXMA MP990 Wireless Inkjet Photo All-In-One Printer (3749B002)

by Canon

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 18.5 x 15.2 x 7.9 inches ; 30.1 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 30.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B002M78HX6
• Item model number: 3749B002
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (149 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank:
  • #82 in Electronics > Computers & Add-Ons > Printers > All-In-One Printers > Inkjet All-In-One Printers
• Date first available at Amazon.com: June 17, 2003

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

The PIXMA MP990 is the ultimate Wireless All-In-One Photo Printer. You'll experience peak performance once it's taken out of the box and hooked-up. This unmatched quality begins with a built-in Wi-Fi capability that lets you print wirelessly¹ from anywhere around the house. You can also connect to a wired network if you choose via built-in Ethernet. Built-in Auto Duplex Printing helps you keep it green by automatically printing on both sides of the paper, which can help reduce your paper cost by 50%.  

Print from anywhere in the house quickly and easily! View larger

The PIXMA MP990 Wireless Inkjet Photo All-In-One touts a maximum resolution of 9600 x 24002 and boasts a six individual ink tank system that includes a photo black and gray ink for professional color and black & white photos. Its superior 4800 dpi3 high-resolution CCD scanner includes a Film Adapter Unit to easily scan 35mm film and slides. Plus, the White LED eliminates warm-up time for document and photo scanning. The PIXMA MP990's ease of use continues with a large 3.8" Color LCD, the Easy Scroll Wheel, Auto Photo Fix II, Auto Scan Mode4, Quick Start and computer-free printing through compatible USB Flash Drives5, Memory Cards6, IrDA7 , PictBridge and optional Bluetooth8 devices. All of this with a gorgeous borderless 4" x 6" photo that prints in approx. 20 seconds!9,10

Speed & Quality Superior Resolution: Realize the power of 9600 x 2400 maximum color dpi firing with 1pl ink droplet size. Incredible quality and detail in both your photos and business documents. Premium, Six Individual Ink System with Gray Ink: This 6-color ink system consists of five dye-based inks including a gray ink for unmatched Black & White photos. The pigment-based black ink also produces crisp, laser-quality text for documents. So, you only replace the color ink tank that runs out. Fast 4" x 6" Printing: Print a borderless 4" x 6" in approx. 20 seconds! ChromaLife100+: This system combines enhanced FINE print head technology with select genuine Canon photo papers and inks for beautiful borderless photos that will last up to 300 years11 when stored in an archival-quality photo album.

The stylish PIXMA MP990 will stand out anywhere in your home. View larger

Ease of Use Built-In Auto Duplex Printing: Keep it green and print on both sides of the page without the hassle of turning it over manually. This can cut your paper usage by 50% so you save time, money and paper - plus you're helping the environment! Film Adapter Unit: This included unit makes it easy to scan 35mm film and slides so you can reprint your most cherished memories. 3.8" LCD Screen: Easily view, select and edit your images for simple computer-free printing. No downloading needed, just pick your pic and print! Easy Scroll Wheel: Easily and quickly access and select the various features available for faster operation. Auto Photo Fix II: This built-in technology automatically categorizes your images into one of five types - Portrait, Scenery, Night Scenery, Snapshot with Scenery, and Snapshot with Night Scenery - then applies optimal image and multi-zone exposure correction. So, unexposed areas of the photo will be optimized, area by area and faces that are backlit and under-exposed will automatically be brightened with correct color cast to help ensure more accurate skin tones for gorgeous images. Auto Scan Mode: Automatically recognizes the type of original, then scans and saves the suitable settings. Beautiful & Borderless: Print borderless12, photo lab quality up to 8.5" x 11" 2 Way Paper Feeding: This feature lets you load paper from the front cassette or rear tray so whether your printing on plain or photo paper, you’re ready to print! Quick Start: Powering up your printer is now faster than ever. After pressing the power button you can begin inputting commands in mere seconds. So, full operation is possible in a much shorter time. Dual Color Gamut Technology: Copy with confidence as this built-in technology automatically optimizes your copy quality based on the type of original you’re copying to help your copies stay true to it.

Print 2-sided to save paper! View larger

Connectivity Built-in Wireless: Be free of the wires that bind youªÓ Print and scan wirelessly from any Wi-Fi enabled computer while you're in another room. Built-in Ethernet: This wired LAN interface lets you connect to a home or office network, with connected computers sharing the power of this versatile machine, each being able to display the printer's status at any moment. USB Flash Memory/Memory Cards / PictBridge/ IrDA & Optional Bluetooth: Don't feel like using a computer? No problem. Just insert your compatible memory card into the built-in card slot, select images on the LCD display, and print! Thanks to a PictBridge connection you can also print photos directly from your USB Flash Memory Drive, digital camera, DV camcorder or camera phone13. Plus, you can print from a Bluetooth-enabled device using the optional BU-30 wireless Bluetooth unit. USB 2.0 Hi-Speed: Plug the cable into your PC for a super-fast connection for your data transfers.

Print directly from memory cards. View larger

Features

 

What's in the Box?

PIXMA MP990 Wireless Inkjet Photo All-In-One

Document Kit: Cross Sell Sheet, Getting Started, Important Information Sheet, Network Troubleshooting Guide, Safety Environment Information, Setup Software & User's Guide CD-ROM, Warranty Card

Ink Tanks: PGI-220 Pigment Black, CLI-221 (Cyan/Magenta/Yellow/Black/Gray)

Power Cord

Print Head

Sample Media (PP-201 4" x 6"/5 Sheets)

 

 

Consumables

The MP990 is compatible with the following consumables: PGI-220BK, CLI-221C, CLI-221M, CLI-221Y, CLI-221BK, and CLI-221GY.
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Disclaimers
1. Wireless printing requires a working Ethernet network with wireless 802.11b/g capability. Wireless performance may vary based on terrain and distance between the printer and wireless network clients.

2. Resolution may vary based on printer driver setting. Color ink droplets can be placed with a horizontal pitch of 1/9600 inch at minimum.

3. Optical resolution is a measure of maximum hardware sampling resolution, based on ISO 14473 standard.

4. For network users, Auto Scan Mode is only available when scanning at a computer using MP Navigator EX software and selecting the 1-click feature then save to PC.

5. USB flash memory with security enabled may not be used. Requires an extension cable if cannot be attached.

6. Compatible memory cards include SD™ Memory Card, SDHC™, MultiMediaCard® , MultiMediaCard® Plus , CompactFlash® Card, Microdrive®, Memory Stick®, Memory Stick PRO™, Memory Stick Duo™ and Memory Stick PRO Duo™. The following can be used with the addition of a special adapter sold separately: miniSD™ Card, miniSDHCTM, microSD™ Card, microSDHC™, RS-MMC™ , Memory Stick Micro, xD-Picture Card®, xD-Picture Card® (Type M), and xD-Picture Card® (Type H).

7. Requires mobile phone or other device with IrDA port positioned no more than 7.9 inches from the printer.

8. Requires mobile phone (or other device) equipped with Bluetooth v2.0 technology and optional Canon Bluetooth Unit BU-30. Bluetooth operation depends on the device and software version used. Operating distance is approx. 10 meters but may vary due to obstacles, radio signals, locations where radio interference occurs, magnetic fields from microwave ovens, device sensitivity and/or antenna performance.

9. ISO/IEC 24734, 24735 define the default print and copy speed measurement methods. Print speeds are the averages of ESAT in Office Category Test for the default simplex mode, ISO/IEC 24734, excluding time to print the first set. Copy speed is the average of FCOT, ISO/IEC 24735 Annex D. ADF copy speed is the average of ESAT in General Performance Test for the default simplex mode, ISO/IEC 24735, excluding time to copy the first set. See our www.usa.canon.com/ipm for additional details.

10. Print speed measured as soon as first page begins to feed into printer. Copy speed is measured after the first page is ejected. Output speed will vary depending upon a number of factors. See www.usa.canon.com/printspeed for additional details.

11. Based on accelerated testing by Canon in dark storage under controlled temperature, humidity and gas conditions, simulating storage in an album with plastic sleeves. Canon cannot guarantee the longevity of prints; results may vary depending on printed image, drying time, display/storage conditions, and environmental factors. See www.usa.canon.com/chromalife100plus for additional details.

12. Supported paper types for borderless printing are as follows: Photo Paper Pro Platinum, Photo Paper Pro II, Photo Paper Plus Glossy II, Photo Paper Plus Semi-gloss, Photo Paper Glossy and Matte Photo Paper.

13. Requires mobile phone equipped with PictBridge technology and a USB cable.

Product Description

The PIXMA MP990 is the ultimate Wireless All-In-One Photo Printer. You'll experience peak performance once it's taken out of the box and hooked-up. This unmatched quality begins with a built-in Wi-Fi capability that lets you print wirelessly1 from anywhere around the house. You can also connect to a wired network if you choose via built-in Ethernet. Built-in Auto Duplex Printing helps you keep it green by automatically printing on both sides of the paper, which can help reduce your paper cost by 50%.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

287 of 291 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Holy Grail of AIOs?, October 4, 2009

By 

charlesn (New York, NY) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Canon PIXMA MP990 Wireless Inkjet Photo All-In-One Printer (3749B002) (Office Product)

Fair disclosure: I've had this printer up and running for less than 48 hours. But the early results have been so incredibly good, I felt a review was in order. If you, like me, have been on an endless search for an AIO that actually worked as advertised and could hold its own with minimal compromise vs. more task specific printers, then I believe your search has ended with the 990.

Setup: A+. I have two Macs, one a PowerMac G5 running 10.5, the other a Macbook Pro running Snow Leopard, both on my Airport Extreme (simultaneous dual band) network, and setup was about as close to plug and play as you could get. Just BE SURE that if you're running 10.6, you download all the latest drivers from Canon's website. The software CD packed with the printer is not updated for Snow Leopard.

Wireless Performance: As noted above, connecting to my home network was a snap. I've had no dropped connections over two days. Now, I've never had a problem printing wirelessly in the past, but scanning wirelessly and reliably? Forget it. At least, until the 990, which worked flawlessly on both machines from the first scan. You'd swear that Apple, and not Canon, had designed this hardware/software solution. Pop in a document, click scan, choose which computer you want to send it to and you're done.

Printing Quality: A. Superb quality on both black text and color graphics, and all reasonably quick.

Photo Quality: Haven't gotten into this yet, but professional reviews posted thus far indicate that the photo printing performance is excellent.

Scanning/Copying Quality: A. Scans and copies are incredibly good. Haven't tried negs or slides as yet.

Ease of Use: A. If Apple designed its own printer, this is how it would work. An amazingly intuitive interface.

I'll post an update after I've put it through its paces a while longer, but it's a definite 5 stars out of the box. Thanks for taking the time to read this review--I hope you found the info useful in helping you make a buying decision!

Update as of 10/16/09:

The Bad News: Within 2 weeks of posting my review, this printer has dropped in price by $100! Oh well... that'll teach me to be first in line to buy a new model! :-)

The Good News: I rated it 5 stars at $299 and I still think it's every bit as good as noted in my review. At $199, it's now a steal of a deal as well.

UPDATE AS OF 12/7/09

The professional reviews are now coming in for the MP990, and they're raving: Computer Shopper gave it a 9 out of 10, and [...] gave it Editor's Choice, stating that they had a hard time coming up with any "cons" for their conclusion. I remain totally satisfied after two months of use.

UPDATE AS OF 4/3/10

So, 6 months after purchase, do I still think this is a 5 star printer? Well, yes and no. The printer performance remains every bit as good as previously described. But the ink usage has been another matter. While I've owned a variety of other inkjets, this is my first Canon, and I feel it penalizes you more than other brands for light usage. After printing perhaps 2-3 dozen pages with color on them--and I'm talking very moderate amounts of color and no printing of photos--I've just had to replace all five color cartridges at a cost of $50 at Amazon discount prices. Do the math and you realize that this is a huge cost-per-page, driven by this printer's all-too-frequent automatic cleaning cycles of the print cartridges, which use up large amounts of ink whether you're actually priniting or not. Of course, all inkjets do this, but I feel this Canon takes it to a whole other level that just seems like a blatant cleaning of your wallet. That said, if you print color regularly, the ink usage may well be on par with the norm.

112 of 114 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars MP990 w/ Mac G4 on OS 10.4, December 22, 2009

By 

Steven L. Hirsch "poetsteve" (Washingtonville, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Canon PIXMA MP990 Wireless Inkjet Photo All-In-One Printer (3749B002) (Office Product)

I am running an old G4 as well as an aluminum Powerbook, both on Mac OS 10.4.11. I have owned the MP990 for about a month and I thought it was time to start my review. I will follow up as I explore the different features. I spent more than 14 months researching printers, scanners and all-in-ones before I bought this unit. I will try to explain my rationale so that this review can be of help to someone who likes to know everything about a product that they can before they buy like me. I had a bad experience with my last Epson RX600 which just up and died on me one day. The Epson always seemed to get clogged again and again unless I used it very regularly. I have a laser printer that I print most of my text docs to so the Epson was too finicky for me. I was dissuaded from Canon printers and AIOs after reading many of the previous complaints about older models, the bad chip issue with the first generation ink cartridges, the dreaded U150 error that so many of their models displayed. The fact that Canon printers require you to replace an empty ink cartridge before you can use the scanner is in my opinion a major strategic flaw in their marketing plan.

I have printed about 60 4x6 prints and 4 8x10 photo prints so far with this printer as well as a few text pages using the starter cartridges. My grey ink cartridge has just displayed the "!" warning that it is getting low. The other cartridges are soon to follow except the Pigment black cart which is quite a bit larger and is used more for text printing I believe. This confirms others' statements that you should stock up on grey ink carts as they are the most difficult to find and you go through them fastest. Amazon usually has them in stock. When my grey cart goes empty I will confirm whether or not the scanner and copy functions are operable or not and report back.

Installation and setup of the drivers on my Macs was uneventful and printer setup was simple, you just have to think about it a minute and proceed slowly following the directions; I downloaded the latest drivers and application installer from the Canon website and got the unit operating on Ethernet in short order; I connected it to the Ethernet hub I have connected to my Airport Extreme and so far have confirmed connectivity from my wireless laptop via this method, I have yet to run it through it's paces though and conduct relative speed tests between Airport and built-in wireless. I did not setup the built in wireless in the printer so I can't vouch for it's function yet. I did confirm that so far I have not been able to make the scanner function work via Ethernet connection using the Photoshop 'Import' plugin nor from the Canon "Solutions Menu" software utility, but after I connected a USB cable then I was able to use the USB plugin and got some nice reflective scans. Still exploring the available Canon color profiles to find an optimal profile for converting RGB scans to CMYK. The Canon 8800f scanner was my alternate choice if I was to go with a separate scanner and printer option. I felt good knowing that the same scanner element is used in this highly rated scanner as they use in the MP990. I would tend to trust Canon's optics over Epson's in any case. I am very glad though that I did not go with the separate component option and get the HP Photosmart 7560 along with the Canon 8800f. I saved myself some serious deskspace as well as money and I am not disappointed with the quality overall of this device at this point.

Plain and simple, this printer provides stunning photographic images, especially if you use Canon Photo Pro II paper, the best of them as per my research. The Canon has a 1 picoliter droplet size, smaller than the comparable Epson Artisan 1.2Pl droplet. I can't imagine getting better photos from another printer at this price; they are lab quality and as good or better than what you would get at any of the drop-off places. Copying works nicely via the nifty front panel display which is colorful and easy to read but the printer can take a bit long to prepare to copy or print before it actually does it. Definitely not 'instant on'.

My only issues so far with this Canon technology is the Easy-PhotoprintEX software that is installed. The good part is that the interface allows you to choose and select multiple images from multiple folders on your hard drive and batch them into one big "saveable" print batch job. The bad part is that depending upon the processing options you select (smoothing, noise reduction, 'Vivid Color' enhancement, layout et al) the software has to process and create a single print file for all of your selections in the batch before it will even start printing any photos. This may take a while because the software is PITIFULLY slow. Canon's software developers may be better at building software drivers and interfaces for Windows but the Mac suite is well-intentioned but frustrating to deal with. Better to make your batches smaller. Easy-PhotoprintEX does appear to automatically select the appropriate color profile for the selected paper and results from Adobe RGB 1998 files are very good. I will be playing more with printing directly from Photoshop as both RGB and converted CMYK.

To sum, so far I really like this printer/scanner even with the software issues and occasional inexplicable machine delay. If anything goes awry and/or I discover anything really cool about this MP990 I will let y'all know.

12/22/09: Confirmed that I can print from my laptop wirelessly to the MP 990 using the ethernet driver via Airport Extreme connection rather than by the printer's built-in wireless. Print speed is quite acceptable.

12/31/09: 1st Grey cartridge ran out after approx. 75-4x6 and 12-8x10 prints were done. The printer allowed me to finish printing the current job by pressing the OK button. When I pulled out the cartridge it was indeed completely empty. I am pleased that the chip on the cartridge is correctly reporting ink remaining status since I was concerned about that after all the previous bad reports in that regard. My magenta cartridge will be the next to need replacement.

3/5/10: After printing a few large technical manuals that used a lot of ink and then not using the printer for a few days the print head station for the Pigment Black tank got hopelessly clogged up. I ran the deep cleaning cycle 6 times or so and that used up more than 1 full cartridge tank and it still would not open up. I called Canon technical support, got connected to an english speaking person in Chesapeake,VA within 5 mins or so and within 10 mins of being on the phone with the guy and cleaning the pool of ink out of the print head, he stated that the print head should not be this clogged up after only a few months of use. He is sending me a new one on warranty. This should resolve the problem but I will let you know. Canon was prompt and professional on the phone and they did the right thing. I can confirm though that printing black text documents uses all colors of ink. I will likely need to replace most of my ink cartridges when the new print head arrives. Cleaning the print heads uses a huge amount of ink but the driver software fortunately allows you to clean only the pigment black station alone if you want. Did a few scans over the past weeks and I like the scan quality very much. Duplex printing is slow but it works. Canon software still slow and annoying.

64 of 69 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars PIXMA MP990, October 22, 2009

By 

James (USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Canon PIXMA MP990 Wireless Inkjet Photo All-In-One Printer (3749B002) (Office Product)

Today I received my new Canon PIXMA MP990 Inkjet Photo All-In-One Printer from Amazon. There is only one word to describe this printer: Wow!

After unpacking the printer, installing the drivers and software from the included CD-ROM, I updated the drivers and software for Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard from Canon's website. The Wi-Fi setup took about one minute and it has been working flawlessly all day.

Then I scanned a few documents and printed them out - the quality is just amazing.

There are six ink cartridges in total (in their installed order):

*Magenta (221)
*Black (221)
*Grey (221)
*Pigment Black (220)
*Cyan (221)
*Yellow (221)

There is a pigment-based black ink cartridge (220) that is only used for printing text. The rest of the dye-based ink cartridges (221) are used for printing photos. The text output is as clear or better than a laser printer, and the photo output is absolutely stunning IMHO.

If you are looking for a new printer for Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard get the new Canon PIXMA MP990 printer. You won't be disappointed...