Setup is almost as easy as plugging in a traditional ink-jet printer. We connected the C530 to our test PC with a bidirectional parallel cable, inserted the ink cartridges, and plugged in our phone line. The unit offers three RJ-11 phone jacks for line, telephone, and an answering machine. We loaded the ink cartridges by placing the color and black ink tanks into the print head, dropping the head in place, locking it in place with the blue lever, and pressing the cartridge key, which is exposed only while the cover is open.

This Canon model comes with a number of individual software elements. There are separate printer and fax drivers for outputting jobs from the PC. In addition, the C530 includes Status Monitor, which displays job status and error conditions; Send Fax Manager, which lets you monitor scheduled fax jobs; MultiPASS Toolbar, which provides a customized interface to common tasks; and Desktop Manager, a flexible interface that lets you manage your scanned documents and pass them to applications through drag and drop. This multitiered combination of driver software caused us some problems during our testing. On one of our test systems, we got an initialization error every time we printed, even though the print jobs always came out fine.

Two key strengths of this unit are its standalone fax and copy capabilities and its application software bundle. The C530 includes a complete fax control panel with 12 one-touch dial buttons and a number of software programs for a well-rounded small- or home-office solution. The MultiPASS C530 isn't really cut out for a high-volume environment, but it is a flexible solution for a home office. --Stephen W. Plain

Pros:

• Standalone color copying and faxing
• Copies, scans, faxes, and prints
• Broad software bundle

Cons:

• Slow printing and scanning
• Limited scanning resolution

The preceding review was written for the nonrefurbished version of this product.