Canon PIXMA G1220 MegaTank Review, Pros and Cons

The Canon PIXMA G1220 MegaTank brings printing convenience at hand. Featuring refillable ink tanks with super capacity, it is among Canon’s innovative printers that allow you to cut running costs and improve productivity.

Being a single function printer, the G1220 is extremely easy to use. With a simple control panel and a variety of print options, it makes a perfect device for home environment and small businesses. Whether you want to tackle text documents or photos, this printer has got you covered.

Canon PIXMA G1220 Design and Layout

The G1220 is among few printers with super stylish design. At a glance, I don’t feel it is part of the Canon family because it doesn’t have those round edges that have been found in most Canon printers. Instead, it has straight edges that accentuate a fresh look.

This model is made from premium quality plastic material that promises sturdiness. With a robust construction, it does not rattle during operation. Trendy combination of gray top and black bottom plastic cover makes a perfect focal point in your workspace.

Operating this device won’t be a big deal, even if you are a beginner. Thanks to simple button panels housed on the top of the device that allows easy printing experience. However, this printer does not feature LCD display for easier control and setup.

The G1220 is a great space saver. It measures 5.4 inches high by 17.6 inches wide by 13 inches deep, allowing the device to fit into small space on your bench. However, the depth increases to 22.2 inches during operation so you have to make sure the area is clear.

Overall appearance of the G1220 is fantastic, from premium quality material to color combination to straight forward design. Not surprisingly, it will be a focal point in any given room.

Print-Only Printer for Home Use

Canon’s G1220 is a single function printer, which means it comes with print functionality only. Without the support for scanning and copying, I expect the manufacturer can focus on optimizing its print performance.

I don’t have much to say about printing technology. This inkjet printer supports color and black output with maximum print resolution up to 4800 x 1200 dpi. It comes standard to provide you with high quality print result, both for text and photos.

There are tons of features to meet your specific needs of printing. You can take benefits from this device for printing documents, photos, business card, label, and greeting card. Additionally, it also supports borderless printing with maximum size of 8.5 inches by 11 inches.

Tolerable Print Speed

Print speed is not the best side of the G1220. Despite the manufacturer claims fast print speed, I found its rating is below-par. Compared with its MegaTank counterparts like Canon PIXMA G3260 and Canon Pixma G2260, this printer fails to impress me.

Canon rates this model at 9.1 pages per minute for black and 5.0 pages per minute, which is quite slow for printer in its class. Meanwhile, the G3260 and G2260 come with higher print ratings up to 10.8 ppm and 6.0 ppm for black and color consecutively.

However, I can confirm that the G1220 is not the slowest printer I have ever seen. The fact that it is made for home use and small businesses, this speed rating is quite tolerable no matter what.

Just-Enough Input Capacity

Most entry-level printers come with relatively low input capacity and Canon’s G1220 holds this tradition. It is equipped with a rear input tray that enables you to load up to 100 sheets of plain paper. Or, you can also load up to 20 sheets of 4 x 6 sheets for photo printing.

This paper capacity is just enough for home environment and small businesses with low print volume. You can easily handle everyday printing tasks without reloading the paper every time you want to print. As with other entry-level printers, it offers neither bypass input tray nor automatic document feeder.

When it comes to media size, the G1220 supports a variety of size options. You can print on paper as small as 4 inches by 6 inches up to Legal. This model can also handle 5 inches by 5 inches (square) size as well as US #10 Envelopes.

Additionally, it is compatible with a wide range of paper types, from plain to glossy to matte. For creative projects and artworks, the G1220 lets you print on restickable photo paper, magnetic photo paper, and cardstock.

Canon PIXMA G1220 Output Quality

The marketing materials boasts that the G1220 has the ability to produce sharp black and vivid colors for documents and photos. But considering this is an entry level printer for home use, I tried not to expect too much.

After some tests, I came to a conclusion that Canon’s G1220 is worth the thought. It might be designed to handle everyday printing tasks at home environment but its ability to produce high quality output is just amazing.

It works great with text since it produced well-shaped characters without peculiar spacing. Even when I tried with small fonts, the text was highly legible and easy to read. Not to mention it showed crisp black color, with a quality close to laser printer.

On another test with snapshots, the G1220 impressed me a lot. Thanks to hybrid inks that allows the device to produce crisp, vivid, accurate colors. Although the photo quality is not even close to consumer grade photo-centric printers, it’s more than enough for your hobby and kid’s art projects.

Overall, I’m happy with dependable output quality brought to you by the G1220. Without the need for purchasing costly five-ink printers, you can enjoy excellent results for text and photos.

Refillable Tanks, Innovative Ink System

As the name suggests, the G1220 MegaTanks highlights refillable tanks with ultra-high capacity. Compared to conventional ink cartridges, these tanks offer 30 times more capacities. That means it offers higher page yield and lower print costs.

The G1220 comes with four individual ink tanks (CMYK) that are housed at the front of the printer. It employs pigment-based black ink and dye-based color ink, and is compatible with GI-21 ink type. While the black ink bottle is able to produce up to 6,000 pages, the color ink bottle makes up to 7,700 pages.

The refillable ink tanks are supported by new technology of ink bottles that allow easy refill. Each bottle has a specific design that makes sure you fill into the right color. The technology also enables you to refill inks without hassle as it stops once the tank is full. It’s spill- free and hassle-free.

Single Connectivity and Included Software

Much to my surprise, the G1220 doesn’t support wireless connectivity. The one and only interface is Hi-Speed USB that promises reliable connection with your PC. But still, the lack of Wi-Fi or Bluetooth means it’s impossible to connect the printer with your smartphone.

Enough with connectivity, let’s move to software. Every purchase of this printer includes printer driver, Easy-PhotoPrint Editor and PosterArtist Lite. The two least mentioned software allows you to edit and enhance photos before printing.

It is pretty obvious that the G1220 does not support mobile printing because it cannot be connected to smartphone. But you can enjoy included software to level up your photos.

Canon PIXMA G1220 Pros and Cons

The G1220 might have a long list of pluses that catch your attention but it also has a few drawbacks to consider. While choosing the right printer doesn’t come easy, the following pros and cons will help you out.

Canon PIXMA G1220 Pros

• Refillable MegaTank

This printer features four individual tanks that boast ultra-high capacity. These tanks are easy to refill, thanks to new bottle technology that stops when the tank is full. The bottles are color-specific so it’s unlikely to refill into the wrong color.

• High Quality Output

While many home printers deliver average print quality, the G1220 offers high quality output for text and photos, both monochrome and colors. Printing paperwork, presentation, or art projects are getting easier with this device.

• Modern and Compact Design

The overall appearance of Canon’s G1220 is quite similar to the G2260 that offers straightforward design. With small footprints, this printer fits into small space on your workbench.

Canon PIXMA G1220 Cons

• Relatively Low Print Speed

Rated at 9 pages per minute doesn’t make the G1220 impressive. For a printer in this price range, I’m pretty sure that Canon could give a better speed rating to this model.

• No Wireless Connectivity

Hi-Speed USB is the only interface brought by this printer. In term of modern printer, lack of wireless connectivity can be a huge minus.

Final Verdicts

To summarize, the Canon PIXMA G1220 MegaTank is a home use printer with a single function. It comes packed with inkjet printing technology and hybrid inks that promise high quality output. Despite the low print speed, this model can be a great option for home use.

Who is it for? If you are looking for a stylish printer with reliable output, this printer won’t let you down. But if you are coveting a wireless printer with a bunch of software compatibility, the G1220 won’t make you happy.