Canon MegaTank Pixma G4280 Review

Canon lately launched the MegaTank Pixma G4280 all-in-one, a low-cost inkjet printer that refills with bottles as an alternative of cartridges. Which means that the ink lasts for much longer and prices considerably much less.

Worth just isn’t the one necessary consideration if you find yourself purchasing for the perfect printer. I went hands-on with the MegaTank Pixma G4280 to check print high quality and pace, make copies, and scan images to verify the automated doc feeder (ADF) and flatbed scanner.

specification

design

The MegaTank Pixma G4280 could be very compact for an all-in-one printer with an ADF. The footprint is 16.4 inches by 14.3 inches and is simply 8.4 inches excessive. Weight is 16.5 kilos, so it is easy to unbox and transfer.

The evenly textured physique in white works properly in a house workplace and each nook is rounded, softening the look. It is a tank printer, so ink ranges are seen at a look. The black tank is on the left aspect of the printer, with the cyan, magenta and yellow tanks on the proper.

The adjustable central management panel tilts 45 levels for straightforward viewing when standing or sitting. Canon gave the MegaTank Pixma G4280 a 2.7-inch shade touchscreen for straightforward menu entry. The controls additionally embrace buttons to make monochrome or shade copies with one contact.

The principle paper tray is on the again and holds 100 sheets. The ADF can deal with 35 pages at a time. Total, it is a good design, however the paper capability may very well be greater.

Print efficiency

The Canon MegaTank Pixma G4280 is fast for brief paperwork, filling the primary web page in about seven seconds. Inkjet printers needn’t heat up earlier than beginning, to allow them to beat laser printers in a dash.

For longer print jobs, I felt slowdown. Monochrome prints at a most pace of 11 pages per minute (ppm) and shade solely manages 6 pages per minute.

A quicker ink tank like Epson’s EcoTank ET-3850 (16 fn/min) or EcoTank Professional ET-5850 (25 fn/min)

That mentioned, shade and black-and-white paperwork look skilled, and the MegaTank Pixma G4280 helps borderless printing. Tremendous strains and small letters are sharp and simple to learn.

Picture high quality is sweet on shiny paper, however distinction is a bit of low. This drawback is most noticeable on plain paper the place blacks seem gray.

By mixing, it’s potential to enhance the standard of the image. For instance, selecting Matte photograph because the paper kind improves photograph high quality with plain paper.

There are higher photograph printers on the market, and a few are fairly reasonably priced.

Particular options

There may be an possibility for duplex within the copy settings, however the printer has what Canon calls semi-auto, which means I needed to manually re-feed every sheet to finish the scan. It really works, nevertheless it takes time.

If that you must copy double-sided paperwork typically, Canon’s Maxify GX2020 prices extra, however the full-duplex functionality will prevent lots of time.

Copy high quality is sweet and comparatively quick for a gradual printer. There are alternatives to cut back, enlarge and replica a number of pages onto a single sheet, saving on paper prices.

The flatbed scanner captures as much as 600 dots per inch (dpi), which is sweet sufficient usually. For images and negatives, it’s your decision a devoted scanner to keep up most decision.

Software program and Compatibility

Putting in the MegaTank Pixma G4280 took about quarter-hour and was fairly easy. I plugged in, scanned the QR code on the printer display to get the app, and pressed the join button to connect with Wi-Fi. There’s a USB-B port when you want to make use of a wired connection to a pc.

Canon ships the MegaTank Pixma G4280 with 4 full ink bottles, together with a big provide of cyan, magenta, and yellow, together with a double-sized black tank. The field additionally contained replaceable black and shade printheads.

Every part was clearly marked. I put in the print heads and stuffed the ink tanks in about two minutes. The printer warned me that the preliminary ink preparation takes about seven minutes, so I might be productive elsewhere as an alternative of ready for it to complete.

Like most main manufacturers, Canon printers are simple to connect with Home windows PCs and Macs. The Canon Print app permits printing and scanning from cellular units and Chromebooks.

PRICE

Canon’s listing worth for the MegaTank Pixma G4280 is $280, however the printer is commonly provided for $230. The low beginning worth could catch your eye, however the actual worth is within the ink, which Canon estimates is equal to about $1,000 price of ink cartridges.

The included bottles maintain sufficient ink to last as long as two years, equal to 30 black (PG-260) and shade (CL-261) cartridges. That is the kind utilized in Canon’s budget-priced Pixma TR7020a inkjet printer.

With full tanks, the MegaTank Pixma G4280 can print as much as 6,000 monochrome pages and seven,700 shade pages. Primarily based on present ink costs, which means every shade doc prices about five-tenths of a cent per web page, whereas black ink prices drop to two-tenths of a cent per web page.

Is the Canon MegaTank Pixma G4280 price it?

Canon’s MegaTank Pixma G4280 is affordable for an inkjet printer, however there are trade-offs to maintain the price so low. It’s slower than cartridge-based inkjet and laser printers and has a restricted paper capability of 100 sheets. The semi-auto-duplex ADF works, nevertheless it’s gradual and requires your presence all through the method.

Nevertheless, in case you are not in a rush, the MegaTank Pixma G4280 minimizes ink prices. It handles shade doc copies and prints superbly. Shiny photograph prints additionally look good.

Nevertheless, usually, there are higher all-in-one printers with twin full ADFs, and it can save you cash on specialty paper prices by selecting the perfect photograph printers that may print with good high quality on plain paper.

Which means Canon’s MegaTank Pixma G4280 can work properly in a house workplace the place you are not sharing the printer with co-workers, however the compromises make it tougher to suggest to the target market.