Canon PIXMA G6020 All-in-One Supertank Wireless (Megatank) Printer, Copier and Scan with Mobile Printing, Black, Works with Alexa | Refillable Gi-20 Ink, Up to 6, 000 B and W or 7, 700 Color Pages, 250-Sheet, Duplex, Canon Print

I just received a PIXMA G6020 from Amazon and wanted to provide some information given the disparity of reviews I saw prior to making the purchase. This review is only about the initial process of setting up and printer performance. Set up Some of the reviews mentioned difficulty in setting up wirelessly, and I thought I might provide some details for potential consumers. First, Canon still provides a hard copy step-by-step instruction booklet which is helpful. Within the booklet are scan codes that can be followed or a web address to see a sequence of photographs that walk you through the setup process. I used this because some of the pictures in the manual were difficult to discern, but the photographs were very clear. Once the machine is set up and plugged in (no cables attached to any computers), Canon provides a web address which is very clean and easy to negotiate. A clearly marked “set up” button takes you to a page where you select the kind of machine you have. You’re supposed to enter some letters, but none of these are PIXMA. That was a bit confusing, but scrolling down you can see a G020 button and clicking on that opens up a window with a start button and a picture of the printer so there can be no confusion. Clicking on the start button begins the process of setting up from the pictures I mentioned above to downloading the drivers and joining the printer to the wireless network available in your home. The process went very smoothly with little input from me until an error message appeared which was associated with my Internet security system blocking the printer from the network. Importantly, there is a window from Canon during the setup process that warns you of this before it happened. As a quick aside, the hard copy manual was clearly adjusted to include anticipated problems people might have because there are several places where warnings about problems (both Windows and Mac) occur with suggested resolutions. I was impressed by that because often a set of documents are prepared and released without any consideration of problems consumers might have on their different systems. Anyhow, clearing the security issue, the download completed, and the printer was available on my computer already set up as the default. The wireless connection to my home network worked great. As I headed downstairs away from the printer and our router to our second computer, the process went equally well and again the printer was available for function on the second machine. Scanning Canon provides “IJ Scan Utility” as a rudimentary scanning software that allows you to direct the printer to scan documents or photographs. If you are scanning documents, multiple sequential scans are permitted (no document feeder, so you have to change the scanned pages yourself). These are combined into the same PDF when you save them. Both documents and images are by default loaded into a default Windows temporary documents folder which gratefully pops open when you are done. Otherwise, you would have no idea where your documents or images went. That’s a bit of a drawback because I could not find a way to change the default download folder, but since it opens, a quick drag-and-drop remedies the situation. Printing and copying I agree with the other reviewers that the panel on the printer should’ve been backlit because it’s hard to read. Printing quality is good and fast, although I did not try any pictures. The copying function is simple as well. Just put the document on the scanner and click either the “black” or “color” button on the panel of the printer itself to produce a copy of the document. Bottom line At least initially, this machine was exactly as advertised. It was straightforward and easy to set up, contained warnings and resolutions where they expected you might have trouble and then produced high quality printed documents. Some may not like that you have to interact with Canon via the web to get everything set up wirelessly, but to me it seemed like a really good way to ensure the process went smoothly which was the case for me. Hope this helps everyone if you’ve been on the fence about what printer to buy given the many bad reviews that this and less expensive printers have. So far, this one completely met my expectations. If the machine fails in the future, I will update the review.

UPDATE TWO YEARS LATER: Continues to work flawlessly. I still have not had to add ink after two years of frequent usage! One small problem was that the black ink quit printing three days ago. After doing two deep cleanings using the maintenance option, selecting the black ink only option, it finally printed perfectly in black again. I have only had it a day, so here are my immediate impressions: THE BAD STUFF #1-The manual they give you with this is so ridiculous you can just throw it away and go on Youtube. The teensy weensy pictographs are so impossible to see any details. I had to go on Youtube to see how those C&B printer heads snapped into place. Those universal wordless manuals are such a pain. Why not make them in printed English? And make the pictograph instructions bigger and more detailed for clarity for heaven's sake! #2- It's nowhere near as luxurious as my ten-year-old plus Canon Pixma MG5300 with the indispensable auto-flip-out print tray to catch my printouts when they are finished. The G6000 has a cheap manual pull-out tray not much wider than a horse's tongue. Because of the manually extended paper catcher, the printer takes up a lot of space, so I cannot leave it sticking out for fear of someone brushing against it as they pass by and breaking it. Since the printer sits across the room, I have to run to the printer to pull out the paper catcher, wait for it to finish, then close the paper catcher so it won't get bumped. With my (very old) MG5300, which still works perfectly by the way, all I had to do was close the front door which is the paper catcher, after retrieving the printout. #3- Tiny LCD screen that is not backlighted and very difficult to see. THE GOOD STUFF #1- It was easy connecting it wirelessly. I did it from the printer's control panel in less than 45 seconds. #2- The ink is so darn cheap in comparison. I just spent $95.00 for the color (CMY) and black ink cartridges for my MG5300, and that's every 5 months, and I don't do much printing. #3- It prints very nicely. For the price, it is well worth it. If it lasts as long as my old Canon MG5300 I bought in 2012 I will be happy. Eleven years of flawless work and still going in another office! Canon builds them strong.

I have always used cheap factory refurbished Epson printers most of my life and for the most part had really good luck with them. I wanted a ink tank printer because I hated replacing those ink cartridges so I decided to try this Canon Pixma... My friend had insisted I should buy the Canon so I did...Big mistake! Most of my printing needs are basic which include, shipping labels, and an occasional document or picture so I didn't really need an expensive printer but I decided anyway to shell out the $200 and get what I thought would be a quality printer that would last me for a while. When I first took this Canon out of the box I could see a one major problem...It has this tiny little black and white LED screen that isn't even backlit so every time a message comes up I had to get up really close to this little screen with a flashlight to see what was going on. I have constantly had problems with print errors where you would have to read the tiny messages and most of the time just pressing OK would get it to run again, Almost every time I would print anything there was a 5 to 10 second time delay before it started up, sometimes it would just disconnect from my PC for no reason at all and I would have to do a reboot to get it to print. I very seldom made color copies but I would occasionally run a color print every couple of weeks just to keep it from clogging up, I guess now maybe I should have done this more often with this printer because it has completely lost its ability to make a color copy. Now (The last straw) all the sudden something has caused this printer to stop communicating with my PC. I have tried everything to fix this problem but I'm now at my wits end with this D*MN! printer so I'm going to toss it in the dumpster and get me a Eco-Tank Epson with a nice big backlit screen.

The Canon PIXMA G6020 is a very printer and it is replacing a cartridge-based HP printer for which I have not been able to buy ink cartridges for several months now. The amount of ink that is in the “Supertank” ink reservoirs is impressive and I have read that it contains about the same amount of ink as 84 ink cartridges! Even if it is a small fraction of that, the economics of buying a big bottle of ink for $12 vs paying twice that much or more for a much lower capacity ink cartridge is obvious. In fact, just two complete ink cartridge replacements on my previous HP printer would pay for this new Canon printer and all the ink that came with it (one of each color and three bottles of black)! I am so glad to get out of the paying big $ for ink cartridges, assuming you can even get them. Print quality seems fine, but it is a bit slower than the HP I am replacing. Others have complained about the small LCD display on the control panel that has no backlight and that complaint is understandable. It seems out of place on such an otherwise nice printer. It is hard to read without a flashlight in most circumstances, but that is not really a significant problem for me. I was concerned about entering my long Wi-Fi password on that display during setup using the minimal keys on the control panel, but I didn’t have to. By logging into Canon’s setup wizard, it found the printer and used the Wi-Fi password from my laptop without me having to even enter it. It did ask permission. The printer was ready to use in minutes with minimal effort. After using it a few days, I noticed that I had to use the control panel to turn on the printer to print from my laptop. Not convenient. However, I found that if by going to the Options and Supplies button on the printer queue app, it allowed me to open a webpage where all the printer control options could be seen and changed. Turning AutoON meant that the printer now turns on when it sees any print job, and I set the AutoOff to 30 minutes. Very handy. About the only thing I think I might need the minimal LCD display for is setting the number of copies in copy mode. Pretty much everything else can be done from the printer webpage or the dialog box that appears when one goes to print. I really like the option of a second paper source as well as it can be a pain to unload and reload the everyday paper from the main tray to print something on high quality paper. Yes, I was pretty mad at HP for essentially turning my HP printer into a boat anchor when I could not buy the needed ink cartridges, but I think I ended up in a much more sensible place with the Canon Supertank printer. I hate to think about how much money I have spent on ink cartridges in the past.

I am a landman so I travel extensively in the field and need to produce documents swiftly and efficiently. I chose this printer to try and find the best fit for size, print speed, scanning (no sheet-feed but size vs how often anyway?) and print quality. I rarely use the duplex function but it is handy if a bit slow. A 32 page 8 1/2 x 11 document double sided onto 16 sheets will take over 5 minutes but it is ready to staple. I typically produce legal documents, aerial maps, engineering drawings and other exhibits which tend to devour cartridges and make my misc. costs noticeable. This printer paid for itself in 3 months. However, it is a but too bulky for my Craftsman or Dewalt travel pack out systems. I left it in the camper all summer near the project and had no issues since it did not need to be moved much. Come fall I got an Epson Mega-tank and it was just slightly smaller (at a loss of duplex). It fit the Dewalt packout so I transferred the Canon back to my home office so it didn't freeze. I sent the Epson to the field and the next day I need to print an exhibit right as I am ready to head out the door for the week and I am behind schedule. I turn to the Canon and find that the color is mostly clogged. It had been a month or two since I last used it so I did the cleaning and deep cleaning and could not unclog the print head. Frustrated, and with no time to mess with it anymore, I flipped it off and left it under the desk upside down and took off to the field for the week. Upon returning and being much calmer... I righted the offending peripheral and it seemed good to go for the abuse. All the various trays withstood impact with the vinyl floor and after sitting a full 180 degrees upside down for 4 days there was no leaking or lost ink. This thing is a solid machine and I'm glad it doesn't leak. As to the clogged print head, I began delving in the forum on Canon and I find they sell replacement print heads but they were currently sold out. Hmmm... Not to be deterred, armed with a degree in Electrical Engineering more than a few years ago I dove in. It was actually pretty easy to follow the cave man drawings under the printer top and pop up the hinged upper seal and slip out the respective print head as you would a cartridge from before. Then I cleaned it using cleaning agents with que tips or dipping in a small reservoir, dried it well with a paper towel then replaced it and did a clean then deep clean with sketchy results but after several cycles it began printing fine once again. As with all printers, steady use is needed to avoid this. I guess it is good to know for a cost you can replace the print head. Now I'm thinking it might be good to have a back up.

I needed to replace an old Canon PIXMA printer that had failed with a cryptic error. My criteria for a new printer were: "mega" tanks -- even though my ink cost wasn't terrible high, but the individual price of cartridges was irritating Both a front cassette and a rear feed for paper. It is a mistake to assume that a printer has both. Suggestions that envelopes and photo paper would be put in the cassette seemed ridiculous for my needs. A flatbed scanner. I own a separate autofeed scanner. WIFI connections, and compatability with Apple AirPrint, and Chromebook printing. The Canon G6020 had all of those items plus: Two sided printing, auto "off" with network wake up, a 250 sheet cassette, and USB and LAN cable connectors. It also seems to have sensors for everything; for example, when either the cassette is inserted, or paper is added to the rear feed, the printer prompts for paper size verification. (Fortunately, the prompt for paper size and type can be turned off.) The printer also comes with what must be an almost a lifetime's supply of black ink. Photo printing is very good, though slow on "best" photo mode. The printer has can present a net "home page" for many setup and status functions; the default password is its serial number. Cons: The LCD screen is tiny and dark. At the very least, it should have a back light. I found the LCD Menus are confusing. Setup can be a little confusing. I ended up using the manual mode for configuring the WIFI connection. (Thank goodness for WPS, entering a password on the LCD would have been problematic) There is a cautionary notice warning to transport the printer upright lest some ink were to spill. The tanks seem well capped, and probably wouldn't leak, but I am not about to test it. Summary, Once setup and connect, the printer is great. It is definitely fast enough for home use and all of the printing that I have done has been sharp and unbanded. The black ink is pigment based and seems to be waterproof; the color, dye based, and will bleed slightly when water is applied. A major consumer magazine down-rated this model compared to others costing significantly more, and oft times having fewer features; most of the magazine's quibbles seem simply wrong in this case. Replacement ink from Canon on Amazon seems extremely reasonably priced ($17 for 170ml / 5.75oz of black ink, $11 for the 70ml of color ink.) Added Note: Others had complained, and I encountered... I had an issues with the printer's wifi connection, which I believe that I have resolved. My router was set to use a "smart" choice between 2.4 & 5Ghz (both using the same SSID) for device communication. I suspect that this was causing problems with the printer's 2.4Ghz only network chip. The problem seemed to clear up when I disabled the "smart" feature on the router; nonetheless, I decided to run a cable from the router to the printer and change the printer's LAN setting to use that. I have had no problems since. Though I am not using a mesh router, I could see this being a problem with some of those too.

I received this printer recently. It was extremely well packaged. Set up was a breeze except I found the method of entering the password to grant it access my wireless network to be pretty laborious. Fortunately my 28 character password only contains a mix of numbers and upper case letters it made it somewhat easier. The printer came with one each bottle of cyan, magenta and yellow ink, as well as three bottle of black ink, of which only one is needed to fill that tank. Each tank is designed to hold the full contents of each bottle, so no worries about over filling and having ink run all over the printer. Care should be taken when lifting the empty bottle up from the tank to ensure no ink drips onto the printer. I did have a problem with the Canon printing program that came with the printer. When using it to print photos, both the version that came with the included CD as well as one I downloaded from Canon's web site refused to print a photo. Each time I tried I got an error message saying "A problem occurred while printing". That's it. No error code, no clue to help track down the problem, nothing. Fortunately my graphic editing programs work with the printer so I can print photos. The photos are excellent. To my eye the colors are true to form. I've printed on 8x11 photo paper with no problem. I didn't bother to time how long they took to print, let's just say less then a minute each. Text documents come out nice and crisp. Photo paper is loaded into a feed tray on the back of the printer. I think it holds about 10 sheets at a time. I really can't recall. The front Control panel does flip up and must be in this position in order for the printer to work. The printer has a relatively small foot print and doesn't take up much room on my computer desk. Over all I'm very happy with this choice. I had a Kodak ESP3 printer that worked fine until I upgraded my operating system to Windows 10. After that Windows no longer detected my printer and Kodak stopped supporting that series so I could find no new drivers for the printer. As soon as I connected the Canon to my network, Windows hit on it right away. A word of warning. If you intend to connect this printer to your computer via USB, it does NOT come with the required cable, so be sure to order that at the same time.

UPDATE: 14 weeks after purchase 23373 pages later - The printer died. Coincidentally the Warranty was for 1 year or 20000 pages which ever came first. Not bad I suppose. At about 23000 pages I started getting warnings that the Ink Absorbers were almost full and then I started getting paper jams and 6004 errors. Eventually the 6004 error became permanent and nothing I do will clear it. Factoring in the Printer, Ink, and paper it was about 850 dollars with tax, thats about $0.0363 per page to print. I could have also done it a lot cheaper if I used 3rd party ink and amazon basics paper. 3-star rating still stands as even if it didnt die from 6004, the infamous Ink Waste Absorber 5B00 error was right around the corner. I bought this printer to print a large number of PDFs of old D&D books I bought from DriveThruRPG. This was to basically make my own reprints of books that are now expensive collector items. I've printed just over 4000 pages in the 11 days since I've bought this printer. Its easy to setup using the included CD disk, although a USB cable WAS NOT INCLUDED! You will need to buy or provide your own. I did not use or test the Scanning or Copying capabilities of this printer. I mostly used 20lb or 24lb paper but did experiment with 30lb paper and 100lb card stock. I recommend only using 100lb card stock with the rear loader. The print quality is not too far off of a 6K USD Ricoh laser printer my office has though this Canon printer is obviously much slower. You need to tune the color settings for every picture if you want it to look like it does on screen. Also Inkjet printers are much more sensitive to paper quality and weight compared to laser printers so if you plan to print a lot of nice pictures or art you will need to spend way double on higher quality paper compared to Color Laser printers, though color laser printer toner(ink equivalent) is about 2-3 times more expensive so it balances out a bit. Speaking of Ink, This printer is advertised to get 6K pages per bottle of Black Ink and 7700 pages of color for a set of Cyan, Magenta, and Yellow Ink. I went through about 3.25 bottles of Black Ink, 1 bottle of Cyan Ink, 1.3 bottles of Magenta Ink, and 1.1 bottles of Yellow Ink over the course of 4000 pages, This is to say I've needed to refill every Ink in well under the stated claims. You get about HALF(0.5x) the page count or color prints and about one FIFTH(0.2x) the black page prints that is advertised. For most people this printer is fine at $200, but understand the 6020's limitations and look over the print specifications very carefully before buying. The only jams I had were strictly due to not unloading the output tray and were fixed within 5 minutes or less. If you print heavier paper or light paper that warps from being over saturated with ink with pictures or heavy borders, you will want to empty the output tray after 30-40 pages. If you are printer mostly text or things that dont warp paper and are using 20 or 24lb paper you can get away with around 60 to 80 pages in the output tray before it jams up. This is very important to consider when you are printing like a 300 page document. You cannot just print it and walk away for 6 hours unless you dont mind it jamming up and canceling the print after 30-80 pages depending on what you are printing.