The many benefits of a MegaTank printer

With super-low running costs and user-friendly features, Canon's MegaTank printers are perfect for busy home, office and student users. They utilise built-in, refillable ink tanks with exceptionally high-yield bottles rather than conventional cartridges. Capable of printing thousands of pages from a set of ink bottles, they will keep you printing for months or even years to come. This also means less plastic waste, as replacement inks won’t need to be ordered so frequently.

With a range of MegaTank printer models available, you can choose one that fits your needs and your budget. For use at home, whether you’re a student, a small business owner or a parent juggling the demands of homework, models from the PIXMA G Series offer high levels of efficiency, and, if printing speed is your priority, then the fastest PIXMA G3560 and PIXMA G2560 MegaTank models can save you time. The PIXMA G3560 comes with built-in Wi-Fi, as does the Cloud-ready PIXMA G3520, enabling you to print remotely from smart devices.

The PIXMA G2520, PIXMA G2560, PIXMA G3520, PIXMA G3560 and MAXIFY GX6050 are multifunction 3-in-1 printers, enabling you to print, copy and scan, while the MAXIFY GX7050 adds fax capabilities. But if you're just looking to benefit from the long-term cost savings afforded by a MegaTank printer, the streamlined PIXMA G1520 and new feature-packed Canon MAXIFY GX5050 give you a standalone printer without the scanning and copying facility.

Whether you're looking for an easy-to-use all-round printer for your family, a reliable device that can keep pace with your college deadlines, or a high-volume, low-cost printing option for your business, here are six reasons why a MegaTank printer will work for you.

The entry-level MegaTank printers (PIXMA G3560, G2560, G3520, G2520 and G1520) are all capable of delivering up to 7,600^1,2 pages from a single black ink bottle when used in economy mode, or up to 7,700¹ pages from a full set of bottles. These MegaTank printers also offer a rear-feed paper capacity of 100 sheets, so you can spend more time working and less time restocking the printer.

Geared more to the home office, the Canon PIXMA G5050, G6050 and G7050 give you an output of up to 8,300³ pages in economy mode from the black ink, as well as auto two-sided printing and a high-capacity front and rear paper feed totalling 350 sheets of plain paper for those really productive environments. The G7050 additionally has a 35-sheet auto document feeder and standalone fax capabilities.

For a busy, multi-user office environment, the Canon MAXIFY GX range of MegaTank printers is the perfect fit. Models include the MAXIFY GX6050 and MAXIFY GX7050, which deliver business-quality mono and colour documents with an average saving of 85% on the total cost of ownership compared to the top 10 laser and inkjet printers⁴.

For those looking to increase productivity and lower costs even further, the GM2050 and GM4050 are 3-in-1 mono ink tank printers capable of producing an 18,000-page yield from three black ink bottles⁵.

The significant cost savings and productivity gains delivered by Canon's MegaTank printers are not at the expense of print quality. For document printing, most PIXMA MegaTank printers offer rich colours from the dye-based colour inks, and exceptionally sharp document printing is achieved with the dedicated pigment black ink. Even very small text and white characters on coloured backgrounds will maintain a high degree of clarity. The MAXIFY GX6050 and MAXIFY GX7050, by comparison, use pigment inks for all three colours as well as black, producing highly durable and high-quality business documents that are water, friction and marker resistant.

For outstanding colour photo output, the PIXMA G550 and PIXMA G650 feature six dye-based inks. They deliver optimum quality with an extended tonal range and colour gamut.

Refilling the ink tanks of the MegaTank printers is a straightforward process that anyone can do at home or in an office. The integrated ink tanks are clearly visible at the front of the printer, so it's easy to keep track of ink levels. When they need topping up, you simply lift the easy-to-open colour coded caps and insert the ink bottles to inject the ink.

With their squeeze-free design, Canon's ink bottles make the refilling process clean and quick. MegaTank printers also benefit from uniquely shaped ink tank inlets. These inlets match the key-type nozzles on the newly designed ink bottles, eliminating the risk of injecting the wrong ink into the wrong tank by mistake. The specially designed bottles also automatically stop emptying when the tanks are full.

The Canon PIXMA G3560 and PIXMA G2560 both achieve a printing speed of 10.8⁶ ipm (images per minute) for monochrome documents, and 6.0⁶ ipm for colour prints. They make a great option when you have to hit tight deadlines. For even more urgent jobs, the 4-in-1 PIXMA G7050 offers up to 13⁶ ipm for black ink printing and 6.8⁶ ipm for colour prints, and also features a 35-sheet Auto Document Feeder for users who need to copy and scan multi-page documents with ease.

Taking print speeds to the max, the MAXIFY GX6050 and MAXIFY GX7050 are capable of 24⁶ ipm for mono and 15.5⁶ ipm for colour, the latter also adding simultaneous, double-sided scanning and full fax facilities, for quick and easy scanning, photocopying and faxing of double-sided documents. If you just want print functionality, the space-saving MAXIFY GX5050 delivers the same speed and quality as the other two GX models, but without the built-in scanner or auto document feeder.

For day-to-day printing, the PIXMA G3520, PIXMA G2520 and PIXMA G1520, with their 9.1⁶ ipm black ink print speeds and 5⁶ ipm for colour, enable quick document turnaround.

All MegaTank printers are designed to keep downtime to an absolute minimum. They come with an easy-to-replace maintenance cartridge, which makes it less likely that you'll have to send your printer away for servicing. You can track the maintenance cartridge usage via your PC or laptop printer driver, or via the Canon PRINT app (PIXMA G3520 and PIXMA G3560) or the printer screen (all except PIXMA G1520). The printer will notify you if there is a maintenance issue, so any errors are simple to resolve.

Both the Canon PIXMA G3520 and PIXMA G3560, along with a number of other models from the MegaTank range, feature built-in Wi-Fi. It’s easy to get connected and start printing from a computer or mobile device at the touch of a button. The PIXMA G5050, G6050, G7050, GM4050 and GM2050, as well as the MAXIFY GX6050, GX7050 and GX5050 also have Ethernet for networked environments that need a high-speed, stable and secure connection.

If you're working remotely and need to share documents with colleagues in the office, or if you need a hard copy of study materials for an online course, then you can access a Wi-Fi-enabled MegaTank printer over the internet from a computer or a smart device, and print directly from popular Cloud services such as Google Drive, Google Classroom, Dropbox, Evernote and more.

Controlling all your printing and maintenance needs from your smartphone couldn't be easier with the help of the Canon PRINT app, and there are other Canon apps that offer multiple ways to get creative at home. The Creative Park app⁷ has everything from paper art and customisable greeting card designs to party decorations and 3D models, while the Easy-PhotoPrint Editor app enables you to turn your favourite photos into stylish prints or unique gifts, with templates for calendars, cards, posters and more.

Don't want to download an app? With the exception of the GM2050 and GM4050, MegaTank printers are compatible with Apple AirPrint and Mopria for Android, so users on the same network as their printer can simply connect and print via their smart device's in-built printing protocol.

MegaTank printers can deliver high-quality documents and beautiful borderless photo prints⁸ in sizes up to A4 day in, day out – but they're much more versatile than that. The range supports a diverse selection of media sizes and types, ideal for business admin and much more, such as making business cards with matte and double-sided matte paper. The PIXMA G3560, G2560, G3520, G2520, G1520, G550 and G650, plus the MAXIFY GX6050, GX7050 and GX5050 can even produce 1.2-metre plain paper promotional banners. For home printing, MegaTank printers can make homework fun and provide hours of family entertainment. You can print your photos on a range of glossy and semi-gloss photo papers or Magnetic Photo Paper and even create Iron-on transfers.

Most of Canon's MegaTank printers⁹ feature a two-line LCD, which provides a greater level of detail about the printer settings. Not only does the screen make it easy to check the status of your printer and wireless settings as well as adjust print options directly on the printer, you can also check any maintenance requirements such as print head cleans. The screen also makes clearing errors simple by giving you clear instructions or codes that refer to the user manual for easy troubleshooting. The MAXIFY GX6050 and MAXIFY GX7050 also have larger touch screens for enhanced usability and management.

MegaTank printers have an automatic power off function to save energy when they're not being used and an Auto Power On option that enables you to start printing without having to press the power button first. This adds to their convenience, particularly if you need to print documents remotely to a Wi-Fi & Cloud-enabled model.


Written by Marcus Hawkins and Matthew Richards