Only-A-Child
The TS6120 is my third inexpensive Canon inkjet all-in-one home printer over the past six years. All three have similar size and mechanics, and Canon has had at least a decade to perfect the components. So while I cannot guarantee that the 6120s useful life will be identical it seems likely that will be the case. Accordingly I will provide a first-hand summary of the performance history of this basic design. With moderate home office use, about 200 sheets per month, they have worked fine for about three years and then without warning stopped working. They probably are repairable but the low cost of a replacement and any added features on a newer model make repair a poor option. Like the earlier ones this 6120 was easy to set up and the wireless connection for my Mac and print access from smart devices ( iPad, iPhone, Android) is pretty straight forward. Once I added the printer to my old ArcSoft PhotoStudio 4 for Canon package I was able to acquire images with the scanner, make the scans, and do basic editing to the acquired images. The dirty little secret of inkjet printers, however, is that the manufacturer makes their money not on the copier but on replacement ink cartridges. By your third purchase of replacements you will have more invested in OEM ink cartridges than in the copier itself. Canon rolls out new cartridges with each series because it allows them to enjoy a monopoly for a few months until generic cartridges make their way into the market. Even then it is not until several generic manufacturers are in competition before prices really come down. Bottom line is that if you don’t need the latest features on the newest models you can save a substantial amount of money by purchasing a model that has been out for a year or two. My first Canon used a 225 - 226 five-cartridge tank system, my one second one used a 245 / 246 two-cartridge tank system. The TS6120 uses a 280 / 281 five-cartridge tank system. There is no interchangeability. So you can see what is driving product development in the printer industry. I think the five-tank system prints slightly better color but you also spend more time replacing the tanks. Five tanks don’t really save you much money over two tanks as the three individual color tanks are used up at about the same rate. Although little of my printing is in color, the ink in the color tank(s) is mysteriously drawn down, just not as fast as the black tank(s). Apparently a small amount of the three primary colors is being mixed to produce black.
