Canon TS9120 Wireless AIO Printer, Gold, with PGI-280XL and CLI-281 Combo Pack

First thing, out of the box this printer looks great. When I started setting it up the process was extremely easy. The manual is well laid out and easily walks a non-technical individual through the steps that are required. The included CD which contains the required drivers can be used or the manual also provides a link where current versions of both the software and drivers can be downloaded. The complete process, installing the ink cartridges, software, and drivers took about 20 minutes. Part of this 20 minutes was the printer discovering that it had new firmware available, it downloaded and installed it without a hitch. This is time well spent as once completed, using it as a printer, scanner, or copier operation is smooth. The mobile app (iOS and Android) also works smooth and quick, adding the printer was painless. The whole process was simpler than any printer installation, other than another current Canon printer which uses the same software/app, I’ve done in recent years.. Reproduction quality is excellent, this thing does a beautiful job. It doesn’t matter what I send to it, documents, images, a screen capture of a map or anything else. The software does an excellent job of determining the colour correction needs to provide and great looking print without having to tweak any settings. There is a nice little program that comes with the complete driver/software installation for minor image manipulation that works and is easy to suss out. Printing out 4x6 images on the provided sample photo paper resulted in very nice prints. The colour depth and finish were excellent. Each print took about 35 seconds so not the fastest, but for a home printer this will suffice for me. ♦ ♦ ♦: I do have one problem that I am unable to get around, the printer will not see any images on an SD card inserted into the reader slot. I’ve tried formatting three different cards each as exFAT, FAT, FAT32, and even NTFS. I’ve put jpeg and tiff (formats shown as supported by the documentation) images on the various cards. then navigate through the screens to where it simply states that “Data of supported types are not saved”. I’ve had it check to see if theres a firmware update but nothing at this time. This is mystifying as all other printers I use including the other current Canon have no issues with the three cards or images that are loaded on them. I don’t use this onboard feature very often as I prefer to use image manipulation software like Photoshop rather than try to use the limited features that are typically found on printers but there are times when I just need to print a snap shot and be done with it. This is a real let down on an otherwise great home printer. Another negative is the size of colour cartridges. These things are petite. There are six in total which is why the colour reproduction is so vivid and it will also spread the load between 5 (the main black cartridge which is about double the size of the rest, is only used for B&W jobs) whereas a standard printer would use three colour cartridges. I like Canon and their printer products but these ink cartridges could be priced better. They have three size versions, normal, X large, and XX large all within the same physical cartridge. To me this means they just fill them to different levels and then charge according to the amount of ink in each version. Unfortunately, Canon doesn’t yet provide any stats on how many pages a cartridge is good for, not that I could find when searching. Printing speed isn’t the fastest but more than fast enough for average home use. The double-sided printing feature in this small of a package is nice and works well but again it’s slower when compared to larger machines. ► Where it really suffers a loss of speed is duplex printing, specifically the turnaround time between printing on the back side. ► Once the first page is printed it sits in limbo for 14 seconds before being drawn back in to print page two on the back side. ► Total time to print a two-sided colour document is 46 seconds, a very long period in today’s printer world. This wouldn’t be acceptable in an office. I was able to fit 75 sheets of standard print/copy paper into the bottom tray or about a dozen in the back mounted pop up feeder that can be used. In both cases adjustments can be made to hold different sizes of regular paper stock, envelopes, or photo paper. Canon doesnt provide any details here, how many sheets either one will hold. For printing images on photo paper, I found the top feed to be easier for setting up and centring the paper. This feeder this doesn’t work to feed several sheets at one time for scanning, sheets to be scanned need to be placed on the top glass the same as anything to be copied. Given the shortcomings listed above, especially the SD card reader not working, I’m having a hard time thinking of it as anything over a 3-star printer compared to others in it’s class.

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The setup progressed quite easily until I got to the scanner function. I looked everywhere on the Web for the driver software, but I could not find it. I saw several references to this software on Canon Web sites, but nowhere could I find the driver download program itself. Finally, a call to Canon solved the problem. They helped me install another program from which I could access the Canon IJ Scan Utility Lite software. I can’t understand why it wasn’t included on the enclosed disk or on the Web. Since I didn’t see any similar problems listed in other reviews, I guess I missed something. Canon tells me the printer has 6656 nozzles, but doesn’t direct me to the scanner’s driver software necessary for its operation. Odd! The scanner works fine. It is quicker and quieter than my dedicated scanner. But I I miss my stand-alone’s ability to scan negatives and slides. I guess I’ll have use my old scanner for those occasions. I spent considerable time trying to figure out how to install that ***** plastic panel that helps hold the paper flat in the bottom tray. If it is not installed correctly the paper won’t feed properly. Canon directed me to two small tabs in the tray. First, the panel must be placed under the tabs, and then dropped into position. I had not recognized the tabs at first. I had thought all those stems on the bottom of the panel had something to do with its installation. The tabs are quite tiny and are flat back against a flat black background. I’m thinking about painting the tabs white to help detect them (after the warranty expires, of course). I wonder if an easier mounting system could be used, such as one with round tabs inserted into round holes. As mentioned in other reviews, the bottom paper tray doesn’t hold much paper (only 75 sheets, I understand.) If the printer were a little taller, more paper could be stored there. Which brings me to another point: my previous printer had only a rear paper tray. If I wanted to print a photo and had plain paper in the tray, I would just remove the plain paper and replace it with photo paper. With the two paper trays included with this printer, I can use one for plain paper and the other for photo paper only. Convenient? Sure. But I’m not sure I don’t prefer the single rear tray configuration for all paper. Sure, I would have to replace the paper in one tray for certain print jobs, but I wouldn’t have to bother loading paper under the front of the machine, like with the TS9120. Out of habit, I almost caught myself adding plain paper to the rear paper tray. The Power button is located on the front cover, along with the LCD touch screen. The panel seems to float and is quite springy. No problems yet, but I’m wondering what would happen to this panel if I should press the Power button too firmly without first positioning my hand under it for support. I have not heard of any problems, however. I think I would prefer the Power button to be placed in the console rather than on this panel. The LCD panel consists of a black, piano finish, which is a magnet for fingerprints. I would prefer the finish to be flat, like that on the printer sides. The printer delivers sharper color prints than my previous 15-year old Pixma printer. But I would expect that. And the inks in this printer are more expensive. No surprise there, either. When I pressed the Off button on that previous printer that was the end of it. There was no further activity. When I press the OFF button on the TS9120, however, it first asks me if I want the paper output tray retracted. Then, if I select “Yes”, the paper tray retracts and the printer goes into a shake, rattle and roll mode. Finally, a lengthy pause occurs before the Power light eventually goes out. I guess that’s the result of new technology. Since I haven’t used the memory card or direct CD/DVD printing features yet, I can’t comment on their use. Although I appreciate the printer’s ability to print directly onto CDs and DVDs, I have to wonder how often I will use it. It looks like CD/DVD technology is on its way out. The 400 page manual is quite informative, but lengthy. I wish some of that legal mumbo-jumbo were placed in a separate document. Although I’m using a wireless LAN connection, I noticed that my previous USB cable, used to connect my old printer to my computer, does not fit this printer at the printer port. I would like to know the nomenclature of a replacement cable. The setup instructions required I enter IP4 and IP6 data for my router during Setup. Somehow, Canon Customer Service was able to circumvent this request. That saved me some research time. I have used the dual tray and duplex printing features and I am pleased with them. In addition, I am pleased to report that the text in scans and prints present a darker black image than my previous unit. Since I usually take landscape photos, I am anxious to see if the blue photo ink will improve my sky images, as noted.. I am concerned about how it will affect my portrait shots, however. I have received excellent phone support from Canon. I found their representatives to be responsive, knowledgeable, courteous and patient.

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It is the usual excellent quality Canon printer. I have used and loved Canon printers for almost 20 years at home and also ordered them for my office. BUT as others have said, the cost and availability of ink and the premature notices of of empty cartridges have made me very disappointed in Canon. I should have just ordered a 922 when my old one died after years of service. (Since Ive retired I didnt really need a business printer any more.) I dont mind paying a reasonable amount for a good quality printer. I do mind when 2 refills of ink in a 4 month period cost more than the printer itself. Meanwhile, Im taking my used cartridges in for recycling and hopefully within the next few months there might be some after-market ones available. If not, Ill buy a different, older model,and it may not be a Canon. Update 09/14/18: At long last, the after-market inks are starting to become available. Ive already spent more on replacement Canon ink cartridges than the $130 I paid for the printer to start, so happy to see the competitive arrivals. Have had to purchase two complete sets of Canon cartridges since I bought this printer. . And Im one who has owned Canon printers long enough to know to wait to purchase replacements. Canon used to charge fair prices for their ink cartridges but that time is over.

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