Before the pandemic, getting a printer was probably the last thing on your mind. After all, you didn’t have a reason to print everyday and there was always the office printer, which was free.
But when we all got locked down and you had to print your kids modules/worksheets or needed to submit a hard copy of your documents, and the computer stores were also closed, that’s when you realized how important it is get your own printer.
So if you really want a complete work/study from home setup, might as well include a “get a printer” in your “must-buy” list.
In this feature I’ll share with you our unboxing, setup and initial impressions of the Canon Pixma G3010.
The Canon PIXMA G3010 arrived in a very large red and white box.
Opening the box reveals just how secure the printer unit has been packed. Its encased in a corrugated styro with several compartments and wrapped in a clear plastic.
There’s a power cable included as well as a USB cable to attach to your PC or Laptop for wired printing.
You’ll also find a set of four INK bottles The big one is Black while the other three are Cyan, Yellow and Magenta. Each are properly coded and labeled so you won’t make a mistake when pouring them in their separate tanks.
The Black and color ink cartridge heads.
This is one setup where you need to familiarize yourself with the parts to help you in the setup so be sure to read the Manual. Canon also included a installation CD should your pc still have a dvd drive.
Canon included everything you need to setup this printer–all you need is some paper!
Here’s how the printer looks like–Gorgeous isn’t it? The Canon G3010 isn’t the most compact printer but its well designed device you wouldn’t mind displaying on your shelf. It comes in a clean matte black finish that makes it look classy on your desk. All the buttons are arranged on the right side where you will also find an LCD screen.
The external paper tray and paper output tray can be folded easily so that the internals of the Pixma G3010 can be protected from the dust and makes it easier to store. And since the INK tanks are built in there is no unsightly extensions preserving the printers boxy look. The ink tank windows also allows you to see how much ink is remaining so you can buy your next set way ahead of time.
The Canon G3010 is a multifunction printer that also works as a scanner and copier!
At the back part of the printer is the main power port on the left side while the USB port which you can use for wired connections. The printer buttons are big and properly labeled and as you can see on the right side it has a small LCD screen to let you know the status of the printer.
Time to open it up and start the setup and installation of the ink.
The first step is to remove all the orange tapes including this orange bar below in the picture so you can open the print cartridge compartments.
With that bar removed you can now open the print head locking cover entirely.
Take out each print head from their package and remove the labels as well as the protective tape on the bottom.
Insert the C (color) print head on the left and the B (black) print cartridge on the right.
Make sure not to bump them against the surrounding parts. Close the print head locking cover and push it down.
Now press down those both blue buttons completely to make sure they are secured.
Lift up the scanner cover then close it completely. Now its time to connect the power cord. (DONT connect any other cables)
Press the ON Button and confirm that the Ink Icon and 0 are displayed on the screen.
Once that is done its time to pour in the inks!
Open the cover again to reveal the ink tanks. Grab and remove the tank cap of the ink tank. Hold the ink bottle upright and remove the bottle cap.
Insert the nozzle of the ink bottle into the inlet and stand the ink bottle upside down. Pour all the inks into their separate ink tanks. Again they are properly labeled and color-coded so you shouldn’t have any problems. Fill the tank up to the upper limit line indicated by the arrow.
Replace the tank caps securely. When you’ve finished filling up all the tanks close the scanning unit cover again.
Once that’s closed press the BLACK button and confirm that the INK icon disappears. This step takes about 5 minutes. So while waiting, get your smartphone and head over to the Google Playstore or App store and download the Canon Print and Easy Print apps.
For PC/Laptop you can download the installer from the official Canon website www.ij.start.canon. Just follow the easy instructions to connect the G3010 printer.
With the Canon Print App you can control the Pixma G3010 using your phone to print, copy and scan without having to use the printer’s buttons.
You can quickly print photos and documents via the Canon Print app, but if you want to print multiple photos on one page you can do it with The Easy Photo-Print Editor. The App also lets you print borderless photos, create collages, calendars, stickers business cards etc. All you have to do is choose a template and select the photos you want to include in the printout.
The Pixma G3010 is one of the most efficient all around printers and can print up to 7000 pages in color and 6000 pages in black/monochrome. You can also use it even without a wifi connection thanks to its Direct connect capability.
To test out the printing performance of the Pixma G3010 printer, I printed several pdfs, documents and our own photos in various sizes. I do love how it supports borderless printing and the colors, well, they are even better than the quality I print out from the nearby computer shop. Unless you are planning to print hundreds of pages at a time then the print speed is actually good enough. It only takes a few seconds to transfer data from your phone to the printer before its begins printing and it takes a minute or so to print an entire page of photos, which again is okay for most users.
Scanning and copying are also easy to do so if you plan on digitizing your photos or documents, the G3010 makes it easy.
So far I’m enjoying the Canon Pixma G3010 and it works and delivers as advertised. If you are a freelancer, a small business owner or a mom with kids this is definitely best options in the market and the quality and versatility it offers makes it worth the purchase. Take note though that it doesn’t support MacOs, but I think there’s another Canon printer for that.
Visit the Canon Authorized Stores near you! Follow the Canon Online Stores as well in Lazada and Shopee and join Canon’s Viber Community for exclusive promos and offers!
#PIXMAPrintBeyond #TeamCanonPH
You can read the full review in our column The Technivore on Business Mirror HERE.
