Canon G3200 MegaTank Review: We Still Haven’t Used Up the Original Ink

I thought retirement was going to reduce how much printing happened in our house.

My wife and I were both retired, our old printer was probably around 15 years old, and I figured the days of constantly needing printer ink were mostly behind us. For the small amount of home media work I do, the printer sits alongside my TONOR USB microphone and the UBeesize tripod I bought twice.

Then I remembered that adult children can move out without actually moving their printing needs out.

Two of my kids have their own places, and they still come here when they need to print something. One of them still lives here when he is not at school. Somehow, I remain the family print shop.

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That has actually made me happier with the Canon G3200 MegaTank I bought in 2025.

My short version: I bought the G3200 because I wanted to stop monkeying around with small expensive ink cartridges. We have printed ordinary documents and cardstock, my kids use it too, and I still have not had to refill the tanks. It stopped printing properly once, but Canon’s cleaning procedure got it working again.

Why I finally replaced our old printer

Our previous printer had been around for roughly 15 years and was starting to malfunction.

I was not eager to replace something just because it was old, but eventually an unreliable printer becomes more annoying than a new one is expensive.

The part of the traditional printer model I was especially tired of was the little ink cartridges. They are small, they are not cheap, and it always seems as if one color decides to run out at exactly the wrong time.

Why the MegaTank idea appealed to me

The G3200 stores ink in refillable tanks instead of relying on the little cartridge format I wanted to get away from.

Canon’s current support documentation for the G3200 identifies GI-290 ink, with a larger black tank and separate color tanks. The exact capacity numbers matter less to me than the ownership difference: I can see ink in the tanks, and I have not yet had to refill them.

When I bought it, I expected that to be partly because retirement would reduce our printing.

The kids ruined that theory.

My adult kids still come here to print

This has become one of my favorite little details about the printer.

My children are adults. Two have moved out. That does not stop them from coming back to Dad’s house when something needs printed.

I am fine with that. More importantly for this review, their use means the printer has seen more real household printing than I originally expected.

And we still have not run out of the original ink.

It has handled cardstock for us

We have printed on cardstock without a problem.

I am not claiming every weight and type of cardstock is officially supported or guaranteed. I am saying that the cardstock we have personally fed through our G3200 has worked.

That is the kind of detail I care about more than a giant specification table because it is something we actually asked the printer to do.

It did stop printing properly once

This has not been completely maintenance-free.

At one point, the printer stopped printing the way it should. I followed Canon’s procedure for cleaning the print head/system, and the printer worked normally again afterward.

Canon still publishes G3200 print-head-cleaning and system-cleaning procedures. I would follow the current Canon instructions rather than randomly pushing buttons because tank printers can use a meaningful amount of ink during deeper cleaning.

The important point from my experience is that the one printing problem I remember was recoverable without replacing the printer.

The exact G3200 is an older model now

Canon still maintains support documentation for the G3200, and the exact ASIN from my 2025 Amazon order still has a product page as of August 2026.

There are newer MegaTank models now, so someone shopping today should compare the current lineup instead of assuming an older model is automatically the best buy.

My experience is still useful because the part I bought it for—the refillable-tank idea—has worked the way I hoped.

Would I buy a MegaTank-style printer again?

Based on my experience so far, yes.

I am happy not dealing with little cartridges, the printer has handled what our household asks of it, and the ink has lasted longer than I expected considering that I apparently operate a satellite printing service for my adult children.

I would want to see how it holds up over more years before calling it another 15-year printer. So far, so good.

Canon G3200 FAQ

Does the Canon G3200 use cartridges?

It uses refillable ink tanks rather than the small traditional cartridges I was trying to get away from. Canon identifies GI-290 inks for the G3200.

How long has the ink lasted for you?

I bought mine in 2025 and, as of August 2026, I have not had to refill it. That is my household usage pattern, not a page-yield test.

Can the Canon G3200 print cardstock?

We have successfully printed the cardstock we tried. I would still check Canon’s current paper specifications for the exact stock you plan to use.

What did you do when the G3200 stopped printing correctly?

I followed Canon’s cleaning procedure, and normal printing returned. Canon still publishes official print-head and system-cleaning instructions for this model.

Is the Canon G3200 still supported?

Yes. Canon still maintains G3200 support pages as of August 2026, although the printer is an older model in the MegaTank family.