Help Looking for an All in one printer

[AndrewSNUG]

Hey this is my first post as I have just joined
I am currently setting up an office for my new business and am looking to buy an all in one printer with the ability to print, fax, scan and copy.
We have decided that a laser is the best option but I am a novice to everything else the things we would like to have cost permitting are,
2 trays for paper to allow us to have plain and letter head
A document feeder to allow multiple pages to be copied and scanned.
All recommendations would be appreciated
Thanks in advance
Andrew

 

[The IT Dept]

Andrew

My advice would be to avoid all-in-one machines. They do none of the jobs very well. And how often does anyone use a fax machine these days?

A decent scanner is useful if you are going to scan lots of documents - but the all-in-one machines will tend not to have such good scanners. So, you may wish to buy a separate scanner, which you can also use as a copier.

I would use HP for all office printing and scanning requirements.

The HP LaserJet P1005 is the base model laser printer at about £60, but may not have all the functions you require. See all of their equipment at www.hp.co.uk.


Michael Donkin
The IT Dept
http://www.computer-repair-chorley.co.uk/
http://www.computer-repair-blackburn.co.uk/
http://www.computer-repair-preston.co.uk/

 

Most Epson all in one products are good.

Earl

 

[Deleted member 34610]

I'd disagree, Multi Function Printers (MFP's) are a huge business. Some of the cheaper low end inkjet MFP's aren't so hot, but I've seen HP ones work well. As fax is still essential for some businesses I can see why you'd probably want it!

The cheapest laser MFP I've seen with a document feeder is the Brother MFC 7420 or the DCP 7045n at between £120-150, but I'm not confident about Brother (or Konica Minolta or Lexmark, from previous long experience). I'd go with Canon or HP, who do models from around £200 incl VAT. If you want a inkjet (lower quality output in mono, higher running costs, often less reliable) then the cheapest I'd go for with any sense of confidence is the HP Officejet J3680 All-in-One at around £55 incl VAT.

See ebuyer for more details;

• http://www.ebuyer.com/cat/Printers/subcat/-All-in-One,-Multifunction---Laser
• http://www.ebuyer.com/cat/Printers/subcat/All-in-One,-Multifunction---Inkjet

Hope that helps!

 

[BITS]

Hi,

I've got a HP LaserJet 3390 which does all of the above and you can also purchase an additional paper tray for it.

I've been running it for nearly 3 years and I have been very happy with all the functions - there will probably be a newer model available now.

 

I would be asking myself firstly what my monthly throughput (ie how many pages) is likely to be. then how many major documents I'd be intending to scan too.

If you are simply trying to cover every eventuality, then you will end up buying a printer/MFP which is way over-spec'd for your normal needs.

Would a little Epson DX4450 all-in-one suffice for your initial needs? If so, then I'd buy that and use the money saved in other areas of my business.

 

Would a little Epson DX4450 all-in-one suffice for your initial needs? If so, then I'd buy that and use the money saved in other areas of my business.

I bought the wife the DX4400 excellent little machine,does what it says on the tin and £39.99 in Staples.

Earl

 

[AndrewSNUG]

Thanks for the advice so far. We would be using the fax fairly regularly maybe upto 3 times a day, the amount of printing is roughly 300/week but we are looking to do as much over e-mail ass possible to cut down on cost's.

The scanning would be all of our post approx 5-10 items per day.

Are most of the scan features the same, i.e. save doc as a PDF, are the huge variations in quality?

My business partner is pretty set on a laser, is this the best option for the above needs?

 

[The IT Dept]

Andrew

Laser is by far your best option for that much printing. Much better quality, much lower per page costs.

I would agree with RG Bartlett that Brother isn't a good option - they seem to have an in-built destruct mechanism after 13 months - e.g. once the warranty has expired. Only a personal opinion, of course.

The other thing to consider with an all-in-one option is that if it goes wrong you've lost all your functions at once.

Why not get an all-in-one for faxing, scanning and copying and a laser printer for printing? You then have a backup printer as well.

Michael Donkin
The IT Dept
http://www.computer-repair-chorley.co.uk/
http://www.computer-repair-blackburn.co.uk/
http://www.computer-repair-preston.co.uk/

 

I think that, as Michael above me has said, you would be better off with a Laser for general printing, and an all-in-one for the rest.

To buy a laser MFP, with sheet-feeder etc will take you way up into a high price bracket.

 

[GlennLindley]

All in one's are good for saving space and generally take up the same space as a scanner would anyway. However I would combine it with a decent mono or colour laser printer as you will get bored real quick waiting for prints. Personally I would recommend HP for reliability and ease of use and set up.

 

[youbetcha1018]

Andrew

My advice would be to avoid all-in-one machines. They do none of the jobs very well.

Really? I have an all-in-one HP F380. And I just love its service. Btw, you mentioned that HP is good.

 

[AndrewSNUG]

o.k you guys are being a massive help we have now decided that we are going to go with the option of 2 machines an inkjet all in one that allows scan copy and fax and then a laser printer purely for printing.

Again do you have any recommendations

thanks

 

[flatpackuniverse]

I would strongly recommend going with HP, whichever models you choose to use. Having in a previous job installed and repeatedly redeployed hundreds and hundreds of printers for local authorities I found HP - inkjet, laser and multifunction consistently outperformed other makes over years and years.

In fact they were the only make that ever made it out the other end as a freebie to charities, all the other types were junked long before retirement.

 

[The IT Dept]

Hp for the laser printer.

And remember that they make their money on the toner cartridge - the printers are almost given away. You can spend from £60 upwards - but you get much much more for your money if you go slightly higher. The toners cost roughly the same whichever printer you go for (at the "lower" end of the market).

The P2010 is a much better printer than the P1005. Twice the price, but much more than twice the printer.

Michael Donkin

 

[AndrewSNUG]

Hey again
so we are going with a hp laser and for the all in one i like the look of the following 2,

Canon PIXMA MX310

Or

HP Officejet J5780

Now following the advice of the people here i think we should go with the HP.

If you have anything to add all advice is welcome

thanks

Andrew