Printer / Scanner / Copier / Fax Combo Machines - Anyone Have One?

[Lee]

We have just been looking at getting some new office equiptment and rather than getting 4 individual machines to do all that stuff we saw some pretty smart looking all-in-one combos.

Does anyone have one of these at the moment and, if so, how do you find the quality of the printing / scanning?

Is it worth even getting an all in one or should we stick to 4 individuals?

Regards,

Lee

[chadknowslaw]

My expectations of those all-in-ones are poor. If you are not using any machine very much they might make sense, but if you plan to use your copier, fax, printer and scanner regularly you will not be satisfied with one machine that tries to be all things to all people.
In my office, every PC has its own laser printer, then we use a stand alone copier and a stand-alone fax. Every one of those machines gets a lot of use; I can't see one machine doing everything.

One thing to look at when buying office equipment is long-term costs of use. That bubble jet printer might seem like a good deal because it comes free with a package of #2 pencils, but it will end up costing you in the long run with $30 ink cartridges that need to be replaced every 200 pages. How much will replacement inks/toners cost and how often do they need replacing? How often will the mechanicals need to be replaced? [look at the duty cycle] Figure out how much use those machines get and then buy the machine that will fit your needs. You should not have to be replacing cartridges every week!
I have been happy buying good quality medium duty equipment, but here we definitely need separate machines as opposed to the all-in-one. Print quality is usually better with a stand-alone machine also.

[Madame0120]

I will never buy a combonation anything, unless it's from Wendy's. The unfortunate truth is, if you have a breakdown with one of the functions, you've lost not just that one machine's use, but the other 3.

I can work with just the copier down, but would be hard pressed to get anything done if my fax, scanner and printer down too!

[RainGurl]

have to agree with the others. I do have an Hp combo, but i've ended up purchasing a single copy machine, printer and scanner due to problems. it's pretty much an expensive fax machine now.

[patandsam]

I think it depends on what you’re going to use it for.

We have a HP PSC 2410xi photosmart all in one that works perfectly for our little operation. But, others may require more than we do.

It’s performed admirably for us though.

[Bec]

Funny you should ask ... I just picked up one yesterday. Can't comment on how good or bad a decision it was yet ... but I needed a new fax and copier and saw the HP Oficejet 4215 for under a hundred bucks so picked it up. On reflection, I'm thinking I should of maybe gotten the model that has the flat table for scans ... it was like 40 bucks more, the one I picked up is a feeder style for the scans and copier. Haven't opened the box yet, so might still do an exchange.

[Lee]

Well right now we are looking at getting the HP officeJet 7210 model.

We dont do much printing, only black and white forms and letters but we'll ocasionally do color prints for site designs / concept changes.

Our issue is that we're making the office completely wireless over the next few weeks as we refurnish it and didnt want to have a bunch of machines all sat in the corner with an even bigger bunch of power lines cluttering up the workspace.

Regards,

Lee

[AusCoding Allan]

Hey Lee,

In my office I have three HP laserjet Combo's, one laserjet printer and a standalone copier along with two inkjets. The reliability of the products is amazing, we have only had to have one of the four laser printers serviced in three years of fairly heavy use.

We print on average between copying and reports approximately 1000 pages a day with the bulk going through the combo machines.

We use two of the combos as faxes and we also use them for scanning as needed.

All in all we love our combos and they are fantastic, and our copier also has a network print and fax attachment which is fairly under utilised.

The main thing that we've considered is backups (if one fax goes down we always have another) and also the cost per page. Our costs per page rank from cheapest to most expensive based on ink, toner and paper are as follows.

1. Standalone Copier

2. Laserjet 1300n

3. Laserjet Combos

4. Inkjets

Hope this info helps.

Allan