Printer/scanner/photocopier Combo

[slippery when wet]

I would like to purchase a combo printer/scanner/photocopier soon but not to sure what make and model is the best for limited home use.

I would like to spend approx £80.00/ B 5000-6000.

What would you recomend and why?

Thanks....slippery

[Deke]

I bought a Lexmark X6170 a few months ago that I'm quite happy with. In addition the the printer/scanner/copy functions it also works as a stand-alone fax machine.

My only criticism is that the plastic housing seems kind of flimsy.

[visarunner]

Hello , in the last three years I used a Canon MPC190 n since 1/2 year a HP 6120.

Honestly I would not buy "all in one" anymore, because if one feature is broken ,the whole device needs to be brought to the repair shop and is not available for you.

With both devices I have no good experience.

If you still go ahead with a "all in one" pls consider the option for scanning. My HP can't scan passport,WP so a fladbed scanner would be suitiable .

[markuk]

Hello , in the last three years I used a Canon MPC190 n since 1/2 year a HP 6120.

Honestly I would not buy "all in one" anymore, because if one feature is broken ,the whole device needs to be brought to the repair shop and is not available for you.

With both devices I have no good experience.

If you still go ahead with a "all in one" pls consider the option for scanning. My HP can't scan passport,WP so a fladbed scanner would be suitiable .

I have a HP all in one, never had any problems and works fine. Would recomend it and within your price range.

[Artisan]

I wouldn't consider buying a "combo" as I don't think that these all-in-one devices perform as well as a single-function unit. They do each job only fairly and scanners are so cheap these days anyway. Why would anybody need a scanner and a photocopier? With a scanner, you can save an image to your computer and with a printer you can obtain a hard copy.

[paulfr]

I love my all-in one HP Color Printer/Scanner/Copier/Fax.

Saves space in my home office and works great.

I have the HP 5510 and paid 9000THB at Pantip. 2 years now an no problems.

I just bought another near identical newer version for my son and it was only 7000THB.

It is a light duty unit not intended for high volume office/business usage. If I was a professional photographer, maybe I'd want a separate scanner but doubt it.

HP has a small shop/outlet at the Silom Complex.

Coming in from the skytrain, walk in and to the left. See a music store on the left, and walk around to the right. There is a small hallway and it is down on the right side.

[autonomous_unit]

I think it costs more than you specified (something like 20k THB), but we got an HP 7130 and are pretty happy with it after almost 2 years. I chose it largely because I knew it worked with Linux, and because it is pretty full featured: auto sheet feeder, legal size scanning and copying, duplex printing, etc. I even picked up the optional LAN module one time on a trip to the US and that made it easy to share the printer/scanner between computers.

With these all-in-ones, you get a more low-to-middle range scanner and printer than if you buy separates (in terms of resolution). However, the standalone flatbed copier mode, with sheet feeder, has been convenient for doing accounting, taxes, work permit, visa extension, etc. It includes the usual features like reducing larger pages onto smaller ones, adjusting contrast, etc., all from the front-panel. The scans are pretty decent, but I think the lamp may be fading a bit now.

I am not sure we use it enough to keep the printheads "wet", or maybe I should have read the manual for proper moving instructions before I threw it in the box and moved it by car. I think the color printhead is printing a little unevenly, and I do not look forward to replacing that expensive item. However, I do not really print photos and such, and it has been performing well for basic office printing tasks.

[tjo o tjim]

I would recommend against the all-in-ones, unless your usage is extremely light for any of the functions, and the primary goal is to save space rather than money.

They are slower than dedicated devices, less reliable, and whichever function you use the most breaks first.

I think the minimum you can spend for a good unit is 10-12k, but you might have better luck.

[fisherd3]

I had a Brother all in one with ink jet printing, I was paying about 400bht a month to fill the ink tanks as it has to self clean every little while which uses ink and when it runs out of ink nothing works.

So I would say no to a colour inkjet unless you have a lot of money.

This is actually why printers and the like can be so cheap so they can stitch you up with ink refills.

Edited April 12, 2006 by fisherd3

[ianc66]

I have had an HP1410 colour scanner/printer/copier for about eight months cost about 3900 baht absolutely excellent.

[~G~]

Using a Brother DCP-115C (Printer / Scanner / Photocopy) that cost me around 4,000 baht in Office Depot. Pretty good. We don't use it heavily, new to replace an ink cartridge every 3 months or so.

[~G~]

Why would anybody need a scanner and a photocopier? With a scanner, you can save an image to your computer and with a printer you can obtain a hard copy.

Makes it very easy to work with documents. Why need the scanning feature? To sign an Invoice, scan it, and send it by email costs nothing, using fax takes more time plus you have the cost of an international call. Photocopy? there are countless occasions you need to make a quick copy of an original document, having a photocopy machine is redundant if you don't use it much, and stepping outside for making a copy is too time consuming.

[Carmine6]

Canon Pixima MP780 inkjet. Little pricier than what you're looking for, but they have cheaper ones in the same line that have less features. Has the same photoprinting guts as one of their dedicated photoprinters (ip4000? I think), so photos look fantastic. Regular color printing looks great too.

It has both a flatbed and automatic document feed (ADF) scanner so you can do flatbed work, or scan a stack of pages in. I use both features all the time. Not as good a scanner as my dedicated Epson, which can scan film negatives, but good enough that I never use even close to max resolution. I uninstalled the Epson software and boxed it up.

The ADF works as a fax too. For copies, you can put it on the flatbed, or copy a stack of papers. Does color copies too. And it has duplex printing so it'll automatically print on both sides of a page without manually reloading the paper.

I've had it for 11 months and use it for work out of my home. No problems at all, so with light home use you'll be fine.

The only criticisms I have are the included scanning software isn't the greatest, so I use Adobe Acrobat, and the color ink cartridges are a bit small. There are 2 black cartridges, a photo one and a larger, regular text one. If you print pictures, especially 8x10, the ink goes pretty fast. With regular usage it's not bad and it's not too expensive to have spares around.