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Choose a Good Multifunction Printer
How to
Choose a Good Multifunction Printer?
Choosing a multifunction printer
is not the same as choosing a printer. A printer only does printing job
while a multifunction printer is also a scanner, a copier and a fax
machine. Therefore, choosing a good multifunction printer has to consider
the printing, scanning, faxing and copying functions at the same time.
For home offices or small
businesses, a multifunction printer not only cuts down the investment cost
of several machines, it can also save space. Here are some basic
requirements for a good multifunction printer:
1)
Easy to install, easy to use – no one wants to spend hours just to
install a printer or finds it hard to operate the machine.
2)
Good compatibility – the printer should be compatible with
different operating systems (PC, Mac, new and old versions of Windows).
3)
True all-in-one functionalities – can print, scan, copy and fax.
Even though internet fax is getting popular these days, having a fax
machine at home or your office is still very convenient.
4)
Good printing quality – has high resolution for both black & white
documents and color documents. The printer should print sharp text and
graphics. If it is an all-in-one photo (inkjet) printer, it should print
clear and crisp photos with vibrant colors.
5)
High print speed – laser printer has higher print speed than inkjet
printer. Black and white documents are printed much faster than color
documents and photos. However, even for the same type of printer printing
the same documents, print speed can deviate from a few pages a minute to
more than 20 pages a minute.
6)
Duplex printing, scanning and copying – it is much easier to print,
scan and copy two sided documents with automatic duplex printing, scanning
and copying. You don’t need to manually print, scan and copy one side and
then repeat it on the other side. Duplex printing, scanning and copying
also help you save paper.
7)
Automatic document feeder – it allows you to scan and copy a pile
of documents automatically. The feeder feeds multiple pages into the
scanner one by one, so you don’t need to manually scan/copy each page.
8)
Flatbed scanning – some all-in-one printers have automatic document
feeder but don’t have flatbed scanning. Without flatbed scanning, you
cannot scan or copy books, magazines or thick documents that are bound
together.
9)
High scanning resolution – some all-in-one printers have high
scanning resolution and the scanners can automatically detect the type of
original documents, this ensures you would have a true copy of the
original document.
10)
Fax machine can distinguish fax / voice calls – if you have a home
or small office, you may want to use the same phone line for both fax and
voice calls, some all-in-one printers have the functionality to
distinguish fax and voice calls automatically. If they don’t, you should
at least be allowed to choose how many rings before the machine will pick
up the incoming call as fax. If you have a call, you can pick up the
phone to answer, if it is not answered within a few rings, the fax machine
will turn on automatically.
11)
Store incoming faxes and outgoing faxes in memory – this function
allows you to store incoming and outgoing faxes in memory. Even if you
run out of paper, you can still print the fax out at a later time and you
won’t lose the fax.
12)
Delay send – you can send a fax at a later time when you are not
present. This is useful if you want to send your fax at nighttime when the
calling rate is lower.
13)
Print from memory card – some all-in-one printers allow you to
print directly from compatible memory cards, DVD camcorders and cameras, so you don’t need to turn on your PC for the printing job.
14)
Color LCD screen – very useful if you are printing photos, you can
review your photos directly on the printer screen.
15)
Wireless and wired connection – wireless connectivity allows you to
print and scan wirelessly from any
Wi-Fi enabled computer in another
room.
16)
Auto photo fix:
a bonus feature for
all-in-one photo printers. The photo quality will be automatically
optimized.
To sum up, it takes quite a bit of
time and research to find a multifunction printer with good overall
performance. However, once you have found one, it will save you lot of
money, time, and space.
Best all-in-one inkjet printers
Best all-in-one laser printers
