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Thread ID: 28228 2002-12-14 02:51:00 Good Printer javoyle (2120) Press F1
Post ID Timestamp Content User
105804 2002-12-14 02:51:00 Im looking for a printer / printer+fax for around $400.
Any suggestions??
Thanks a lot! 		javoyle (2120)
105805 2002-12-14 02:59:00 There was a big discussion on exactly this topic last week. Check
here (pressf1.pcworld.co.nz) 		Heather P (163)
105806 2002-12-14 03:23:00 Three main attributes:

1: Good quality

2: Cheap to run

3: Cheap to purchase

You can only have any two of the three above.

You will be pushed to find a fax/printer in that price range. 		godfather (25)
105807 2002-12-14 04:40:00 Don't worry about Printer/Fax combo.

If you have a Modem then you ( almost certainly ) have a FAX already.
Most of these are FAXModems.

I use the HP Deskjet 5550 as my printer and I'm quite happy with it.
You will get one of those <$350.

Good for photos and fairly fast.

Think about wether it has to be parallel or USB. If you don't have a USB port then a USB only priter won't help. 		Elephant (599)
105808 2002-12-14 04:58:00 Elephant,

Having been through the fax/modem combo a few years back there are a few small difficulties:

1. You need a seperate scanner
2. Scanned images take up big amounts of hard drive
3. You need to leave the computer on 24 x 7

We run to a seperate fax. One thing I don't recommend is the wide ribbon fax (ours, one of the first plain paper faxes). You can't recycle the ribbon (I've tried it) and the ribbons cost a fortune. 		Heather P (163)
105809 2002-12-14 05:50:00 Elephant,

Having been through the fax/modem combo a few years back there are a few small difficulties:

1. You need a seperate scanner
Depends on what you want to Fax. If it's a Word Doc or what have you then no problems. If it's handwriting or an image not on your computer then you need the scanner. Your point granted!

2. Scanned images take up big amounts of hard drive
Depending on how you scan it. :-) 4800 x 4800 x A4 sheet will take heaps. Scan at 75 dpi then it's readable on the monitor but not that good for printing.

3. You need to leave the computer on 24 x 7
I do anyway but not to receive faxes. I don't have a fax program running on here. I use Email and attachments. I COULD send a Fax but I'm not buying a Fax Switch to divert voice calls to the phone and Faxes to the computer. This means that I don't have the computer listening to the phone line for a Fax all the time. I insist on only paying for ONE phone line.

&gt;We run to a seperate fax. One thing I don't recommend is the wide &gt;ribbon fax (ours, one of the first plain paper faxes). You can't recycle &gt;the ribbon (I've tried it) and the ribbons cost a fortune.

One presumes you have a separate phone line for the Fax or a Fax switch. Another phone line will be about $40.00 per month. I can't afford that for the zero faxes I receive now. I could do with an extra phone line just for Internet and Faxes but we work with what we have. I do have a mobile phone if anyone wants to contact me in a hurry. Other than that they use Email, SnailMail or ACTUAL face to face contact. There is a friend I want to contact on a regular basis and find the phone is engaged for long periods. It is his Wife on the phone so I drive down the road and see him... About 15 minutes drive as we live in a small town. Not a traffic light in sight. :-)

I can't comment on what Fax to get or what ribbons to put in. If I received a Fax which I could do if I HAVE to then I'd receive with the FaxModem and print using the HP5550 Deskjet. 		Elephant (599)
105810 2002-12-14 08:29:00 The main reason I don't run the PC 24x7 is the $200 year cost of power.
Faxes today can be set for faxability ring (not a second line, but a second number on the one line) or just to answer after (x) rings. Or by manual switching when you answer and hear the beeps.

I use a fax switch for convenience, because I got one cheap.

I do not subscribe to the idea that a PC gives less trouble if running all the time, I could buy a new HDD every year with the savings. 		godfather (25)
105811 2002-12-14 09:23:00 Is it really that much in power godfather?

I usually have mine off when I'm not at home, and when I'm sleeping because it's noisy as hell. 		-=JM=- (16)
105812 2002-12-14 09:28:00 200 watts x 24 hrs = 4.8 units per day x 14c per unit = 67 cents per day x 365 = $244 per year godfather (25)
105813 2002-12-14 20:14:00 okay okay stop fighting!
I already use my modem as a fax with my scanner (mustek 1200ub plus) and it is too slow. With the fax option on the scanner, it doesnt have a res setting. it just scans and sends about 5 megs for one page which is annoying in the extreme. So i would prefer a printer/fax in 1.
I looked at the Canon multipass MPC100...We used to have a MPC20 which is completly incompatible with win XP, unlike the mpc100. also, the mpc20 has a bw sheetfeed scanner, the mpc100 has a colour sheet feed scanner. Unlike the mpc20, the mpc100 has seperate ink tanks: a definate plus. each tank costs around $20, whereas the mpc20 's cartridges cost over $80 for black!!!
Both plain paper fax, mpc20 is normal faxing at 14.4kbps, the mpc100 has colour faxing, with 33.6kbps super G3; around 3 seconds per fax.
mpc100 prints at 1440 x 720 dpi, the mpc20 is 720 x 360 dpi. Cartridge yeild mpc20 is 100 pages, while the mpc100 is 500. mpc20 has 672kb of DRAM, while the mpc100 has i think around 16 megs. mpc20 has paralell,
the mpc100 has paralell and usb. mpc20 is i think around 2-4 ppm bw, and 0.5ppm colour, while the mpc20 is 9ppm bw and 4ppm colour. the mpc20 used to cost $400, while the mpc100 costs $497. So i think the mpc100 would be the overall best multifunction. 		javoyle (2120)
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