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Thread ID: 68289	2006-04-23 13:19:00	Recommendations for multifunction/ AIO printer-scanners?	Sick Puppy (6959)	Press F1

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
448838	2006-04-23 13:19:00	I've been looking around for a multifunction scanner/ printer/ copier . There are a vast array of makes and models available :waughh: and I would some advice/ recommendations of any good models to go for . It will be used mainly for scanning text (so it will need OCR software, assuming the MS stuff I have doesn't work properly), photocopying and printing letters, although printing/scanning photos are something I may want to consider for the future (I don't have a camera yet!) . I would rather pay the extra and go for a higher end make (ruling out Brother and Lexmark) and model, preferably as close to a small business/ home office model as possible (I figuring more quality and durablity) . Reliability and the price of consumables is a factor to consider also . I figure I am looking at an Inkjet from HP/ Canon/ Epsom, at around the $150-$300 mark . Is this realistic? Any suggestions would be appreciated- thanks! Regards Andrew	Sick Puppy (6959)
448839	2006-04-23 15:26:00	I agree with ruling out Brother, it really knows how to waste ink in times when you're not using the printer for a while, it's expensive and I would avoid these types unless you remember to keep it turned off (not suitable for fax machine). To me, HP is durable, though quality may not be photo best but acceptable, Epson, is quality and Canon sometimes good sometimes bad, as for realistic price, well yes, but you might want to go just a bit higher, say just under $400 and you'd be in the range where the printer should be worth it and be to your expectation. You can go for your price range, but I still suggest finding reviews on printers you may consider. Have a look at http://www.pricespy.co.nz as they list some MF printers reasonably priced, so you can see what type of models, what price range, etc and compare them feature wise. Maybe PC World has done a review on MF Printers, I'm sure they would have, maybe look at what they've done?	Kame (312)
448840	2006-04-23 21:53:00	(snip) Maybe PC World has done a review on MF Printers, I'm sure they would have, maybe look at what they've done? Have a look here: . co . nz/pcworld/pcw . nsf/reviews/6AFF81FB824E48B1CC25713F007D9B13" target="_blank">pcworld . co . nz Personally I would stay away from Canon, purely on the basis of owning one of their printer/faxes that simply would not feed paper, no matter what paper I used (even their own brand) . Ghastly thing, that I eventually gave away to a recycler in ChCh . Probably unfair of me, but I feel that the quality of that printer was so poor, "once bitten, twice shy' as far as Canon is concerned . I have have had about 6 HP printers over the years, and they have all been high quality and reliable . I have a MF of theirs, hp Officejet 6110 as my scanner and fax, and it has been great thus far . Photo quality for colour pix is OK - probably nowhere near the top of the range, but good enough for the family album . I don't use it heavily (my main printer is a HP Laserjet 2300d) so I haven't given it a tough test, and maybe any faults haven't shown up yet . I really love the document feeder as an additional feature - great if you do multipage copying or faxing . I think the 6110 is discontinued, so I just give you this info for what it is worth in support of HP as a manufacturer .	John H (8)
448841	2006-04-23 22:49:00	While I've traditionally disliked Epson printers, I saw the CX3700 this year and thought that it seemed quite good - individual ink cartridges, and the price was reasonable. BIG mistake. The printer goes through ink like mad - I went through at $15 black ink cartrige in the first 3 weeks of having the printer (I had only printed one photo, and probably around 50 or so pages of text). What more, because the ink tanks have "intelligent chips", you cannot refill them, and the printer refuses to print when it decides that the cartrdiges are out of ink (despite still having ink in them). Also, speed is not as impressive as the specs make it out to be - "Draft" mode is virtually useless as it prints in a very light grey. "Normal" mode is quite slow, given how new the printer is.	somebody (208)
448842	2006-04-23 23:31:00	Kame, yeah, everyone nods sagely when I say I've ruled out Brother! :lol: I had a look around the shops, DSE and Ascent online, hence my :waughh:; lots of models, but they are selling them, so it always pays to ask on sites like these to see what other users think, and this will be my first printer . My pricing was just based on the models I saw, and I'm happy to pay more for a decent one- I figure it will be worth it! John H- I had initially not considered HP, but there have been a few good reviews on this forum as well as yours . . . will have to take another look at HP methinks! Somebody- yeah, I had heard about those cartridge chips- I remember someone jumping up and down about them somewhere a while back- must remember to avoid those, so thanks for the heads up! Are Epsom the only ones to use these, and do they use them on all models? Thanks guys, keep 'em coming!	Sick Puppy (6959)
448843	2006-04-23 23:54:00	Personally I would stay away from Canon, purely on the basis of owning one of their printer/faxes that simply would not feed paper, no matter what paper I used (even their own brand) . Ghastly thing, that I eventually gave away to a recycler in ChCh . Probably unfair of me, but I feel that the quality of that printer was so poor, "once bitten, twice shy' as far as Canon is concerned . Did you ever get it looked at under warranty? Was it ever repaired by a Canon tech?	CYaBro (73)
448844	2006-04-24 00:35:00	I would sreiously look at a laser printer/scanner, we use a brother (www.dse.co.nz) one at work as a fax, prints text fine and comes with orc software which has worked everytime I have used it, the link to the model we have might be a bit expensive for your needs, When it comes time for printing photos get a dedicated printer. It will work out cheaper in the long run if you are printing a lot of text	plod (107)
448845	2006-04-24 05:16:00	I recently purchased a Brother MFC-620CN Multifunction - not only am i very happy with it but it appears to use LESS ink than my HP Deskjet 6122 ! PRO's: * Prints, scans, copies and FAXES * Auto feed copier tray - sucks em in copies on the fly and spits them out! * Card reader - prints straight from cards * Borderless printing *Print quality - excellent Cons: * if printing more than one page the pages fall on the floor as there is no where for them to go! * Small paper tray *makes a noise every now again (cleaning itself i think) In general this mulitfunction was very affordable and does everything i need . Yes it may waste ink on it's "cleaning cycles" but it has many more functions than some top of line models . Would reccomend it!!! Especially for students - photocoping a pleasure ! !	Lezel (10274)
448846	2006-04-26 12:05:00	Well, had a shop around on the internet and the shops- never gonna buy from Noel Leeming/ Bond & Bond, but they certainly have the stock...! one model that caught my eye was the Epsom Stylus Photo RX530. A bit outside my budget, but it has what I need, is well proportioned and looks nice (okay, the last two aren't that important, but they do help! :) ). Anyhow, does anyone have one of these, and if so, any comments? Thanks!	Sick Puppy (6959)
448847	2006-04-27 15:37:00	Hey Lezel, To point out the noise - cleaning problem in your CONS, which is actually a huge one. I use to own one of these printers and unless you use it every week for all colours/black (what Brother Support told me). The print heads dry up which the printer will clean. Not only is this wasting your ink, but if you don't use your printer for 2 months, all cartridges will be empty. I would not want to have a printer that I "HAVE" to use every week, just to save ink (does this even make sense?), I rarely used the printer for printing. Hopefully you don't hear that cleaning noise that often, but that's this printers biggest downfall and the reason why I got rid of the printer, no point keeping a printer that will only force you to paying more on it. Cheers, KK	Kame (312)
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