All In One Scanner/Copier/Fax/Printer

[Clocker]

Hi Guys-
Whats the current favorite MFC/AIO ? I've decided I want it to be decent at photos so I guess I need to get some type of Inkjet as opposed to Laser (correct?).

My OfficeJet Pro 8500 is finally printing like crap (barely anything at all), even with decent ink cartridges in it so I guess some other parts need replacing that I imagine are cost prohibitive.

Thanks!

 

[Stereodude]

IMHO it makes no sense to print photos at home. Print them at Costco or wherever. Then you can get a B&W laser based AIO.

 

[Clocker]

It's nice to have the capability to print decent quality color pictures for my son's school projects and things like that. The picture capability would not be used a ton but then again the printer would not get heavy usage in general, anyway. I'm not looking for great pictures but pretty good. Nothing like the nice glossy pics you can get by taking a memory stick to the store. My understanding is that laser sucks for them but maybe I'm wrong?

Thanks

 

[ddrueding]

Seconding Stereodude on this one. Being good a photos makes it bad at everything else. I really like the Color Laser HP MFCs. $400 will get you a good one.

 

[ddrueding]

Color Laser does entirely presentable pictures these days. Not glossy, but entirely representative of what it was. We include them in estimates and presentations all the time.

 

[Clocker]

Color Laser does entirely presentable pictures these days. Not glossy, but entirely representative of what it was. We include them in estimates and presentations all the time.

Great. Thanks. I will do a little research to find some example pics. It definitely doesn't have to be great. I would definitely prefer laser!

 

[Chewy509]

We purchased an Epson WF-3520 about 6mths ago, and very happy with it. (The WF-3620 replaced this model recently). We also have a simple BW laser for bulk printing, and use the Epson for scan/fax and occassional colour printing for the kids when required.

Uses common easy to get ink cartridges, WiFi/LAN printing by default, print from Android/iOS, duplex, fax, scan, etc... Also Epson provides Linux support (both print and scan) on WorkForce series if that's required. And all WF-3xxx (and above) are tray feed, not slot feed from the rear, and most support having multiple trays.

Note: stay away from the Expression series... (poor reviews on Amazon, etc)

 

[Chewy509]

Color Laser does entirely presentable pictures these days. Not glossy, but entirely representative of what it was. We include them in estimates and presentations all the time.

For anything other than glossy photoes, lasers are just as good, if not better than inkjets when using decent paper...

However, when I went shopping for a colour laser AIO, the killer was not the printer cost itself, but the toner cost. (Most of the entry level laser AIOs are more expensive per page than mid-upper range colour inkjet AIOs). Hence why we went cheap BW laser and colour inkjet AIO combo.

But since you're in a different part of the world than me, double check the costs of toner vs ink...

 

[ddrueding]

Spending a bit more on the machine saves you quite a bit in consumables, but you might never recoup that cost if you don't print a lot.

 

[Mercutio]

Just to add a somewhat different perspective: one of my labs got used for a crafts class last year that made heavy use of photo printing. I bought three each of Epson, HP (1200Ds, supposedly "workgroup" inkjets), Canon and Lexmark photo printers. After the six week class where each printer printed MAYBE 200 - 300 sheets total, one of the Canon printers still kind-of works. Two of the Lexmarks died by the second class session and at least one of all three brands had died by the end of week 3.

Inkjet printers suck and I don't believe it's possible to buy one that doesn't.

 

[ddrueding]

Inkjet printers suck and I don't believe it's possible to buy one that doesn't.

100%. I'm still burning through HP OfficeJet Pro 8000s at a couple sites that insist they need them.

 

[Clocker]

So....I'm looking at HP and Brother Color Laser AIO's in the $200 to $400 range. Any specific recommendations or any that deserve to be cast aside?

 

[ddrueding]

Just ordered an M575F, but that might be out of your range. The M476dn has treated me pretty well.

 

[Mercutio]

Just ordered an M575F, but that might be out of your range. The M476dn has treated me pretty well.

I really only buy Brother printers. I support one Canon MFC that I want to murder and my boss won't allow anything but Xerox solid ink, but almost all of what I support are 9970CDWs or HL 4570s and those have really been more hassle free than I could ever expect.

The 4570 goes through toner a little faster than I'd like but for a single user I suspect that one cartridge is probably a lifetime supply.

 

[Stereodude]

I have a Canon PIXMA Pro 9000 Mark II brand new in the box you can have for free if you really want to be able to print HQ photos at home.

 

[Mercutio]

IIRC, that thing takes eight ink cartridges and prints maybe 10 photo pages or about 40 text pages before it runs out of ink.

 

[snowhiker]

Inkjet printers suck and I don't believe it's possible to buy one that doesn't.

Epson makes some wide-format inkjet printers that are decent. Of course they are multiple thousands of dollars and cost a ton to run but they don't suck. But yeah, anything under "super high-end professional" sucks balls.

I've owned dot-matrix and laser printers. Never anything else.

I have a Canon PIXMA Pro 9000 Mark II brand new in the box you can have for free if you really want to be able to print HQ photos at home.

IIRC, that thing takes eight ink cartridges and prints maybe 10 photo pages or about 40 text pages before it runs out of ink.

LOL. A free printer is still too expensive due to ink cost!!!

 

[time]

We purchased a Samsung laser MFP about 18 months ago and have had no problems. The starter cartridges have now run out so I'm looking at a few hundred AU dollars to buy full-sized replacements, which of course is the downside of these things.

Picture print quality is quite decent, but I think it's a bit delusional to say you can get close to a good photo inkjet without glossy paper. Personally, we just use a photo printing service - I assume they use solid ink printers? Given we'd only be printing larger than A4/Letter, a photo inkjet would just sit idle if I was cursed enough to still own one.

The main reason I chose a CLX-6260FR was double-sided network scanning, which the Samsung does extremely well.

 

[Clocker]

Thanks for your feedback guys. I ended up getting this LaserJet Pro 200 M276nw and I really like it. Picture quality is great even compared to my older inkjet.

I looked at the comparable model by Brother too but it was too tall to fit in my space and I liked the look of the HP with the all black finish. It was $100 off at Microcenter and I had a GC to burn there so I picked it up yesterday $350 after tax ($250 after my GC).

http://support.hp.com/us-en/product...-Multifunction-Printer/5097648/model/5097653/

 

[LunarMist]

Are there any of the all-in-one color lasers that print on large paper and don't cost an arm and a leg?
From a quick look, they are all designed for 8.5" paper or some giant office machine that is around $4000.
The other options are inkjets that I suppose take forever to print and suck cartridges before a paper tray is empty.
I need it for family to replace an old Canon business copier that is no longer repairable. Thanks.

 

[Santilli]

I have a Canon PIXMA Pro 9000 Mark II brand new in the box you can have for free if you really want to be able to print HQ photos at home.

Merc's right. I was given one, printed a couple pictures. The ink was more expensive then Gold, IIRC, by weight;-(

 

[Mercutio]

Every December, my company runs a series of crafts classes for the holiday season. From my perspective, these classes serve mostly to annihilate any and all printers that are set before those classrooms. In past years, I've just bought a few of whatever and let them die.

This year, I just bought six Epson WF3620s. They all lived. None of them are doing anything but working the way they're supposed to. Sure, they need $30 worth of ink for every ~50 pages printed and the software for them is several kinds of awful, but none of them are broken. I'm amazed. I don't think that's ever happened before.

 

[Will Rickards]

Is the Brother MFC-9130CW good? Any opinions on the LED versus Laser?
How about dell printers? The E525w?
I'm looking for cheap consumables and inkjets are out.

Looking to replace our Epson NX230. Printing quality has gone to crap with it. They replaced it once under warranty already.

 

[Mercutio]

I'm almost positive Dell printers share an OEM with Lexmark or else there's someone at Dell who decided to take "being as crappy as Lexmark" as some kind of goal or obligation.
I have a few customers with Brother MFC-9xxx printers. No one complains about them, which is more than I can say about Canon and HP color lasers I have out in the world.

 

[ddrueding]

I know for a fact that Dell and Lexmark were the same many years ago (cartridges were even compatible), but haven't bought either in years.

 

[sechs]

Dell printers are crap.

I don't generally suggest Brother printers. People tend to complain about the cost of consumables.

 

[Will Rickards]

Found this one on sale for $89.99 so I bought it.
Brother DCP-L2540DW (mono)