All in one printers..

Fate · Jan 13, 2006

i was wondering if those all in one things are any good. The printer/scanner/photocopier sort of things. I was just wondering because i, as usuall, am strapped for cash and i think it may be cheaper than buying the individual units!

Big Mike · Jan 13, 2006

I've got a Canon All-in-one. It's OK.

The scanner does a good job, but it's not top of the line. The printer does a good job, but it's not top of the line either.

I guess it depends what you want to do, and what you need to get out of it.

markc · Jan 13, 2006

The ones I know of are only good for office style docs, not photography. Most are four-color printers, and to get good color for photos, you should have at least six. The scanners probably won't be able to scan film, so you'll have to do prints, which seriously degrades the info you have to work with no matter the scanner's resolution. Scanning a 4x6 isn't going to give you much to work with because of the paper. I found even 8x10s to be marginal.

If you just want to scan and print some stuff for fun, I think it would be fine. Just keep in mind that it's not going to give you anything like the prints you get from a lab. With a film scanner and photo printer, you can surpass what you get at a lab.

Mind you, I haven't looked at them recently. They may have come out with some photo-friendly ones.

kelox · Jan 13, 2006

Please keep in mind that you are buying a device that is doing the job of three devices. If one of them goes down you have to choose what to do, either live with one of your three devices not working or buying a new one. These things are made to be disposable, not repairable. That's why they are so cheap. Don't get me wrong, I am not knocking any of them. By and large they do an adequate job. But if you bought dedicated devices to do each job, you'd get better results from each device.

just my two cents worth