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Because all-in-one is all you need, we test seven versatile printer/fax/scanner/copiers
SPACE: THE FINAL FRONtier (especially in cramped home offices, where we can never get enough of it). Fortunately, there's one area in which you can consolidate devices and slash the space your equipment requires: paper pushing. Rather than wasting desktop real estate on a dedicated scanner, copier, plain-paper fax machine, and printer, a multifunction peripheral can handle all these tasks in one-fourth of the space.
Known as MFPs for short, multifunction peripherals represent an ideal solution for home offices that require occasional image manipulation, such as scanning, but lack the room or budget to add yet another device to the office. And besides saving space, MFPs save money when compared with purchasing separate peripherals: The latter approach can easily cost $800 or more, but the five color ink-jet and two monochrome laser-based multifunction units we tested range from $400 to $700.
HOW THEY STACK UP
All our test MFPs combine printing and fax functions with single-sheet or sheetfed scanners that also serve for making occasional copies.
They're designed for lighter duty and take less desk room than flatbed models with superior scanning abilities and printer/copiers that work like traditional copy machines (see the sidebar "Function Without the Fax").
The most versatile MFPs are ink-jet units that not only receive faxes and kick out black-and-white pages, but also make color copies and print color photos. Priced several hundred dollars below laser-based MFPs, ink-jet models are built for more modest printing needs (usually fewer than 1,000 pages per month). And you may find yourself dozing off during the time it takes most inkjet multifunction peripherals to crank out a 600dpi color image or perform a 24-bit, 300dpi color scan. If your printing requirements are more strenuous, a laser-based MFP can handle heavier loads and do it faster. Designed to churn out thousands of pages per month, laser MFPs are better for home-based businesses that conduct mass mailings or print voluminous reports. Furthermore, although a laser printer rated at 8 pages per minute (ppm) may not sound much faster than an ink-jet rated at 6ppm, in practice lasers are usually significantly quicker than ink-jets and can shave minutes off a 20-page print job. On the...