A Buyer’s Guide To Buying An All In One Printer

If you are just about to go out and buy yourself a brand new printer, you might want to hang fire until you have read our guide. You see, an all in one printer has plenty more to offer than a basic printer on its own.

A lot of people find all in one printers hard to get to grips with at first. But once you know more about them you will be able to select the one you want with more confidence.

So with that in mind we have put together this Buyer’s Guide to try and dispel any of the problems or questions you might have when you are considering which all in one printer to buy. Let’s get started, shall we?

Why should I buy an all in one printer in the first place?

There are several reasons you would want to buy an all in one model as opposed to a basic one. First of all you will find that a basic printer is just that – it prints and nothing more. An all in one model comes packing a lot more benefits, and you will often find that you can spend pretty much the same amount of money on a good all in one printer as you can on a decent printer that doesn’t have any other functions.

As such they are worth buying even if you don’t think you will find much use for the other functions you will find on board. Many people ‘grow into’ their all in one printers, making them more useful. They eventually find they can do far more than they used to, finding new uses for them and making sure they get their money’s worth sooner or later!

But the main advantage is clear. Having an all in one machine means you can use up the smallest amount of space while still having all these functions to get to grips with. You can do such a lot with an all in one printer – and yet it only takes up a small amount of space.

Are there different types of all in one printers?

Yes there are. The basic type is sometimes called a ‘three in one’ as well, because it comprises three functions in the one component. These main three functions are the ability to scan, print and copy.

Some of the more advanced models also have faxing capabilities. These may include faxing from your computer as well, so watch out for those as they are even more useful for some people.

As you go higher up the scale of what is available, other features come into play. These include USB ports, wireless operation and slots to insert a memory card in direct from your digital camera. Needless to say you need to think about what you want to get from your printer before you make that all important purchase.

What makes are available to buy?

Don’t worry – you won’t be left in a sea of unrecognisable names. There are lots of brand names you will know here, including Epson, Dell, HP, Lexmark and Kodak.

Some people stick with the same brand they are familiar with. Others will choose according to the features they want to have. Try and get a balance of both and bear them both in mind if you can. Don’t focus solely on one brand of all in one printer – you might miss out on something better for your needs elsewhere.

Are there any main disadvantages to having an all in one machine?

The biggest disadvantage is that if one part of it chooses to break down and it needs fixing, you will lose all those other functions as well while you are fixing it. This is really the only potential downside though – the benefits of getting all these new features in the same piece of equipment far outweigh the slim chance of anything going wrong with it. It is simply something to bear in mind.

Are cheap all in one printers worth buying?

They can be if you only have very basic needs. If you only ever print off occasional documents and you aren’t using your printer constantly on a daily basis, then these can be very worthwhile. However, as soon as you start to use it more regularly, a more robust all in one printer would be called for.

The other thing to bear in mind is that cheap printers can often mean expensive ink cartridges. Over the longer term that cheap deal you find online could be more expensive than splashing out more in the first place. Always do your research on this bit.

Should I spend a much higher amount on an all in one printer?

This extends from the above point. If you run a home business or you even have a small office of your own, your printing requirements will be very different from how they would be if you were at home and only printing the odd document.

As a rule of thumb, the more you are going to use your all in one printer (and that goes for every facet of it, from printing to copying to scanning), the more you should spend on it.

Finding out what your requirements are

How often do you use your existing printer? Do you constantly need the use of a scanner or a copier and you always come up short? What about printing photos? Do you wish you could do more and print better quality ones?

All of these questions should help you choose the right all in one printer for you. For example if you rarely print off the photos you take on your digital camera then you may not want to worry about getting an all in one model that is capable of professional photo quality prints.

Similarly if you run a small home business your needs may be much more closely geared to printing plenty of documents. If this is the case then you may benefit much more from having a better quality scanner and copier included in the design.

Find out how much the replacement cartridges cost

We’ve mentioned this above. Always make sure you know how much you can buy the cartridges for before purchasing any all in one printer. Furthermore, find out if they are individual colours or whether it requires an all in one cartridge.

The latter version is more expensive to replace and can waste a lot of ink. If you find you are using cyan more than the other two colours for example, why waste all the other ink when you only really need to replace that one?

Inkjet or laser?

You will have heard of both methods of printing, and you will need to decide which one you want to go for when you buy your new all in one printer. Laser printers are usually much better quality when it comes to the visual finish of a printed document or picture.

However if you are going to print both documents and photos on a regular basis, you might find inkjet printers to be a better choice.

Another point you need to think about here is the price of the cartridges though. Inkjet cartridges are often cheaper than the ones you will find for laser all in one printers. But with that said, you will also find that a toner cartridge for a laser printer will still keep going far beyond the length of time a normal inkjet cartridge will last for. It’s all swings and roundabouts really.

Mono or colour printing?

If you are going to be printing up photos then your decision has really been made for you. In this instance a colour printer is the only choice – unless you only want black and white pictures!

In practice most people will go for colour all in one printers because they are a lot more versatile. The only situation where this may not be the case is in an office setting where typed documents are constantly being printed out. If you have no requirement for printing photos – or even coloured diagrams of any kind – then a mono all in one printer will suit you the best. In this case you will find that the printer is set up to be focused purely on that type of printing, which is an advantage for you in an office only setting.

Do I need specialist functions for producing good photos? What should I look out for?

If you are intending to make the most of printing out the photos you have taken with your digital camera, then you ought to look out for some features that will be good for this purpose.

One of the best ones is a card slot which enables you to bypass your computer entirely. You simply take the memory card out of your camera, slot it into your printer and select which pictures you want to print out. This is known as PictBridge, and the great thing is that it isn’t available with just one brand of all in one printer. You just have to find the brand you like the most and then look for an all in one printer made by them that has the PictBridge facility on it.

Watch out for the print speeds

This is particularly useful to know if you do a lot of printing. A machine which is capable of doing 25 pages a minute is going to be much more efficient for your needs than one which only does 15 pages a minute. It is simple maths, but it will make a huge difference to your output – not to mention your levels of frustration!

Look for a wireless model

These are becoming more and more popular and easy to find now. It is certainly well worth buying one, particularly if you have a laptop instead of (or as well as) a desktop.

If your current printer is not wireless then you will appreciate the difference this makes. At the moment, your printer will be connected up to your computer. It’s easy enough to print whatever you have to when you are using your desktop computer, but what if you are using your laptop? You have to make sure everything is properly connected before you can print anything off. This takes time, as well as being rather annoying!

You could be sitting downstairs and if your printer is upstairs, you’d have to go upstairs to get the document you want printed off.

But with a wireless printer you wouldn’t have to move. You can send whatever documents you want to print off directly to the printer in another room of your house. And once you are done, you can go and pick them all up – or simply leave them sitting there ready and waiting for you.

In conclusion

As you can see there is a lot to take in with all in one printers. You also need to take a look at the scanning and copying capabilities, although these tend not to be quite as complicated as the printer part.

It might take you a while to figure out which one of the many all in one printers on the market you want. With so many brands and different models out there today, it can be rather daunting trying to make that decision. Luckily the websites are very helpful and they all tell you exactly what to expect from each brand and model as you read the separate listings.

There are two key parts to finding your ideal all in one printer. These involve doing your research and figuring out what you really want from your printer. These two steps should then marry up to provide you with the ideal choice. And if you get that choice right it should keep you going for a long time to come. Just remember to read the instruction manual so you know exactly what you need to do with your new all in one printer, and then be sure you make the most of it.