The World of Multifunction Printers

By: Daniel J Kilburn

It can be quite amazing to watch the various generations of office equipment come and go, especially since this seems to be happening at such a quick pace. For those of us who have been there since the beginning of this wild and unpredictable ride in the world of technology, we can honestly say that each generation of equipment seems to be getting more efficient, more powerful and certainly more impressive. How many of us can remember being amazed the first time we used our computers, photocopiers or printers?

Now, thanks to multifunction printers, technology has managed yet again, to get a step ahead and create one device that combines a multitude of functionalities:

- Printing

- Scanning

- Faxing

- Photocopying

- Emailing

There are a variety of multifunction printers available for both home and office. If you have a home office, you might want to consider purchasing a small desktop unit with a print engine that is based on either a home desktop inkjet printer, or a home desktop laser printer offered in black or color.

If you are looking for an office unit, you can easily find a multifunction printer that will meet your needs. multifunction printers have been created to meet the criteria for any type of office, be it a small business or a large corporation. In many medium to large sized companies, the multifunction printers are often used as the main ‘go to’ piece of equipment within the corporation. These are usually large, stand alone units that are programmed as the central printing device(s) or reprographic department device(s) and are particularly relied upon for speed and efficiency.

Thanks to the creation of multifunction printers, you no longer have to worry about purchasing, maintaining and fixing a variety of separate devices. Now, you can benefit from the ease and practicality that a multifunction printer can bring to your personal and work lives.

Maybe it is time to consider investing in a multifunction printer – especially if you are old enough to remember just how impressed you were with that first printer – the one that usually took more than 90 seconds to deliver the page that you printed – how the times have changed.

It pays to look behind the scenes before you purchase a multifunction device. The easiest way is to check on-line or magazine reviews of the printer you are looking to buy. This is because manufacturers will always ensure that their products are always seen in the best possible light – this is all down to the spin that their printer manufacturers’ marketing departments provide. Unfortunately for the end user, this means the printers’ features such as the speed of print, duty cycle and supply costs that printer manufacturers display on their website or in promotional materials will always be best-case scenarios that will rarely reflect use of the printer in the real world. Therefore, the easiest way to get another opinion on the printer you want to buy is to see what the actual product users have to say.