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Multi-function Printer Recomendations?
worm eater asks: "My office is thinking about purchasing a multi-function printer/copier (MFP). We are currently looking at the Panasonic Workio 3510, but there is a surprising lack of reviews on the internet (there is one at ePinions). Has anyone had any experience with this model (which went on sale last month) or other similar machines? We are looking for a good B&W copier / laser printer capable of connecting to our LAN. The ability to interface with Exchange and send internet faxes would be nice, but not essential. As with pretty much any copier, we will need high quality support. Thanks in advance, Slashdot."
If it only uses a parallel port or USB, stay away from it. Being able to plug a printer in anywhere there is a network drop and having it be self sufficient (no I don't mean loading papaer itself, just not a slave to a PC) are a must. Having co-workers clamor around your desk because you have the FAX and the printer sucks and can slow your machine down if the drivers suck(voice of experience).
US Democracy:The best person for the job (among These pre-selected choices...)
As with any corp, not every HP product is great but their higher end business-class printers and multi-function machines are usually best-in-class.
I don't know anyone who's regretted going HP and I know a great many who have regretted going with other brands.
If you absolutely MUST use somebody else Lexmark and Canon sometimes have decent product.
k thx bye
When are we going to be able to use something
(eg a further developed e-Smith server/g'way)
to reduce the cost of sharing such functional-
ity across a LAN?
If we -could- connect & share single-function
devices to a network, ie -via- separate ports
of an old Pentium II running e-Smith software
(now known by Mitel Networks as "SME Server")
when any of them failed, only its functional-
ity would disappear until it got fixed.
An "All-In-One" boxs cost effectiveness comes
from sharing an expensive single network port
across the different functions (print, FAX, &
scan, to name a few), but at the expense of a
big loss whenever the single unit "broken" or
having its (typically small) toner cartridge
replaced, not to mention paper jams & conten-
tion for any two of the functions provided...
I say Make a simple (eg e-Smith-style) server
with lotsa ports (printer, USB, etc.) do what
an e-Smith box can do for printer/FAX sharing
work interface), single-function peripherals,
that can be used -simultaneously- by multiple
Users.
Too easy, eh?
When I go to computer shows, there are always a dozen vendors selling Epson compatible cartridges for 5-7$ each (not oem though of course.) Accordingly I would suggest an Epson inkjet of some type. Personally I use a brother mfc 5100c and its nice, it is a flat bed with a document feeder, inkjet that cost most of 200$ and I like it although I havent printed that much...
I dont do meaning of life questions.
HP's OfficeJet 5100 seen here is an excellent choice. The fax, scanner and color print works great. Although you're limited to one regular-sized page faxes, it does the trick for 95% of the work.
The Fax functionality works without the computer on, which is another plus that you do not find with other multi-function printers with software drivers that process the fax messages. You just have to plug the printer into the phone and away you go.
Hint: if you want to color print stuff, the computer should be on at the time of printing.
1. Your local hp authorized repair shop? guess what, probably can't get parts.
2. The quality is significantly lower than having a seperate scanner/printer/fax modem
3. A seperate scanner/printer/fax modem is more versitle and not limited to the cookie cutter software and functions of a MFP.
4. MFP's typically requirely highly proprietary software so they aren't cross platform friendly.
5. The software typically gums up your system, stand alone copies work but you have more durability, cheaper supplies, and less hassle in general with a real low end copier.
6. All hp mfp's (and some of their other usb printers) have a known problem with jobs getting stuck in the print queue which they have not resolved. As an authorized reseller/repair center when I call support they are allowed to read me the red text which indicates the known issues that "don't exist", that's one of them. Officially it's a resource problem, unofficially it's just a problem.
6. MFP's aren't nearly as durable, one your fax load in addition to your print. They are made as cheaply as possible an equivelent stand-alone printer is ALWAYS built with more durable parts, so a high end MFP compares with low end lasers in this department.
That said, if you absolutely insist on an MFP, go with a high end hp, other manufacturers MFP's suck even more.
Better off with clarkconnect. Clarkconnect uses a pretty standard redhat system and just adds a cookie cutter installer (I have no problem configuring redhat or any linux system to suit, but in many respects clarkconnect is already configured properly and that saves time).
Clarkconnect is by far more up to date than the newest release of e-smith, which uses numerous packages that are known to have security holes.
Clarkconnect makes most of the software choices that were finally defaulted in RH 9 on the less bloated 7.3.
E-smith breaks the fhs in pretty much every possible way, it overwrites custom config settings when you use the installer, it loads by default every daemon known to man including dns!
Clarkconnect gives you the same ease of setup (typically 30mins, including configuration), with a standard redhat filesystem layout, and doesn't force you to edit templates, you can edit the actual conf files. Clarkconnect also comes with APT (for rpm) out of the box and since the filesystem isn't broken, you can use pretty much any normal rpm that is binary compatible with rh 7.3.
We settled on a Gestetner 4502 (Ricoh 1045) after looking at HP and several other vendors. The Ricoh line took a dependable copier and added print, scan and fax capabilities.
We have been running for almost a year with this model. We ran for three years with it's predecessor. The only calls I have had to make are to order new toner and to have a tech come out for the 6-month cleaning.
We did have one problem with the NIB not detecting the network when it was first delivered. Our users were able to use it as a stand alone fax and copier until the tech came out with a new board the next day.
The major drawback is it only has the printer drivers for UNIX / Linux. Faxing is not supported from a Linux desktop.
First of all, I have to say I've always disliked Lexmark printers. They always seemed flimsy, and we had to service them much more than any other brand.
However, I found the price to be right for the Lexmark X125. And, it had exactly what I needed: a low cost sheet-fed scanner.
Sheet-fed scanners are impossible to find for under $200 and are usually only available on massive multifunction printer/copiers. I have to say that this is the only thing that drew me to buying it, and it works OK, as long as you check to make sure pages didn't stick together.
My primary gripe is the lack of Mac support. I haven't even tried to set it up under Linux, as I get the feeling it just won't work. But if you're looking for a super-inexpensive solution, this is it for something that can sit on your desk.
As for something that's network-enabled, I would highly recommend the Canon imageRunner 3300. Our school has been installing these all over the place, and they're very reliable and extremely fast. The scanning and copying abilities are great. Replacing the toner in them is very odd at first, but I've come to appreciate it.
Having just recently configured another Xerox Document Centre on our network, I must say, they are a breeze to configure and print to.
They are a true network printer, they talk LPR, SMB, and, not that I've tested, apple-talk and netware.
I use to have trouble finding drivers, and configurating them, but then I discovered a few settings here and there that made them work right (to do with the hi-cap feeder, fax, and duplex).
The document centres come with various options, but we've got two (a 250 and a 400 model) that have the fax, duplex and high cap feeder options.
Oh, and they talk postscript. *REAL* postscript.
They print, scan, and fax, and I've heard some of the xerox boys at the R&D labs hooked up a coffee maker, so it can even do that *GRIN*.
The only thing I'm not sure about is the network scanner side. There is a windows client that interfaces to it, but I've never tried with linux.
I use to have a funny sig, but slash cut it off, and I forgot what the punchline was.
At the high end the Xerox Document Centres are very good and now include colour laser options. Most vendors have something at the 20ppm end. Toshiba have some good models in their eStudio range.
Cheers
VikingBrad
You are forced to purchase redundant units when you (inevitably) have to upgrade a component.
Quality is nearly always poorer than standalones.
The inconvenience of not being able to use the scanner or printer or copier or fax at the same time can VERY quickly make the "multi" part of MFC seem a bit of a misnomer.
Q.
Insert Signature Here
If you really need it as a heavy-duty scanner, the 50-80 page limit on the ADF may be a problem.
I think the remote management utilities are Windows & Mac only.
On the printing side, Panasonic seem to have been regarded as higher than average per-page costs. I don't know if Kyocera have anything similar in your market but you might want to check them out.
Get yerself over to www.linuxprinting.org and have a good read. An awful lot of the multi-function devices are listed as 'doorstops', in other words they will NOT work under linux. I've found through experience that a lot of these machines are windows only.
Ed Almos
The more corrupt the state, the more numerous the laws. - Tacitus, 56-120 A.D.
He's not looking for a $349 inkjet/fax/copier combo from MegaOffice.
We use the Canon Imagerunner line.
As far as the machine being down, your local service reps can get the thing back up and running in a few hours. All fax and print jobs can be stored in memory, so when it is running again, they won't be lost.
And get a laser-based MFD.
Brother makes solid stuff, and their
cartridges are pretty reasonable.
is auto line-wrap, you insensitive clod!
I want to delete my account but Slashdot doesn't allow it.