Introduction
Almost every home with a computer also has an all in one copier scanner fax printer. The reason is because these machines are very affordable and because few homes have enough space to have a copier, a scanner, a fax and a printer. In addition, most consumers do not use the other machines as much as they use the printer. Because of this, an all in one copier scanner fax printer is an attractive option. These machines allow consumers to have access to functions in addition to printing, without having to pay and find space for individual machines. Even businesses appreciate the benefits of having at least one all in one office machine in addition to their stand alone office machines.
History
Technology is always evolving to try to make life easier and the creation of the all in one copier scanner fax printer is no exception. For single users and for light multi-user use, these machines are convenient. Anyone who has ever had to copy, scan, fax or print something, but did not have access to one of these machines knows how frustrating it is to try to find a company that offers this service for small jobs. Although there are a lot of printing companies, most may not be able to help someone who just wants to make a copy of a couple of pages of a personal document. If scanning or faxing is needed, it can be even more difficult to find a business than that help you with this. This is where having a copier scanner fax printer in the home comes to the rescue. No longer will you have to go to the library or an office supply store to make copies have to forget about scanning of faxing because you do not have access to those functions.
Features
The main features of an all in one copier scanner fax printer are that it should have the ability to handle all of its functions well. Because of this, an all in one should have at least 16 MB of memory. When buying an all in one copier scanner fax printer, buy one with as much memory as you can afford and if you cannot afford to get the most memory possible, make sure that the memory in your new all in one upgradable. Signs that an all in one doesn't have enough memory is sluggish performance when it attempts any of the functions.
Printer resolution is also important, so a good all in one copier scanner fax printer should have a high dpi (dots per inch) count. Industry standard is 600 x 600 dpi, but most new printers will have much higher dpi measurements. When searching for a new machine, be sure to note the dpi for the scanner function because some copier scanner fax printer models will cut corners on the dpi for the scanner function since it is not usually used as much as the printer function. If you want to have quality scans, the dpi for the scanner should be close to if not equal to the dpi for the printer.
The speed of the printer is also important because no one wants to be forced to wait while a slow printer prints. A slow printer is deadly for a business and it is very inconvenient for consumers. Look for all in one copier scanner fax printer models that print more than 30 ppm (pages per minute) for the fastest prints. There is also an important consideration about the fax function when choosing an all in one. Most all in one machines offer a 33 Kbps fax/modem. If you need to do more than fax to one person at a time, choose a machine that offers additional faxing features like group dialing, etc. Another important feature is an automatic document feeder. This feature will allow you to place up to 50 or more pages into the feeder for copying, scanning and faxing. Machines without this feature will require that you copy, scan and fax one page at a time. Most of the better machines have an automatic document feeder.
Tips and comments
Try not to cut corners when buying a copier scanner fax printer because even if you rarely use some of the functions of this machine, when you do use these rarely used features, you will likely want the best quality.
