Printers/Scanners

While colour does give documents eye-catching appeal and helps emphasize points of importance; not all documents require this feature.

I first saw a pre production unit of this tiny printer at the start of the year, I got a working unit around a month or so ago, here just in time for the Christmas party season is my review.

Routers, and often wireless ones, are increasingly being used for broadband access and often enable more than one PC to access the internet. Consequently, it is only a relatively small step to add a network printer which can be shared by all users on the network. The Brother HL-2170W, weighing just a few pounds and having a footprint of less than 15 inches square, is ideally suited for moving around the house or small office.

This has been a long and frustrating review. The first unit was incomplete so it was replaced. The second had several paper jams and then decided ‘cannot detect edge of paper’ was it’s message of choice, so it was replaced so this is unit number three.

A laser AIO has a huge advantage for those needing to print a lot of documents, it always prints at the stated speed. It can copy without the PC being connected and of course the scanner does its work in colour.

Anyone needing to print a little, scan a little and copy a little then this small light All In One unit from Lexmark may be the answer you are looking for and with its predominately white colour it may just sneak past the lounge police.

Over the past few years I have had the opportunity to look at a number of multi-function or all –in-one printers from various manufacturers. However this is the first time that the product comes with the Kodak brand.

This is a rather neat looking AIO (all in one) unit. However being black I doubt it will pass the lounge police. However for those making their own decisions only two things matter, quality and speed.

Rather like their cameras I suspect this AIO (All IN One) unit is aimed at the novice and occasional user. While not doing anything special it works reasonably efficiently and perhaps most useful has some acceptable hand holding software.

A mono laser is the often forgotten workhorse. One thing you always get from a laser is the stated print speed, in this case 28PPM, something all but never achieved from an inkjet printer.

With the MFU (multi function unit) or AIO (all in one) taking up little more space than a scanner and providing the functionality of three or four products then the scanner needs to do extra things to consider a stand alone product. There are units that read vast numbers of textual pages at 16 or 20 PPM. Here it can read slides and transparencies.

While a multifunction device can cover a range of eventualities, sometimes you just need the scanner element.

This is a multi function unit (as it has fax) but for me anyway the major selling point is it’s ability to print A4 photo quality borderless images in 68seconds, yes I do mean one minute and eight seconds.

"It ain’t heavy, it’s my Brother" could well apply to a new desktop mono laser printer from Brother.

A 15x10cm photo printer with a tiny footprint. It does not use conventional printer ink so the output is always dry when it emerges, it also prints onto postcards – remember them – so ideal to send from your holidays.

This is a small All In One unit, meaning it can scan, copy and print. It has a small TFT screen so it is possible to print images direct from either of the two card slots or even from a USB stick.

This is a rather squashed looking grey unit, but it does have some surprises, it is an All In One unit, it can print direct onto CD’s and DVD’s and while on printing, in custom mode you get close to 30PPM.

This is purely a photo printer and one that’s maximum paper size is 15x10cm. However it is extremely easy to use it does one job, it does it well and it does it quickly.

This is a mono laser (all in one) AIO product that is neat, compact and virtually silent. In fact when I first saw it I could not believe it was a AIO because it was so small.

This is a sleek low slung AIO (All In One) unit that without the black front may have just passed the lounge police. However it still is a rather nice unit that does everything rather well.

This is a multi function unit (MFU) as it has a fax and it also has a wireless phone unit attached to the side. I remember reviewing many units with phones attached but never a wireless one.

While this may look like just another All In One it does have the odd surprise of two. Certainly the silver grey top and black for everything else is unlikely to pass the lounge police unless he/she is of the Goff persuasion.

This is a six ink printer that also has a display and accepts inputs from various card types and USB sticks. However it is not only USB and Ethernet but it can also print via Bluetooth.

Multi Function Machines with wireless are not that unusual, what is unusual is that it has USB but no Ethernet. So you can setup for Wireless or USB.

This is a standard mouse connected via USB that has a thermal printer inside. It can print on a range of sized roll media. Certainly something that you do not come across everyday.

Although taking photographs with your digital camera is fun, even more enjoyment can result from creating your own prints and sharing them with others.

Adding to its recently redesigned product line-up of colour inkjet multifunction devices, Brother has released its DCP-350C model.

Colour laser printers are now appearing with more economic price tags. However, while lighter on the pocket, they are still heavy to move around.

This is quite a beefy All In One unit, so it scans, copies and prints via the PC. It can also copy when not connected to the PC and it also prints directly from a range of card media.

This is described as an ‘Office All In One’ As it is black and grey it is unlikely to pass the ‘lounge police’ but apart from that it is not that tall and the output quality is good. It is actually a multi function unit as it has fax.