Hybrid Color/Home Office Printer

[ExistNY]

Hi all, I need some help finding a printer.

I am mainly interested in office applications: laser (preferably, for cost-effectiveness) high PPM, good scan/copy ability, automatic document feeder. I don't need fax capability (as I do not own have a land line).

My secondary concern is printing high quality, glossy color photos. I understand that inkjet printers serve this function best. Can Laser printers produce credible photo images?

Is there a printer on the market that is both a serviceable multipurpose laser printer/scanner/copier, and a high-quality color photo printer? I have a small space, so buying two printers would not be ideal (and would make my small place look dorkier than it already looks).

Thanks for your help!

 

[loucappozzoli]

Are you going with laser just for the cost? The reason I ask is that Xerox has a great multifunction machine that will print great color photos, and has good scanning/copying ability as well but uses solid ink instead of laser. The ink costs a bit more but Xerox also has a program where supplies and service is included in a contract that offers a set printing cost, that rivals the lower costs of laser printers. The contract is normally for those doing over 500 high coverage prints monthly (like photos).

What kind of print volume are you going to be doing? If you think you'll be hitting that 500 high coverage print threshold, I can get you with our sales manager who will sit down and see if this program is a good fit for you or not.

Here's a link to our website page for the 8560MFP. If you have any questions or anything feel free to use the contact us link or call and I'll do my best to help you.

http://www.xerographicsupply.com/99.html

 

[ExistNY]

I was looking more for a humble home office printer to handle some light office tasks (color printing, scanning, copying) and the occasional photograph. I am willing to spend as much as $500 (US, sorry), but I really don't think it makes sense for me to spend more than that. I don't deal with color graphs and the like -- for work reasons, I only need color to print redline comparisons of document versions. The photoquality color is more to support a hobby of mine.

Features that are important to me (in order):

Automatic Document Feeder (Copier/Scanner) -- I deal a lot with hand markups, so it's important that I be able to scan documents back in, preferably directly into PDF form.

Maintenance -- I am terribly annoyed by the idea of having to constantly swap ink cartridges in and out, hence my preference for a laser printer for my b&w jobs.

Photoquality color -- I consider my self somewhat of an amateur photgrapher, so I would like to print convincing color images (and I understand that inkjets are best for this). Barring photoquality color, I would like color in some form, because I print lots of redline comparisons of documents.

PPM -- I am somewhat impatient, so this is an important attribute, but definitely not a deal-breaker.

Wireless capability -- this would be nice, but not absolutely necessary.

Flat bed copying/scanning (meh -- I suppose this is a nice feature, but I can deal without it)

Thank you for your reply!