Multifunction printers have become extremely popular over the last several years. These printers generally include copying and scanning functions, as well as sending and receiving faxes in some cases.



Some of the newer models also include photo printing capabilities, with digital memory card readers and preview screens built right into the printer.

There are a lot of benefits to owning a multifaceted printer. But there are some things to consider when purchasing one.

Printing your photos yourself on your own printer is convenient. That convenience does come with a price. To have your photos printed at a photo store often costs less than 10 cents per print. Doing it yourself will cost you about $1.00 per print.

It may be good for occasionally printing photos but it is a costly luxury for printing all your photos.

With all-in-one printers you may sacrifice quality. For example, the printer may have the ability to scan but the clarity of what you scan may not be that great.

Using your all-in-one printer for scanning depends on how important the resulting prints are. If you are working with photos and want a clear sharp print you may want to use a separate scanner.

The same goes for the printing capabilities. You can get standalone printers that will print at higher resolutions or on larger paper than most multifunction units.

Having everything in one machine is great until something goes wrong with that machine. If your all-in-one has a problem with its scanning function and you have to send it in for repairs not only can you not scan until it is repaired, you can't print, you can't copy, you can't fax ? you loose everything.

All-in-one printers do have their positives. Having all functions in one machine is a space saver, a money saver and it may be all you need to accomplish what you need to accomplish.