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All our Best Buys combine great scanning and printing.
If you're fed up having both a printer and scanner cluttering your desk, or if you like to photocopy or scan occasionally but don't want to splash out on separate devices why not have one piece of equipment that does it all for you.
All-in-ones can scan, photocopy and, in some cases, fax. These devices' individual functions don't quite match up to their standalone equivalents, but our Best Buys are easy to use and offer excellent print quality and speed.
A word of warning with all these machines - check out the printing costs, they soon stack up. Our print cost data is based on our extensive lab testing, not on information provided by manufacturers.
You can find out our Best Buy recommendations by taking out a 30-day trial to www.which.co.uk. Below, we explain more about the features of all-in-one printers.
Printing
Inkjet vs. Laser
There are two main types of all-in-one printer: inkjet and laser. Inkjet printers are versatile machines particularly suited to printing complex colour documents such as photographs. Laser printers are generally more expensive but can print off reams of text documents in no time at all.
Photos
If you want a printer that can produce realistic colour photos we recommend buying an inkjet rather than an all-in-one, they produce more realistic images and, unlike laser printers, have no problems printing on glossy photo paper.
Many all-in-ones are capable of printing borderless photos (generally 6 x 4-inch), however, this can be an expensive way of getting them printed.
Direct Photo Printing
Many all-in-ones let you print directly from a camera via a PictBridge connection (look for the distinctive 'pb' logo on your camera to see if it's compatible with PictBridge). Some even let you print from a memory card.
With your camera connected, its LCD screen doubles as a monitor for the print process. With memory cards, the printer needs a screen, or it prints a proof sheet of all images, which you mark up and put in the scanner to tell it which ones to print.
Scanning
All-in-ones generally have a flatbed scanner (the most common type, with a flat glass bed and a lid that closes over it). However, not many have an automatic document feeder which allows several pages to be scanned (or faxed) consecutively.
It's the scanner that allows the all-in-ones to operate as copiers, too, but if you're used to standard photocopier speeds, you might be disappointed (It takes 20 to 40 seconds to copy an A4 letter)
With some scanners, items scan clearly only when pressed hard up against the surface of the glass bed - tricky when copying a book, say.
Optical character recognition
This software automatically interprets scanned text and outputs it into a computer file, such as a Word document for easy editing. optical character recognition software comes with most all-in-one printers.
Slide scanning
A transparency adaptor in the lid of some all-in-one printers enables you to scan 35mm film negatives and slides. This feature is generally available only on more high-end, expensive printers.
Faxing
Faxing is less popular nowadays as most people use email instead. However, if you need a fax, a few all-in-ones on test still have one built-in.
So what's the best all-in-one printer for you? By taking out a 30-day trial to www.which.co.uk you can discover all you need to know about all-in-one printers and find out our Best Buy recommendations.
(c) Copyright Which? Ltd 2008, all rights reserved.
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