recommend an "all in one" office machine?

[Bob Riefer]

I work from home now and need to upgrade my office equipment. I need/would like:
- wireless printing
- send and receive faxes
- print color and black and white,
- printing standard sized paper as well as legal sized would be a nice to have,
- I do a lot of scanning, and multi-page scanning


Staples recommended the HP Office Jet Pro 8600 as checking a lot of those boxes and having reasonable ink usage and ink replacement cost.


Can you recommend a model in the $125 - $200 range? Or comment on the item Staples recommended?

Thanks!

[David Weaver]

I would spend another $100 needed and get laser.

* You can get black laser ink and toner remanufactured cartridges and print for less $$ per page
* regardless of what they say about the resolution, laser looks better and it's fixed to the page as soon as it comes out of a printer
* the laser printer actually prints as many pages as it says it prints
* in general, a laser printer's parts will be up to more cycles

I stopped buying inket printers about 6 years ago when I had three in a row crap out about one per year (we probably print 2500 pages a year). I expect more than that out of a printer. I bought one compact laser printer for the same price as a high end inkjet, and we've had it for 6 now and it's a joy to use in comparison.

[JohnT Fitzgerald]

I have a previous model OfficeJet, which works as advertised; we also have an older HP Inkjet (10+ years old, but forget the model) which the kids now use. I think I had to clean the rollers once, but it's been a champ.

That being said....I will +1 what David said about the lasers. If you have any sustained level of printing needed, or need better quality (for a business, for instance) then look into the laserjets. Otherwise, even though more $/page, at low volumes it might just be a tossup. At our low volumes, it hasn't been enough of a factor.

If you have any sort of iDevices (iPad, etc) look into one that supports printing directly from the Apple device.

[Matt Meiser]

Take a serious look at Brother. Much, Much, Much...Much better software than HP. Just bought my parents a Brother inkjet that does everything you want other than maybe the legal size. I'd have to find out the model.

I've got a Brother laser in my shop that's fine when I need it and a Brother all-in-one in my home office supplied by work that's great. It was used when it was assigned to me and I've had it almost 5 years and it keeps going. But the one I have isn't color. Our home printer is a Kodak, also great but doesn't have a sheet feeder and Kodak is on shaky ground so I'm not sure I'd go there.

[Robert McGowen]

I have an HP Office Jet Wireless 4500 that does everything you asked about. No problems at all and I am pretty sure it was less than $150 at Costco.

[Bob Riefer]

Really good stuff everyone, thanks (and more info is definitely welcomed as well).

If it helps, here are some additional details:

I'm usually printing building sections and design options in color, contract paperwork, scanning signatures to execute those contracts, and then sub contractors for some reason tend to still like fax machines still (hence my fax need). Total pages per work day is probably about 20. For really high volume print jobs (such as a direct mail piece), or full size blue prints, I hit Staples or have the my company print in-house and I pick it up.

We have a decent printer for family use - slow but great quality, so I don't need photo capability really (but wouldn't kick it out of bed if it came with the rest of the package).

I had read that inkjet does more vivid graphic printing, but that laser is crisper for lots of text printing and is more of a workhorse. Since I'm a mix, and low volume, perhaps I should save the cost?

[Greg Portland]

Take a serious look at Brother. Much, Much, Much...Much better software than HP. Just bought my parents a Brother inkjet that does everything you want other than maybe the legal size. I'd have to find out the model.
Brother makes a nice product. HP's Office driver and software support is much better than their consumer line of products. +1 to all the recommendations to go with a laser printer; I use a HP Laserjet M1200 class printer on a daily basis and have been pleased with the performance. A higher price gets you cheaper price/page.

[Curt Harms]

Bob, I don't know if you do much with plans but if you do, Brother's ledger sized (11 X 17)all-in-ones are pretty popular for that. Here is one model - there are others more expensive. I don't know what the extra $ gets you.
http://www.brother-usa.com/MFC/modeldetail.aspx?PRODUCTID=MFC5895cw
I have the predecessor to this series, MFC-6490CW. There are a few vendors on Ebay that sell refillable Brother LC61 series ink cartridges. I bought an empty set (4) of those and bulk ink from Atlas Business Systems near Reading. I won't be buying any more ink anytime soon. The biggest complaint I have about the MFC-6490CW is the paper trays seem pretty flimsy and there's no envelope/single sheet bypass.

Edit: The model linked to prints 11X17 but only scans 8 1/2X14. The more expensive machines scan and print 11X17. They may also have 2 paper trays and/or duplexing

[Jerome Stanek]

I like my HP color laser all in one it is older but still works good. I have had enough of the ink jet cartridge prices the laser is cheaper per page.

[Joel Goodman]

All the comments about injet are spot on. I have an older HP all in one (office jet 6100) -- it's given good service -- but the ink cartridges are a killer. I use a laser for an real printing.

[Rich Engelhardt]

Hit Office Max and/or Staples.

This time of year, they can have some killer deals on closeout. I picked up an HP J4580 for $49.00 a couple years ago.
While it lacks wireless, it's an other wise decent machine.

[Phil Thien]

I would like to +1 the comment that Brother (or Canon) do a better job on drivers for consumer-level stuff, than HP.

[Van Huskey]

Doesn't Felder make a good one? :D

[Charlie Velasquez]

Not sure if it is a consideration, but I would also look for something compatible with pad, touch, phone printing. I didn't think my iPad would supplant my Mac desktop, but I am amazed at how often I use it. I need to edit diagrams as I walk through buildings, taking notes. The iPad makes short work of it. hp printers are native for the iPad. my Canon works, but I have to run through an extra hoop first.

[Curt Harms]

I would like to +1 the comment that Brother (or Canon) do a better job on drivers for consumer-level stuff, than HP.
Just about the opposite for Linux support though ('boutique' market I know:)) HP generally "just works" plug it in and its there, no drivers, no nuthin' no kiddin'. Brother publishes drivers but you may have to download and install. Canon is spotty.