Multifunction Printer Characteristics

Speed costs. Many lower-end multifunction printers and quite a few mid-price machines are just plain slow when it comes to print and copy speeds - especially if we're talking color. Get the fastest multifunction printer you can afford. When you're in the middle of a job, you'll definitely notice the difference between 22 and 12 pages per minute.

The more memory a multifunction printer carries, the more it costs. When it comes to faxing, printing, or copying documents, however, a lack of memory is extremely noticeable. While 8 MB of memory may be adequate for home office or small office use, if you often work with large documents or will have multi-users you should only consider multifunction printers that have at least 16 MB.

The higher the dpi (dots per inch), the higher the image quality. The standard resolution of 600x600 will be adequate for most printing, except for photo quality. Pay special attention to the scanner resolution, as scanner resolutions for multifunction printers are often low. Note, too, that there's a big difference in quality between optimal and interpolated resolution.

Check the fax/modem speed. Most multifunction printers that include fax functions have integrated fax/modems of 33 Kbps fax/modem that means that your faxes will take less time on the phone line and save you money. Don't go with one that's lower. Also check the fax features carefully. If you need color faxing, fax broadcasting, and/or group dialing, make sure the multifunction printer you choose has those features; many don't offer full fax functions.