Which multi-function colour laser printer

I've considered getting an inkjet-based printer/scanner/copier but the cartridges always seem to dry out when the printer isn't in use and it ends up being a pain having to replace them. So I've decided to go for a colour laser-based printer/scenner/copier but can't decide what to go for and what minimum price point I should be looking at for good qulaity printing and scanning.

Can anyone help or advise?

I agree with you on the laser side. I have an HP Laserjet (black) multi function unit and the running costs and print speed are fantastic. Scanner/fax/copier function works well (the auto feeder on the copier is really useful)..

I presume you want an all-in-one printer for home use and to save space? If so, there's only a few colour laser all-in-ones and they're quite big, you would be better of getting a colour laser printer and scanner separately to save space and probably get the best of both worlds without spending a fortune.

I bought a Samsung CLP-325W colour laser wifi (b/g/n) printer last year and very happy with it. Very small footprint, brilliant quality of prints and also quiet....unlike my last canon colour laser which was very noisy I use my Samsung at irregular intervals and so far the ink hasn't dried out.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-CLP-325W-Wireless-Co...

For a scanner, any decent Canon one will do. I have an old Canon and find it gives superb scanning results and its very slim. Go for one such as this:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Canon-CanoScan-LiDE-110-Scan...

EDIT: I should add if you aren't willing to consider a separate printer/scanner, then this is probably the best one to got for (general home use)
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-CLX-3185FW-Wireless-...

Edited by baby_frogmella (Wed 06-Apr-11 13:13:23)

What about this one? Print, copy, scan, network, duplex, 2000 page toner all for £197:

http://www.printerland.co.uk/Lexmark-X543dn-P9730.aspx

Plenty of others on that site.

That _is_ a good price.

I also spotted this from HP, a bit pricier but it has a few good customer reviews

Not multi function, but quite a good price

USB connection only, but I suppose you could always plug it in to a suitable network device like a NAS or router even.

Or perhaps this and get a separate flatbed scanner. Only problem is that copying is more hassle - first scan to file and then print that file, as opposed to a simple button press.

My Epson scanner can, with the Epson provided software, scan-to-printer without the need for separate operations!

Now thinking about the Canon i SENSYS MF8050Cn

Thanks to all for your valuable feedback and advice.

After further research and giving it some serious thought, I've decided not to go for a multi-function colour laser printer, mainly because of the sheer size of such devices but also because they don't scan sufficiently well for copying photos at reasonable quality. I wouldn't be too happy with the MFP taking over the bedroom-cum-office, so I've decided on getting a decent colour laser printer - this one from Lexmark - and get a decent quality flat-bed scanner, such as an Epson V300, Canon LIDE 210 or 110.

Any other recommendations on scanners that can scan photos/slides with decent quality?

What size do you want to scan & do you mean photo prints or the negatives?

In reply to a post by mondeoman:

What size do you want to scan & do you mean photo prints or the negatives?

Well I scan slides and negatives, but my wife will want to scan actual photos (i.e. refelctive scanning). I've been considering the Epson V330 but read lots of reviews on Amazon and other sites saying that when scanning slides/negs, that a dark line appears through the scans so I'm put off by that. I've also considered a Canoscan 9000F but it's much more expendive than the Epson and bulkier too.

To give an idea of the sort of scanner I'm after: must do slides/negatives to a good level of scanning quality. I have a dedicated Canon FS2710 slide/neg scanner (which doesn't work with Windows 7 so I'm going to sell it) and I realise that the quality from a flatbed won't be the same as that of the FS2710, but it would have to be fairly close.

Unless anyone has any other recommendations I may have overlooked?

I'm very happy with my CanoScan 8800F. It scans 4 35mm slides or 2 strips of 6 negatives in one go; very fast and super quality. It is also a breeze to copy documents to the printer and to save them as PDF files. It is now superseded by the 9000F which comes bundled with a full version of Photoshop 8 - the defacto standard graphics editor. Excellent value.

In reply to a post by BXW:

It is now superseded by the 9000F which comes bundled with a full version of Photoshop 8 - the defacto standard graphics editor. Excellent value.

You mean Photoshop Elements 8?

Thanks for the feedback btw