Home office equipment question

“I've been strongly encouraged to get a Fax machine by the man who is sending me most of my work (I can't use the copy shop next door because there will be confidential material). It seems like the best way to go would be a multi-function machine with Fax, scanner, printer, capacities.

What should I get that ain't too expensive? (i.e. as cheap and easy to use as I can do, and still get good quality reliable work for at least a few years, I might get medical records and handwritten materials.. but I don't need great graphics)”

“I went to Walmart. I don't remember for sure which brand.. but basically you can get a 5N1 for the same price as a 3N1. I think I paid under $300. It's USB, got decent scanning capabilities, and the only negative I have is that the price/page must be fairly high, because you got thru ink/toner/ribbon fairly quickly. At least I seem to, but one caveat -- since it's a MFC, its also the workhorse printer (lol) for anything not done on the laptops. I should mention this is a home office (lol.. my home office) so the resources available; i.e., pricing considerations may not align the same for you.

Anyways, it works. :)”

“If it's work related it's tax deductible, which may affect the monetary angle.

The downside to those machines is one malfunction leaves you without anything.

The plus side is it takes up a whole lot less space than individual machines, and is cheaper than purchasing them separate.”

“Actually.. I take that back. Circuit City, not WalMart.”

“I just got an HP at Staples it was $500 but they had some cheaper models that were just as good if you aren't doing graphics. I think it was a canon that looked good for under $300”

“Thanks for the input... I'd post the question where it was more on topic, but then I'd have to keep watching a boring board.

LOL @ TD.

I've got a decent printer... all I need is the send and receive fax, but there are times I've wished I had a scanner and why not have a back-up printer? Maybe I'll go ask a lot of questions at a Staples or Office Depot.”

“Have you checked ComputerWorld.com, or other on-line magazines? They often rate peripherals. The folks at the Office Depot in my neighborhood don't seem to know anything, including the difference between a ream and a sheet of paper!”

“Watch out! Salespeople sometimes fib! <G>

I just went through this process with my mom and she got an HP 2210 all-in-one... from Office Depot, I think. She's only had it for 2 weeks, but 'so far, so good...'

She paid full price ($300), but they gave her some sort of in-store credit for $60.

If you feed "compare printers" or "printer comparisons" to your favorite search engine All Sorts of stuff will fall out.”

“This should help:

http://www.pcworld.com/reviews/article/0,aid,110564,00.asp

I've found their reviews to be very accurate and useful.”

“Thanks for the ideas and the link. The link from Viol man had some great info and info on a very inexpensive lexmark but I think I need stand alone fax ability and a form feeder which takes me way up in price. (Being able to stack stuff in the feeder while I work on something else is probably important for when I get asked to bail someone out in a crisis - or almost miss a deadline myself).”

“i find that Brother Fax machines are very good.

you can get them at


dartek.com
obena.com
rhinotek.com
complete.com

all of them have good deals.

I spend most of the day looking into info on these kinds of things. and these are the best that i have come up with. good luck and if you need any more help just ask”

“stay away from lexmark. cheap stuff. I find that im replacing there equip. within a couple of years after buying the stuff.

IMHO”

“Could you just receive faxes on your computer? I often fax things from work directly to people's computers.”

“Hewlett Packard”

“If you use Outlook, you might be able to utilize a "host fax service" and direct the information to a file.

Advantage would be having it in electronic format as well as never having to worry about running out of paper in the fax machine.

Disadvantage would be costs for monthly service.”

“efax.com can probably host it for you regardless of your ISP or email application”