<p>D’s planning to bring a printer (I’ve seem some printer v. no-printer threads). My question: is there any benefit to the 3 in 1 (printer, scanner, copier) as opposed to the basic (and therefore smaller) printer.</p>
<p>The 3 in 1s are quite compact–my D has one of the HP photosmarts at school and uses it for all three functions–mostly text printing but occasional digital photos and scanning–very economical and convenient and the footprint is not so different from the basic printers.</p>
<p>I have a 3 in one and I like it very much
Occasionally I need to make a copy of a handout or something I need to sign and mail back. It is very handy to be able to copy it at home rather than go to Kinkos.
For a student at school however, they probably would not use that function so much . My daughter doesn’t even take a printer to school. ( but she works in computer services so free printing)</p>
<p>I have an all-in-1 (printer-scanner-copier-fax) which replaced my basic about 6 months ago. I absolutely love it. Now, I do use the fax and scanning functions a lot in my business (signed contracts, etc). But I also use it to scan photos, fax forms to MD’s etc. etc. etc.
S chose the HP all-in-one (smaller than mine) to go with his new laptop. It is really not that large in footprint (and who cares about the height?). I’m not sure how much he will use the other functions, but I can see scanning photos, etc. for illustrating reports. Since the cost increase is minimal, unless you’re seeing a huge difference in size, I’d do the all-in-one.</p>
<p>I impulsively bought a Lexmark all-in-one from HSN about a month ago. I am still stunned at how handy it is to have the functions it provides, and it was under $100. And free shipping that day! I never even watch the HSN channel, and was surfing at the time. I don’t have a fax line, but have used the scan, copy and print features constantly since I got it. The photos it prints are wonderful, though I think it is probably cheaper to go to CVS. The model I got is a X5270. It takes up less space than a standard-sized monitor. Love it!</p>
<p>We had a lexmark 3 in one in my room at school (my roommates mom bought it for her and i to share). I don’t know how many times my other roommates came in to quick make copies on it, or how many times we made copies on it… that’s how much it was used. If you have the option, i’d definately go with the 3 in 1. it beats paying 5 cents a copy on campus.</p>