Guides

• What is a multi-function device?
• Before you start looking around
• Downsides
• What to expect
• Other important considerations:
• Extra features
• Questions to ask / considerations

Downsides

There are several commonly perceived downsides to multi-function Devices. At the top of this list is quality. Many feel that although an MFD can perform multi tasks, the quality of those tasks is compromised. Vendors assure that the technology has evolved to the point where this is no longer the case. PC World testing has indicated that most MFDs (especially laser ones) match or nearly match standalone devices in terms of print speed, but print and scan quality can vary. While some MFDs match standalones in quality and speed, others don't, but overall the performance gap has narrowed.

Security becomes more of a concern when the machine is widely networked and used to scan and store documents that are sensitive to business. These concerns though are mostly hang-ups from the past as the technology has improved vastly in the last five years and security features and standards have been enhanced.

The third major downside to a MFD is the vulnerability of having all your eggs in one basket. If one part stops working, you can lose the other functions too. While it's true that if the printer breaks, you will generally not be able to photocopy, most MFDs are designed so that you will still be able to scan. In addition, most devices aimed at business "phone home" when there is a fault, bringing the service guys knocking at your door before you even realise there's a problem. But this isn't always the case so it's important to check what the service arrangements for your device are. Most devices also e-mail you if anything is broken or running low (ink, toner, paper, staples etc) so you can fix it, and/or redirect tasks to other devices, before it escalates into a bigger issue.

A note on speed: Speed, being the main weapon in the marketing war among vendors, is often one of the first specs you will see in any advertisement for a device. This war has unfortunately escalated so far that it has yielded utterly meaningless rated print speeds. Vendors frequently cite ratings based on printing only the simplest text documents, or printing in draft mode, and many don't even include the time it takes for the PC to send a job to the printer. To further confuse the issue, laser and inkjet speeds are measured and quoted differently. In any case, claimed speeds are frequently two, three, or more times the speeds you'll see in real-world printing.

Speed is an issue in an office environment -- especially if there are peak printing times where you need to meet deadlines, such as monthly reports. If speed is important to you, don't just go on what the advertising material tells you. Either test the device yourself or read independent reviews and make sure you ask the vendor how the speed specification has been determined. Ask whether the specification includes the time it takes the PC to send a job to the printer, or the time it takes the printer to read a memory card.

Although speed (especially for photo printing) has become a lot faster in the last year, there is still substantial difference between devices. Despite what vendors may claim, you could rarely expect to print a full-colour A4 photograph in less than five to 10min with most devices taking around 10-15min. Don't be surprised, however, if you have to wait for up to half an hour for some of the cheaper or older models.

It's also handy to look for a device with a number of modes for speed versatile document printing - eg, extra fast, fast, normal, fine, extra fine.

A final note about speed is that you can normally expect it to be compromised when you are networking the device, when it is carrying out more than one task simultaneously or there is a descreening feature on the scanner. (See note on descreening below)