Best scanner/laser printer?

[Deborah M.]

I have an all-in-one color printer that I used for scanning, but it's not very fast and can't take a lot of pages.  I want a good, fast scanner/printer, either color or black-and-white, prefer laser but a good inkjet could work if it's high quality.  And I'd love it to do auto duplexing.  All the reviews I read talk about the printer part of it but not the scanner.  Right now I print my roughs and finals on a small HP LaserJet 1020.  My main thing is a good scanner/printer.

[Martha R]

I was thinking of getting a Fujitsu Scan Snap scanner.  But it only scans.  But it would be nice to have my own scanner that can do bulk feeding of documents that I can send to a scopist.    Some reporters think it's the best one out there for that particular need.

Hey guess what?  I don't have to print my transcripts anymore, just the cert pages!    

[Kelli Combs (admin)]

I have the ScanSnap scanner too and love it.  About $500 but worth the price.  Quick too.  Also scans in color.

[Janet]

Which model of the ScanSnap do you have?

[Kelli Combs (admin)]

Janet, I have the S1500 Fujitsu Scansnap.  I am constantly scanning exhibits to my scopist.  This is the best.  Sorry, but didn't see your post till right now, which is about a month from when you posted.  Oops.

[Marge Teilhaber (TILE hobber)]

I just got the ScanSnap and am IN LOVE!!!  It is SOOOO much better than the flat-screen.  So much quicker, convenient.  The small footprint is amazing.  Close it up and it's tiny.  It's wonderful!!!   cost $414 in Amazon.   Now I'm scanning exhibits and emailing PDFs to the agency and no more a big strain of when to ship exhibits.   I still ship but the agency has the PDF from me so they're good.  What a pleasure.

[Jannette]

I have an HP Officejet Pro 8600 Plus all-in-one and it makes great color and black and white copies and scans great too.  It has a flat bed and an auto feed and I only paid around $200 at Staples.  The salesperson said he sells them to a lot of businesses like doctors' offices and the like.  It's a real workhorse.  Best all-in-one I've ever owned.  I forgot to add it can duplex print as well.  I think duplex printing is automatic.  I haven't used that feature in a while so I can't remember for sure, but I believe it is.

[Deborah M.]

Jannette, how fast is the scanner?  How many pages can you put in it at once?  The duplex thing thrills me! 

Martha, Marge, Kelli, I hate to spend $400 on something that will only do one thing -- my office is so crowded already, but if that's the best scanner, I may end up doing it.  I want to be able to scan exhibits and then send them off with certs and not worry about timelines and UPS days.  I can just email the tran when I'm done. 

I still print roughs to read though, and work for a couple little guys that want hard copy transcripts.  Does an inkjet produce a clean-enough copy to use as a final?  You know, I paid $1,600 for my first HP III laser printer!

[Jannette]

Deborah, I'm not sure about the exact # of pages that can be scanned at a time.  I know I've put in maybe 6 or 7 at a time.  I don't do a lot of scanning of docs like maybe you do, but I'm sure you can call HP and ask those questions directly to them and they could give you exact numbers of pages and speed, etc.  Sorry I couldn't be more helpful in that regard.

[Marge Teilhaber (TILE hobber)]

I like stand-alones.  I am on my second laser printer ever.  The first one was IBM.  It lasted 10 years.  Purchased in 1991.  forget how much.  The current one is HP 2200D, purchased for $900 in 2001.  I might need another one because duplex printing jams when printing multiple pages.  I don't do much printing so when printing a bill, say, I do 1-2 and then 3-4, etc.  Let's see how long I go before I bring it into a place to have it looked at.  

You can load up to 50 sheets.  The thing is the bomb.  Also, it converts to searchable and copyable text so if they're reading from docs, you can search and highlight on the PDF that ScanSnap creates.  I'm truly in love!

[Dean Morris]

I second the HP 8600 Plus.  It's an all in one.  I'm a huge laser fan, but I spoke to a knowledgeable person who told me that the HP 8600 Plus is FAR SUPERIOR to the HP laser all in ones.  His emphasis on the "far superior."  I'm extremely pleased.  Prints in color, with black printing that continues to work even if one of the "color" cartridges quits.  You can use it either wired with USB or wirelessly, and I do love the wireless printing.

I did spend time with HP Support setting it up.  One year free support included.  I needed it at setup, as I wanted to install some of the other features.  Very helpful and knowledgeable.  Be sure to call Support if you need help in the setup.

You can be situated in another location and print to the all in one via ePrint.

Print, scan, copy, FAX -- HP!

When I print a transcript, I use my laser printer.  Just my preference.  The black HP 8600 Plus printing is very good and I think it has a high capacity, but check the stats on the HP website or in the store.

There are many brands and styles.  Investigate and choose the one that best suits your needs.  Good luck!

[Deborah M.]

This is the deal, not sure what I should do. 

I have a small HP Laser I use for roughs and finals, not very fast, but good enough since I'm not printing a lot of finals.

I have an all-in-one color copier/printer/scanner/fax. The scanner is not fast and you can't load more than maybe 8 pages at a time.

I want a fast scanner so I can start scanning exhibits and shipping them off, also to send to scopist.  I would like to free up some space and not add ANOTHER machine to my office.  IF I could have one machine instead of three, I'd be thrilled. I don't HAVE to have color copying because my daughter has one and I use it rarely.

So not sure if I should get another, better all-in-one, like the one above, or just bite the bullet and get the Snapscan and try to make room for it.  I'm also wondering if it's wireless or I need to plug it in, in which case I really don't have room for it!

What I really want is a fast scanner/copier/laser printer with duplexing abilities.

Suggestions welcome.

[Marge Teilhaber (TILE hobber)]

ScanSnap is 11" x 5" sitting on my desk closed.  To open it to scan, one part flips up and another part flips down.  It's quite an adorable looking machine and it's fantastic.  I went to a doc visit yesterday and each billing person had one on their desk.   The scanning is fast and does double sides and color.