My friend just got this scanner/printer/copier combo from Lexmark. It's only $99.99, so I'm wondering if it's good or no. When I went to Bestbuy.com, none of the other combos were this cheap. Is there a catch? I desperately need a scanner for my weddings pics (8 months tomorrow!) and my sonogram pics. We also need a new printer.
Up until a few months ago I had a really cheap scanner and it did the trick just fine. We now have a combination scanner/printer/faxer/copier which scans at a higher resolution but I really dont see the difference.
Unless you are planning on doing some sort of overly complex graphic design - a cheap scanner will do the trick just as well as the more expensive ones.
Edited to add that I used to have a Lexmark printer and suddenly broke (after a very short period of use) and no matter what we did, we could never fix it. That could just be my experience but Im not too keen on the Lexmark printers.
WithThisRing
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Re: Scanners...shamma, sonicstef, anyone???
we have a lanier and its a copy/fax/scanner/printer and maybe its just the brand, but we have problems with it. it jams, its a pain to put the toner in, there is this little level thing that holds the fax's that came thru and the slightest touch it falls off and then we have errors with trying to print.
Again, this could just be the brand.
edited to add: this is what i have at work. at home FI and I have a regular printer and a scanner
Claud2001
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Re: Scanners...shamma, sonicstef, anyone???
Do you just need a scanner, or do you need a printer and fax machine too?
Lexmark's strong suit is really printers, so in terms of a scanner - I don't think this is the best product you can buy. Personally, I am of the mindset that you are better off buying a scanner separately from a printer.
If you want a combo unit - combine printing and faxing, but only if you don't want a photo quality printer...otherwise you should buy a separate printer too.
I highly recommend the scanner that we have - it scans photos true to their original color, requiring less post-scanning adjustments in Photoshop and it produces very sharp images. It's an Epson Perfection 1650....but, it's not cheap. If you want a really good scanner in the $100 range, the ones Canon makes are usually very good.
shamma
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Re: Scanners...shamma, sonicstef, anyone???
I will not say I am a pro or anything on the scanner thing, but I always look at the DPI. This one seems fine. I wanted our for basic scanning, and it did just what I was looking for. Ours only cost $70 so I would say why not. You could always check Amazon to see what others who have bought it think of it.
shamma
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Re: Scanners...shamma, sonicstef, anyone???
Claud we have that same scanner too, the 1660 hubby got it at the Computer show at the aqueduct directly from a dealer/retailer, that is why it was so cheap
I have a real stupid question....We just got a digital camera and so I'm new to all this....Does a scanner print your pictures out too? What do I do with pictures I take on my digital camera? I mean to get a hard copy? Like I said, I'm VERY new to all of this technology!!!
shamma
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Re: Scanners...shamma, sonicstef, anyone???
You can upload your pix from your camera to your PC and then print the pix you want on photo paper straight to your printer.
No such question as a stupid question, the only stupid question is the one not asked
Claud2001
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Re: Scanners...shamma, sonicstef, anyone???
Shamma - DH paid over $200 for ours!
shamma
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Re: Scanners...shamma, sonicstef, anyone???
We scan pix that we want to share with others, b/c they were not taken digitally. We scan them and save them to our PC.
shamma
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Re: Scanners...shamma, sonicstef, anyone???
Claud, since you are so into photography I think you and hubby would like the computer show, the steals and deals...sorry to hear of such a high price.
NIHA
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Re: Scanners...shamma, sonicstef, anyone???
Thanks everyone, my main concerns are cost and space. We do need a new printer, so I thought that the combo would be a better space saver than having printer and a scanner. Since we'll be using it for mostly sharing pics, and printing out stuff that is more for our entertainment than anything else, I don't want to spend too much. I will look into the Epson and Canon scanners, they do look small/thin.
stacedz
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Re: Scanners...shamma, sonicstef, anyone???
We use an Epson at work and it is great and very fast. I have an HP at home and it was $100 and very slow. I saw a big difference when I scanned proofs on the Epson at work to the ones I scanned at home and made reprints on Shutterfly. The clarity was much better. I prefer non-combo scanner/printers, we don't use them at work and I don't think they are as good.
Sha...if you scan the pics, open them up on your computer in some sort of image program to print them (Photoshop,etc.). Once you download them from your digital, you might have an option to print them right from the program you uploaded them from, if not, repeat above and open in image program. Hope this helps, let me know if it doesn't!
Sonicstef
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Re: Scanners...shamma, sonicstef, anyone???
Just FYI - I have a combo scanner/faxer/printer and it does print photo quality photos. However the ink and right paper is so expensive, it cheaper to have digital photos printed online.
If you really want to do a lot of printing right from your camera, I suggest buying the printers that have the slots for the memory card. We have that and we can just plug in the card and print the photo we want.
shamma
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Re: Scanners...shamma, sonicstef, anyone???
Stef that is hubby's complaint how expensive the ink is for the photos.
NIHA
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Re: Scanners...shamma, sonicstef, anyone???
Okay, if we just got the scanner, is this one any good? It's supposedly orignally $80, but reduced to $50 at circuit city. It's a Canon CanoScan® Flatbed scanner.
Edited to add specs: Canon 600 x 1200-dpi, 48-bit CanoScan® Flatbed Scanner Warranty:Months Labor/Parts 12/12 Scanner Type Flatbed Optical/Hardware Resolution 600 x 1200 Enhanced Resolution 9600 x 9600 Color Depth 48-Bit Maximum Scan Area 8.5 x 11.7 Parallel Port No Serial Port No USB Port Yes, USB 2.0 SCSI Port No
I rather pay to get the pictures printed online also from my digital. IMO its not work printing all those pictures on your printer because the paper is expensive.
sha11209
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Re: Scanners...shamma, sonicstef, anyone???
Stef & Stadez Would this be a scanner/printer or just a regular printer? Is it a regular printer that you use w/your computer for papers etc and memory cards? How do you know what kind of photo paper to buy and do you have to get a photoshop program from a place like staples to do all of this?? Lots of questions! Thanks Shamma for not making me feel so silly!!!
