I pretty much have it narrowed down to one of two printers
Both HP.The PhotoSmart 7280 or the OfficeJet L7580.
Both on sale for 239.95. We have daily faxes, rare scans,
occasional photo and printing/copier tasks. Both are All In One
machines. Any helpful comments? I already have a
Photosmart 8050 that does most of the pics and we are
replacing a moody OfficeJet 6110.

I'm no expert, but I don't like the all in one's.

I bought an HP for my dad two years ago for like $80 at Circuit City, I think it was an Photosmart 8250. Thing is awesome.

I'd rather give up color and go with a laser printer than buy an ink-jet based solution.

So were it me, I'd opt for an HP laser all in one and forget about photo printing in house (using Kinkos or SAMS for photos when needed). Or maybe buy a dedicated photo printer if I really wanted one.

Have you ever tried the Kinko's print online service?

We have a small home office and really need all the functions without a lot of space.

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Inkjets are very expensive to operate. There are some color laser all in ones. Staples has some brothers and hp's listed starting around $599.00. It won't take you long to make up the difference in cost. If you need real high quality pictures, then I would take them to Walgreens or WalMart and have them printed.

I have a color Okidata at work. It is about 3-4 years old and it does a pretty nice job. Color pictures are not as nice as a photo inkjet, but it does a respectable job. I would say the newer ones are even better.

Just my 2¢ worth.

I would take a very close look at the Konika-Minolta line of color laser printers.

We have the 2530DL color laser. It's awesome. They also have all-in-ones. The toner lasts about forever.

The biggest thing to figure out when buying a new printer is just how much usage is it going to get (n estimated images per month). Most printers will give a duty cycle per month in their spec's.

If you're a printing fool, then the inkjet models will prove to be more expensive in the long run. This also goes is the unit is an all-in-one and you receive a lot of faxes. The cartridges are small and really don't last that long.

If you're looking at a heavy usage, then the laser solution would be better. It'll cost you more in the front-end, but your per-image costs will be lower.

If you're looking at a lot of photo printing, then the inkjet is the better choice.

Other things to consider would be accessories for the printer. These would include something like an extra paper tray or a duplexing unit (assuming that you want to print double-sided).

Sometimes it's better to drop a bundle and get what fit's best rather than go for the cheaper solution. The way I view is is that cheap = disposable. Heavy usage on a cheap inkjet might mean replacing it every 2-3 years.

MHO pretty much echos most of the comments already given.

As a computer network consultant, my clients have switched from inkjet all-in-ones to networkable lasers and a local inkjet for occasional color. If you price out the savings in ink vs toner you'll find your doing better with the laser and time to first page is reduced 75% or better. All-in-ones are picky and require lots of PC memory to run the background program.

Need a fax/copier? Buy a Brother. Laser printer? HP and inkjet? HP.
a good buy in scanners is the Canon lide series. Uses USB power ot run the bed and is lightweight. Small enough to pack in your briefcase.

Lots of good deals out there....

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:withstupid]

I have to agree with the all in one color laser. I purchased a Brother MFC-9420CN on close out for under 5 with extra laser cartridges, extra paper (wow) and a full coverage, in home warranty
If you look around you can find some deals.

The only down side to a Brother over some of the other brands are the cartridges. They're stupid expensive

But the quality and function have been great and I work the piss out of this thing!!!

Approximately 500+ pages a day or two, depending on the week and probably quite a bit more color work than you do

Definately take a look.

Gordon

You guys are working the heck outof them. I recieve maybe 15 faxes a day, pics once every 2 months, scan something evey 3 months and copy maybe once month. I don't need the heavy hardware but it's been informative.

We also have a HP Photosmart C6180 All-in-One, which I'm thinking is similar to the one you're looking at. I think it's a really nice machine, the color printing quality is fantastic. If you already have a Photosmart, do you need to add the OfficeJet? Or is your current Photosmart not all-in-one?

I read a while back that it's much more economical to go with a printer that has separate ink cartridges for each color, if you go the inkjet route. One color is typically going to run out before the others, so you wind up wasting ink if you throw out a combo cartridge.

It's a done deal. I have a Photosmart 8050 printer that I use for printing stuff off the computer and small photo projects. I needed the Officejet all in one for recieving or sending daily faxes, occasional small copying projects and occasional scanning to upload items up to file. I bought the HP L7580 because of it's pricepoint ($239) and because of my familiarity of the product. It's replacing an Officejet 6110 so it's basically the newer bigger brother. It has a solid commercial feel to it not like some others I had appraised. My wife and I both are heavy handed so a delicate item would not fit the bill. Thanks for all your comments. I will keep them in mind if I upgrade the office at home or at work and apply your knowledge base as usual.

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that is absolutely right.