About.com Printers / Scanners

Top Ten All-in-One Printers for 2009

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:01:29 +0000

There are some new entries in this year's list of Top All-in-One Printers. These workhorses not only can print, scan, copy, and (usually) fax), they're not expensive, either. Finding the best one for yourself or for a most-welcome holiday gift is a simpler task with the Top Ten All-in-One Printers for 2009. But keep checking back--the year's not over yet!

Top Ten All-in-One Printers for 2009 originally appeared on About.com Printers / Scanners on Thursday, November 19th, 2009 at 17:01:29.

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The Six Best Photo Scanners of 2009

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 19:34:16 +0000

I've just added a new photo scanner to the list of Best Photo Scanners of 2009. The latest addition is at the low end--the Pandigital Photo Link Personal Photo Scanner, which for now is only available via QVC (for about $100). It's appropriate for home users who don't take photos for a living. If you do take photos for a living, there's something in the list for you too (a high-end Nikon CoolScan) that's over $1,000. And for those of us in the middle, there are several HP and Epson photo scanners that won't break the bank but will do a fantastic job scanning all those holiday photos you're going to take this year. And if you don't have a camera yet, this is a good time to get one; here's a list of the best digital cameras under $300. Start snapping!

The Six Best Photo Scanners of 2009 originally appeared on About.com Printers / Scanners on Tuesday, November 17th, 2009 at 19:34:16.

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How to Fix Microsoft Word Printing Issues

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 16:00:10 +0000

Sometimes, problems with printing are fairly obvious. You send a Word document to the printer, and it never comes out. Sometimes, the problems are less obvious but just as irritating. One example is given by Dennis O'Reilly in a recent CNET column called Troubleshoot Microsoft Word Printing Problems. In this case, no matter how many times a friend changed the default paper size to letter, next time he printed it had reverted to A4. O'Reilly's first thought was to install new drivers--not a bad solution for most printer issues--but then realized that "driver updates often spell trouble," since they can cause issues as well as fix them. One solution was far less obvious: reset Word's normal.dot (or normal.dotm) template. O'Reilly's article has many other great tips as well as handy links to Microsoft printer-troubleshooting pages.

How to Fix Microsoft Word Printing Issues originally appeared on About.com Printers / Scanners on Saturday, November 14th, 2009 at 16:00:10.

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Canon Selphy ES40 Portable Photo Printer--Great Prints, Great Value

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 17:19:22 +0000

It's not often that I'm truly impressed by printed photos, but the Canon Selphy ES40 prints some amazing photos. It's also small and compact, fun and easy to use, and it comes pretty cheap. In fact, it usually retails for about $150, but I saw it online at J&R for only $99 (good through November 30)!� That's a pretty great deal. The Selphy ES40 doesn't offer a whole lot of options, and you can only print 4x6 photos--but if that's what you're looking for, you can't beat this Selphy. Especially for $99.

Canon Selphy ES40 Portable Photo Printer--Great Prints, Great Value originally appeared on About.com Printers / Scanners on Wednesday, November 11th, 2009 at 17:19:22.

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Kodak ESP 3250 Three-in-One Printer Reviewed

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 18:43:46 +0000

The Kodak ESP 3250 is a good value--at just over $100, it won't break the bank, and neither will Kodak's low-cost ink refills. The ESP 3250 puts out great looking photos and decent-enough prints from documents, and while it's not super fast, it's not pokey, either. If you need a lot of extras--an automatic document feeder, a big LCD, or multiple paper feeds--look somewhere else. But for a three-in-one that performs well, I think this Kodak printer is a very good choice.

Kodak ESP 3250 Three-in-One Printer Reviewed originally appeared on About.com Printers / Scanners on Sunday, November 8th, 2009 at 18:43:46.

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The Plustek SmartOffice PS282 Scanner Reviewed

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 16:22:33 +0000

The Plustek SmartOffice PS282 is a handy and compact scanner that zips quickly through jobs and folds up so it doesn't take up a lot of space. Since it costs over $300 it competes with Fujitsu's ScanSnap line--an excellent set of scanners, which also come with the full version of Adobe Acrobat (Plustek does offer a suite of OCR and image-editing software). And the Fujitsu ScanSnap S510 is cheaper as well. Bottom line? For now, Fujitsu has the edge, but Plustek does a decent job as well.

The Plustek SmartOffice PS282 Scanner Reviewed originally appeared on About.com Printers / Scanners on Saturday, November 7th, 2009 at 16:22:33.

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Update: The Barbie Digital Fingernail Printer Now Available

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 12:32:29 +0000

Update (11-4): As promised, the Barbie B Nails printer (the full names is Barbie Doll'd Up Nails B-Nails Digital Nail Printer) is available for purchase. Check PriceGrabber for the lowest prices (a recent check shows it about $275). Want to know what you're getting yourself into? Check out the updated video.

The CES show, where exhibits of the latest and greatest electronic gadgets are found, is also where some "do I really need this?" items are on display. Exhibit 1, the Barbie B Nails, an inkjet printer that puts custom designs on your fingernails. Or rather, I hope, on your kids' fingernails. It's quick (three seconds) and looks painless, although that depends on whether you'd consider it painful to have the Barbie logo on your fingernail. No word yet on price though this post (and video) from Gadget Review estimates it about $200, available later this year, in time for Christmas. Lucky you!

Update: The Barbie Digital Fingernail Printer Now Available originally appeared on About.com Printers / Scanners on Wednesday, November 4th, 2009 at 12:32:29.

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How Green Is Your Printer?

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 20:11:43 +0000

As M. David Stone rightly notes in his PC World article, "How Printers and Scanners Get GreenTech Approved, "Anything that chews through stacks of paper as its primary job description has to work pretty hard to qualify as green." Still, PC World has bestowed its "GreenTech" seal on a handful of printers; criteria include how well they minimize waste, their packaging and recycling efforts, and the manufacturer's commitment to energy issues. Winners include the HP Officejet Pro 8500.

How Green Is Your Printer? originally appeared on About.com Printers / Scanners on Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009 at 20:11:43.

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Wanted: Top-Notch Photo Scanner for a Mac User; ADF Preferred

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 19:45:38 +0000

One reader wrote looking for advice on scanning "several thousand photos." The scanner needs to be Mac friendly and optimized for photo scanning. Given that there are so many to scan, it might help to have an automatic document feeder, though I've never used an ADF to scan photos and am not even sure if you can do it. The Epson Perfection V500 has an optional ADF for an additional $199 (note: that link goes to a review of the V600, a similar scanner but with no optional ADF available). Anyone have any experience scanning a lot of photos using a photo scanner with an ADF? Let us know!

Wanted: Top-Notch Photo Scanner for a Mac User; ADF Preferred originally appeared on About.com Printers / Scanners on Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009 at 19:45:38.

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Upgrading to Windows 7? Check For Drivers First

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 19:37:14 +0000

If you're planning on upgrading to Windows 7 soon, keep in mind that you'll need to upgrade your printer and scanner drivers as well. And that's not always easy to do, since those drivers may not exist yet --and may not be around for a while. That's according to Martin Heller of InfoWorld, in Windows 7's Spotty Driver Support. Heller checked for a Windows 7 driver for his HP Officejet Pro L7590 all-in-one and, while there is an entry for it on HP's download site, there's no actual driver for either the 32- or 64-bit versions of Windows 7. Instead, there's a "basic driver" workaround, that does allow basic printing, though HP warns that "some of the advanced product features are not available. " So before you upgrade, go to the Web site for any of your peripherals and make sure you'll still be able to use them in the way you need to.

Update (11-3-09): Jeremy Kirk of ComputerWorld writes that HP expects many drivers to be released soon. HP's Web site (check the tab at the top left for different HP printer and scanner lines) notes, somewhat alarmingly, that "If your legacy product is not listed, no support is offered for Windows 7."

Upgrading to Windows 7? Check For Drivers First originally appeared on About.com Printers / Scanners on Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009 at 19:37:14.

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