MULTIFUNCTION CENTRE BUYER’S CHECKLIST

WHAT YOU NEED TO KEEP AN EYE ON WHEN SHOPPING FOR A MULTIFUNCTION PRINTER.

ADF

An automatic document feed, which typically sits on the top lid of the printer, saves a lot of time for scanning and printing documents that are more than one page. Even better if it supports two-sided scanning and printing.

FAX

There are certain industries where faxes are required as a legality for transmitting certain types of information electronically. As such, several MFCs designed for work use continue to offer this function.

CONNECTION OPTIONS

Wi-Fi is pretty much standard on a modern MFC, but it’s also worth checking whether mobile device printing is supported for iOS and Android. Other things to look for are support for connecting USB drives, an SD card slot and Ethernet.

USB CABLE IN THE BOX

If you don’t have a wireless network to connect the printer to, you may need to revert to an old-school wired connection, in which case, it’s worth checking whether a USB cable is included. Alternatively, some printers support Wireless Direct, which allows for a wireless connection without a Wi-Fi network.

INK CARTRIDGES

Check whether each colour (black, cyan, magenta and yellow) has its own separate ink cartridge, otherwise you’ll have to buy a whole new pack every time a single colour runs out.

SPEED

The speed specs listed for printers typically use the ‘fast and dirty’ draft quality, which is why they’re typically a lot faster than what you can achieve day-to-day using the normal print quality.

SIZE

MFCs can balloon in size due to all of the functions they combine, so you’ll need to factor this size in when purchasing — will you have enough space to house it in your home office or workspace?

CLOUD PRINTING

If you use one of the main cloud services for file storage such as Google Drive, Dropbox or OneDrive, it’s worth checking whether the MFC can print and/or scan directly to these services.