The Best All-in-One Printer for Small Businesses

1800 Office SOlutions Team member - Elie Vigile
1800 Team

Without question, small businesses of all types need office equipment. This includes printers, copiers, scanners, even fax machines in some cases. But for many of these businesses, there’s little room or budget for separate pieces of equipment.

That’s where all-in-one printers enter the picture. Companies and organizations with dozens if not hundreds of employees can sustain multiple large-sized office machines. But most small businesses simply don’t need them to do their work.

Allow us to tell you about some of the printer models we think you should consider, along with the Lexmark and Xerox models we stock.

all in one printer

What Is an All-in-One Printer?

All-in-one printers are also known as multi-function printers. These workhorses share functions such as:

    • Connecting wirelessly to a computer
    • Scanning
    • Copy
  • Faxing
  • Printing in black and white or color

Most all-in-one printers produce approximately 15-19 pages per minute and are available in laser or inkjet models.

Which Companies Manufacture All-in-One Printers?

You will see some familiar names among these all-in-one printer manufacturers. They include:

  • Canon
  • Epson
  • Hewlett-Packard
  • Brother
  • Xerox
  • Lexmark
  • Konica Minolta
  • Kyocera

There are some other manufacturers with all-in-one printers on the market. However, based on product reviews and what retailers are promoting, these companies are currently the most prominent.

All-in-One Printer Recommendations: Sources

When it comes to computer technology, making product recommendations is inevitably tricky. But for our all-in-one printer recommendations, we considered reviews from the following sources:

  • PCMag.com
  • Wirecutter (New York Times)
  • CNET.com
  • The Strategist (New York magazine)
  • Consumer Reports
  • GadgetReview.com

While there are other sources, we consider these six to be particularly reliable.

All-in-One Printer Recommendations: Top Picks

Among the manufacturers, Brother and Hewlett-Packard were the clear front-runners here. They took in first and second position respectively. Canon was a distant third among those we looked at.

With their history in quality laser printing, Brother printers stand out among other small office printing technology. HP and Canon have built their reputations on inkjet printers and have focused on home and leisure applications.

Still, each of these manufacturers has had decades to refine its technology. Thus, they have expanded into each other’s areas of recognition. With some exceptions, these companies have retained their footholds in their respective niches.

We hope this piece augments and sheds new light on last month’s overview of how our excellent Lexmark all-in-one printers benefit small businesses and home offices. The following section looks at other brands and models for comparison.

1. Brother MFCL2710DW

This top-rated monochrome compact laser all-in-one printer with duplex printing and wireless networking is the printing solution for the home office or small business. It’s the latest version of Brother’s classic fast-printing black and white laser printer.

Its 250-sheet paper capacity easily handles letter and legal sized paper. Plus, this printer uses readily available Brother toner cartridges. And it prints up to 32 pages per minute. At nearly a page every two seconds, that’s pretty fast.

Other features include:

  • Manual feed slot allows flexible paper handling for various paper types and sizes, such as card stock, envelopes, etc.
  • Up to 50-sheet automatic document feeder to save time with features like multi-page copy, scan, and fax
  • Wireless printing from the desktop and standard mobile devices
  • Optional built-in wireless and Ethernet network interfaces for sharing with multiple users or USB interface for a single computer

Provided you do not need color printing, we believe this is the best all-in-one printer for a home office or small business. It was created with working professionals in mind.

2. HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M281fdw Printer

With an accessible starting price and great value per page, this HP LaserJet Pro has entered the world of laser printing with a bang. It offers better cartridge capacity than other models, and its per-page costs are relatively low.

As Wirecutter says of this machine, “if you run a business with modest printing and paper-handling needs, or if you’ve grown exasperated with your inkjet AIO’s failings, the M479fdw should hit the sweet spot.”

Other features include:

  • Wireless connectivity
  • Fax support
  • ENERGY STAR certification and EPEAT® Silver rating

If your business needs require color printing, this is the right all-in-one printer.

3. Brother MFCL3750CDW

This compact digital color all-in-one printer with a 3.7′ color touchscreen, wireless and duplex printing is a jack of all trades. It’s well suited for a small business with a variety of printing needs—including the occasional color printing job.

True to Brother printer history, this all-in-one printer’s color printing process turns out acceptable draft images. Not surprisingly, though, its black and white documents are where it excels. The print is crisp and strikingly clear.

Other features include:

  • Print speeds up to 25 pages per minute
  • Scan speeds up to 29ipm black and 22ipm color
  • 50-sheet automatic document feeder and 250-sheet adjustable paper tray
  • Wireless printing from desktop, laptop, smartphone, or tablet
  • Connection options include built-in wireless, Ethernet, and Wi-Fi Direct®, or connect locally via USB.

This versatile computer would be welcome in any small business, including a home-based business.

4. Canon imageClass MF267dw All-in-One Printer

The Canon Color imageClass MF741Cdw ($489) is a mid-range color laser all-in-one printer that targets mainly small to medium-sized offices requiring low to medium-volume printing and copying. Canon has many years of experience with color inkjet printing. It seems to have adapted well to laser color too.

One notable drawback of this all-in-one printer is that there is no automated feature for duplex (two-sided) printing. So you must feed the pages manually. A few of its direct competitors do have the duplex printing feature.

Other features include:

  • Multiple connectivity options
  • Jump drive capability
  • Moderate operating costs
  • Outstanding color print quality

Except for its one weakness, this is a fine all-in-one printer.

Many Small Business Printing Options

In this article, we’ve looked at some all-in-one printers that appear to be excellent values. For the most part, they cost slightly more than the typical home inkjet printer. Yet they’re efficient enough to keep printing costs under control.

Check out the Lexmark and Xerox all-in-one printers on our website. Look at their attributes and decide for yourself how they stand up to the printers discussed here. Please let us know if you have questions or wish to speak with a representative.

Was this post useful?
Yes
No