Matt Matty answers:

I would advise getting a seperate printer and scanner, and setting up your computer to recieve faxes (you can save to disk and print them out if you want or choose auto-print. Saves you some ink.)

As far as performace/ease of use, this would be the best option, especially for photo printing because you can’t get an all-in-one with the same 6 or 8 color ink system that you can with stand-alone. Also, if one of your components breaks, you’re out of luck, but with seperate items, just replace the item that is broken. Also, I have come into problems with my g/f Windows machine recognizing which part of the unit it’s supposed to be addressing (scanner/printer), but have never tried an all-in-one on my mac.

As far as the money goes, a seperate system costs about the same, if not less, as an all-in-one.

As far as HP goes, they’re okay… I am really diggin’ their sleeker designs, but I have noticed that my g/f pays a lot more for her ink. I have an Epson R220, and although their ink is harder to find, the 6 ink printing system makes my ink last longer and they’re replacement cartridges are less expensive than HP. I would recommend Canon or Epson and say “run away” from Lexmark.

Matt Matty answers:

I’ve always like HP printers.  I’ve owned and used them all but the HP units always stay in my office.  The latest printer I’ve fallen in love with is the HP C410a.  This is a great all-in-one unit that has a separate tray for photo paper and copies, faxes, and prints beautiful documents.  I actually own two of these units – 1 at home and 1 at the office.  The ink cartridges could be more affordable but the printer works great and that is what matters the most to me.

Matt Matty answers:

It depends on what you are willing to spend. If you want the smallest printer that will actually give you a decene print, take a look into Canon or HP’s tiny portable printers (see link below). These printers start at around $250, though. However, they are portable and are popular with truck drivers and business people who have limited space.

If that is too much, the smallest printer I can think of is the HP D2530 for $40.  You might also want to look at Small Portable Printers for Macs,  I’m sure you’ll find something here to help you out.

Matt Matty answers:

I have the HP C4180 which is a combined inkjet printer and scanner / copier, it will copy a photo to paper on it’s own or scan directly to the computer, also has a number of slots for digital camera memory cards which you can also access directly from the computer, or print photos directly from using the printer.

Runs great on my iMac with Snow Leopard (OS X 10.6).

Oh and yes, you can scan anything that will fit on the A4 scan glass, including photographs, text documents (it will do a very good job of translating it to a text document too if you want), pictures, magazine articles… Sometimes you need to spend a bit of time tweaking the colour balance or brightness etc, but all scanners are like that.

Matt Matty answers:

Yes, they work great and are my favorite printers but before you buy, check the model numbers and make sure they are compatible with the iPad and iPhone in case you may want to print using these hand held devices – either now or in the future.

Good site that lists those printers can be found here:  iPad Compatible Printers | Wireless Apple Tablet Printing

Matt Matty answers:

Nope – sorry but it’s not.