All-in-wonders: Can one peripheral do everything-and do it well? With the latest printer/copier/fax/scanners, the answer is finally yes. (Multifunction Devices).

FEEL LIKE YOU'VE set up your office in a phone booth? Attempting to carve out a work area for your home business or small office can give you that Spam-in-a-can experience-especially when you try to accommodate all the office equipment you need. If you can't figure out how to set aside adequate space for your PC, scanner, printer, copier, and other hardware, consider an all-in-one multifunction device. With an MFD you get nearly all of the functions you need in a single compact box. Today's MFDs use space efficiently, save you money, and make your cramped quarters feel just a bit more palatial.

ALL-IN-ONES IMPROVE

SINCE THEIR INCEPTION, all-in-one MFDs have had two shortcomings: Their performance was often significantly below that of the separate devices they replaced; and if one component on an MFD broke, you lost nearly all of your office equipment in one painful stroke. That has now changed. The models we looked at for this review print almost as quickly as stand-alone printers, and their print and scan quality is every bit as good, so buyers need to make fewer compromises.

MFD manufacturers have tackled the reliability and repair issue in a couple of creative ways. HP's LaserJet 1220, for example, adds a separate scanner/copier unit to a stand-alone printer-though this solution generates its own difficulties. Many other MFDs keep each function separate within an all-in-one form: If the copier breaks, for instance, the printer and scanner still work. Nevertheless, if you need to send the device to a service center for repair--or if a technician arrives at your workplace to correct the problem--you're left without access to much of your basic office equipment for the duration.

For this review, we appraised the ease of use, speed, and image quality of six new multifunction devices--three ink jet MFDs and three laser models. We found a lot to like about these devices, and we encountered a variety of approaches to the simple tasks of printing, scanning, copying, and faxing. Some MFDs use a flatbed scanner, while others are sheet-fed. Some work as stand-alone fax machines, while others rely on PC-based faxing--and one lacks fax capabilities entirely. (For tips on deciding whether to get an all-in-one without fax, see the sidebar, "How Much Fax Do You Need?" on page 112.)

As with any piece of office equipment, picking the best MFD model for you depends on your particular needs. If you want color printing, pick an ink jet model; if you copy and print a mountain of documents, you're better off with a monochrome laser model; and if you need to receive important faxes at all hours, choose an MFD that works as a stand-alone fax.

INK JET models

Canon MultiPass F50

THE BULKIEST OF the three ink jet MFDs we tested, Canon's MultiPass F50 is nearly 13 inches tall and 17 inches wide. It has a 100-sheet main tray and a 30-sheet, automatic document feeder. At $499, it's also the most expensive ink jet MFD here.

You can scan (the MultiPass F50 handles both sheet-fed and flatbed scanning), copy, and fax from the extensive control panel (with more than 30 buttons) and from LCD…