Larry Magid: Paper isn't dead yet, and neither are printers and scanners

"Whether you work in an office, at home or not at all, a multifunction printer can still be convenient, if not essential. While we print and scan far less than we used to, there are moments when paper still wins. I routinely print shipping labels, recipes and other essentials, and I almost always print out my articles before submitting them because I seem to spot errors on paper more easily than on a screen."

"Around 2016, I bought an HP PageWide Pro MFP 477dw, which is still my favorite all-around printer. Although technically an inkjet, it's fast, prints both sides in a single pass, and produces output that's almost as good as lasers for many tasks. It's also economical around 2 cents per page at the industry's standard 5% coverage, even though real-world documents usually exceed that."

"Unfortunately, HP stopped making PageWide printers in 2021, so unless you find a used or leftover unit, you can't buy one. I can still get ink, but even though mine is working great, I know there will be a day when it stops working. According to Keypoint Intelligence, HP explained that the gap between office laser and inkjet technologies has narrowed significantly in recent years in areas such as footprint, acquisition cost, operating cost and energy efficiency."

Multifunction printers remain useful for printing shipping labels, recipes, and other essentials, and paper can reveal errors more easily than screens. Multifunction devices still offer fax and scanner capabilities for occasional needs such as scanning old photos or digitizing mailed paperwork. Hybrid printer technologies have narrowed performance and cost gaps between inkjet and laser designs. PageWide inkjet printers delivered fast, duplex, near-laser quality output at low per-page cost, but production ceased in 2021. Traditional cartridge inkjets remain available at low price points for light duty, with varying operating costs and features across models.

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