When looking for a document scanner, have you ever wondering whether it makes more sense to get a standalone or multi-purpose MFP (multifunction printer)? Should you buy a stand-alone document scanner or an MFP? It all depends entirely on what you need to scan. Depending on what’s on your primary requirement, sometime an MFP will do, most of the time you will need a stand-alone document scanner. Here are the reasons.
If you need to scan a lot of individual documents regularly, a real document scanner is your best choice. MFP may be acceptable if you don’t scan large volume of document regularly, and if you don’t need duplex capability. Almost all MFP does not have the capability to scan both sides in one pass.
When it comes to choosing a scanner or MFP to meet your commercial scanning needs, find out first what are you scanning. Here are some questions to ask: Do you scan large volume of documents?
- Do you need a large-capacity ADF?
- Do you need high speed scanning?
- Do you scan two-sided documents regularly?
- Do you must have high image quality?
- Do you need network capability?
- Do you need advanced features to ensure that you don’t miss any scanning page?
If you say “Yes” to any one of the above questions, a stand alone document scanner is your best bet.
After all, the scanning features and capabilities of most MFP is very basic. Unless you say “No” to all of the above questions, by all mean, use MFP to scan low volume document.