Scanners have become an important part of the home office over the last few years. A scanner is a peripheral device which enables to digitalise documents. It is the perfect instrument to transform your souvenirs and written papers into digital documents that time won’t wait for. The common scanner we usually see is the handle scanner which is used in the shop or super market.

Flatbed scanners, also called desktop scanners, are the most versatile and commonly used scanners.

Drum scanners are used by the publishing industry to capture incredibly detailed images. They use a technology called a photomultiplier tube (PMT). In PMT, the document to be scanned is mounted on a glass cylinder. At the center of the cylinder is a sensor that splits light bounced from the document into three beams. Each beam is sent through a color filter into a photomultiplier tube where the light is changed into an electrical signal.

Sheet-fed scanners are similar to flatbed scanners except the document is moved and the scan head is immobile. A sheet-fed scanner looks a lot like a small portable printer.
Handheld scanners use the same basic technology as a flatbed scanner, but rely on the user to move them instead of a motorized belt. This type of scanner typically does not provide good image quality. However, it can be useful for quickly capturing text.

What scanner to chose?

Beginner:If your scanner is intended for a simple filing of text or graphic documents, be it in colour or black & white, then any flat scanner with an optical resolution of 600 dpi (dots per inch) or less will suffice.

Intermediate:Are you looking for a polyvalent scanner, capable as well of filing many documents continuously to digitalise photographs to great detail? Flat scanners are made for you. There exist many different models, often very different in terms of design and ergonomics.

Advanced o you need to capture the smallest details of your documents, to digitalise negatives or large documents, the whole in great quality? Whatever your needs, many top of the range scanners will fulfil your needs!

Nowadays, the digital camera has almost replaced the film-based camera. Because it is more convenient to use and take anywhere.But  it need to printed out sometimes. So a photo printer is needed and useful to you.Once you have e-mailed them around, shared them online, or put them in a slide show, you print them.

What is a photo printer?A photo printer is usually an inkjet printer, although it can be a thermal dye printer, which has the ability to print high-quality digital photos and other vibrant color projects.

Photo printers can be divide into three kinds. The first is ink jet photo printers, which we’ll refer to as photo printers or photo ink jets. These offer at least one photo feature but can also function as all-purpose printers.The second category is dedicated photo printers. These are typically limited to printing on special-purpose—usually glossy—paper. The third category is professional photo printers; serious amateurs may be interested in the less expensive choices in this group. These printers may also be dedicated photo printers, but their key characteristic is that they offer at least tabloid-size output (11 by 17 inches).

How to choose a good photo printer?The resolution of printers are measured in dpi. Most photo printers have a maximum color resolution of 2400 x 1200 dpi and the best photo printers have 4800 x 1200 dpi. Inkjet printers typically use three colors for color printing. A photo printer will use six. You may want to choose a photo printer with individual ink tanks.Another cool add-on is memory card slots directly on the printer. This allows you to plug a memory card directly into the photo printer.

You’ll find the best photo printer from HP, Epson or Canon. There are several other brands out there but these three definitely stand out.

Safeguarding private or sensitive information must be in good keep in our daily works.If the infomation is dated and not needed any more, you should delete it. If it is printed on the paper, you need to shred the paper.

Paper shredders are used to cut paper into chad, typically either strips or fine particles.  Privacy experts often recommend that individuals shred bills, tax documents, credit card and bank account statements, and other items which could be used by thieves to commit fraud or identity theft.

Most office shredders still use the old technique of cutting papers into long ribbons or diagonal strips. Identity thieves have wised up to this practice and have figured out ways around it: when papers are destroyed in an even pattern, they can now be reconstructed by those with sinister intentions using specialized software.

By far the safest option in document destruction for businesses is to hire a professional paper shredding company. Such companies generally leave locked impregnable containers at the place of business with slots at the top where documents are inserted. The documents remain safely out of reach until the regularly scheduled arrival time of the company’s shredding truck.

There are numerous considerations to be though of when deciding on a office paper shredder.  First what type of document will I be shredding?  Documents to be considered top secret, and/or sensitive need to be disposed of in a thorough manner by using a crosscut shredder.  If your office shredder is going to be used for petty information it is suggested to stay with the standard form of shredding, the strip cut.

 Mid volume shredders can handle more shredding than the standard home, or low volume shredder, but if there is a large volume of paper that needs to be disposed of it is recommended that a high volume shredder be a consideration.

It used to be that when individuals or small businesses needed equipment to operate their establishments, they had to spend large amounts of money on numerous machines. Printers, copiers, fax machines and scanners do not come cheaply and having multiple pieces of equipment in small spaces impedes functionality.Now, you only need to buy one machine that contain so many functions in one.

All in one multifunction copier fax scanner printer is the ideal solution for small and home office. Having a multifunction machine that prints, faxes, scans, and copies is not only a great way to save money, it doesn’t make sense to have so many different machine each performing individual tasks when you only need it once in a blue moon.
Printer Scanner Copier Resolution
It is obvious that the higher the dpi the better the image quality, most machine comes with a resolution of 600 x 600dpi. This resolution is adequate for a black and white printing and scanning. However, if you are dealing with colour documents, 600dpi x 600dpi is simply not enough, the image will be grainy when scanned in digital format or printed out in colour. The ideal resolution for colour documents is 1200dpi x 600dpi.
Printer Scanner Copier Fax Speed
Speed is not much of a factor unless you are rushing for submission or deadline. If possible, get a fast multifunction printer. You will notice the difference between 11 ppm and 30ppm when you are copying and printing large quantity of documents (50 sheets). Apart from that, speed is not much of an important factor in a multifunction printer.