Affordable do-it-all printers fit perfectly into your home office.

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With its incredibly low price, I can't complain too much about the Lexmark P3150's lack of built-in fax and its tortoise-slow print times. As its name and the media slots (all majors except xD Picture Card) on the front suggest, it leans toward photo enthusiasts.

The petite P3150 does an OK job of printing photos (4800x1200 on photo paper), scans at 600x1200, and copies in black-and-white and color. Some sort of display would be useful for selecting photos or number of prints or copies, but I find it hard to rag on this $99 3-in-1 device (4-in-1 if you count the PC-aided fax).

Strangely enough, Lexmark only ships a color and photo color cartridge -- no pure black ($28.99) -- with the P3150. Also, in order to copy in B/W or color, it needs to be attached to a powered computer.

While photo print quality (using the six-ink photo cartridge) was good enough, it rated near the back of the pack with oversaturated solids that diminish details. Print times were painfully slow as well, with a letter-size print coming in at 27:21 and the 10-page text print in best mode a disappointing 49 minutes. Definitely print text in a faster mode.

I was surprised that the media card slots only serve as a reader for your computer. In other words, you can only transfer files rather than print from a media in a stand-alone fashion.

This MPF is neither my first nor my last choice. It shouldn't be your choice unless you don't have the extra $50 to spend on the HP psc 1350.

Bottom line: You won't get a built-in fax or the best quality of print speeds with the P3150. You will get a 3-in-1 machine that won't destroy your wallet. Our advice, spend the extra $50.

TechTV rating:
Price: $99
Best for: Home office
Platform: Windows/Mac
Pros: Affordable; small footprint; media card slots
Cons: No built-in fax; slow print times; expensive cartridges; no display; no stand-alone photo printing

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