Print, scan, copy, fax: anything this new Lexmark can't do?

No matter how small your computer may become, scanners and printers still have to conform to the physical demands of the paper world.

The typical printer or scanner will take up at least two square feet of desk space. Add to that the encumbrance of a stand-alone fax machine that many still insist on using, and you require a fair volume of room space just to house all the machinery.

Here come the advantages of the multifunction printer, which may not do everything brilliantly but it does them all in a small space.

The price of multifunction printers has been falling for some time, but Lexmark has taken a remarkable step forward with its X5150, which offers print, scan, copy and fax for the same price as a budget photoprinter.

Lexmark claims the X5150 prints black-and-white pages at up to 19 pages per minute and colour at 14ppm.

The 48-bit scanner has an effective scanning area of 8.5 inches by 11.7 inches and scans photos or documents at 2,400 dots per inch.