Chief, I am getting good reports on All-in-one devices from people whose technical judgement I respect.

Yet the problem remains, if one of those four (printer/scanner/copier/fax) functions takes a serious hit and you have to bring in real expertise to fix it, much less removing the device to a repair shop, all such functions are lost for the duration of the fix. I don't think HP has solved that one yet, but I could be wrong - best to check that out if they have achieved a high level of functional independence in those devices or if each function still shares soft- and/or hardware logic.

The big advantages of All-in-one seems to be price, minimal desktop footprint, nowadays - a respectable level of quality and performance and its backed by a reputable name - HP.

I still use my trusty, reliable, 11 year old HP LaserJet 4 B&W printer and have no plans to replace it. My LJ-4 is also the reason why, when the time comes, I will proabably buy an All-in-one device.