It was a month before I even took it out of the box, but now that I have had a few days to play with my new printer/scanner/copier, I’m glad I took Apple up on its offer.

Back in January when I bought my new Mac Pro, the Apple Store employee helping me suggested I also buy an all-in-one device as part of Apple’s seemingly perpetual “Perfect Companion” promotion.

The “Perfect Companion” program offers a rebate of up to $100 if you buy a qualifying printer from the Apple Store (either one in a mall or the online version) at the same time you buy a new Mac. If you choose a low-end model for under $100, the rebate completely covers whatever you pay up front.

I pondered the suggestion. On the one hand, I didn’t really need a new printer; I already had a Brother black and white laser printer and two color inkjets, not to mention a standalone scanner.

I suspect many people buying a new Mac might think the same thing – why bother? By now most people have at least one working printer in their house.

But having a spare is never a bad idea. If your printer is old, advances in even the least expensive models could yield much better results than the old warhorse you’ve been using. And if you’ve never had the space-saving convenience of an all-in-one, that alone can make Apple’s offer worthwhile.

Yet another excellent idea: if you truly don’t need or want another printer, you can always give it to a family member or friend, or better still, donate it to a school or church.

For me the Perfect Companion offer ultimately proved difficult to refuse – it was free, after all.

Of the models offered I chose the HP PhotoSmart C4280 All-in-One (price $99.95), which combines scanning, copying and printing functions. I have always been wary of combo devices – devices with multiple capabilities historically do none of them well – but it has been a long time since I took a look at one of these.

As it happens, the PhotoSmart C4280 does a respectable if not spectacular job at each function. For the average home user, it’s more than adequate.

Actually what impressed me most were the programs HP included to run the scanner and manage the images it creates. HP clearly put an earnest effort into developing Mac OS X-native software. After years of suffering with buggy scanning software that usually looks like a bad port from a Windows cousin, HP’s offerings were a welcome relief.

Which brings up one more reason to buy a device from Apple along with your new Mac – you know the third-party devices Apple sells in its stores will play nicely with Macs. You can’t always be sure how well a peripheral from Best Buy or Circuit City will work with your Mac.