Brother MFC-290C Color Inkjet Multifunction Center Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)So far so good. Absolutely no paper jams for the past year of use. Very good quality for black prints. Color printing on the other hand, is very dull. Even the black comes out looking gray.
Positive:
* Quick and easy setup. Software included does quick and simple scanning.
* Print time is decent for both color and black
* Very sturdy construction
* 4 separate print cartridges
* Printer cleans itself
* Auto feeder for copying multiple pages. (very useful while filing tax documents and making copies of it.)
* Also, has an open door option for manual feed scanning.
Negative:
* Black prints comes out looking dark gray. Not as rich as it should be.
* No USB cable provided (Like selling a car with no steering wheel)
* Printer uses INK to clean itself. 2-3 times a month. Even when the printer is OFF. ???
* Color photo prints on regular paper comes out dull. Very dull. haven't tried printing on photo paper yet.
* No envelope feed option on the paper tray. Very confusing at first, but after 2 attempts, I eventually figured it out.
* No WIFI connection
I still gave it a 4 because the majority of prints I do are black and white prints. (resumes, school work, labels, etc"). For Less than $100, you can't complain. Replacement cartrdiges are also very affordable.
For Photo printing, LOOK ELSEWHERE!
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UPDATE:
After using the inks until they were near empty, the colors seem to be more brighter for some reason and the blacks now looks black. I guess it needs some breaking in time?
Also, Printer will warn you that the cartridge are empty and must be replaced, even though there is a good amount of ink left. Enough for 30-50 more normal prints I would say. You can trick the printer into using it again just by removing the cartridge and reinserting them.
Looks like the printer is set to a certain amount of prints for each cartridge and just tells you to replace a cartridge after a certain amount of prints. It doesn't actually know when the cartridges are empty. There is a small window on the cartridges to let you see how much ink is left.
UPDATE 7/27/10
After updating the firmware from the Brothers site, you can now continue to print in (black only) if a color cartridge is empty. Before the update, if any of the color cartridges were empty, the printer would demand that you replace the color cartridge and would not allow you to print at all. Not even in black.

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Print, copy, scan or fax with ease! Unattended fax, copy and scan with 15-page auto document feeder. Direct photo printing from media card slots or USB direct/PictBridge Interface. 4-ink cartridge system replace only the cartridge that needs to be replaced. Fast print speeds at up to 30ppm black and 25ppm color. Print vibrant, borderless photos on demand at up to 6000 x 1200 dpi resolution. No PC required to print photos, fax or copy. Use the fax and phone on one line with the Auto Fax / Telephone switching feature. Up to 100 sheets in the paper tray.

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