Brother MFC-3100C Inkjet Multifunction Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I have recently purchased this machine for fax and mostly black and white print jobs for my home office. Since then I have purchased a digital camera, and have found this machine produces great framable pictures!!! I would highly recomend this machine for anyone who shops around and wants the most features and quality for the price. I have used up a few ink cartridges printing larger 8x10 photos, but the individual ink cartridges make it easy and cost effective to use. The only thing I am missing is a flatbed, but so far I haven't needed it and have been able to scan pictures through the document feeder. Also a great color copier.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Brother MFC-3100C Inkjet Multifunction

Brother contributes another smart machine (at a smart price) to the multifunction market with this 5-in-1 combination of color fax, color printer, color copier, color scanner, and computer-based fax.
As a printer, the MFC-3100C can produce 10 pages per minute of black and white and eight pages per minute of color, at up to 2,400 x 1,200 resolution (naturally, the higher resolutions are a little slower printing). The 100-sheet paper cassette keeps you always in stock.
As a full-color fax machine, the MFC-3100C features 2 MB of memory, storing up to 100 pages, and 14.4 bps speed, delivering a page roughly every six seconds. With 40 station auto-dialing, the machine also can broadcast faxes to 90 locations. In addition, the MFC-3100C is equipped with a Brother PC Fax Driver, enabling you to send black-and-white faxes from your PC.
The MFC-3100C's scanner function can scan at up to 2,400 dpi, and one-touch keys allow for scanning directly to e-mail or OCR. When it comes to making copies, the MFC5100c can print up to 99 copies at a time at 1,200 x 1,200 dpi resolution. Copies can be reduced and enlarged from 25 percent to 400 percent.
With parallel and USB interfaces, the MFC-3100C is cross-platform compatible, working with Works with Windows and iMac/iBook/G3/G4, with parallel and USB interfacing (cables not included). The unit is backed by a one-year limited warranty.

Click here for more information about Brother MFC-3100C Inkjet Multifunction

Read More...

Konica Minolta magicolor 1680MF - Multifunction ( printer / copier / scanner ) - color - laser - copying (up to): 21 ppm (mono) / 3.5 ppm (color) - printing (up to): 20 ppm (mono) / 5 ppm (color) - 200 sheets - Hi-Speed USB Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)This is my second, more advanced model of this printer. I loved the first one based on the exceptional, US-based telephone customer service that always answer quickly and are knowledgeable (not reading from a script) about their printers.
This printer puts out perfect, color pages and would recommend it to anyone. It is quick, has many great features, compact for a 4-function and one of the best features is that it shows how much toner is left rather than left to quessing and replacing toner before it is actually out.


Click Here to see more reviews about: Konica Minolta magicolor 1680MF - Multifunction ( printer / copier / scanner ) - color - laser - copying (up to): 21 ppm (mono) / 3.5 ppm (color) - printing (up to): 20 ppm (mono) / 5 ppm (color) - 200 sheets - Hi-Speed USB

Click here for more information about Konica Minolta magicolor 1680MF - Multifunction ( printer / copier / scanner ) - color - laser - copying (up to): 21 ppm (mono) / 3.5 ppm (color) - printing (up to): 20 ppm (mono) / 5 ppm (color) - 200 sheets - Hi-Speed USB

Read More...

Samsung SCX-4216 Flatbed Laser Multifunction Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I've had this for past year. Use it for home use. Use it as fax, scanner, printer and copier. Satisfied with all those functions.
- Simple to use.
- The auto sheet feeder is very useful.
- Software is good also.
- Also, the scanner works well. I scan in documents mostly and it works well. No problems with scanning magazines or newspapers. As for scanning color photos, the detail is there, but the color saturation wasn't perfect. What I mean is that when scanning a color photo with some dark areas in a photo with high contrast areas, I was unable to make it so that the dark areas came out clearly. Perhaps I have't tried it thoroughly. I wasn't too concerned about it, so haven't spent much time tweaking it.
- Print quality is good. Of course, the print quality from more expensive HP printers I use at office has better print qualities. But for everyday home use, this is more than sufficient.Bottom line: I would buy this printer again. Good quality and value.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Samsung SCX-4216 Flatbed Laser Multifunction

A flatbed laser multi-function from Samsung, the SCX-4216 consolidates important office functions into one unit, saving on both space and money. Designed with home office and small business users in mind, the SCX-4216 can scan, copy, fax, and print, and has a number of useful, time-saving extras.
A maximum optical resolution of 600 x 600 dpi (scan, print, and copy) can be enhanced up to 4,800 x 4,800 dpi when scanning, while 256 levels of halftone and 24-bit color depth produce high-quality, accurate scans suitable for a wide range of applications (scanning function not available for Macintosh systems). Print speeds are as fast as 17 ppm for letter-sized documents, with copy speeds of up to 17 cpm and scan speeds of around 25 seconds (depends on the document).
A multi-copy capability of up to 99 pages provides a convenient way to copy multi-page documents, while one touch scan-to-web, image, OCR, fax, and e-mail buttons offer a quick and easy way to perform these often-used functions. The fax machine has a 33.6Kbps modem, with fax speeds of up to 5 seconds per page. An automatic document feeder lets you easily fax multiple pages, and a broadcasting feature lets you send a single fax to as many as 109 locations.
A 250-sheet input tray is standard, as is a 150-sheet output tray and a single sheet bypass input. The SCX-4216 has an 18.7-by-17.2-inch footprint and connects to the host computer via either its USB or parallel ports. PC and Mac compatible, the unit also comes backed with a three year parts and labor warranty.
What's in the Box SCX-4216F, starter toner cartridge, AC power cord, CD-ROM, quick install guide, telephone line cord, TAM lead; printer cable not included

Click here for more information about Samsung SCX-4216 Flatbed Laser Multifunction

Read More...

Samsung Monochrome Multifunction Laser Printer (SCX-4826FN) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Pros:
-Samsung packs a lot of value into their machines. I paid about $50 less than it is currently going for here.
-Network scanning actually works well!; unlike many network MFPs.(Buying a standalone network scanner that works this well would cost more than this machine-though it does not have auto duplex scanning like some costlier devices)
-Direct to USB scanning and direct from USB printing might be useful for some.
-Duplex printing works well and saves paper- more mid-range printers should come with this feature.
(note: if you have ever used a printer with duplexing capabilities before you will have no trouble enabling this feature.)
-Most setting are easily configurable with the web interface so that you need not scroll through multiple menus on the machine itself.
-Has powerful scan to email features usually only found on high end office machines.
-Handles standard envelopes better than I expected.
Cons:
-Samsung documentation is not for the uninitiated.
-By default it installs some not very useful programs (a quicklaunch toolbar and a printer status monitor)
-Does not support Postscript (you need to pay a little extra for the Samsung SCX-4828 Laser Multi-Function Printerfor this feature- that's the only difference between them).
-For some strange reason you cannot scan to B&W PDF directly from the machine. You can scan to color or grayscale PDF, or you can scan to B&W PDF from your computer, but not directly from the machine. No idea why.
-Generally, MFPs do not last as long as regular printers, and are a pain to fix if they break. Think of it this way: If the chance of a printer breaking within 3 years is 1/100, and the chance of a scanner breaking is 1/100, then the chance of a MFP breaking is 1/50.
Workarounds:
-If you connect this to your computer via USB (presumably you bought this for its network capabilities so you would normally have it connected via Ethernet) you can flash the device with the firmware from the 4828FN to enable postscript emulation. This will undoubtedly void your warranty. You can then manually install the 4828FN postscript printer driver and configure it to print to the correct port. (The only reason I did this is because samsung previously had incorrectly listed this machine as having PS support before I bought it)
-If you only need network scanning and printing (not faxing) and do your scanning with programs you already have (such as Acrobat or Omnipage) then I highly recommend installing only the printer and scanner drivers and forgetting about the rest.
-A generally good idea with network printers is to configure them to use a static IP address (outside the normally assigned range) even if your network is running on DHCP. This will potentially avoid many headaches down the line.
Bottom Line: A great value if you know what you need and know what you are doing.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Samsung Monochrome Multifunction Laser Printer (SCX-4826FN)

Get 51% OFF

Click here for more information about Samsung Monochrome Multifunction Laser Printer (SCX-4826FN)

Read More...

HP LaserJet 3030 All-in-One Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)In many ways I really like this all in one, it's does great copying, printing, scanning in all ways except that it often prints slightly crooked on the paper, off by a small but noticeable amount. HP tried over the phone to help me resolve this with no success. Since I have other printers, I learned to live with this until the machine died recently. HP sent me a refurbished replacement which after about a year of ownership I was happy to do, they charged $34 for a temporary warranty "uplifting", no problem with that. However, I am sorry to report that this refurbished version has the same page misalignment problem as the last one. Yes, I've checked my power supply, use HP paper and toner, etc. This is just an unfortunate and non-trivial defect for this otherwise fine printer.

Click Here to see more reviews about: HP LaserJet 3030 All-in-One

The HP LaserJet 3030 All-in-One delivers fast black-and-white printing, copying, and faxing and color scanning—all in a compact design that's perfect for workgroup applications. Providing up to 15 ppm printing in 1,200 dpi effective resolution, with just a 10-second wait for the first page out, the HP3030 features a powerful 240 MHz processor, 32 MB RAM, and compatibility for PC and Mac users alike.
Copying is achieved at up to 600 x 600 dpi resolution. Speed is up to 15 cpm, with just 12 seconds to the first page out. The unit offers adjustable contrast, reduction and enlargement from 25 to 400%, and up to 99 copies at one time. The HP 3030 has a built-in V.34 fax modem for easy workgroup faxing, with 120 programmable speed dial locations and up to 110 pages of memory (2 MB). High-quality, color scanning at up to 9600 dpi enhanced resolution (600 dpi optical) in full 24-bit color supports everything from documents to photographs.
The unit accepts a wide range of media types and sizes and features versatile handling options—a 150-sheet input tray, 10-sheet priority input tray, and a 50-sheet auto-document feeder (ADF). You can choose between flatbed or sheet-fed operation for copying, faxing, and scanning. For single documents or special items, you will likely select the 3030's letter-sized glass surface for easy flatbed operation, while larger multi-page jobs that don't require observation lend themselves well to the ADF.
The HP LaserJet 3030 offers both USB 2.0 and parallel connectivity. Toner replacement is easy, thanks to a single print cartridge. The unit is Energy Star compliant and comes with everything you'll need to get set up quickly (except cables). It is backed by a one-year warranty.
What's in the Box HP LaserJet 3030 All-in-One, print/toner cartridge, power cord, Getting Started Guide, support flyer, device software and electronic User's Guide on CD-ROM, 150-sheet media input tray, automatic document feeder (ADF), fax guide, phone cord, output bin support, device control panel cover; printer cable not included

50-sheet automatic document feeder enables unattended copying and scanning for large documents
Control panel features Fax controls, alphanumeric buttons, menu and cancel controls, copy controls and scan controls
Fast V.34 fax modem (up to 33.6 Kbps) plus two RJ-11 ports
Flatbed scanner copies a variety of documents including books and other bound documents
7 one-touch keys for easy and convenient printing, scanning, copying and faxing
150-sheet media input tray, 10-sheet priority feed
Parallel IEEE 1284-B level 2 device with an IEEE 1284-B receptacle with the host computer set to ECP; USB: compatible with 2.0 specifications

Readiris Pro 8 OCR (Optical Character Resolution) software increases accuracy when scanning text while the Industry-standard TWAIN 1.9 and WIA scanner drivers yield consistent image quality, giving you the results you expect
Faxing from ADF and glass, auto redial, billing codes, fax forwarding, fax auto-reduction, block fax barrier, fax delayed sending, polling-receive, distinctive ring detection
Black and white printing, black and white copying, black and white faxing, black and white and color scanning
32 MB RAM handles complex jobs
2 MB fax memory for storing important fax documents

Click here for more information about HP LaserJet 3030 All-in-One

Read More...

Brother MFC-7420 Flatbed Laser Multi-Function Center Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Here is my review for the sister model of MFC7420 (7820N), the only difference in 7820N is better scan resolution & Networking capabilities, the rest is the same, so my review should apply to MFC 7420 as well.
WoW ! This must be the best MFC out there. I have owned several canon, hp, lexmark MFC, photo printers, fax machines etc. This machine is it. All you need is this MFC & a separate photo printer. you are all set.
1. This is a laser MFC - scan(color), copy, fax, print
2. very fast for home/small office use
3. very compact - very space saving
4. Network ready - other computers on network can use all functions of this.
5. unlimited tech support. not just 1-year like HP/canon.
6. Machine feels sold & feels it will last long
7. All fax,copy, scan can be operated either from machine buttons or pc software interface.
8. installation was breeze
9. software is top notch. very intuitive
10. tested print, copy, scan & fax - AWESOME AWESOME.
11. they don't outsource cust support to india
12. only regrets: no duplex, no separate output tray, but from a compact machine like this, you can't expect output tray.
13. This MFC is clearly the winner. nothing else.
14. $50 cartride takes you upto 2,500 pages. not bad
15. Auto feeder works flawlessly
16. buy from local office depot store when they give $40 gift card with it.
17. you can connect any answering machine, so all you need is one line for phone callss & fax. this machine shows whether it is a phone call or fax. can use distinctive ring too.
18. backlit LCD menu
19. if you network with this printer, you don't need to buy USB cable
20. 32mb memory for printing, huge memory for fax.
21. super fast fax speed
22. Excellent looks.
23. DEDICATED MAC SUPPORT, although i only used it for Windows.
why didn't i know about Brother earlier ?


Click Here to see more reviews about: Brother MFC-7420 Flatbed Laser Multi-Function Center

The Brother MFC-7420 is a multi-function center that combines high-quality laser printing, flatbed copying and color scanning as well as a full-featured fax. Because it offers several features in one compact model, it can help save space while increasing the productivity of your workplace. Ideal for home offices or small-to-medium-sized businesses, the MFC-7420's flatbed design makes copying and scanning quick and easy, while the fast print speeds give you professional results exactly when you need them.The MFC-7420 delivers print and copy speeds of up to 20 pages per minute (ppm) with up to 2400 x 600 dot-per-inch (dpi) resolution, and boasts a 35-page automatic document feeder for copying, scanning, or faxing multiple-page documents. With these features, you can produce crisp, professional-looking documents and free more time to work while spending less time waiting. The efficient MFC-7420 also boasts a large paper capacity, thanks to the 250-sheet paper tray, which easily adjusts to accommodate letter- or legal-size paper. There's even a single-sheet manual bypass for envelopes, labels, and other types of media.To help workgroup members share information, the flatbed color scanner will scan documents directly to an email application or to a single PDF file by using the automatic document feeder. And up to 600 x 2400 dpi optical scanner resolution with OCR support means crystal clear, vibrant images that are a snap to share with colleagues. Additionally, the 16 MB standard memory stores up to 500 pages in memory for faxing and can handle multiple print jobs and copying. Finally, the USB and parallel interfaces provide the flexibility to connect to your computer or even to two computers.The MFC-7420 is PC and Mac compatible and includes easy-to-use software that guarantees high quality results in all functions.

Click here for more information about Brother MFC-7420 Flatbed Laser Multi-Function Center

Read More...

Brother MFC-8840DN Network Multifunction Laser Printer Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)After doing a lot of research for multi-function printers I selected this printer and love it! I wanted a laser since it's cheaper to maintain (no $$$ ink cartridges) and didn't really need color (since I have a very nice photo printer for the rare times I want to print in color). I love the duplex mode (double side printing) to save paper and it'll automatically print 'n' pages to one physical page which is also handy. I have it networked between my computer and my husband's so we both can use it. (DSL connection with separate Linksys router and DSL modem.)
All wasn't 100% rosey at first.... I connected it via my network and it worked great but due to a problem using it while connected via VPN to my employer, I decided to use the USB connection (when I was on VPN I couldn't see the printer). I got all features working fine except for the scanning (it wouldn't scan at all). After reading so many bad reviews of Brother's tech support I was leary to call them but after many reinstalls w/o luck, I finally called them. The support folks were GREAT!! I ended up calling twice; one for help uninstalling the network drivers and again for a scanning problem. The second call I was on the phone for almost an hour and they found a patch (from Scansoft) to my original VPN problem as well as a registry patch (from Microsoft) for the USB scanning problem. The fix for the uninstall problem was because I had to log in as Administrator not just be in the admin group (I'm running Win2k) so that's why I couldn't completely switch from network connection to USB (the network drivers were still partially installed). In both calls, the tech support folks were helpful, pleasant, and knowledgeable.
The only remaining problem is configuring the fax with an answering machine. The manual has a lot of info but their explanation of the features for the fax isn't all that clear. Right now I don't need the fax much so I'll wait a bit and call tech support back again later.
I love this printer, I like that it has all the features I need in one nicely packaged unit, and for a change, I have good things to say about a company's tech support. (Every company says customers are number one, but only a tiny % actually mean it.)
Other reviewers have complained about the included scanning software (Paperport 8.0 SE from Scansoft) but so far so good, it works ok for me. I haven't tried the OCR feature though but supposedly it'll let me scan pure-text documents for later edits (like in Word) as well as let me search for docments by providing words inside of the document (not just file name which isn't too useful).
I ended up purchasing this printer at PCuniverse (free shipping and no sales tax) for the same price listed here. The reviews of the MFC 8840 printers in Amazon were a great help in selecting which printer to purchase.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Brother MFC-8840DN Network Multifunction Laser Printer

The Brother MFC-8840DN multifunction laser printer offers fast printing, up to 21 ppm (draft); crisp resolution, up to 2,400 x 600 dpi; plus great copy, scan, and fax performance. A complete range of easy-to-use front-mounted controls facilitateseasy walk-up single-job use, while Ethernet connectivity accommodates workgroup sharing.
With versatile paper handling, the MFC-8840DN performs two-in-one and four-in-one copying, automatic duplexing, poster copying, and reduction/enlargement options from 25% to 400% in 1% increments. It also has a 50-sheet ADF for even greater convenience.
The MFC-8840DN offers your choice of Ethernet (10/100BaseTX), USB (2.0), and parallel connectivity, and is PC and Mac compatible.Fax features include a built-in 33.6 Kbps modem, 300 speed dial locations, 40 one-touch dialing locations, and more.The MFC-8840DN also allows access via PC fax interface.
What's in the Box MFC-8840DN, ADF, power cable, AC power adapter, Quick Reference Guide, CD (software), warranty information

Click here for more information about Brother MFC-8840DN Network Multifunction Laser Printer

Read More...

Brother MFC-8820D Laser Printer, Copier, Scanner, Fax Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)For our small office of 6 people, we have been looking for an office machine that is easy to operate, reliable, and cost-effective. The four contenders are HP 3330 MFP, Canon D680 imageClass, Brother MFC 9700, Brother MFC 8820D. They are all 4-in-1/5-in-1 machines(Fax, Laser printer, Scanner, Copier, Data/Fax modem) priced below US$800. Brother MFC 9700 is cheaper but comes with a 14.4k modem and only 8MB memory and a smaller flatbed; as the result it faxes and prints slower than MFC 8820D. The remaining three candidates all have excellent "pedigrees" and are well designed and built. However Brother MFC 8820D won at the end for the following outstanding reasons:
1. The 'D' in 8820D stands for duplex copying and printing: It works seamlessly and effortless. There is no need for removing the paper tray manually (really tedious). Duplex "fax receive" saves 30% to 50% of paper by having fax printed on both sides. Now one can have some break from the cost of receiving junk faxes.
2. 32MB memory: This is more than enough for holding a lot of copies and faxes. Very good for large unattended jobs. The best part about this is again about cost. No immediate need to spend more money for upgrading the memory as is required for Canon D680 (measly 2 MB).
3. PC fax software for computer data/fax needs.
4. Expandability for network interface.
5. Digital paper count to indicate the no. of copies made and faxes received: good for cost management and safe guard against potential abuse of the machine by employees for personal uses.
6. Excellent ADF (automatic document feeder): we have not had any paper jam so far.
7. Very easy to program and operate: simple to use for beginners and sophisticated features for users who demand more advanced functions.
8. Last but not the least is the cheaper cost for its toner on a per page basis.
There are only two minor drawbacks for us:
1. MFC 8820D's ADF/scanner does not scan a page from edge to edge. However this is true of all machines in this price range. Canon D680 omits the least at both margins. HP 3330 is the worst.
2. Large footprint. We had to relocate it to a different room in the office where there is enough space instead of putting it at a more convenient place where there is easier access. Nevertheless it's not too bad considering that it replaces 4 separate machines all at once. Besides it forces us to walk down the hallway and get some exercies!! ;--]

Click Here to see more reviews about: Brother MFC-8820D Laser Printer, Copier, Scanner, Fax

MFC-8820D Plain Paper Laser Fax/PC Fax/Printer/Flatbed Color Scanner/Digital CopierFax Modem Speed33.6 KbpsFax Maximum Resolution203 x 392 dpiGrayscale Halftones64Memory (pages)600PC Fax Control SoftwareWindows® 95/98/2000/Me/XP/NT 4.0, Mac® OS 8.6-9.2, OS x 10.2.1 or greaterAuto Feed (sheets)50Cut Sheet SizeLetter/LegalCut Sheet Tray Capacity50 (Multi-Size Tray); 250 (Letter Tray)Copier Maximum Reduction-25%Copier Maximum Enlargement400%Maximum Copies99LCD Display5-LineBroadcast Transmission390Delayed TransmissionAuto RedialSpeed Dial Entries340Directory DialingDistinctive Ring DetectionExtension Phone HookupSpeakerphoneMonitor onlyAuto Fax/Telephone SwitchScanner Maximum Resolution9600 x 9600 dpiCaller ID/Call WaitingPrinter Maximum Speed17 ppmPrinter Maximum Resolution2400 x 600 dpiInterface ConnectivityParallel & USBSize20-7/8w x 17-1/2d x 18-1/2hShpg. Wt.52 lbs.Manufacturers WarrantyOne YearToner Page Life3300 pagesReplacement Black Toner CartridgeBRTTN530 (sold separately)Replacement Drum UnitBRTDR500 (sold separately)

Click here for more information about Brother MFC-8820D Laser Printer, Copier, Scanner, Fax

Read More...

HP Laserjet CM1415FNW Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I purchased this item directly from HP's small-medium business (SMB) center. I was looking for a printer to replace my Brother MFC-9840CDW, which is a color/wireless all-in-one (AIO). Brother had not come out with a newer model that bettered this AIO that I have had for a couple of years. Since I was going to have to buy multiple new Brother toner cartridges for color, which would be 1/2 the price of a completely new model, I was in the market for a new AIO. My reqirements were AIO, laser, color, wireless networking and good user feedback. My Brother repair center told me that they can definitely tell the difference in HP color printers versus the other guys. Since my Brother gave out weak/light color prints, and the color accuracy was pretty bad, I wanted to like the HP LaserJet Pro CM1415fnw, which just came out and did not have any user comments.
I purchased from HP's SMB with a 30-day return policy. If you go through another center, your return period may be shorter. When I opened the box, only the main unit and an installation guide were inside. The box said I should get power/USB/phone cables and an installation CD, but they were missing. Due to a backorder delay, I was advised to order a new unit and ship the old one back. I got the drivers online and used a spare 3-prong computer-type power cable to test out the unit. Based on my findings in the rest of this review, I will be returning the HP for my money back.
I wanted wireless to minimize the cables going into my Apple Mac mini (mid-2010) which also has built-in wireless networking. I am running Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit via Boot Camp. You initially need the USB cable so the installation software can configure the unit to your computer and router. Once that was done, the computer was able to see the HP right away. This was much easier than the Brother, which required me to manually configure both the computer and AIO, and I had to call Brother's customer service, even though I am computer savvy.
I don't need much color, since I mostly print documents, nevertheless I would only consider laser for black or color. The color is definitely better than Brother. However, the color on the HP is a little too saturated and printing color is not quite as sharp as printing black. I made a color copy of a color copy, and the saturation increased, further distorting the original image. You get starter toner cartridges that are about 60% full. HP is not the only manufacturer doing that these days.
The paper tray is a puny 150 pages. The Brother has a 250-sheet tray and I purchased a 500 sheet 2nd tray. You cannot add a second tray to the HP. Also, the HP does not have a manual feed tray for envelopes or other paper. The Brother nicely holds 3 envelopes at a time in its manual feed tray. The HP claims to have a manual feed for envelopes, but all it does is pause printing until you pull out the tray, pull out your paper, slide the guides to envelope size, insert your envelopes, close the tray, and then you may have to tell it to print the envelope (I never bothered to print an envelope from the HP after discovering how convoluted the process is). I would have likely kept the HP if it had a manual feed for envelopes, and I only had to pull out the tray to add fancy bond paper. This AIO is not made for any office work in which you print letters, unless you only print envelopes in batches. So why would any home or small office buy one?
When I print a letter to my Brother, my Word document has the first page(s) formatted as an envelope(s) and the remaining pages letter-size. The documents also have Word's Page Setup defined to pull paper from the designated tray: manual feed for envelopes, 250-sheet Tray 1 for letter-size bond paper for correspondence, and 500-sheet Default Tray (Tray 2) for regular letter-size paper for everything else.
I liked the fact that the HP has a color touchpad as its user interface. But in real use in making copies, you have to touch the screen to wake it up and then hit the print button. Dedicated print buttons would have been preferred, one for black and one for color like the Brother.
The unit stays pretty quiet and printing noise is not excessive. I do not notice the fan running as loud as the Brother after a print or copy job. It occasionally self-calibrates, but infrequent enough to not be excessively annoying. The HP's first page out when printing comes out in one-third or one-quarter the time as the Brother, which takes about 1-minute from sleep mode and acts like it is printing 3-pages before it actually prints the first page. The HP is smaller than the Brother, but I would gladly trade a little height to get a bigger tray and options for a manual feed or an additional tray.

Click Here to see more reviews about: HP Laserjet CM1415FNW

HP LaserJet Pro CM1415 CM1415FNW Laser Multifunction Printer - Color - Plain Paper Print - Desktop CE862A#BGJ 74

Click here for more information about HP Laserjet CM1415FNW

Read More...

Samsung Monochrome Multifunction Laser Printer (SCX-4623FW) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I previously had Samsung SCX-4100 (connected to Windows XP PC). It worked well but was getting old (at least 5 years old).
I ordered new SCX-4623FW. After installation from the CD, I could print from the local
PC (connected via USB) and from other PCs in the house (wifi connection).
I am now using Windows 7 64 bit. The Samsung Scan Manager will not install on my PC. I tried to
install from the CD and also went to Samsung website and downloaded latest Scan mgr.
software. It would not install either. I installed the Samsung SmartThru4 software (which
worked correctly with SCX-4100) but it could not recognize the new SCX-4623FW printer.
I suspect the problems I am having are related to the fact that I am using Windows 7 64 bit (though
the Samsung website said the scan mgr (which I downloaded) would work with Windows 7 64 bit.


Click Here to see more reviews about: Samsung Monochrome Multifunction Laser Printer (SCX-4623FW)

Get 57% OFF

Click here for more information about Samsung Monochrome Multifunction Laser Printer (SCX-4623FW)

Read More...

Brother MFC9560cdw Color Laser All-in-One with Wireless Networking and Duplex Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)If had to describe this multifunction device in one word it would be "incredible". Since this is a fairly complicated device I will not be able to cover all uses of it but hope to give people some useful information regarding it. This is somewhat brief review on usage since I just received it but want to inform people of my initial impression.
Background:
This MFC device is going to be used by Mac OS X systems that are connected to the local network via ethernet and Wi-Fi. The MFC is connected to this network via Wi-Fi through an Apple Airport Express Base Station. I am hoping to replace both a Canon CanoScan 8600F scanner and Canon Pixma Inkjet printer.
Size, Weight, & Packaging:
The box it comes in is fairly large and heavy. The location of the "handles" built into the box is designed for two people to pick it up and I would highly suggest having two people carry it. I managed to carry into the house myself but it was extremely awkward and difficult to do. Opening the box the printer is fairly well protected with formed styrofoam pieces. The weight of the machine by itself is almost 60 lbs. You will need fairly large areas to place this device. The actual desk space it takes up is 16"W x 19"D. The manual however recommends an additional 4 inches of air space on the left and right side and approximately 10" at the back. The height of this device with the scanner lid fully open is 36". I currently only have 26" of clearance so the lid does not open all the way. Once you get the device out of the box you now you get to spend the next 10-15 min removing all the packing tape and material! There is at least 20 pieces of blue plastic tape and plastic orange pieces protecting the device during shipment that must be removed before turning on the device.
Drivers:
For Mac OS X the drivers are installed automatically as soon as you "add" the printer from any Print dialog. The operating system will download the drivers over the internet and also be kept up-to-date via the normal built-in Mac OS X software update mechanism. I assume drivers are on the included DVD as well in case you don't have internet access.
Initial Setup:
I wanted to setup this device on a Wi-Fi network. It also supports USB and ethernet connections. One word of WARNING, the Wi-Fi on this printer only supports 802.11b/g. This means if you have your wireless access point set to only support 802.11n like I did you will never be able to get this device to access the Wi-Fi network. I had to switch my Airport Base Station back to supporting 802.11 b/g as opposed to just 802.11n. This results in a slower connection for all wireless devices since the base station switches to using the slowest wi-fi connection type that any of its clients are using. This would not be an issue for "dual-band" wireless access points such as the dual-band Airport Extreme base station.
The easiest way to connect the MFC-9560CDW to your wireless network is with the "automatic wireless mode". If your wireless access point supports this you simply tell the MFC to use this mode and it will automatically get the information it needs to connect to your wireless connection including password. To do this with an Apple Airport device you need to use the Airport Utility program and select Manual Setup from the Base Station menu. Once you select that you can then choose "Add Wireless Clients..." from the Base Station menu. This will then allow you to use the "automatic wireless mode" or AOSS that the MFC-9650CDW supports.
Printing:
Color photos printed from the MFC-9560CDW appear to me to rival that printed from the Canon iP4500 and is an order of magnitude faster.
Faxing:
I have not attempted to use this yet.
Copying:
Copying works as expected. I've copied book pages without needing any interaction with a computer. Simply place the facing book page on the scanner/copying glass and press the Copy button. You have options on the LCD to adjust size, contrast, etc. The lid is hinged such that a 2" book had no problem copying while still keeping the scanner lid flat. It should easily take thicker books but haven't checked how thick it can handle while still keeping the lid flat.
Scanning:
Scanning is supported wirelessly from Mac OS X using the ImageCapture application that comes with Mac OS X. Basic differences between the Canoscan I currently use is: the MFC-9560CDW can not scan legal size documents (the MFC-9970CDW can) and the CanoScan comes with plastic devices allowing you to easily scan photo negatives. I have used the scanning feature now a number of times and being able to scan wirelessly is quite remarkable. In ImageCapture the Brother MFC instantly shows up as a Shared device even when it is "asleep" (uses 9 watts when sleeping). Scanning at 100 dpi for black and white text documents is fast and produces small file sizes. A full page scan at 1200 dpi will take considerably longer then the 100 dpi scan and produce a file a couple hundred megabytes in size. I scanned a color magazine's front cover and you can easily pick out the individual ink drops of the magazine cover when zooming in on the scanned image.
Documentation:
The documentation was fairly thorough and had separate instructions for use in Mac OS X and Windows where needed. One thing I did not care for with the instructions is that you may need to reference multiple separate documents to find the information you are looking for. There was a Quick Setup Guide, Basic User's Guide, a PDF file of a Network Users Guide, and others. If everything goes well you should only need to refer to the Quick Setup Guide and later the Basic User's Guide.
Compared to the MFC-9970CDW:
You should compare this model to the MFC-9970CDW at Brother's website to fully see the differences but the main ones are: MFC-9970CDW supports legal size document scanning, has color touch screen, higher monthly duty cycle, 50 page automatic document feeder as opposed to 35, slightly faster printing and copying. Had I realized all the differences listed above before ordering this (especially the legal size scanning) I would have purchased the MFC-9970CDW instead.
What's in the Box:
Besides couple manuals, warranty, CD with more documentation, the box include a power cord and telephone cable for the fax. There is no USB cable or ethernet cable if you are going to use that instead of the wireless to connect the device. The toner cartridges are pre-installed in the machine.
Toner cartridges:
The toner cartridges included are not starter ones but they also aren't the "high yield" versions either. The black is rated at 2500 pages, and the 3 color ones rated at 1500 pages each. For replacement cartridges you can purchase high yield black rated at 5000 pages, and the color ones at 4000 pages.
Power usage:
On a "cold" startup it (power switch was off) fluctuates from less then 20 watts to 970 watts for around 30 seconds. After that with LCD lit and waiting to instantly perform any function it stays at a steady 11 watts. I have it set to go into sleep mode after 2 minutes of inactivity (time until sleep is user configurable). When it goes to "sleep" is uses a steady 9 watts. There is also a Deep Sleep mode. It will not go into deep sleep mode however if you have the wireless network activated on the device. The manual mentioned this only happens for the MFC-9560CDW only but it isn't clear from the manual if that means the MFC-9970CDW goes to deep sleep even with a wireless network activated or what.Update 01/31/11: Added What's in box, toner cartridges, more copying info, driver info.
Update 02/20/11: Added power usage and more scanning info

Click Here to see more reviews about: Brother MFC9560cdw Color Laser All-in-One with Wireless Networking and Duplex

Get 7% OFF

Click here for more information about Brother MFC9560cdw Color Laser All-in-One with Wireless Networking and Duplex

Read More...

Samsung Monochrome Multifunction Laser Printer (SCX-4623F) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Not sure about the other review, that's why I decided to add my 2 cents. I was able to get the printer out of the box, plug it in, install the CD and have a fully functional printer/scanner/fax within 5 minutes and I have a Windows 7, 64 bit PC. It scanned and uploaded the image to my Adobe program on the first try (I was not expecting this to be the case having read the other review). The image was very clear - in fact it was far superior to my old brother all-in-one that this printer replaced. The fax machine worked equally as well and I was able to fax a Word document from my computer with no problems on the first try. The fax interface is easier to use than that of my old brother machine as well. So far no complaints whatsoever - wonderful print/copy quality and easy to use fax/scanner. I paid $130 for it at Office Max. For this price, I feel like I got a bargain.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Samsung Monochrome Multifunction Laser Printer (SCX-4623F)

Get 55% OFF

Click here for more information about Samsung Monochrome Multifunction Laser Printer (SCX-4623F)

Read More...

Hp LaserJet Pro M1536dnf Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Great multifunction machine! Let me break up this review in the positives and negatives:Positives:
1) Excellent compatibility with OS X. I'm currently using 10.6.5 and right out of the box the OS recognizes the printer. But I installed the driver from the CD anyway because it comes with the scanning software.
2) The scanning software is awesome! No-frills... it just works! You can scan into tiff, jpg, pdf, etc., and customize the settings in a very brainless way. I imagine that the scanning software will be great for anyone who isn't entirely computer-savvy. You can queue up pages to scan via software, as opposed to pressing buttons on the machine itself, in hopes that your computer understands what you're trying to do. This may seem like a silly "positive"; I put it here because other machines (like some Canon's) require you to do exactly that, consequently suffering from network communication inconsistencies/incompatibilities.
3) The print speed is very fast. The box quotes something like 27 ppm... I don't know if it gets up that fast, but from startup to the first page out I think it only took about 45 seconds. Subsequent pages came out probably every 2 or 3 seconds.
4) The design is rather compact for a multifunction machine. The buttons do not feel cheap (like some of the cheapo inkjet printers). Not too bulky; not too heavy.Negatives:
1) When doing 2-sided printing, the duplexer is LOUD. Lots of mechanical things happening that sound like this machine may be subject to wear and tear rather quickly.
2) I first hooked this machine up to my Airport Extreme via USB and tried scanning. The scanning software wouldn't recognize the machine. So I reconnected it to the Airport Extreme via ethernet-- that worked. It's too bad because the Airport Extreme has a USB port that's dedicated to a printer, and now I have to use up one of my 4 ethernet sockets.
3) While the design is pretty slick, I wish they built it so that the paper doesn't stick out. I'm not a huge fan of the plastic "dust cover" over the paper tray... it looks like it can break easily if you accidentally open it up wrong. Also, there's another tray, or fin, that you install to the front that props up the printed pages that come out-- this piece REALLY looks like it will break if you put some weight on it (e.g. your cat decides to stand on it).Nonetheless, this machine is SOOO much cheaper than other ones in its class. That said- all of the negatives seem acceptable.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
UPDATE: (3.20.11) I've used this machine for a few months now, and it's starting to jam up more and more often. It seems that the jamming only happens when I'm printing double-sided. Some comments regarding the duplexer: If you plan on printing a long-ish document, like a 20 page essay, then the double-sided duplex is fine for the job. But if you're planning on printing, say, 100 copies of a single-page double-sided flier, it would be a LOT LOT LOT faster to just handle the double sided printing by hand. Allowing the duplexer to handle this same print job took a MUCH LONGER time than when I just manually flipped to the back side for the second pass. We're talking about 1-2 minutes if done by hand, versus about 8 - 10 minutes via duplexer (assuming it doesn't jam).
So far, I've accumulated about 1500 pages of printing. Using "econo-mode" set to 3 (out of 5), I've managed to only use 20% of the stock cartridge. Not too bad.


Click Here to see more reviews about: Hp LaserJet Pro M1536dnf

Designed with office productivity in mind, the HP LaserJet Pro M1536dnf delivers professional-quality documents with bold text and sharp images and has built-in wired networking so you and your colleagues can easily share printing, scanning, copying and faxing resources.Fax directly to and from a PC and control fax access with assigned PINs, and copy both sides of an ID card onto a single-sided document. You can also send photos, documents and more from any mobile device directly to the HP LaserJet Pro M1536dnf using HP ePrint.The HP LaserJet Pro M1536dnf has prints speeds of up to 26 pages per minute, a flatbed scanner with an optical resolution of 1200 dpi, a fax memory of up to 400 pages and 120 fax speed dialing numbers. It has a 250-sheet paper tray, a 10-sheet priority tray and a 35-sheet automatic document feeder.

Click here for more information about Hp LaserJet Pro M1536dnf

Read More...

Brother DCP-8080dn Digital Copier and Laser Printer w/Duplex Printing and Networking Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)After my HP laser printer died, our small office needed a laser combination printer-copier that was inexpensive to maintain and highly reliable. Totally unknown to me prior to study: AIO or MFC searches will frequently bring up only printer combos that include all 4 functions: print, copy, scan, and fax.
After an extended search produced poor options, I discovered the DCP line which includes 3 of the 4 functions, dropping only the fax. This one difference from the MFC line meant far faster copy speeds, better quality printing and copying, and generally better quality all around on the 3 functions it performs.
The DCP-8080DN can be connected to a computer by USB and other means; can be networked in a LAN; will copy as a stand-alone (using ADF or manual feed); comes with a full-sized toner cartridge (for est. 15,000 pages) rather than the skimpy initial toner with others. Toner is available in high-yield size that makes cost between 1-2 cents per page, so reasonable consumables. When added to initial purchase price of $330, the initial and long term costs are manageable.
Yes, it is somewhat large but it's proving its value already. No more need for separate copier. It's completely silent when not in use and starts up pretty quickly. When printing, after warm up of maybe 12 seconds, pages pump out at the fastest rate I have ever seen for a small office laser printer. Seems the specs say 30 ppm, and it seems to be printing @ this rate. Copy speed is only slightly less fast. It will copy and print in duplex (2 sided) but speeds are considerably slower than printing/copying 2 separate pages.
Scanning is excellent, with capacity to scan to email, and also includes an OCR software Presto Page Manager 7.18, which works well. We already have a Scansnap for scanning, so we won't use scanning often.
Faxing is on the way out, with sheet feed scanning to pdf and emailing sufficing quite nicely.
We paid $330 on Amazon, used Prime for free, fast shipping, and it was here in 2 days. Set-up was fast and easy. Its Quick Set-Up documentation could serve as a model for other companies. (What a relief, too!) Works great with both Apple-Mac and PCs.
Brother should do a better job in distinguishing and marketing this DCP line. I only accidentally bumped into it, yet it offers several models for a range of prices. Finally, a multi-function printer that does not degrade printing because the unit adds copying and scanning.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Brother DCP-8080dn Digital Copier and Laser Printer w/Duplex Printing and Networking

Get 53% OFF

Click here for more information about Brother DCP-8080dn Digital Copier and Laser Printer w/Duplex Printing and Networking

Read More...

HP LaserJet Pro M1212nf Printer (CE841A#BGJ) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)My mom just bought this today and I helped her set it up. I'm already thinking about buying one, even though I already have a laser MFC at home. It's that good. The setup is easy, the quality is good, and the price is right.
1. Setup on PC, Mac, and network
It was super easy. HP includes the usual install CD, but you don't need it on PC; they put the files on the machine, and they show up when you connect the USB cable (the same way a USB flash drive would, though this doesn't work on Mac). Just follow the instructions; everything is straightforward.
If you want to use it over the network (i.e., connect it to your router), you still need to connect it via USB first. Before too long, the installation program tells you to disconnect the USB cable, and you don't need to connect it via USB any further. (So if you have a USB cable that you can use temporarily, you don't need to buy another just for the printer to use it over the network.)
If you haven't yet connected the networking cable from the printer to the router, it'll tell you when to connect it, and the router and printer should talk to each other without any difficulty. (My mom's router is a modem/router/wifi hub combo from the Paleozoic Era, issued by a very low-tech rural DSL provider, and it worked just fine.) I expected the networking part to be hard, and it was actually fairly easy. If everything I've written so far makes sense, you probably know enough to set this up on the network.
Once it's set up on one computer and on the network, use the driver CD to install the drivers on any other computers on your network; this is even easier.
Within an hour (half of the time making room for the printer and so forth), we had:
*Installed the drivers on 4 computers (1 Mac and 3 PCs--one is even Vista!)
*Printed test pages from each
*Set up the fax preferences (you can do this on the computer via the device management software, which is WAY easier than navigating the device menus)
*Successfully scanned documents into JPGs and PDFs, via the flatbed and sheetfeeder, over the network (many MFCs print well over the network but make it all but impossible to scan without connecting the USB cable), via Mac and PC
I've connected a LOT of devices to a LOT of computers, and for such a complicated device, this was ridiculously easy. Major kudos to HP's software team.
2. Quality
Print and copy quality are great. That's a given with a laser printer, I suppose. It's only black-and-white, but if you don't need color (e.g., if you print your photos at the pharmacy) or have a separate color printer (e.g., a photo-quality inkjet printer), you're good.
The scanning quality is also very good. 300x300 pixel black-and-white scans of sheet-fed documents make great PDFs. I also did a 1200x1200 pixel color scan of an old sports card, and it's quite sharp. I'm not somebody who works with images for a living, but unless you are (or are a very serious hobbyist), this scanner should suit your needs.
I wasn't able to get the standard Mac software (Image Capture) to operate the scanner (that software is pretty weak anyway), but the HP Director software works well on Mac (genuinely shocked) and PC.
My one complaint about using the HP software for scanning is that it doesn't let you preview-and-crop. If you need cropping (e.g., if you're scanning in 4x6 photos), you'll need to do that with another program. You probably already have something on your computer that will do this, but if not, you can download GIMP (free open source program) or buy something cheap and simple to crop, correct color, etc.
We haven't tried the fax yet.
3. Value
At the list price, this is a steal. Even lower-quality manufacturers (you know who they are) are charging similar prices for laser MFCs with no networking capability.
If you've never bought a laser printer, the toner cost (currently on the HP website at $68 for a cartridge that yields about 1600 pages) might be a turnoff, but on a per-page basis, it's probably somewhat-to-much cheaper than the inkjet you're using or considering. The overall build quality and durability of laser printers is also much better, so your "total cost of ownership" (cost of printer + ink/toner, divided by pages printed before the device dies) is likely much lower.
In short, this printer is a winner, at least based on initial quality.

Click Here to see more reviews about: HP LaserJet Pro M1212nf  Printer (CE841A#BGJ)

HP LaserJet Pro M1212nf

Get 16% OFF

Click here for more information about HP LaserJet Pro M1212nf  Printer (CE841A#BGJ)

Read More...

Brother MFC-8890DW High-Performance All-in-One Laser Printer With Wireless Networking and Duplex Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)This is the newer version of the MFC-8860 from Brother, and is a step up from the MFC-8480 as the 8890 provides full duplexing on scanning, copying, and faxing. The MFC-8480 only provides duplex on printing.
I have Macs--several of them--so I've been looking around for a while for a multi-function laser machine I could use for printing, scanning, copying, and the occasional fax. I'm thoroughly impressed with this machine so far, and following the install from CD, everything just plain worked. The printer driver was installed, it included a fax option right in the driver itself (on one of the print option tabs), and so was the TWAIN driver for scanning, and so was their ControlCenter software, which provides access to all the settings for the printer, documentation, and a bunch of customizable presets for the different functions of the printer (most useful for scanning different kinds of documents to different apps on the Mac, including an OCR capability).
The duplex is great--the auto-document feeder reads both sides of documents for copying, scanning, and even faxing. Most less expensive models (like the 8480 and a Canon MF4370 I recently tested) will only duplex on printing, but the 8890 will both read and produce 2-sided docs for any function.
Network capabilities for Macs is also top-notch, with both wired and wireless network capabilities, you can use every function of the machine over the network, with seemingly quick transfer rates, even high-res color scanning. By the way, my previous favorite printer vendor, Canon, does not support network scanning to Macs on ANY of their multi-function printers, but this is not apparent until you buy one and try to do it--their support has since told me this is true. I think the only thing the Brother 8890 doesn't do via network to a Mac is faxing--it supports some kind of Windows fax server that Apple has no equivalent of. But since you can simply scan a document and have it sent to your Mac over the network instead, I hardly care.
So, if you want a fully network-capable machine that works with Macs, this is your machine. The 8480 is a bit less expensive, but does not fully support duplexing, for those with simpler office needs.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Brother MFC-8890DW High-Performance All-in-One Laser Printer With Wireless Networking and Duplex

Get 28% OFF

Click here for more information about Brother MFC-8890DW High-Performance All-in-One Laser Printer With Wireless Networking and Duplex

Read More...

Brother Printer MFC7360N Monochrome Printer with Scanner, Copier & Fax and built in Networking Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)The field of monochrome all-in-one AIO laser printers lags behind the more ubiquitous inkjet AIO units. I needed an economical solution for scanning and printing documents. It didnt' make sen$e to keep buying expensive ink replacements from the inkjet printer. I settled on the Brother MFC-7360N. The unit is somewhat noisy when using ADF (auto doc feeder) and acceptable when printing. Construction is plasticy but so are most printers these days.
Some other drawbacks:
- Cannot change the default directory where images are stored on your computer
- Takes about 30-min to install the drivers & sw on one computer. sooooo slowwwww
- The little display window is hard to read even at its highest contrast setting! Wow, bizarre.
- M-F (no weekend) customer support
The printer is acceptable and not too expensive. The software for Mac is quite full-featured but not robust. UI is a weak point. I learned to workaround its quirkiness. The printer is great if you just want an efficient machine at a modest price. Once you get used to the software, it will allow to be quite productive. Scan multi-page docs to create single-file PDF (had problems scanning 6 pages, insufficient RAM??) but no problem combining scanned pages later to gen PDF.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Brother Printer MFC7360N Monochrome Printer with Scanner, Copier & Fax and built in Networking

Get 57% OFF

Click here for more information about Brother Printer MFC7360N Monochrome Printer with Scanner, Copier & Fax and built in Networking

Read More...