Brother MFC-5840CN Network Color Inkjet Multifunction Printer with Photo Capture Center Review

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(More customer reviews)I went shoping for a new printer a few months ago, originally shopping for a color injet (NOT All-In-One) for my start-up business. I wanted to be able to be able to give my cliets color prints of simple things like invoices, diagrams, or product photos.
When I got to the store, I came accross the MFC-5840CN by Brother and was amazed by the number of features for under $200. I had a Lexmark X85 I was replacing and that thing was a pile of junk, and made me cautious of All-In-Ones. After a few days of online research I decided to buy the Brother (my first Brother product) printer and let me say this think is awesome!
For a printer it does a good job, with good B&W as well as color prints. Now I have not tried photo paper, but it prints better then I expected and seems good (I'm not a photographer- I just want some color in my documents!). I REALLY like the fact that it has built-in 10/100Tx networking as well because I do have a few computers as well as a wireless laptop I use it from (BOTH PC and Mac).
As a Fax machine the MFC once again does a good job. I was suprised that the machine supports the "Distinctive Ring" feature and has not failed once to pick up my distinctive ring number I use as a fax line. It also has not once picked up my regular voice ringer. I can tell the fax machine as well as copier which paper tray to use as well, which is cool. I very much like the auto-feeder it makes everything that is more then one page that much easier to copy and fax.
I have used the fax-from-pc and that works great too. From wired and wireless computers around my house I can send faxes, print, and access the memory card slots!
In conclusion I must say that this is a excelent printer, especially considering the price. I have also bought two for some clients who like it very much with no problems so far. I hope this helps you!

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Brother MFC-8840DN Network Multifunction Laser Printer Review

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(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.

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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

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Brother MFC 4800 Multifunction Printer, Scanner, Copier & Fax Review

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(More customer reviews)There is no multifunction machine that does everything as well a collection of individual machines. The MFC-4800 is advertised as a 5-in-1: Fax/Printer/Copier/Scanner/PC-Fax. Here's how it performs at those tasks:
Fax: At its heart, this product is Brother's well-regarded PPF-2800 laser fax machine. It does not require a computer connection to work as a fax, and it has the robustness to serve a medium-sized office. Its TAD/Distinctive Ring feature lets me use the machine to automatically receive faxes on my standard telephone/answering machine line. As a fax machine, it's a 10.
Printer: USB and parallel interfaces, as well as Mac and Windows drivers, make this a good, 9 PPM laser printer. Text printing is very crisp, and the paper feed works well. Two downsides: First, graphics aren't printed as well as other laser printers. They appear to print using dithered black and white, rather than grayscale. Secondly, this printer doesn't have any built-in networking features, although it can be shared using Windows printer sharing or a hub.
Helpful Printer Tip: If you use Windows XP and you only want to use the printer feature (without the scanning, OCR and PC-Fax), simply plug the USB cable from the printer into your already-running PC. Windows XP will automatically install its built-in driver for this printer - great for those of us who are wary of installing loads of software on our computers.
Copier: I purchased this machine because I needed a fax machine, and happily paid a little extra for the laser printing capability. I'm delighted that it has a handy and useful standalone copy feature -- simply load a stack of originals into the fax feeder and press the "Copy" button, and out churn your copies. As with the fax feature, no computer connection or software is used. However, if you're looking for a "real" copier, you'll want a color, flatbed unit. Using the fax paper feeder means you can't copy books, small, or fragile items. It also tends to twist vertical lines a little. For record keeping, it's terrific, but if you want to make 20 copies of a 20 page document that look as good as the original, you'll probably be disapointed.
Scanner: I didn't even bother. The scanning and OCR software it installed on my Win ME system has a distinctly Windows 3.1 appearance. There are loads of [$$] color flatbed scanners that can run circles around this unit. If black and white, fax-quality PC scanning is useful to you, well, go for it.
PC-Fax: I haven't tested this feature.
Summary: I'm completely satisfied with my purchase. At its heart, this unit is a fax machine with a very good laser printer engine. Within the limitations of its fax heritage, it's a useful copier, but those fax limitations are significant in terms of its scanning capability. Two last comments - no USB or parallel cable was included, and the toner cartridge is a 1,000 page "starter" cartridge.

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Brother contributes another smart machine at a smart price to the multifunction market. The MFC 4800 offers a five-in-one combination of laser-based fax, printing, copying, scanning, and computer-based fax capabilities.
As a printer, the 4800 can produce 10 pages per minute (ppm) at 600 x 600 resolution. As a fax machine, the 4800 has a 14.4K modem and a 2 MB memory buffer. The scanner offers 1,200 dpi resolution. When it comes to making copies, the 4800 can print up to 99 at a time at 600 dpi.
Additional features include a 200-sheet letter cassette that helps you avoid frequent refills. With both parallel and USB computer interfaces, the 4800 is cross-platform compatible, working with Windows 95/98/2000/Me/SE /NT 4.0 as well as the Apple iMac, iBook, G3, and G4 operating systems.

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Canon imageCLASS MF4370DN Laser All-in-One Printer Review

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(More customer reviews)I bought this about a week ago and have been using it ever since. I have a Mac and finding a multifunction unit that is Mac compatible hasn't been easy. This unit, the MF4370DN, works great with my Mac. The lower models, the MF4350D and the MF4150D are NOT completely Mac compatible.
I couldn't find any reviews for this item - so I will tell you everything I can about it.
I know there is some comparable Brother models out there, but have heard they surge the power in the room. I haven't tested them, but I have a Brother laser printer and it makes all the lights in my home office dim when it gets ready to print. Also that model doesn't duplex print (print/copy on both sides of the page. The MF4370DN does.)
This unit works great with my Mac - it scans, prints, copies, and receives faxes. I originally bought the Canon MF4350d which despite all the information I read is not entirely mac compatible, its scanner is not compatible with Macs, which was confirmed for me by talking with a Canon rep. It would be nice if they mentioned that on their website specs instead of wasting hours of my time and then having to drive 70 miles to return it. (I didn't buy it from Amazon because they didn't have it at the time.)
Canon support told me the MF4370dn is entirely mac compatible - just hit the Scanner button on it twice so it is in "USB SCANNING MODE."
Overall I'm pretty happy with this unit. The print quality is great, the faxing speed and quality is much faster than my old thermal fax. The copier works great. The scan quality off the glass is great. The duplexing feature works great. Unit is very, very quiet - in fact I can't hear it when it's on or sleeping.
Now I can finally get rid of three bulky devices - my fax, laser printer, and scanner, and replace it with this one unit.
Cons:
1) No software comes with this unit that allows you to create a single PDF from the Auto Document Feeder. So if I wanted to scan 10 pages through the feeder and create a single PDF it can't do it. It would create 10 different documents in your scanning program, then you would have to save each one as a PDF and use another program to create a single PDF. After hours of research I discovered Acrobat Professional can create a single PDF directly off the auto document feeder. Acrobat Professional is an expensive program at $449 which is available for Mac. I happen to have it and used it successfully to create a multipage pdf. On Acrobat Professional you go to FILE > CREATE PDF > FROM SCANNER. It worked great. But some kind of software should really be supplied from Canon that can do that. Most people are not going to have Acrobat Professional and certainly won't buy a $450 program just to be able to use a $300 device. I know there is some scanning software that comes with the unit, but it's for Windows (and not sure what it can do.)
2) Auto document feeder also is giving me some trouble - it is scanning letter size pages as legal size. So there is all this white area at the bottom of my scans. Something I will have to talk to Canon about how to fix, if possible.
3) My home phone number doubles as my fax line so I run the telephone line from the wall into the unit -- and then then out to my phone. Whenever I use my phone to make a call - the MF4370DN turns on and starts to blink "Processing Data" and a green light on the side of the unit starts to blink as well. And it stays on for the whole call. Now when I talk on the phone I gotta see this light blinking in my periphery. Kind of annoying and a waste of energy if you ask me.
4)The instructions for using the scanner were not very clear. I installed what I thought was a scanning program on a CD that came with the device. After I installed it I thenspent ages looking for the scanning application which I just installed. Turns out there is no application, instead what you are really installing is the driver. You need to use your own scanning program - I use Photoshop.

5) Every time I want to scan something I need to push the Scan button twice on the device to put it into USB scan mode. It would be nice if it would automatically detect how it was going to transmit. Also you have 1.5 to 2 minutes from when you push SCAN twice to when the machine puts itself to sleep. So a few times now I have tried to scan and couldn't because the SCAN option timed out on the machine.
6) The manual is not Mac friendly. If it was it would have saved me a couple hours figuring out most of the above. I had to call Canon 3 times or so to get the kinks worked out.
But I must say that Canon technical support is bar none the best customer support I have ever experienced. A human will pick up the phone almost immediately and you are speaking to an educated, polite, sympathetic, and a very knowledgeable person who's first language is english and they live here in the good ol' USA. A+ on that Canon.
Despite the problems settings this up - I am happy with my purchase. As I am the first person to review this I am glad to pass on what I learned to help others make an informed choice and if you happen to buy it I hope that I helped save you some time setting it up.
Thanks!


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