Cisco-Linksys WPS54GU2 Wireless-G Print Server for USB 2.0 Review

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(More customer reviews)After reading the mixed reviews for this, I still decided to try the Linksys Wireless Print Server. Although this is more expensive than the wired print server, I thought that it may be nice to locate my printers (one is USB and the other is parallel/USB) and wireless router in different locations. Neither printer is multi-function. I first tried a "wired" Linksys print server, but was unable to connect (2) USB printers using a hub - plus the price of the print server and the hub was nearly the same as the wireless device.
So far so good, but there are some things that I suggest you do when installing this device. These are based on personal experience, which has been a process of educated trial and error. An IT professional may do things differently, but if you were an IT professional, you probably wouldn't be reading these reviews. My network is almost entirely Linksys components (wireless router, wireless adapter, and print server), although I am using the network cards that were pre-installed with those computers that are hard wired to the router.
First, disable your firewall. This will allow you to test the compatibility of the printers, the network, and the print sever without the extra component to worry about. Once everything is up and running, you can enable your firewall and tweak any networking restrictions at that time.
Secondly, when configuring the router (which is the first step), you will need to have this "wired" to your router. This is part of the instructions, and should not come as a surprise. However, make sure you leave this "wired" until you have installed the print server drivers and software on all your networked computers. The install utility seems to have trouble finding the print server if you have disconnected the hard wire connection, even if the print server lights indicate it is already on the wireless LAN.
Thirdly, if you are using MAC address filtering, temporarily disable this. One you get the print server set up and running, you can find its MAC address using the web utility or the BI-admin utility, and then restore the filtering after adding the print server. However, if you want to use the web based configuration utility (like you use with your router), please follow the instructions in the following paragraph.
Fourth, once you have installed everything per the instructions, I recommend the following: give your print server a fixed IP address on your network (e.g. 192.168.1.171). My experience is this: If your router uses DHCP to assign IP addresses to your networked computers and servers, the print server does not always communicate back to the router, and your print server will sometimes "disappear" from your network after computers have been turned off and on. Something to do with the order the computers and servers are turned on. Setting this to a fixed address has cleared up those problems for me. Also, because the print server's address is fixed, you can access the web based configuration utility by typing in the same IP address each time.
Fifthly, find the MAC address using the web based or BI-admin utility. Now, if you are using these, reinstate your MAC address filtering, adding your print server's address to the allowed list.
Sixth, test and test again. Reboot your computers and unplug and re-plug your print server. Send documents to all your printers from all your computers - not just printer test pages. Print actual documents from a "Wordpad" or similar program.
Seventh, enable your firewall, remembering to enable access to your print server at the fixed IP address used above.
Eighth, test again just to make sure. If it doesn't work now, you know it's the network settings of your firewall.
This has seemed to work for me.


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The Linksys Wireless-G PrintServer for USB 2.0 lets you connect a USB or parallel printer (or both!) directly to your network, eliminating the need to dedicate a PC to print sharing chores.Using a PrintServer frees up your "print share PC" so you don't have to leave it on all the time.It also removes the printing bottleneck, and sets your PC free to do more useful work.Connect the PrintServer directly to your network by 10/100 Ethernet cable, or wirelessly over 54Mbps Wireless-G (802.11g).The wireless option lets you put your printers wherever you want to, without having to run cables.Whichever way the PrintServer is attached to your network, both your wireless and wired PCs will have access to it, and the printers it's connected to.And if you don't use wireless for general networking in your office, you can still use the Wireless-G connection in ad-hoc mode to print from visiting Wireless-G and Wireless-B PCs.The USB port is compatible with USB 1.1 printers, as well as printers that support the new high-speed USB 2.0 specification for even faster throughput.There's also a separate port for a standard parallel printer.For even more versatility, you can connect two printers, one to each port, and send your documents to whichever one is most appropriate for each print job.A user-friendly Setup Wizard makes installation easy, the compact case fits anywhere, and the three megabyte print buffer size handles even large graphics-intensive print jobs.Let the Linksys Wireless-G PrintServer for USB 2.0 bring efficiency to your printing tasks.

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Keyspan U2S-2A USB 2.0 Server Review

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(More customer reviews)This server replaces the older style print server, the FTP type which is one way only and will not report ink levels. The Keyspan USB 2.0 Server costs more AND it makes the printer work like its locally attached. It reports ink levels. In addition I can share an ordinary USB disk drive on the network. IT'S A REALLY GOOD PRODUCT. It installed and worked perfectly the first try. RECOMMENDED.
As usual it was delivered the next day.

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Keyspan US-4A 4-Port USB Server (12 Mbps) Review

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(More customer reviews)I opened the packing box 10 MINUTES AGO, and both of my printers are up and running on every PC.
I was a little worried when I saw the 'documentation' was smaller than a CD, but everything went off without a hitch:
Step 1: Power up the USB server with no USB device hooked up to it, and connect it to the network via RJ45.
Step 2: Install the software (if WinXP, use the unsigned drivers). Your OS searches the network at this time and finds the USB Server.
Step 3: Hook up your USB devices.
THAT'S IT!!!
If you have a Multi-Function printer, you NEED this device, because even if you find a compatible print server, it will only let you use the print function. A Printer Server turns your Multi-Function printer into a Uni-Function Printer.
With this device, it will be just as if the printer were directly connected to your PC. In fact, you are not limited to PCs; you can connect ANY USB device to it (camcorder, scanner, webcam, even a mouse or keyboard).
The ONLY advantage that a print server has over this device is that with a server, multiple PCs can control a target device at once (really, that's not quite true, since the requestes are put in a queue).
With the USB server, every PC uses a little administration program. When launched, it opens a window that lists all of the devices that are connected to the USB server. A PC on the network that wants to use a device (i.e. print) needs to first take command of that device. You just select the device by name, and hit the connect button. From that point on, it's as if the printer were plugged directly into your PC. Others trying to use the printer would see that you were subscribed to it; they would have to wait until you release the subscription - which you have to do manually.
They could really use a virtual queue that keeps checking until the subscription is open, then releases the subscription when the job is completed. The problem is that if the device isn't a printer, how does it know when the job is finished?
So, even if you have only one PC on the network, you need to request access to use the printer. On the (sort of) bright side, every time you power up the PC, it will remember who owns what. I think the memory is maintained in the USB Server itself, not the PC. So if a PC takes control of a device, then dies, cycling power on the server releases all devices.
This is a little hokey (they claim they MIGHT fix it in a later release) but it's 1000% better than losing printer functions you paid for. They have an 'Admin' panel on the software, but I don't think it currently lets you boot someone off of a device.
If you already installed the devices you want to share, then once you connect to the server, every device will show up by name. When you take control of one or more of the devices, Windows goes through the 'new device ready' popup.
If you haven't added the device to your PC, then the server will show a default name for the device. Once you take control of it, Windows will detect the PnP device, and start the 'add new hardware' wizard.
It's truly as if the USB server didn't exist, and you had a REALLY long USB cable.
I have a Canon i950 Photo Printer, and a Brother 9600 MFC.
The Brother is particularly painful in that it won't even work with most printer servers. In fact, Windows XP doesn't even have a dedicated driver for it; Brother has all but stopped supporting it.
I was highly skeptical, but the MFC's scanner worked right away. As for the Canon, I launched the Status Monitor, and was soon seeing I had to replace an ink cartridge. So, the USB server is bi-directional, too (most Print servers aren't).
It took me longer to write this review than it took me to get the server up and running.
I can't recommend this product highly enough!

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Access USB devices from a WiFi notebookSeparate the USB device and the host PC by any distance

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Brother MFC-5460cn Color Photo Inkjet All-in-One Flatbed with Networking Review

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(More customer reviews)I was looking to buy a printer and fax machine for some time. Our old fax m/c and the printer had reached the end of their lives. Recently Brother is having some great promotions with 2 year extended warranties. With the advertised low prices for these machines, I couldn't resist. After some research I decided to order the 5460 multi function all in one. Boy, am I delighted!
What I like:
============
- Setup was very easy. Hooking up the machine took me about 10 minutes. Installing the software, another 8-10.
- The print quality was great.
- The printer is network ready. It works with both wired and wireless networks. This feature alone is worth the price. No need for any wires from your computer or any computer on the network to the printer. If you don't have a network at home, don't worry. You can hook using a USB cable. The manufacturers don't include a USB printer cable usually as with this product. So don't discard the cable if you are throwing away your old printer - they cost around 35 bucks.
- You can receive the faxes onto your computer. You need to change the mode on the machine panel. The setup software opened up all the ports necessary. Now all the junk faxes goes to your PC and you don't have to waste paper! Even if your PC is off, the faxes are stored in the machine's memory so that you can later 'download' to your PC.
- You can send faxes right out of your PC using the provided software. Another cool thing. As I work from home remotely, this helps me a lot. Otherwise, I would have had to print out the documents before faxing. The software comes with an address book which can sync with your Outlook address book.
- The setup also enables your PC for internet faxing. i.e., even if you don't have your Brother fax machine connected, as long as you have an internet connection, you can fax documents using the internet. This is pretty cool though not a new feature. While I am at the airport, I can fax those last minute expense reports right from my laptop.
- I haven't tried the scan feature yet, that will be the least used feature for me.
- Given the print quality is good, I would believe the copier would be just great as well.
- The paper feeder sits within the footprint of the machine. This is another neat and space saving feature - no awkward paper supports hanging out.
- You also have digital media reader right in the front so that you can print directly from your media.
- The all-in-one is a space saver. It cleared much space off my work table. With all-in-ones, say, if the cartridge goes bust, all parts are affected though.
What could be better?
=====================
- The USB cable and the network cable slots are not on the outside of the machine. You have to lift up the top bed and wire these inside. This takes up about 10-20% of the cable length depending on where you position your PC/laptop relative to the machine.
- The Brother cartridges are always relatively expensive compared to, say, Canon. I have found that Brother's tend to be more durable than Canon. But for the higher end Canon's you do pay more. So it is a trade-off between up-front price/running cost (ink refills,cartridge) and reliability.
At this point I love the machine. For $99 after MIR and extended 2 yr warranty, it is a great holiday deal!

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The Brother MFC-5460cn is a powerful color multi-function center with networking capabilities, making it a great addition to your home or small business office.
Color Printer With the MFC-5460cn you'll enjoy up to 30 ppm black and 25 ppm color print speed, as well as photo quality printing up to 6000 x 1200 dpi. With a droplet size as small as 1.5 picoliters you can be assured of fine details and color accuracy. The unit's front loading paper tray holds up to 100 sheets. Borderless photo printing is possible, and USB and ethernet interfaces are included. The printer works with Windows and Mac operating systems.
Color Fax When it comes time to send a fax, you can choose black and white or color faxing using the ITU-T30E standard. A 35-page auto document feeder makes big faxing jobs a snap, while the 33.6 Kbps Super G3 high-speed fax modem delivers your documents quickly. No PC is required for faxing, and you can take advantage of 100-station auto dialing, and 32 MB of total memory means you can store up to 480 pages.
Color Copier The MFC-5460cn offers easy copying in color or black and white. No PC is required for copying, and you'll enjoy up to 22 cpm black and 20 cpm color copy speeds. The copier also offers up to 1200 x 600 dpi resolution, as well as multi-copying for up to 99 copies. Reduce or enlarge your copies from 25 percent to 400 percent, in 1 percent increments.
Color Scanner Use the MFC-5460cn for 48-bit flatbed color scanning at up to 19,200 dpi (interpolated) resolution, and up to 600 x 2400 dpi (optical) resolution. The flatbed design also enables scanning from bound documents. The unit includes award-winning ScanSoft PaperPort SE with OCR Software for Windows and Presto! PageManager for Mac.
Photo Capture Center Use the MFC-5460cn to print images or even an index--all without a computer. The MFC-5460cn features convenient digital camera media card slots for high quality photo printing (Memory Stick, Memory Stick Pro, xD-Picture Card Type M/Type H, CompactFlash, Secure Digital, and MultiMediaCard). The memory card system also works as a removable disk drive, and there's also a PictBridge interface to print photos directly from your PictBridge-enabled camera.
PC Fax The MFC-5460cn comes with the Brother PC Fax Driver for sending and receiving faxes from your computer. The software supports fax broadcasting from your PC, as well as network PC fax send and receive. PC fax functionality works with Windows and Mac operating systems.

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Belkin F5L009 5-Port Network USB Hub Review

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(More customer reviews)The posts that are complaining about sharing devices, connection issues, etc. need to understand that the problem is with the USB protocol and not the device. USB devices are not designed, or even able, to run on multiple devices at once. Have you ever plugged an external drive into two computer at the same time? Why would this be any different? If you need to access a hard drive from multiple computers at the same time, get a NAS drive. The device also is not designed to power external drives, like the usb powered western digital drives noted in a review. I actually have gotten one to work with no problem, but after talking to a few Belkin guys they don't really know what will or won't work with the device. Any drive that has its own power supply should work with no problems.
Also, you can share between computer easily. If you have to do something with a different computer, you can either request the devices (sort of like IMing) or just click on the disconnect button. Simple, like ejecting a device.
If you understand what this, its awesome and works like a charm. I've gotten all sorts of cool stuff, from midi devices, DVD Burners, Printers, Scanners,cameras,etc. to work with it. The only reason I'm giving it a 4 star is because I accidently plugged in the wrong power cable (12v not the 5v) and blew out the power supply. It should have a buffer, but Belkin replaced it for the cost of shipping, so I can't be to upset about. I actually found myself missing it within a few days of messing with wires!
Also, MAC drivers ( doesn't work with Leopard yet) are available here:
http://www.belkin.com/support/article/?lid=en&pid=F5L009&aid=8547&scid=0
Works great on my Powerbook G4!

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Your home computers are networked wirelessly, but with all the digital photos, video and music your family has been collecting, they're all running out of hard drive space. And what's more, you and your kids each need access to a printer. With the Belkin Network USB Hub, you can give each computer on your network direct wireless access to up to 15 devices, including an external hard drive to store your family's digital media and a printer that everyone on your network can share. With this convenient, easy-to-install device, the days of purchasing separate printers and peripherals for each of your computers is over. Share up toFifteen Devices Wirelessly The Belkin Network USB Hub allows you to give every computer connected to your network access to up to 15 USB devices. (The Hub itself will connect directly to five devices, but it also lets you "daisy chain" three additional USB hubs to it, so that you can connect a total of 15 USB devices to your network computers.) While the Hub is specifically designed for printers and mass-storage devices, it also works for most other USB devices, including most standard webcams, keyboards and mice, multifunction machines, scanners, and media readers. The Belkin Network USB Hub is ideal for:

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Lexmark X7675 All-in-One Wireless Inkjet Kit (12V0300) Review

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(More customer reviews)Lexmark made the wireless setup easy vis the enclosed computer CD installation program. I liked the automatic two sided printing too. Included in the box are extended life ink cartridges. Usually with a new printer you get limited yield cartridges.
I was able to scan pictures remotely via the wireless connection...very slick. I haven't tried the fax yet but the copy features work fine. The power is supplied via cord directly to the printer....no transformer to trip over. Print quality is good, typical ink jet. The box said the warranty is 5 years with registration. I had a Lexmark two printers ago and had trouble 3 times. Lexmark replaced the printer with a new on each time with shipping both ways at their expense.

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Meet all of your faxing, scanning, and printing needs with the slick Lexmark X7675 All-in-One Printer. You can setup a wireless connection to this device with the help of the included software, then send a fax or scan a photograph from virtually anywhere. The laser sharp, 2400 x 4800 dpi color print resolution is ideally suited to photo printing or professional PowerPoint presentations. With a 2.4-inch LCD display and a handy control panel, two-sided printing is available at the touch of a button. Whether you're sharing the All-in-One among multiple computers in an office or keeping it at home, the device will streamline your workload and produce professional-quality documents every time. Print directly from your PictBridge compatible digital camera. Wireless Connectivity for the Home or Office While the All-in-One offers both USB and Ethernet connectivity, most users will opt to setup a wireless connection using the included software. You can forget the clutter of wires and cables in your workspace. With easy-to-follow onscreen instructions, a wireless connection can be established in minutes. An indicator light on the front of the device lets you know the status of your connection, and then you're ready to print and fax from any location, near or far. User-friendly Control Panel for Printing/Faxing Shortcuts You won't have to look very far to find some of the Lexmark's most convenient features. Alongside the 2.4-inch color LCD display on the front of the device is a control panel with an array of handy shortcuts. In addition to expected features such as fax dialing are options for two-sided printing, job cancel, and color vs. black-and-white printing. Print, Copy and Fax at Business-class Speeds With a printing speed of up to 32 pages per minute, you can create transparencies, envelopes or high-quality photos in minutes. Utilize the 25-sheet-capacity Auto Document Feeder or the 100-sheet-capacity input tray to make copies and reduce originals to 25% of their original size, or enlarge them to 400%. The laser sharp resolution of 1200 dpi (black-and-white) and 2400 x 4800 dpi (color) results in crystal clear images with no smearing, while the Accu-Feed paper handling system reduces paper jams and ensures that no pages are skipped. In addition to fast, high-resolution print jobs, the Lexmark sends faxes at a maximum transmission speed of 33.6 Kbps, and also features caller ID and automatic redialing. Optical Character Recognition scanning ensures quality images with a resolution of 600 x 1200 dpi. The All-in-One's front panel features a media card reader that supports a wide selection of memory cards, allowing you to print directly from memory cards. You can also print directly from a PictBridge compatible digital camera. The Lexmark's modest size and black-and-gray coloration make it an attractive addition to any home or office. It measures 8.1 x 18.8 x 14.1 (HxWxD) and weighs only 18.7 pounds. The device includes two extended-life ink cartridges (one color and one black and white) and is backed by a five-year warranty. The Lexmark is compatible with computers running MS Windows 2000 operating systems or later, and Macintosh OS X 10.3.9 or later. What's in the Box Lexmark X7675 All-in-One Printer; one extended-life black-and-white print cartridge, one extended-life color print cartridge, quick setup instructions, CD-ROM with user's guide and installation software, two-meter wireless installation cable, power card, statement of limited warranty, and RJ-11 phone cord.

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Brother HL-5250DN Network Ready Laser Printer with Duplex Review

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(More customer reviews)I purchased this printer because I wanted something cheaper to run than my HP Deskjet (toner is much cheaper than ink), I wanted to be able to print from multiple computers and put the printer anywhere I wanted (instead of being tethered to a specific computer), I wanted the printer to be Mac-compatible, and I wanted the printer to have a duplexer to save on paper (it prints on both sides of the page). This was the only printer in its price class I could find that had all of these features. I bought the printer on sale locally and got it for a good price.
I ran into one problem, which is why I'm only giving this printer only 4 stars. After I hooked it up and installed the software, I noticed that as soon as it went to sleep, it would no longer print. It's supposed to wake up when it gets a print job, but it wouldn't. I finally figured out that I needed to upgrade the network firmware from the Internet. For someone like me with experience as a PC technician, this was no problem, but I think the installation software should guide you through checking to see if everything is up to date, and help you upgrade the firmware.
The paper tray only holds 300 pages, which is less than a ream of paper. At 30 pages per minute, you could run out of paper in only 10 minutes! So it may not be the ideal printer for all but the smallest office settings (but still better than an inkjet for b&w printing). However, I believe you can add an additional paper tray, and there are other models with extra paper capacity built-in.
When I ran into my problem with sleep mode interfering with printing, I e-mailed Brother's technical support (they don't give you a number you can call), but I don't think a human actually reads your e-mail. It was pretty frustrating. Next time I'll try calling their customer service line and see if they can transfer me to tech support.

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The Brother HL-5250DN is a network-ready monochrome printer with a built-in duplex feature that can make your busy office or small business more productive. Thanks to its built-in Ethernet network interface, this convenient and versatile unit brings your workgroup together and easily handles a wide variety of jobs. The HL-5250DN easily prints two-sided documents, brochures, and manuals with clear resolution of up to 1200 x 1200 dot-per-inch (dpi) at an impressive speed of up to 30 pages per minute (ppm). And with 32 MB of standard memory (upgradable to 544 MB), this printer can easily tackle even the most complex jobs.Additionally, the HL-5250DN effortlessly handles letterhead, legal-size paper, and envelopes via an input tray with a capacity up to 250 sheets or a 50-sheet multi-purpose tray. To add more capacity, simply add up to two optional paper trays. The HL-5250DN is compatible with Windows, Macintosh, and Linux and comes with a TN550 standard yield toner cartridge (up to 3,500 pages) and one DR520 drum unit (yields up to 25,000 pages).What's in the Box HL-5250DN laser printer, one TN550 standard yield toner cartridge, and one DR520 drum unit.

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Scanfront 220P 25PPM Adf Fingerprint Sensor Network Scanner Review

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(More customer reviews)I hooked this up to a domain controller. It took about 40 minutes of playing with the network settings, but finally it worked well. Scans fast and fully customizable. A great asset for businesses that need a cheap adf scanner. I am giving 4 stars for the amount of time it took.

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Canon PIXMA MX700 Office All-On-One Inkjet Printer Review

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(More customer reviews)I bought this to replace my HP Photosmart 2710 that died after 2 years. I had spent 400 bucks on the old HP and for only 200 this thing blows it out of the water. A few specifics:
SCAN: The scan quality is noticably better than the HP and I also like the software a lot more. Note that I am using this machine on a mac so I can't speak to what the PC experience is like.
FAX: The fax is much smarter. I used to have to unplug the HP so it wouldn't answer the phone when I didn't want it to. The Canon can simply be told that phone should take priority and it won't pick up... at least not before my answering machiine does on ring number 4. This is nice because it means I don't have to mess with phone cords when I want to send a fax.
PRINT: Works great. Set up three different computers to access on my network, although it did take me a minute to realize I had to use the "Canon IJ Network" option in the drop down for my computer to see the printer. If I had bothered to read the instructions it probably would have been quicker. ;)
COPY: Also seems to work great. Similar to the HP here although the quality of the print seems a little better.
I'll try to come back and add more detail after more use, but since there weren't any reviews yet I thought I'd add one now.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Canon PIXMA MX700 Office All-On-One Inkjet Printer

With this networkable PIXMA MX700 All-In-One Office Printer, you'll be able to print photos right from compatible memory cards, selecting and enhancing images on the 1.8" color LCD display or directly from a digital camera or DV camcorder. You'll achieve up to Super G3 fax2 speed in color or Black & White and the expanded memory can store 40 speed dial codes and receive 100 incoming pages. Copies will be remarkably true to the originals, and when scanning photos you'll produce impressive 2400-dpi results with vibrant 48-bit color depth. The automatic document feeder holds 30 originals, making it easier to copy, scan or fax large documents. Dual Color Gamut Processing Technology automatically optimizes quality based on the type of originals you are copying. The Ethernet interface lets you establish or connect to a home or office network.Produce beautiful scans with vibrant 48-bit color depth Scanner Max Resolutions -Optical 2400 x 4800 dpi, Interpolated 19,200 x 19,200 dpi 8.5x11.7 Max Document Size Fax Modem Speed -33.6 Kbps (Super G3 color fax), Black 3 seconds per page, Color 1 minute per page Print wirelessly right from your PictBridge enabled mobile camera phone Quick Start -Powering up your printer is now much faster Paper Sizes -Credit Card (2.13x3.39), 4x6, 4x8, 5x7, 8x10, Letter, Legal, U.S. #10 envelopes and Photo Stickers Compatibility -Windows Vista, Windows XP, 2000 and Mac OS X v.10.2.8 to 10.4.x10

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Brother HL-2070N Network Monochrome Laser Printer (Black) Review

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(More customer reviews)This printer doesn't have the 'built-like-a-tank" feel or weight of my old Laserwriter IIg, but it's far quicker and less troublesome. If you want to do black-and-white printing on a budget, I highly recommend it. I use it to print book drafts and even the 8-point type in footnotes is sharp and clear. The driver installed quickly and worked without a hitch on my Mac mini and MacBook.
Installed to run over an Ethernet network, this printer has a rudimentary web page server that allows you to use your web browser to configure some of its features remotely, including the print resolution and a toner save mode. You can also see how many pages you've used on the toner and drum, so you have an idea when each needs replacing. The web page configuration information is buried in the Network User's Guide, so I'll post it here. (Voting this review helpful will keep in near the top and help others to see this posting.)
The web address is: http://brn-8c4310.local/printer/main.html
That'll give you the printer's home page. To change the configuration, you'll need this information:
The default account is: admin
And the default password is: access
Michael W. Perry, author of Untangling Tolkien: A Chronology and Commentary for The Lord of the Rings

Click Here to see more reviews about: Brother HL-2070N Network Monochrome Laser Printer (Black)

Prints up to 20ppm. HQ1200 resolution (up to 2400x600dpi). Includes Built-in Ethernet Network Interface. PCL6 for DOS printing. 250-sheet input capacity. 16MB memory standard. USB 2.0 and Parallel Interfaces. Toner Save Mode Feature. Optional External Wireless network interface. One year express exchange limited warranty.

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Brother MFC-420CN Color Inkjet Network Multifunction Review

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(More customer reviews)Update: Now I've had the Brother for over a year and a half, and I see that others have had bad luck with theirs. I will temper my original joy with the comment that my first unit did go bad (just wouldn't print), but Brother replaced it with a new one during the warranty period. They are so inexpensive that I bought another one to see me through the two weeks of repair/replacement time. That was less than great, but now I have a backup, for still less than $300.
I've never experienced much in the way of paper jams, so I would guess that at this price point, Brother just isn't providing consistent build quality. That's too bad, because the prospect of a bad unit is a real disincentive. I'm still satisfied overall, but recognize that not everyone is having the same experience. And of course the downtime resulting in purchase of a second unit was a drag. I would consider a different printer, but Epson and HP have both been such poor experiences for me (with far inferior support), that I will still probably prioritize a new Brother model when I need to upgrade. No sign of that happening any time soon though.
August 30, 2006
---------------
Ok, I have only had this all-in-one for a little over a week. But after years of being a slave to the HP ink needle, I am so happy with it I want to dance.
I have never really seriously considered Brother in the past, and now I feel like I have been living in the wrong world. Like if someone told you "My new car does 0-60 in 5 seconds, gets 70 mpg, and cost $1500. What, you didn't know about those?"
For less than $150, I now have a very compact printer with 10baseT ethernet (goodbye nightmarishly technical HP JetDirect 300x external network box), separate ink tanks for all colors, more advanced features than my 3 year old HP that cost around $1000 with the JetDirect, sharper printing, and best of all, real, honest-to-goodness Mac OS X support. Their software and documentation shows an absolute commitment to doing Mac right. (It took a year and a half for HP to get the Mac drivers for my OfficeJet to be minimally functional, and never did manage to handle things like scanning from the unit to a computer on the network.) Brother has earned a long-term customer here, and I am telling everyone I know.
Like any AIO, the quality of printing and scanning is probably not up to what you can get in stand alone units. But for general small office/home office use, it is more than fine. If you want the highest photo quality, get a specialized photo printer with a 6-color head. But actually, the photo quality on this unit is still far better than you could get at any price only a few short years ago. It's just that we have gotten spoiled at the truly amazing quality of photo inkjets in the last couple of years.
I will probably get one of the Olympus dye-subs for photos eventually, but in the meanwhile, prints from this on photo paper are plenty good enough for posting on my refrigerator door. And the resolution and appearance of business graphics, while again possibly not up to what current stand-alones will do, are the best of any printer I have ever owned, and leagues ahead of the older HP OfficeJet I just gave away.
And the best part is, it could fall apart in 6 months, and still not cost much more to replace than I have been spending on HP ink cartridges. My OfficeJet sucked down ink like a storm drain, and the cartridges were EXPENSIVE. It became clear in short order that their business model was built around bleeding you dry on consumable costs. Those guys have quite a racket, but I'm happy to say I am out from under it.
Thanks Brother, I will sing your praises to the skies.

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MFC-420cn Inkjet Flatbed Color Fax Printer/Copier/Scanner/PC Fax (BRTMFC420CN)

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Brother MFC-490CW Color Inkjet Wireless All-in-One Printer Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I was skeptical of Brother printers, but after having a miserable experience with HP trying to get a 6380 to work (two broken units delivered; two units returned; 4 hours on phone with tech support), I broadened my search and found consistently good reviews of this printer. I live in a mixed household (Windows and Mac), which also eliminated many competitors. Finding it on sale tipped the scales.
Out of the box, the printer is compact, has a low profile, and is a bit sleeker looking than the competitors. Overall workmanship is solid.
Only exception is the paper tray which feels a bit flimsy, but nothing that would deter me. There is also no easy way to feed envelopes or letterhead without pulling out the papertray -- and to run envelopes, you need to remove regular paper since the bypass tray is only for photo paper.
Fax machine is a nice feature to have and, thankfully, it does not come with a phone handset attachment which would just take up space for no reason.
Per the manual, the printer can NOT handle both wireless and wired USB/network connection at the same time. Not a problem for me at all as the unit will only be used via wireless.
It is energy star rated and defaults to putting itself to sleep after a period of non-use. Startup out of sleep is very fast when you send a wireless document. I tend to unplug my power strip when I won't be using the computer for a while and was afraid that the settings would wipe, but when I plugged it back in the printer sprang back to life with all wireless configurations intact.
Set up was pretty simple. Following the quick start instructions went fine. Found my wireless router, connected, printed test page, no problem. Installed drivers/software on Windows XP, and it looks to be a lot less heavy than HP's full software. Only wrinkle in installation is that it asked me several times to connect/verify the wireless connection (each piece of software plus the hardware basically asked me the same thing a few times... I probably didn't need to enter it so many times, but it wasn't difficult so I decided to be safe). No problems with Mac install either. Very simple.
Overall, the set up was easy and quick. Brother could learn a bit from HP in terms of integrating the documentation and the printer set up a little bit better, but that's a minor issue. It was easy and the thing worked right away.
Automatic document feeder on top of the machine is a great feature to have in a printer at this level, and it works well.
The wireless integration is well done. I was able to print wirelessly immediately, and, quite a pleasant surprise to find that the "scan" feature actually worked as advertised.
Scanning was as simple as dropping a document into the feeder, hitting scan, selecting which of my two wireless PCs I wanted to receive the doc, and then hitting start. Seamlessly scanned and dropped the PDF onto my hard drive.
Ditto for requesting an OCR of the paper document. OCR quality is pretty amazing. I haven't had experience with desktop/consumer OCR in a few years, so maybe they are all of similar quality now, but I was pleasantly surprised. No formatting came over, but I was able to take a memo sitting on my desk and scan/OCR it in a few seconds. The text dropped into a plain text file and had no errors in text recognition or punctuation.
Print speed appears to be slower than the box claims. I haven't tested it, but it feels slower than a lower quality HP deskjet it replaced. Could be a function of the wireless throughput. I'm not terribly concerned since this is for a low-volume home setup. Print quality is good, not fantastic (I will play with settings and see if I can't improve that). Photo prints onto plain paper are not as clear as HP.
I am also very happy with the low noise level. The printer is quiet (much more so than my prior HP inkjet) and it doesn't rattle and shake and rumble like my prior HP inkjet.
If you're having trouble getting the photo paper bypass to work, I had to resort to the manual. You need to physically move the bypass tray forward and lock it into place -- there is no software setting or configuration switch in the print properties. (You can select paper type and all the normal options there, but not the bypass.) Then when done, you pull the paper tray out and physically move the bypass tray back into standby position. At first I was annoyed, but given the frequency of printing via the bypass, I don't care. And I figure not having two paper paths probably means less chance of paper jams.
The model higher than this one is essentially the exact same unit but with a phone handset and a built in digital answering machine. I didn't think that was worth an extra $50, but if you need an answering machine it might be worth it to save footprint.
So far so good. I highly recommend this printer. For the price, features, ease of set up, size, and quiet, it is a very good deal.
I had tried the HP 6380 which had (to me) slightly better print quality, but lacked the automatic document feeder fax and the very well integrated wireless software. I also was unable to get multiple of them to work -- fatal errors on hardware, plus bad customer support, so I gave up and went to this unit... glad I did. I saved money and got a printer better suited for me.
I will update this review in a few weeks if I have any issues with reliability.

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Cisco-Linksys Wireless-G Print Server with Multifunction Printer Support Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Once you get this gizmo going, it works nicely. You can connect multiple computers on your home network to a printer that's within WiFi range. But setting it up is a challenge, because you have to do exactly the right things in exactly the right sequence, and some of the things you have to do right aren't mentioned in the setup wizard that runs when you insert the Linksys setup CD into your computer, or they're mentioned so late in the process that you may have to start all over again!
The process takes about 90 minutes if you do everything right the first time around and don't have to double back. Most of the time you're watching software load - it's as exciting as watching paint dry. Here's what you have to do, as far as I'm able to recount from having just done it for a friend's home network. If you think the following is written in Greek or maybe in Geek, get someone else to do this for you. If you're up to the challenge, this review may save you time and frustration and prevent more 1-star reviews.
(1) Before you set the print server up, it's a good idea to go to the web site of the company that makes your router (Linksys, D-Link, Netgear, etc.) and download and install the latest "firmware" for your router. That takes maybe 15 minutes.
(2) Move the printer close to the PC that's connected to your wireless router. It has to be close enough to the router for you to connect it via a standard Ethernet ("patch" or "Internet") cable. It's not a big deal, but it means you may have to set the printer up in one place and then move it back to where you want it to be. (Linksys supplies the necessary cables in the box, which is to their credit. Most printer manufacturers make you buy your own cable.)
(3) The printer needs to be set up on the computer using a wired (USB) connection *before* you try to set up the wireless connection. If you're just going wireless with a printer you've already installed on the PC that's connected to your WiFi router, you're all set. But if you're installing a new printer, or trying to go wireless with a printer you've moved from some other computer, be sure to install it as a USB printer first. (3-a) Once you have the printer set up as a wireless "network" computer, you may want to uninstall the USB version of the same printer, because when you boot up, some versions of Windows will give you endless warnings that the local printer isn't connected. (3-b) This also means that if you ever buy a new printer and you want to connect it wirelessly via the Linksys print server, you have to install it first as a (wired) USB printer, and then re-run the "Set Up Computer" wizard from the CD that comes with the Linksys. Don't lose that CD!
(4) The setup wizard asks for a password for the print server. You can use any password you like, BUT then it asks for a passphrase, and the wizard fails to point out that you need the exact WEP passphrase or WEP key you've (already) used to set up your wireless router. (You are using WEP or stronger security on your wireless router, right? If not, go find out how to set up WEP security and do it immediately.) (4-a) The setup wizard asks for a passphrase, but if you've used a passcode on your router, there's a way to enter it you look carefully at the screen.
(5) Once you complete setting up the wireless print server, the wizard leads you through setting up your computer. Again, you must have already installed the printer onto the computer via a USB cable before you get to this point! Follow the instructions and by gosh - it works! Then at the very end there's a small note saying that if you want to set up other computers, you have to install the printer drivers first. Nice of Linksys to point that out at the very end; it would have saved me an hour of messing around if they'd said that at the beginning!
(6) Once the printer is set up, it's the default printer, and it wasn't possible (at least for me, with Windows XP) to set a different printer up as the default printer on one of the computers on my home friend's network. A minor irritation, in most cases, and there may be a workaround. If I find it I'll add it to this review.
So: 5 stars for convenience once it's set up; 3 stars for the glitch with the default; 2 stars for poor setup instructions... how do you rate this thing? 4 stars, I guess.


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