Brother MFC-7840W Laser Multifunction Center by Brother Printer
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List Price: Our Price: $309.99 You Save: $140.00 (31%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $150.00 (click here) Category: Office Product See more digital camera details and other models |
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Digital camera reviews of Brother MFC-7840W Laser Multifunction Center
Digital camera Review: A defect in their software
Summary: 4 Stars
I received this printer in two days from Amazon. The wireless setup on this printer was pretty straightforward and it took me only 5 mins to get it connected, however, I did have problems during software installation on my laptop.
Initially, I installed the software on one of my laptops with Windows XP Home Edition. This software kept complaining that no device/printers were detected in my home network. As a result, I had to manually enter printer's IP address to continue the installation. Then I removed the software and installed it again--no lucks.
After that, I installed same software on another laptop with Windows XP Professional. This time, no complaints.
As you may know, IP address is dynamic, in other words, if you reboot this printer, it may get a brand new IP address that would cause disconnection to my first laptop since I manually input IP address there.
I called Brother's customer service regarding this issue. It appears that they were unable to help me out. Fortunately, I fount my NetGear wireless router has a feature called `IP address reservation' that can reserve a specific IP address for the device/Mac address, so I reserved an IP address for this printer.
Other than that, this printer works perfectly, so far.
Brother offers a lot of ways/applications to do the printer configurations, eg, web-based software, remote setup, Bdadmin light...... All of them have non-professional UIs and non-friendly designs that make me recall my high school programming projects. These software have almost same functionality and if Brother could toss some of them, it would probably reduce cost and retail price.
Digital camera Review: A good tool for a small group
Summary: 4 Stars
Its harder and harder to find a decent black and white laser MFP. It seems the general consumer is moving more and more to color inkjets for photo printing, and the offerings for small offices just aren't as plentiful.
I've used multiple Brothers, as have my friends. Brother has a sadly poor customer service reputation, a high toner cartridge replacement cost, and used to be a bit annoying to deal with software wise. This is compensated for by good cost for features and print quality.
This printer is replacing another Brother which recently broke (only a small part broken, but given Brother's service, no real hope of getting it fixed at reasonable cost, so bought a new one.)
The new printer has some nice features. It is Bonjour capable for Mac users, has wireless as well as ethernet if you want a direct connection, is more compact than my last Brother which is nice (though also giving a more flimsy feel). Initial tests show what I'd expect with decent quality of printing. Its scanning isn't exceptionally fast, but its good enough.
Overall, I consider the Brother to be a good buy, and its why I've come back despite the known drawbacks. As long as you go into your purchase with eyes open, the Brother is a purchase I can easily recommend.
Digital camera Review: A great laser multi-function device
Summary: 5 Stars
I've had my Brother MFC-7840W about 2 months now. When comparison shopping, I found that it was the only laser printer in the price range. The others I compared were all inkjets and I wanted to go with laser technology. Another selling point was the multiple interfaces: wired Ethernet, wireless and USB.
I was impressed with the set up instructions: `fill out the registration form and fax it to us'. I thought that was great. You can test the fax and register the hardware at the same time. I sent in the registration and a few minutes later Brother sent me a confirmation fax. Very slick.
I chose to set it up on my wired network. I haven't experimented with using the wireless interface yet. The MFC is shared by my PC (wired network), my laptop (USB interface) and my son's laptop (wireless). Printer driver/software installation on all three went well.
I've mostly used it for printing and everything's been fine so far. I've scanned in some documents and that worked well. I've sent about 20 fax pages with no problems and copying is good too. All output is crisp and clear.
I like the web based interface which shows status, usage and system information. It comes with a couple of interesting software applications for managing and converting documents, but I've only played around with them a little bit.
Overall, I am very happy with my Brother MFC-7840W.
Digital camera Review: A great monochrome MFP: only thing missing is duplexing
Summary: 4 Stars
The Brother MFC-7840W is very good Multi-Function Printer (aka MFP) which we selected primarily for the black and white print quality combined with wireless networking. It has proven to be a great monochrome MFP, and the only thing missing is a duplexing system (printing on both sides). It fits nicely on a bookshelf so it's off the desk, and handles all our home/small office printing, copying and scanning (dare I say we don't do any faxing anymore? ;). The print quality is excellent on all documents; we've also printed B&W pictures for the kids with successful halftone results. Setup on our wireless network was easy and scanning to any computer on the network is quick and easy. This has been a great purchase, especially as it often goes on sale for under two hundred.Digital camera Review: Absolutely Awesome
Summary: 5 Stars
There is no telling how much money will be saved in ink cartridges and man hours from scanning/printing on our individual office printer/scanners. It also works a million times better than our old fax machine. I bought this item after a previous review said that it was the best purchase he/she's made for their office. I have to agree, for the price this is a no brainer!!