Brother MFC-9840CDW All-In-One Laser Printer

Brother Sets New Standard in

Posted Oct 15, 2007 - Brother hits a home-run with this Multi-Function device. For those with discerning tastes who require nothing but the best, but refuse to spend upwards of $4000 for a heavy-duty office device, this is the ultimate "Do-It-All-arator." Yes, this unit does it all - Copies, Faxes, Prints, and Scans. =DUPLEX= Unlike other devices which offer "duplex" via a manual mode where the user needs to turn the pages, the duplex functions on this unit are automatic. (If you don't like auto-duplex, you can turn them off.) Also, the ability to auto-duplex comes STANDARD on this model. =LASER= Another huge benefit not specific to this model is that it is a LASER device. To understand why this is a benefit, you need to understand the drawbacks to other printing methods: 1 - Ink runs if it gets wet - because this unit uses toner, once something's printed or copied, it won't smudge / smear. 2 - Wax based (aka "solid ink") printing methods are essentially high tech "crayon" printers. They deliver a high-gloss image which, while it has a more vibrant look, can crack if the page is folded. Also, because the wax binds the paper, days and areas with high humidity can cause the paper to curl. Because the 9840CDW is laser / toner based, it doesn't suffer these afflictions. =PRINTING= Installing the printer drivers Windows Vista was the easiest thing I've ever had Vista do. The standard setup function installed all of the drivers, utilities, and extras with all of 3-4 clicks of the mouse. Prints are crisp and clear, if not a bit "fine." (It's not that the text is a shade of grey instead of black, it's that if a given line [say, from a letter "L"] should be 17 pixels wide, this printer seems to only print 15 pixels. This is an example, and not some result from a test, so take what I say with a grain of salt.) This can apparently be adjusted by turning up the contrast via the menus either via the printer directly, or via the printer control software. =SCANNING= With its integrated flat-bed scanner with automatic document feeder (ADF,) this device also scans. The ADF is capable of scanning up to 50 pages before at a time before needing to be reloaded. While these features are all mentioned on the Brother website, what is not mentioned (or buried somewhere,) is that the scanner is ALSO auto-duplex capable! That means it can copy BOTH sides of a letter sized (11" long) piece of paper. What makes this of such great value is that this device can replace a dedicated duplex scanner, which can typically cost about $300 on the lower end! (This is great for scanning invoices or checks from clients for a "digital proof" version to be stored electronically...) The scanner can scan to a number of formats, such as JPG and PDF. (Of course, once the file is in the computer, the user can convert the file, but why not save an extra step?) Scanning is easy. Insert what you want to scan into either the ADF or onto the flat-bed scanning area, press scan, select the scan type (scan to FTP, Image, E-Mail, File, and OCR,) select if the item to be scanned is 1 sided or 2 sided, and press GO! (Technically, there is no "GO" button. Instead, there are two buttons which determine if the selected function should be done in b/w or color modes, but they do make the selected function begin right after being pressed, so they're like a "GO" button.) Whatsmore, if the 9840 is connected via a LAN connection (wired or wireless,) the unit will ask which computer to scan to. This feature is GREAT for workgroups. It means people can share the scanner with amazing ease! As far as negatives go, the ADF won't duplex scan pages longer than 11" (letter-sized.) (This is due to a physical design limitation of the scanner - the paper path isn't long enough to handle 14" worth of paper.) Simplex scans of longer (ie 14" / legal) pages are handled admirably. When scanning via the flat-bed glass, the paper must be centered on the glass. I prefer that the item being scanned be positioned in a corner, which affords more stabilization on the item, especially for scanning things like books, where the flat-bed cover doesn't close all the way, or the item may slip. =FAXING= It faxes. It will print default cover sheets from memory when requested (good for when someone else used up the last pre-printed one.) =COPYING= It copies! Again, since this is a combination of the SCAN and PRINT functions, see those for the good points & limitations. =WHAT IT NEEDS= - Finishing options (ie: staple, collate, etc...) - A larger standard input tray (1/2 ream of paper is too small.) - Media-Card Reader (for printing from Compact Flash, et al...) - Color User Screen (Good for more / better info in menus, and for previewing media card images.) Aside from that, this printer is EXCELLENT! It does nearly everything that a VERY costly (> $4000) office copier can, and adds color! I HIGHLY recommend this model to any small business own

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Exceeds 99% of my expectations!! And it's Wireless!!

Posted Dec 28, 2007 - My 10 year old B/W Laser Brother MFC-6550MC (5-in-1) was suffering from old age, and I couldn't justify buying a new drum unit. Mind you I purchased the old all-in-one for approx. $699 in 1996. It was a true 5-in-1 (Laser Printer, Sheet-Feed scanner, Sheet-Feed copier, fax, answering machine…also known as ‘Message Center’). Imagine my surprise when I realized I could buy the MFC-9840 for $670 at Newegg, with a $50 mail in rebate ($619 AR). I jumped on it. Back in 1996, that was my dream!!! A color laser all in one with a flatbed and ADF. Once the price fell below $699, I had to buy one. When shopping for a new all-in-one, I wanted: color laser, ADF, faxing, copier, scanner and a built in answering machine. The MFC-9840CDW had everything but the answering machine (Message Center). Therefore, it's a 4-in-1. In fact, Brother doesn't sell color laser all-in-one's with Message Center. So I gave up on having that luxury and bought it anyway. BUILT-IN 802.11b/g: The most amazing feature of the MFC-9840CDW is its ability to work without wires. It was a breeze to set up on my WiFi network. I can place a document on the scanner flatbed and scan it from my wireless laptop. This is amazing. PRINT QUALITY: Black output is crisp and dark. Color output is excellent for a color laser. If you want fine quality, change the print resolution from 600 to 2400dpi (which is actually 2400x600). For everyday printing, leave the resolution at 600. I won’t compare color output to my Epson photo printers. That would be like comparing apples to oranges. If I want to print out a glossy 8x10 photo, I use my inkjet. If I want to produce 100 flyers or advertisements, I’ll use the Brother MFC-9840CDW. SPEED: I can’t really say if it prints at 21ppm. I can say that it does take a few seconds to warm up before the first page comes out. EXTRA FEATURES: Duplexing. You can scan double-sided pages (with the ADF) and print double-sided pages. Print speed will suffer. If you don’t need this feature, then buy the Brother MFC-9440CN. I also tested the built in USB port. It works. I was able to print a JPG photo directly from a USB flash drive. EXPANDABILITY: If you need a second tray, you can buy a second tray that I believe fits underneath (500 sheet capacity, $250). Standard memory is 128MB. So far, I haven’t had any ‘out-of-memory’ error messages, but it can be upgraded. Lastly, you can buy standard or high capacity toner cartridges. COST OF OWNERSHIP: There is an added cost to owning a color laser. This printer uses a consumable part known as a “waste toner box”. It needs to be replaced after approx. 20K pages. Suggested retail, $25. Also consider the following: Drum Unit (17K), $200; Belt Unit (50K pages), $130. CONS: I can only complain about 3 things. First, the size. This machine is huge and heavy. I attribute the large size and weight to the built in duplexing feature (extra rollers and space to flip a page around and run it through the drum unit) and to the single/one-pass feature. Again, the page is feed once through the drum unit and is fused with all four toners before it comes out. Other less-expensive color lasers run the page through each color toner—one at a time—before it comes out…hence, slower color ppm speeds. Second, I don’t like printing envelopes. The printer seems to wrinkle the envelopes too much. Unlike other Brother lasers with straight-paper-pass feeding, this unit grabs paper and turns it approximately 180 degrees as it comes out. The ability to use heavy paper stock too is questionable. Lastly, it looks like Brother attempted to make the ultimate all-in-one device, but they left out their patented “Message Center”. I’m going to miss that feature. If you have a dedicated fax line, then the Message Center shouldn’t be that important to you. But I only have one phone line, and the ability to have the unit answer a call and distinguish between a fax and voice call was invaluable. It does work with the ‘distinctive ring’. If you have read all of this, you will see why I said it meets 99% of my expectations. You could say that this color laser printer has it all. Bulky size? Who really cares? Envelope feeding problem? I can probably fix it by adjusting the paper thickness in the printer’s menu. No built-in answering machine Message Center? I’m a spoiled brat! I can buy an answering machine or second phone line. If you put things into perspective, this is a very affordable all-in-one machine. Considering my old 6ppm laser 5-in-1 1996 Brother MFC-6550MC retailed for $999 back then (even though I got it on sale for $699), the MFC-9840CDW is an incredible bargain…especially if you take advantage of the $50 mail-in rebate. If you look hard enough, you may see the price dip below $700.

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A solid multi-tasker

Posted Feb 26, 2008 - I am amazed at the limitlessness of its functions. The only gotcha is "page curl". Using the thickest weight plain paper (28lb.) I have experienced significant page curl. It exceeds that of any laser I have previously used. For most of my heavy printing I have resorted to using my old laser printer just to avoid having all my pages come out bent into an unfixable "U" shape. For light-duty tasks, I am willing to overlook the page curl issue. Faxing is one of its strongest aspects. Incoming faxes can be set to duplex, or can be sent to email(s) or file(s) or printed and sent to email(s)/file(s) at the same time. It eliminates the added step of having to scan incoming faxes for storage. The machine is speedy and the output quality is solid, though not comparable to some similarly priced stand-alone color laser printers. For the money, however, I have not come across a single machine that provides more value.

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Recommend !

Posted Jan 7, 2008 - We just moved from a home-based into a small office. Looking for a good laser printer all-in-one since we are in graphic related business, and probably need to print many mock ups, brochures, etc. This printer is relatively new in the market and expensive but decided to invest since it has a lot of features and the ink cartridge is not that expensive. We have not tested or used all the features. But it prints very good sharp text. Image printings are not as good quality as text, but good enough. Printing speed is very good. First page wait a little when the machine in sleep mode, but not a problem 10-15 secs. Scan with PaperPort software is very fast. Scan with Brother software is slower. I tried to set up the automatic fax receiving together with and the phone answering machine. The manual doesn't have enough information that we need to record outgoing message by leaving the beginning in silent for 5-6 seconds in order to for the machine to pick up the signal and decide if the signal is fax or phone. But after calling a customer service I got that answered with very good service. We have not set up wireless but with LAN networking the printer shows up easily. Over all, so far, have been very satisfied and will recommend it.

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A great printer for the price if you can live with the setbacks...

Posted 1 year ago - This is a great machine for the money. It's relative size for an all in one duplex machine is great. The only problems... It can't multitask... Once you have started faxing something or started to make a copy, you can't begin another project until your original one is 100% completed. Another problem is that because there is only one scan head, to duplex anything the machine must run each page through 3 times which really slows things down. Other than that... It's a great buy.

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Finally a reasonably priced low-noise color laser all-in-one printer

Posted Apr 17, 2008 - Finally, Brother came up with a reasonably priced printer that combines color laser and all-in-one functionality, a printer that is not as noisy as most other color lasers are today. Fast print output, built-in network support, all-in-one functionality, color laser quality make this printer a highly-desirable upgrade candidate for all those older and much slower printers. It also design to work as a great all-in-one print/copy/fax station for a home or small business office.

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Amazing Machine

Posted Jan 10, 2008 - This is a wonderful machine. It was a little intimidating at first when it came in an enormous box filled with numerous other boxes. Once I finally peeled away all the layers of the onion, I got a printer that fits nicely under my desk and is not the enormous monstrosity I feared it would be. I bought it for my home office and plan to transition it to my business when I finish school. It operates wonderfully and was easy to set up. I had absolutely no trouble getting my computer to use it, and has faxed, scanned, and printed with no hiccups at all since I got it out of the box. I've been dutifully scanning (duplex scanning!) everything in my filing cabinet that I now plan to store electronically. The auto-document feeder makes transition from paper to electronic recordkeeping a snap. I have not set up the wireless function yet, but the instructions for how to do so seem easy enough. It connects to my computer via USB and that has been no problem. The faxing function is nice, but what I love is this machine's ability to scan directly to my email. Who needs to fax when you can email to the interested party? Scan resolution is amazing. This replaced my old scanner that is ten years old and the difference in quality is huge. I can't say enough good things about this printer. With all the things this does right and the ease of setup, I think everyone should have one of these. I am very, very happy with this purchase.

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Excellent Machine

Posted 1 year ago - I always wanted a color laser all in one. It's totally the ultimate home machine. Prints fast and nicely. Copies just as nicely. I haven't tried fax nor the wireless. But it has that too if you are interested. This thing has it all. Networkable, duplexer(print,copy,scan) included, ADF, print, copy, fax, and scan. Brother made a product of high merit with this machine. One problem is envelopes don't come out well. Too get the best envelope printing you need to adjust the fuser setting behind the back panel but they still come out a bit wrinkled and curled. If you don't adjust the fuser you get a pancaked, curled, and wrinkled mess. Believe it. Anyhow, it otherwise is an amazing machine. I use a mac and all my needs are met with the software. It is 83 lbs too so believe it when I say it is heavy. Also the box it comes in is huge. Believe me, you won't be able to get this in a car's doorway. Get it shipped to you. It just has a feel of solidity and quality. I've had flimsy AIOs in the past that acted flaky and this so far has been rock solid. Recommended.

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Good All Around Printer

Posted 1 year ago - I purchased this product to replace a plethora of printers in my home office and to have one networking printer. The set-up was a breeze and I have been able to access the printer from every computer in the house (PC and Mac), except for one which I am working on now. Printing speed is slower than I expected, but a little faster than the printers I have accessed via Bluetooth. If you are looking for speedy start-up printing, this may not be the printer for you but once it starts printing, it is fast. Sometimes it takes a while for the print job to reach this printer. Print quality is fine but I have only been using for documents and have not yet had time to play with photos. All in all I am very satisfied with this printer and the ease with which we are all able to print without being physically tied to the printer or in the same room for Bluetooth.

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It's the Best

Posted 1 year ago - What an amazing multi-function device. It does everything I've wanted in a multi-function device and more. My two favorite features is it's wireless capabilities and that it works with LINUX. Drivers for the 9840CDW are provided for you in the latest version of Ubuntu (8.04). Brother's website also contain additional drivers to allow scanning and faxing. It's quality is amazing for the price with a ton of features as well. A lot of thought went into the design of this MFC. It's one of the few MFC's that allow auto duplex printing, copying and faxing. This MFC also offers a large number of options for faxing. There are even multiple faxing options to support homes with only a single phone line. My one and only complaint was that it was a bit difficult to find a stand/table that could support it's size and weight of near 115 lbs. I've been a big fan of Brother printers for awhile now. They have been one of the very few printer companies that offered built in duplexing at prices that beat printers without duplexing. After using this MFC I am now an even bigger fan. GO BROTHER!

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Great all in one solution

Posted 1 year ago - I bought this printer for my home office in April 2008. I wanted a single machine that I could use to print (B&W & Color), Scan, Copy, Fax and it had to be able to duplex, all over a network. I have used it for all of these things and it has been flawless. It was easy to set up (follow the instructions and disable your antivirus software!!!) and has worked perfectly for everything I need. It isn't the fastest machine out there, but I'm not a high-volume user so I don't care. For an all-in-one solution, it fits what I need perfectly. It comes in a very big box, be prepared.

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Great so far!

Posted May 21, 2008 - So far it has worked very well for us. Setup took a little while because it is so heavy to move, and has 4 toner cartridges (one black, and three color,) to install. Sometimes it seems to take a little while to warm up, but color comes out well and black sharp as I'm used to from my past experience with their products.

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Brother MFC-9840cdw is a Great Machine - BUY IT & enjoy!

Posted Nov 19, 2007 - Truly astonishing color output to me - even photos are very good (very minor banding if you look closely) and excellent B/W/grayscale output. I had a Brother MFC-9700 mono laser for over 6 years. It was ok, but loud and print/copy output degraded over time (might have been due to inferior refurb drum/toner), but worked fine. Old 9700 finally died (paper output gears gave out) & I replaced it with this MFC-9840cdw for my small office/home network usage with both PC & Macs connected. This is a much, MUCH better machine, - GREAT OUTPUT QUALITY, faster, though still has very noticeable (but not objectionable) noise while faxing/scanning/printing/copying, but quickly goes silent until next use, very useful LCD screen, full legal size glass flatbed, with great DUPLEX output and duplex Auto Document Feeder (ADF - Note however, you can NOT fax 2 sided legal docs from the ADF), Postscript compatible, Ethernet wired or wireless or USB connectivity, optional 2nd tray, front panel PictBridge/USB Direct input port, easy manual paper feed (door feels flimsy, but works great) and both PC & Mac (system 10.2.4 or above) compatible with software for both. No straight through paper path, may be a problem for some, but otherwise this is a nearly perfect, well thought out and well designed machine with just about every feature you could want in a sub $1,000 color laser MFC. Included PaperPort 11 scanner software is very good, but setup is not totally straightforward (I had to specify the fax & scanner file location - did not create the new folders automatically). To get it just the way I wanted, I also had to uninstall & re-install driver & software several times (Postscript compatibility is not installed by default, you must select "Custom" during software installation and if you do multi installs/uninstalls you should manually delete the printer from Control Panel Printers before each install)- but it worked fine even on 1st try. However, both my pre & post purchase calls to Brother Support were answered quickly and were overall very helpful and in native speaking English, and while not always efficient, I eventually got helpful/correct answers. Memory upgrade in Manual is outdated part number, now its Buffalo Technologies PM133-512 (or 256 or 128 depending on desired mb). Mem upgrade is supposed to be proprietary, but you CAN get compatible memory that works if you do your homework (I got 512 extra for under $70). With the $50 Rebate (good thru 12/29/2007) that's almost break even. I paid under $800 including shipping and before rebate. Its worth every penny (but it'd be totally awesome if it were $100 or $200 less) - the shipping can be a killer so watch OUT!! This is a big, HEAVY machine, but it LOOKS (and works) great. Its about 80 lbs working weight, over 130 lbs shipping weight - Box/packaging is very heavy, but secure. I highly recommend 2 people to unpack (and so does Brother) - However, I did it alone, but not easily. Comes with full standard toner/drum (while not high yield toner, its also not "starter" yield either). Real Brother replacement toner can be found online at reasonable prices (standard/high yield: $50/65 B/W, $60/85 each of 3 colors). NO USB or Ethernet CABLE is included, but power & phone/fax is, so plan accordingly. This is reasonable since it can also connect wirelessly if you have a wireless network. Overall, I'm really, REALLY HAPPY with this wonderful machine and would buy it again in a flash. Buy it and enjoy it. You won't regret it.

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Very Slow machine

Posted 2 months ago - If you are retired and do not mind waiting this is a Good quality reliable machine for you. Every time when you want to copy something you just have to wait and wait and wait for the machine to warm up and then you have to wait again for the scanning bulb to warm up. A very good machine if you don't mind waiting.

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I want one

Posted 1 year ago - This printer has everything that I want for my home office, at a price point well below anything comparable on the market. It scans to the network, has duplex ADF and printing, legal size scanner, and a host of other features. I read all the reviews, and I want one. I have 2 problems with it: First, the relatively high power consumption when not in use (38w while sleeping, and 30 minute timeout for scanner light that cannot be shortened); second, the fact that it loses date/time setting when powered off. I'm trying to decide whether to buy this one, especially at the steep discounts now offered, or wait and hope the next model resolves these two (minor) issues. How does a printer get an Energy Star rating when it uses 38w while sleeping?

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