Comments on: Review: Brother MFC-9840CDW Multi-Function Color Laser Printer / Scanner / Copier / Fax

By: michael r

michael r — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 02:20:55 +0000

I can not get the paper feeder to work when I scan, it always default to the glass to scan. How do I make the tray feeder the default it says the feeder is ready but scan the glass, please help, thanks

By: RDS

RDS — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 22:59:40 +0000

I’ve been fighting my printer for days. Then I looked up your report and saw the notice to change the Printer name to the IP address. That did it! Thanks John! I was this close to sending the printer back and giving up on having a color laser. (up till now I’d been using a Lexmark z12).

By: Katie Radisson

Katie Radisson — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 08:25:22 +0000

My advice to anyone considering this printer is don’t buy it!

I bought two after reading great reviews on Cnet (just shows what they know!) andit was the worst buying decision I ever made :(

They print poor quality images (fuzzy round the edges) which is a huge no no for a real estate agent’s needs!

They are slow.

They break like every other week.

Brother support sucks…

They use up toner like it’s going out of fashion (previously we had an HP and an Epson).

If I could get rid of them and replace them I would but Brother just wants to replace parts (after long fights) and they are less than a year old :(

Hope that helps?

Katie

By: Ran

Ran — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 01:53:08 +0000

I just bought this multipurpose about a month ago and I love it. I used to have a separate fax, scanner, printer, but this thing combined them all. I also bought something to make it print wirelessly from my notebook computer. Thumbs up from me.

By: Jared Rypka-Hauer

Jared Rypka-Hauer — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 03:52:41 +0000

Dude, I just installed this thing today, on WIFI and to my MacBook Pro and my wife’s old MacBook. Other than having to guess at which encryption algorithm (AES, btw) is used by the Airport Express, and having know what I was doing with the WPA2-PSK string to connect to the WIFI network, everything was golden. Installation on the MacBooks was a freakin snap and I was printing over WIFI within a half-hour of unboxing it.

There are 2 frustrations I have with it.

1) I had to find the stupid default admin user/password combination (admin/access) on someone’s blog via Google because it’s invisible in the documentation.

2) There are a massive number of configuration and setup options available over the thing’s built-in browser-based admin console (bet you didn’t even know it had one!) that aren’t explained in any detail that I can find, anywhere, in any of the damned doco. It even supports internet-based faxing, fax-by-email, scan-to setup, FTP scanning profiles… but there’s almost no info to be found on any of them.

Beyond those two issues (which aren’t so much a big deal, really) the thing is the single best deal, and single best printer, I’ve come across in a long time.

By: Richard M

Richard M — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 00:05:22 +0000

How come you required such a heavy duty printer? What printer did you previously have?

By: Jac3q

Jac3q — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 13:58:41 +0000

Hiya John – Congratulations on your new purchase, colour lazers are just the berries. Have you gone through a second set of cartridges yet? MY only gripe with my colour lazer exzperience is the cost of replacement cartridges, and the alarming frequency this occurs at. After two sets the purchase price of the printer has already been surpassed, and it happens far too quickly for my likin.

By: fas

fas — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 13:33:22 +0000

That is quite a big printing machine? HP makes some good and well trimmed ones.

By: Flint

Flint — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 02:14:12 +0000

Hi John, I really enjoyed your in-depth review. I am not too aware of Brother company printers, but have heard some good things about them. I have had an HP as well and it has served me well thus far. I will definitely check out Brother MFC-9840CDW when I plan on getting another printer because of your positive review.

By: Aaron Hall

Aaron Hall — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 15:08:12 +0000

I’ve had installation problems with Brother printers in the past, so I’ve stuck with HP. (I’m a PC user.) But maybe it’s time to give Brother a try again. It seems like they are getting their act together. Also, Brother’s prices are generally much better than HP.