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 $150.00 (click here) Category: Office Product See more product details |
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Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Brother MFC-7840W Laser Multifunction Center
Customer Review: good office printer be sure to have wireless capability!
Summary: 4 Stars
i have only had this printer for a few weeks now and have not yet used the fax so keep that in mind.
this is a black and white printer, toner is easy to install and cheap to replace
brothers setup disk (that is included) is easy to use and works with windows 7 everything was going swell untill i got to the point of choosing which way to install it (wirless, usb, or somthing else i cant remember) i chose wirless figuring it would be easy since i am using the printer with a laptop. I WAS WRONG! to setup it wirelessly you have to jump through countless hoops going through the printer menu and unless you are a abslute computer and printer wizard you will not know what the acronyms mean and the instruction manual does not make sence to any ordinary person on that part. plus i dont even know if i have wirless capabilities but i asume i do because i just got my laptop this year and i have windows 7.
so you say well why didnt you choose usb setup when it asked wouldnt that be easier. well i thought of that and went back and choose usb, then it said to plug in the usb cord that any logical printer company would include with a printer but wait THEY DIDNT SEND A USB CORD! so its wireless or bust.
so i had to go to radio shack and buy a usb cord for 20$ and then setup was easy from there.
now that im done ranting i have to say copying is easy, and good quality. printing is fast and crisp if you are not printing pictures (pictures look like a black blob)scanning is easy , paper is easy to load and doesnt jam. like i metioned earlier i have not used the fax yet but i would asume it would be good quality and very easy like everything else(except wirless setup) so overall i would give this printer 4 1/2 stars
remember to get a usb cord if you are not 100% sure you know how to do the dificult wirless setup
Customer Review: Nice product, documentation is lacking, no auto switching between wired and wireless connections
Summary: 4 Stars
This is being used in a public library setting where we have over 30 computers on a wired LAN. The operating systems include Windows 2000, XP, and Vista. There are several methods of installation in the print and CD-ROM instructions, but the only method that seemed to consistently work on all of our computers was the Internet Printing Protocol (IPP). The instructions for this are found in the Network User's Guide, which is included in the HTML documents on the CD-ROM. Response time from clicking Print to receiving the printout is very fast. It's quiet. It's easy to print envelopes. We've only had one paper jam, and it was easy to remove--you can do everything from the front of the machine, unlike our previous HP LaserJet. Copying is straightforward; we haven't tried the scan or fax features.
Edited to update with Brother's instructions...
We have several computers on a separate wireless network, and we were hoping that we could set up the printer to switch back and forth, accepting jobs from both networks. However, we hadn't been able to get it to work so I contacted Brother. Here are their instructions:
"The MFC7840W has the ability to manually switch between network interfaces as long as both devices have been set up and the option to allow this type of connection is enabled. The machine will require the Ethernet cable to be removed in order for wireless to work, you cannot have the Ethernet cable connected and access the device through the wireless port. Simply open a browser and specify the IP address of the machine to access the machine's web page. Click on network Configuration and type Admin for the user and Access as the password. At this point you can click on the Configure Interface link... Select Auto Switching and you should be good to go."
Customer Review: Defective product with bureaucratic customer service
Summary: 1 Stars
I had high hopes for this product after reading the positive reviews here. Unfortunately it was defective out of the box. There seems to be a known issue with a toner cartridge error: the sensor fails to read that the cartridge is full. As soon as I plugged it in with the factory-shipped cartridge, it registered the error. Fortunately, thought I, i've ordered a spare cartridge so I banged that in and up popped the same error. I then went to the online help site which has no mention of this problem even though a google search shows it to be an issue with related Brother printers.
Customer support is only available on weekdays so finally on my one day off in months I call Brother. Their rep insisted on sending me another print cartridge to try even though I pointed out that I had already done that. Her response is that they are required to proceed on that basis. When I asked what would happen if the same error resulted, she refused to give me any details, saying that there were 3 options that "they were not at liberty to discuss with customers". I asked to speak to the supervisor who revealed the incredible secret that the next step if the cartridge replacement did not work would be to do an exchange of the printer. I asked why that was kept from customers and she responded that it was company policy. At this point I felt like I was in some French bureaucracy. Elapsed wasted time with Brother = 1 hour.
Fortunately a quick call to Amazon resulted in an immediate return option. Thank God for their customer service. I'm going to go with the H-P products, which are American to boot.
This may be a wonderful product when it works but if you're buying it online you will depend on the customer services and the Brother service is primordial.
Customer Review: Excellen Value For The Money.
Summary: 5 Stars
As a teacher, I chose this printer for its features and value. After three weeks, I am very satisfied. The first sheet prints quickly and the text is crisp. It's duty cycle is such that I can print a class set from time to time without overtaxing the machine. While the scanner bed is only 8 1/2" x 11", it will scan, copy, and print legal sized sheets through the ADF. Printer cartridges are about $44 for the TN360 extended life version that should deliver 2600 sheets. Compatible ink cartridges run about $22 and there is a refill kit available that I plan on testing.
The initial set-up for the printer to work remotely was a breeze. The printer came with three set-up discs: ones for Mac, Windows XP/Vista, and one for Windows 7 (which I have). If you have the printer set-up to work remotely, you can not use a USB connection at the same time - you have to install the driver to switch over to that feature. I'm not sure why you can't simply plug and play while it is set-up for remote operation but I hear that is the case with other printers as well.
While I don't use the fax feature, I am very happy with its ability to scan directly into a pdf file. Set the machine up for scan, open the paperport program, adjust the setting for color/B&W, DPI, file size, etc., and scan. It will scan multiple sheets from the ADF and and pop up on your computer as a pdf file that you can copy and paste wherever you want it. It will only scan one side at a time but the program will ask if you want to scan a second side. Flip the stack of papers over on the ADF, scan, and it automaticaly sorts the page order in the pdf. I use this feature to scan health newsletters and post the file for my students to download. I also plan to scan every handout I use in class.
Customer Review: Win 7? Wireless? FORGET THIS ONE!!!
Summary: 3 Stars
I'm at the 8 hour mark on getting the MFC-7840W set up on a simple home network. I'm no further now than I was than when I started about 7 hours back. I now know what I don't know, I know that Brother has minimal experience with this unit in a Windows 7 environment, and that my expectations for this MFC are considerably lower than when I purchased it a week ago. Shame on them for loosing this contraption on the market without having tested it more thoroughly!
Networking this printer can be described in a single word: NIGHTMARE. Nothing I've tried works, including the in-depth fixes on the customer support site. If you run a small business and think you'll be able to wirelessly network multiple computers to this printer, lots of luck. Really. There are more exceptions than rules when it comes to setting things up using the Brother guide book supplied (minimal instructions at best). And if you're not a computer professional, you're just taking your chances.
In all fairness, my experience might have been better had I used a wired network, but I paid more $$$ for this wireless function, which I've been entirely unable to access/utilize.
Other than that, the laser print quality is great, it prints quickly, no jams, etc. All the things you'd expect in a 4-in-1 printer. Just don't think you'll be doing it wirelessly (if at all!), without your share of headaches. I wish I had saved my money and simply purchased a laser 4:1 that did not have wireless, or a brand with more wireless compatibility and many fewer connectivity and software issues. Of course, how would I have known which brand(s) those were? I wouldn't have; but now you can at least know the Brother MFC-7840W isn't among them.