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Brother MFC-7840W

*Est. $300

Reviewed July 2009
Brother MFC-7840W

Monochrome laser all-in-one printer

pros
  • Very good scan, print quality
  • Laser printer is fast
  • Supports wireless networking
  • Includes fax
cons
  • Wireless networking difficult to set up
  • Copy quality not the best
 
 
Where to Buy
 
 
 

Average Customer Review

(120 customer reviews)

for $230.00

Search Reviews

No problems at all, November 18, 2009

I read a lot of reviews before eventually settling on this all-in-one printer. I wanted a laser because I don't print much and didn't want the ink drying out (that and I hate the way inkjets print). I also wanted a scanner to digitize my pictures and documents so I can email them. And I wanted a copier. (No use for a fax so I can't comment on that function.) And I particularly wanted wireless to reduce clutter and enable me to locate the printer anywhere. This model fit all those needs. I printed a Word document, copied it, and scanned a Christmas card--all looked good to me. I read some people had problems with the wireless connectivity. Not me. I input my WEP key and the printer hooked up to my router with no further help (follow the quick start guide). Then I loaded the software on my PC and it printed/scanned without any configuration on my part. Piece of cake. I did have to skip the paperport function on the install because it's not set up for Windows 7 yet, but Brother's releasing updated software in early December so that should sort itself out then. I also read the printer caused lights to flicker and PCs to switch to UPS when it kicked on. I plugged it into it's own outlet and have had no problems. I'm not a small business so my needs are basic and undemanding. Some reviewers thought this unit was a bit flimsy. Maybe, but I think with reasonable care the personal user isn't going to break it. It's hard to beat the functionality for this price (I bought it from Amazon for $284 with free shipping.)

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Great Deal For The Money, November 4, 2009

I bought the Brother MFC-7830W about 11 months ago now. I did some pretty heavy research before making the investment and decided that this was what was the best bet within our budget. We use it in a home office, but have not set up the fax yet. We only needed this as a copier, scanner and laser printer. As far as those two features go this has been a great deal for the money. The print quality probably isn't the best possible for photos but it does a decent job for text and it photocopies sheet music quite well. What do you need a black and white copier for photos for anyway? We've used this thing fairly heavily for a home office. I just checked the counter and it is at 4,203 copies. I have two computers running to it one is running Windows Vista and the other is an iMac OSX 10.4. Both of them print and scan to/from it without any problems via a wireless router. The only negatives I've run into with this is that we've gone through the initial toner cartridge and a hi-capacity cartridge in less than a year. My guess is we're about half way through another Hi-Capacity cartridge. Also the glass is a little small for copying large books, so it can be a bit of a struggle capturing things like sheet music at times. I actually decided it was faster for me to scan 15 pages on my Epson flat bed scanner and print it out of Adobe InDesign. My girlfriend is a teacher and uses it to photocopy text books for worksheets etc. She never complains about that so it probably will work for most applications unless your a picky print/graphics snob like me. The Brother MFC-7830W scanner doesn't produce a very high quality scan so don't expect to use its scanner for professional quality graphic design work. However, it will work in a pinch if you're on deadline and your Epson flakes out. All in all a great buy for the money.

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Best for the buck, October 31, 2009
Printer works great. I have it working on my voice over IP service, Ooma. Here are the things I have a comment on

1- Wireless scanning is slow but I have it scan a bunch of papers and do something else while it is loading on my computer.
2- Envelope feeder wrinkles the envelopes when the come out.
Faxing and scanning features not so great, October 30, 2009

I have used brother printers for several years at home. As of now I have older HL-1440(still working), newer HL-5370DW and most recent this one MFC-7840w. HL-5370DW works fine except sometime quits wireless connectivity with router and printing will not work from wireless laptop or wired desktop computers. For MFC-7840w, main issues for me are FAX and scanning. After working with brother tech, my fax problem could not get resolved. At the end, I was told that brother do not support/gaurantee faxing over VOIP(voice over IP)phone lines. I told them, sending fax works but receiving quits after few seconds. We tried several configurations but same problem. So if you buy this printer and fax is one of the feature important to you, please test it within the window of product return. I request others to post their experience if their fax receiving works OK with VOIP lines or what they have to do to make it work. Scanning document experience is similar to others. Brother needs to improve scan feature as this feature is also very important to people buying this MFC(multi function center) printer for the said purpose. Wireless printing is fine except once in a while loosing wireless connectivity with router. copying is fine. Wish brother allowed printing from or scanning documents to USB drive as USB interface is available on printer.

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Great Multifunction Printer!, October 28, 2009

This is a great printer! I have owned many HP's in the past and always had issues with the printing and scanning software locking up so I decided to purchase another brand. I settled on this Brother model and have not been dissappointed. I use it to scan bills and receipts into Quicken daily and I print items occasionally. I always had issues with ink drying up on my injets previously because I didn't print often enough. Lasers do not have this issue and that is one of the reasons for getting this model.

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Where To Buy
 
 

Brother MFC-7840W Laser Multifunction Center with Wireless and Ethernet Network Interfaces

 (120 customer reviews)
Buy new: $349.99 $289.99   22 New from $230.00

In Stock. Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping

 
 
 

Our Sources

1. PCMag.com

PCMag.com diligently tests the Brother MFC-7840W and gives it an Editors' Choice award. Writer M. David Stone says it offers "almost everything a small-office or home-office user could want." That includes wireless networking, unusual for a monochrome laser printer.

Review: Brother MFC-7840W, M. David Stone, July 9, 2008

2. Macworld

Macworld bases its reviews on thorough testing and assigns a score that makes for easy comparison. Reviewer Brian Chen calls the Brother MFC-7840W a "bargain" if you are looking for a basic document printer, but the "bare-bones" scanner driver gets panned.

Review: Review: Brother MFC-7840W, Brian Chen, July 15, 2008

3. TrustedReviews.com

TrustedReviews.com not only rates printers -- the Brother MFC-7840 gets a score of nine out of 10 -- it also publishes results of its tests for print speeds and running costs. Reviewer Simon Williams basically likes the MFC-7840 a lot, but not at its full list price.

Review: Brother MFC-7840W Multifunction Mono Laser Review, Simon Williams, May 16, 2008

4. PC Pro

PC Pro rates printers after hands-on testing. Mike Jennings likes the Brother MFC-7840W well enough as a versatile and inexpensive choice, but he ultimately recommends the HP Officejet Pro L7780 because "it's clear that almost anything the Brother can do, the HP can do, and often better."

Review: Brother MFC-7840W, Mike Jennings, June 2008

5. About.com

About.com's printer guide, Peter Piazza, gives his maximum rating to the Brother MFC-7840, saying it's a good choice if you don't need color prints. But testing methods aren't described. (Note: ConsumerSearch is owned by About.com, but the two don't share an editorial affiliation.)

Review: Brother MFC-7840W All-in-One Printer, Peter Piazza

6. Amazon.com

More than 80 owner reviews combine to give the Brother MFC-7840W a very high rating, with about 60 percent giving it the highest possible score. Complaints concern poor manual feeding and a scanner that won't create searchable PDFs.

Review: Brother MFC-7840W Laser Multifunction Center, Contributors to Amazon.com

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