Customer Reviews for Brother - MFC-9840CDW Wireless Color All-in-One Laser Printer
Customer Rating
4
Don't Try This At Home - Great Product
on April 2, 2011
Posted by: baysidemk
from Bayside, NY
Color multi-function lasers with duplex and networking are a rare breed and a tough product to get right. The same goes for their inkjet brethren, because they try to do so much and it's really hard to get the user interface (on the unit itself and on the client computers) right.
This unit is a big improvement over the ones I'd owned in the past from Canon (a laser) and HP (an inkjet). It has a very usable set of controls and shortcuts on the unit itself for scanning, faxing and emailing documents, as well as scanning directly to a server file folder.
Like most of these units, the more complicated functions like setting up phone books and setting the preferences are best done using the included browser interface and working from your computer. Trying to do this stuff using the buttons on the unit is like building a ship in a bottle. The unit is reasonably compact, looking like a beefy laser, rather than a refrigerator.
The hardware has performed well, very few problems with jams in paper trays or document feeder, which was the downfall of the Canon and HP models I tried. I've had trouble getting the unit to handle non-standard paper sizes. The interface/controls for this seem really difficult and don't act in a predictable/intuitive fashion.
All in all, a great option in a product space that does not have lots of great options.
The product works as advertised. We have has little to no trouble with it.
Two things the company needs to fix. 1. Tech Support. Wait time too long and need to go to a second group for good technical support.
2. We use the printer for mostly black printing. It told us the color laxer cartridges needed replacing. I did that and found that there was a lot of toner left in the toner cartridge. Still haven't been able to talk to a technical person about it.
The colored print outputs are very very bad! They are dull, not as brigh and as crisp as HP's. I have tried so many times modifying the settings, to no success. Is there anything the company can do to fix this?
I like the machine and have had no problems with it. The print quality is just okay, but my old HP printer print quality is better. The ink is very expensive. Currently, I basically use the machine to scan, fax and make copies. The multi page feeder is great. My papers don't get stuck together while faxing, copying or scanning like my HP printer. The drawbacks are the cost of the inks and the average print quality.
I really enjoy using this product. I have had my unit for over three years, and it has NEVER had a jam. The only hiccup I have ever had is that occasionally the printer inexpicably goes "off line," and I have to reboot, but it always comes right back up.
The color quality is terrible. I replaced the drum early on to try to cure it, but no joy. Have replaced toner way too often. Sensor system is designed to waste toner and force replacement of consumables.
I chose this model because it promised ease of toner replacement and because it duplexes. And those attributes are present. I did not realize how much practice I would get, replacing toner.
Previous color laser printers by another maker with a hyphenated name cost far less and produced magazine-quality prints. They did not duplex.
I have four Brother multi-function printers in my office. The MFC-8820D is still working after many years and many cases of paper, still handling paper beautifully. The two inkjets are doing well too. The MFC-6490CW's ability to scan and copy and print in wide format is marvelous. But the MFC-9840CDW should be replaced by Brother whenever a consumer has received one of the many duds it appears have been sold to us. As a consultant, I could not possibly recommend that a client take a chance on this. As an owner whose business does a lot of color printing, including photos and short-run books and publications, I can't trust this machine to produce good quality, and find the costs of consumables prohibitive.
What good is superior paper handling (but not envelopes!) when the print quality is poor?
I still stand by the quality of Brother sewing machines, though! My two have never let me down.
This printer has caused our office nothing but problems. It seems every week there is something else to replace. The replacement parts are expensive and when you call Brother International you get the worst customer service imaginable. I price to operate this machine is my main problem. My other problem is when something breaks, you cant replace the parts yourself. Brother has made it so you have to get an affiliated printer repair company to come and fix the printer (or in our case we had to bring our printer to them). Our office can not afford to go without a printer for even a day so this printer is just not practical for us. I definitely would not recommend this product, or any other brother product for that matter.
I have never been more disappointed in a purchase. This printer is terrible and so is Brother's customer service. The color is substandard compared the the HP I own and so is the registration. The printer takes an enormous amount of time to print the first page after being idle. My patients complain how long they have to wait to get a receipt. It uses a ton of toner and tells you when to replace the toner even when there is still toner in the cartridge. The machine jams more than any machine I have ever owned. The machine is a piece of junk and a waste of money. If you want a good price but don't care if the machine work or not then this is the machine for you. I wish I had the option to give it less then a 1 star rating. This is my first and last Brother printer I will ever own.