- Prints, copies, scans, and faxes
- Up to 20 ppm print speed, up to 6,000 x 1,200 dpi resolution
- Up to 17 cpm copy speed, reduces and enlarges 25 to 400%
- 600 x 2,400 dpi scan resolution, 36-bit color; 6 seconds per page faxing
- USB 2.0 and Ethernet interfaces; PC and Mac compatible
I''ve never experienced much in the way of paper jams, so I would guess that at this price point, Brother just isn''t providing consistent build quality. That''s too bad, because the prospect of a bad unit is a real disincentive. I''m still satisfied overall, but recognize that not everyone is having the same experience. And of course the downtime resulting in purchase of a second unit was a drag. I would consider a different printer, but Epson and HP have both been such poor experiences for me (with far inferior support), that I will still probably prioritize a new Brother model when I need to upgrade. No sign of that happening any time soon though.
August 30, 2006
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Ok, I have only had this all-in-one for a little over a week. But after years of being a slave to the HP ink needle, I am so happy with it I want to dance.
I have never really seriously considered Brother in the past, and now I feel like I have been living in the wrong world. Like if someone told you "My new car does 0-60 in 5 seconds, gets 70 mpg, and cost $1500. What, you didn''t know about those?"
For less than $150, I now have a very compact printer with 10baseT ethernet (goodbye nightmarishly technical HP JetDirect 300x external network box), separate ink tanks for all colors, more advanced features than my 3 year old HP that cost around $1000 with the JetDirect, sharper printing, and best of all, real, honest-to-goodness Mac OS X support. Their software and documentation shows an absolute commitment to doing Mac right. (It took a year and a half for HP to get the Mac drivers for my OfficeJet to be minimally functional, and never did manage to handle things like scanning from the unit to a computer on the network.) Brother has earned a long-term customer here, and I am telling everyone I know.
Like any AIO, the quality of printing and scanning is probably not up to what you can get in stand alone units. But for general small office/home office use, it is more than fine. If you want the highest photo quality, get a specialized photo printer with a 6-color head. But actually, the photo quality on this unit is still far better than you could get at any price only a few short years ago. It''s just that we have gotten spoiled at the truly amazing quality of photo inkjets in the last couple of years.
I will probably get one of the Olympus dye-subs for photos eventually, but in the meanwhile, prints from this on photo paper are plenty good enough for posting on my refrigerator door. And the resolution and appearance of business graphics, while again possibly not up to what current stand-alones will do, are the best of any printer I have ever owned, and leagues ahead of the older HP OfficeJet I just gave away.
And the best part is, it could fall apart in 6 months, and still not cost much more to replace than I have been spending on HP ink cartridges. My OfficeJet sucked down ink like a storm drain, and the cartridges were EXPENSIVE. It became clear in short order that their business model was built around bleeding you dry on consumable costs. Those guys have quite a racket, but I''m happy to say I am out from under it.
Thanks Brother, I will sing your praises to the skies.
Buy Brother MFC-420CN Color Inkjet Network Multifunction Now
I must say overall I am very pleased with this printer:Pros:
Networkable right out of the box. I connected it to my wireless router and was immediately able to print from my laptop using its wireless connection. Not just that, I can also scan to my laptop and fax from my laptop wirelessly!
PC Fax function is excellently implemented: very user friendly
Excellent B&W and color copy functionality using the document feeder
Much more compact than most multi-function machines
Uses four separate ink cartridges (3 color + Black) to reduce wastage
Decent quality of printed photos though not really a photo-printer
Has built-in slots for memory stick, SD, CF, etc.
Allows easy cleaning and alignment via the menu
Very cheap for the functionality: about a hundred bucks after rebates
Cons:
Stops ALL functioning even if a single ink cartridge is empty. Say the Cyan cartridge is empty not only can''t you print in color, you can''t print in black & white either. What''s more you can''t scan or fax either!! This is just bad design!
Sometimes claims the ink cartridge is empty even when there is a little bit sloshing around at the bottom.
Brother Tech support is TERRIBLE!!
By the way I found out details of the maintenance mode for this device after hunting around. This is quite useful, so here it is for anyone that needs it. Anyone getting errors that they can''t get out of (such as shows no ink though ink is there) should try to reinitialize parameters using commands 91 or 01 of the maintenance mode.
Brother Maintenance Mode Commands:
Quickly press Menu/Set * 2 8 6 4 to enter maintenance mode.
Display should read maintenance.
Press one or more of the maintenance mode commands below. After each command display should read re-init for a few moments then redisplay maintenance.
Press 99 to exit the maintenance mode.
Maintenance mode commands:
01 Full RAM clear (see 91 below for retaining user programming)
02 scanner initialize (feed a white sheet, then a black sheet)
05 white level
09 print test
10 modify soft switches
11 print configuration list
16 panel test
19 CML test
20 signal test
21 tonal test
23 filter RX
54 scan edge
55 scanner area
66 test print memo
75 display drum life (if enabled on laser models)
76 reset drum life counter (laser models)
91 parameter initialize (user programming remains intact)
95 protection
99 Exit maintenance mode
Read Best Reviews of Brother MFC-420CN Color Inkjet Network Multifunction Here
I bought this printer when it first came out. I thought "Ooooo, all in one PLUS an ethernet connection.. YES!!" Being the early adopter with not many reviews to read, I rushed to a retailer and swooped it off the shelf. For a period of 6 months, this was a PLAYER! I had good prints, scans, and copies (never tried the fax machine). Then after the 6 months, the printer developed a bad personality. Some of the "quirks":1) The printer now tells me on each print-out that it''s out of ink (often, several flavors). I just out the cartridge to reveal a more-than-half-full tank of magenta. Admittedly, these are pretty small tanks, but it''s not empty! I attempted to clear the cartridges nozzle with a cartridge cleaning solution. That worked... for about a day. Then, BEEP BEEP BEEP ***GIVE ME INK!***
And it gets better. If you actually runs out of ink in one of the cartridges... *drumroll* the printer refuses to print, scan, or copy. *cymbal crash* GENIUS! Either this is a ploy to force ink purchases or the engineers suffered from a bad case of stupid.
2) I never did clean the print heads, because the printer was sure to clean itself every day (YUM, YUM, INK!!!) Over time, I had to adjust the print settings to "fine" (instead of normal) to get a decently-clean printout. Otherwise, my printouts were Dali paintings.
3) Admittedly, the printer takes up very little space. This is partially because the #$%*&$*# paper tray can only hold 50 sheets of paper. So, I''ve heard my fair share of BEEP BEEP BEEP ***GIVE ME PAPER***
And this was just at first. Now as the personality of the printer has become stronger, the printer and I often have the following dialog. Fellow 420CN owners can probably relate.
Me: I''ll just print out this article.
420CN: OK... Wait dude, you''re out of Magenta.
Me: (taking out cartridge) Uh, no dude. We''re good on Magenta.
420CN: BEEP BEEP BEEP!!!
Me: Ok ok ok (cleans the magenta cartridge and reinserts it).
420CN: And Yellow!!!
Me: You''ve got to be kidding me... (cleans yellow and reinserts)
420CN: Ok, hang on. I''m bathing in Magenta and Yellow. tra-la-laaaa!!
Me: *sigh*
420CN: BEEP BEEP BEEP
Me: WHAT!!!!!!!
420CN: I can''t print. Check the troubleshooting manual.
Me: For what?
420CN: BEEP BEEP BEEP
Me: (opens scanner cover, closes it)
420CN: Please wait...................
420CN: Ok, here comes some data. (sound of one page printing)
420CN: BEEP BEEP BEEP!!!!!!
Me: FOR THE LOVE OF.....
420CN: Data remaining.... (long pause)
Me: (attempts to turn off printer)
420CN: Printer will power off until pending tasks are finished...
Me: (unplugs and plugs in printer)
420CN: *YAWN* Waking up. Please wait, drinking ink... *GLUG GLUG GLUG*
Me: WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME!!!!!!!!
420CN: BUY MORE INK!!!!!!!
In conclusion, nothing would please me more than backing a truck over this stinking, steaming pile of flawed electronics. I would advise anyone to avoid buying this printer. If you already have one, I feel your pain. I am now shopping for a replacement. After finding one, I will recreate the printer smashing scene from Office Space. :-)
Want Brother MFC-420CN Color Inkjet Network Multifunction Discount?
I have owned this for 4 months and have been pleased thus far, until today. I only use it as a fax and copier. I have a seperate printer at my office so it is not even hoked up to my computer. Today I received the warning that my color cartridges are out of ink, so it totally shuts down. I cannot even send a fax. The problem is that I have never used color. I always copy in black and white, same with the fax. Apparently it cleans itself periodically like a cat and that uses a small amount of ink. It is rated for 400 pages of color, so 100 pages of ink a month just for cleaning seems excessive to me. It is frustrating to spend c.$40 for color even though I never plan on using it. Perhaps those were the sample cartridges that came with it and they did not have the same capacity as standard ones. Other than that, as a fax machine and flatbed copier, it works great. Good value and small size.
Cons: Slow printing, copying, typical cryptic fax tree menu
I looked carefully for this new offering of Brother because of Network connectivity and the small size. It takes half the space of my previous All-in-One Xerox Workcenter, and the fax does not scream at every caller on my line--it just waits for an incoming fax tone before responding ("manual" mode), then it comes to life--even if you pick up the receiver (upstairs), and it even ignores my answering machine. Very Slick! It connects to my computer via USB2 AND network cable, and it can allow faxes to go to the computer instead of printing. For $150, this is a bargain. So far I have no paper jams or problems. Note the limitation of 10 pages in the copy/fax paper feeder, but there is a 100 page paper tray. For home use, this answers my needs completely!
I had a little trouble registering at the site (Sunday Night)--it locked up without entering me--but I''ll try later.
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