- All-in-One device offers printing, faxing, copying, and scanning, with in cordless handset
- Built-in wireless 802.11b/g and wired Ethernet connections for easy networking
- Prints at maximum 30 ppm black and 25 ppm color
- Built-in digital answering machine has 29 minutes recording time
- Backed by 1-year warranty
Print quality is awesome. I first copied the registration card as a test. It was amazing how it came out. I couldn''t really tell which was the original and which was the copy. Even the handwritten portion was reproduced flawlessly. I then decided to make use of the 5 pack of high gloss 4x5 paper which is included so I figured I''d try it out on a very small prom picture of mine. It came out perfect. I copied it right onto the 4x5...expanding it to 176% and brightening it a little using only the settings on the 885CW itself to do so. The picture came out looking flawless. I also printed a quick word document that had similarly impressive qualities...the text was very dark as opposed to my old Lexmark AIO.
Then I scanned in the same picture and edited it with Photoshop. The picture looked very good at 900 pixels. No complaints there.
I also tried out the fax by sending in my registration form. It was a breeze and the fax preview proved very handy. You can have it scan the paper (either by feeding it like a normal fax (ADF) or the scanning glass), then preview it, mess around with a few settings and when it''s all nice and pretty, off it goes...or skip the extra steps and just send it like a normal fax as most would probably do.
The cordless phone is an appreciated feature, and the speaker phone is loud and clear. Anyone who complained about the MFC-845CW''s 20 second limit on incoming voice messages will be happy to know their feedback was heard by Brother. You can now select the time limit for messages, between 30 and 120 seconds.
I tried out the OCR feature which allows you to scan a document onto your computer and edit the text in a word processor. I was impressed with its ability to recognize typed documents, although anything handwritten is understandably out of the question.
Printing from a memory card is also simple. I did a real quick print and everything was good with it as well. There are some basic editing features on the machine, although I haven''t really tried any of them and most likely won''t in the future...as far as I''m concerned that''s what Photoshop is for.
Overall layout of the Navigation screen was nice. The widescreen was very helpful and made selecting different options simple as you can fit more in at once. Easy navigation and very basic information...Setup was a breeze with my Linksys network...taking only the push of a couple buttons and it was good to go. I''ve got 2 computers currently sharing this printer...one is a laptop (wireless) and the other a desktop (USB). With the laptop comes my one and only complaint...read on...
I''m running Windows XP Media Center Edition, Service Pack 2 on my laptop. The main program (Control Center 3) will not run on it. Whenever I try to load it, I get a terminal failure (The kind that asks to send Microsoft an error report). I did as much snooping around for a fix as I could...but didn''t find anything. So I downloaded the latest set of utilities for the machine...but no help there. So this means that on my laptop right now I can still print, however I cannot receive information such as scans and such from the machine. I''m more then confident that when I get on the phone with Brother they will have a solution, or that an updated version of the program will be released fixing this. But I''ll have to wait until Monday to do so.
To be fair I did purchase this fairly soon after its release so bugs are understandable. And they do not specifically mention Media Center Edition as a compatible operating system although it is implied when they say XP Home. My desktop is my powerhouse anyway so I do most of the editing on their...but still it''s a frustrating problem none the less.
I''ve been through my fair share of printers...from Lexmark to HP. This is the best I''ve come across. I''m a very demanding consumer, and spent hours researching before making this purchase. It was the most expensive on my list of "maybes"...but I figured I''d take a chance and I don''t regret it in the least. I''ll probably be using this printer for at least the better part of a decade so I decided to make it a good one. As far as the software is concerned, yes it is an inconvenience, but most likely a temporary one...I''m certain many people would have docked a point or two for that, but for me the excess of quality makes up for such a blaring issue with the software...and most likely the people reading this review will not have an issue with it because I''m sure my case is fairly isolated and isn''t directly related to my Operating System, rather something else that''s going on. In the future I''ll install it on an identical laptop with the same operating system (we have 3 in my house) and see if the problem reoccurs.
Good luck with finding the right AIO for yourself. It would take a rare breed to find disappointment with the MFC-885CW, but everyone has different standards for their different uses. For me, this is perfect.
Buy Brother MFC-885CW Photo Color All-in-One with Wireless Networking and 5.8 GHz Cordless Phone Now
This system would be a great system, if not two major factors. 1) The printing systems has a feature on it called "automatic cleaning." This feature uses ink to clean itself, and sometimes lots of ink. Moreover this feature seems to be ran by a timer, and not by usage. It makes no difference if you print 5 sheets or 100, when it is time for it to clean it cleans, day or night by the way. I called Brother tech support, to see if there is a way to turn it off, there is none. 2) the ink cartridges are very expensive, especially if you buy them from Brother. A full set of them will cost you roughly $80.00. If you look around, you can find them cheaper, but even then, they are expensive, and rated at 500 sheets at 5% coverage. There are other printer that have all of the same features, and are cheaper to maintain. This is a BUYER BEWARE system. Don''t expect to get off cheap using it.This is my second Brother product and I am extremely happy with both, this one in particular. The fax works as it should, hooked up to a shared line, the network setup was simple, print quality is great, the message center also works as it should. I haven''t checked out the photo capabilities as this machine is being used in my home office photo is not important to me on this one.I have three machines connected to it, a desktop XP through ethernet, and two notebooks, wireless, one XP, one Vista.
I also like the fact that there are generic ink cartridges available for this machine. I was looking at the canon MX700 and HP C7280 as well but each of those seem to have some issues.
For a comprehensive review read the first (excellent) review of this machine. I can''t add much to that, except to agree that it is a great product, perfect for my needs.
My last comment is on the LCD screen, the photo''s don''t do it justice. It is really a nice feature.I had an All-In-One HP that did almost everything I wanted and I was happy with it until it finally died. I decided to get a different brand just for a change. At the top of my list was wireless to connect to my laptop. I decided on this Brother MFC-885cw Color Inkjet Multi-Function Center.
I use to have a cordless phone/answering machine hooked up to my HP. Now, I do not need it because the Brother has them built in which saves space. This machine has so many features and functions that most people simply would never use them all. Although, it is nice to have those things just in case you need them.
Features: This is a printer, copier, fax machine, scanner, answering machine, photo printer, phone and memory card reader.
Setup: The manual is detailed and informative. However, because this machine can do so much it can be a little intimidating. However, I strongly recommend you read the manual to see what the numerous settings do. After reading the instructions, I set my preferences from the menu button. Then I set up the wireless in less than two minutes. I installed the software and I was up and running. The whole setup process took about 15 minutes. Just follow the set-by-step instructions, and you should not have any problem.
Printing: The print quality and speed are good to above average. However, the ink takes forever to dry on glossy paper.
Scanner: You can scan different file formats to your computer or memory card. This too seems to work well.
Copier: Make copies from the flatbed glass or sheet feed tray. Copy quality is comparable to many other copiers on the market. Not too bad, but not great either.
Card reader: You can plug in one of 5 different types of memory cards to preview then print your photos.
Fax: You have different options and methods for sending and receiving faxes. A major function is the Fax Preview. This comes in very handy when sending more than one page. It shows you the fax on the LCD and tells you how many pages it scanned. This is helpful because you can see if it scanned all the pages. And if not, you can see which page it missed. Then you have the option to send the fax as is then fax the page it missed. Alternatively, you can rescan all the pages again to see if it scans all of the pages. The one drawback is that the sheet feeder only holds up to ten pages. Therefore, if you want to send more than ten pages, you have to send more than one fax.
Bottom Line: This has several machines all in one small package at a reasonable price and is well worth giving it a test drive.
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