- Print and copy up to 24ppm
- Built-in Ethernet network interface
- 35-page capacity auto document feeder
- Adjustable, 250-sheet capacity paper tray, plus manual feed slot
- Up to 2400 x 600 dpi print resolution
WHY I BOUGHT IT: I''ve had this printer for only two days but here are my initial reactions: I can''t compare this machine with other 3-in-1''s. I come from having three separate units to handle print, fax, and scan, so the 3-in-1 (four with copy) is a pleasure both for functionality and space saving. I''ve been a pretty loyal HP user, but I switched to this Brother this time because of the comparatively high reader scores on Amazon, because Consumer Reports gave it good grades, because ink costs are relatively low compared to many others especially inkjets, because I don''t expect to give it heavy use and the laser toner will not dry up over time. For color and photos I still retain my old excellent HP photo printer, or I can head to the Copymat store, so I didn''t see the need for color on this one.
SETUP: Setup on the home network was fairly easy. Wired hookup to the main computer was basically plug and play, but getting the networked computer to recognize the new printer took some detective work. Ultimately I had to search through the on-disk documentation (as opposed to the printed User''s Guide) to figure it out. I knew I had to set the printer driver on the "share" position in Windows, but I learned that I also had to change the network setting on the printer itself, via the printer''s menu. Had this been explicit in either the Start Here or User''s Guide (maybe it''s there, but I didn''t see it), I would have been saved some frustration.
USING IT: The fax worked right away even though I do not have a dedicated fax line and my only line is hooked to an answering machine a common situation I imagine. The explicit directions on how to deal with the answering machine question made it a no-brainer. The fax machine now recognizes a fax tone coming in, but otherwise lets the answering machine take the call.
Use is intuitive and straightforward in all functions. The Control Center is basic enough to dig right in for quick use without having to slog through the User''s Guide for most operations. The smart scanning software has basic use at the front but has advanced controls should you need them. The Control Center software is much more user-friendly than the scanning software I was using for my Epson scanner. As indicated in other reviews, the LCD screen is absurdly small and not nearly bright enough to see easily, even at the highest contrast setting, but once setup is completed, I suspect there is infrequent need to refer to it.
I wouldn''t recommend the machine if you need batch printing of envelopes. The manual paper feeder accepts only one envelope or sheet of labels at a time, and to avoid crinkled copies one must open up the back an inconvenient step depending on the position of the printer. Feeding one envelope without opening up the back sends the envelope through the main print loop and produces an envelope with some creases but suitable for casual, not business, use. For this reason alone, I gave the rating 4 stars as opposed to 5, since occasionally it would be convenient to print more than one envelope or label page at a time.
The fan noise others have complained about does not bother me. I hear it, but it is not loud or annoying to me, and only lasts for several minutes before it goes into a "deep sleep" (no snoring observed yet).
SUMMARY: Overall, this is a very nice machine. It does what it says, quickly, quietly, efficiently. It prints crisp, clean text as one expects of laser printers, and cranks out about 20 ppm. Scanning docs including color photos are amazingly clear and true. I recommend this unit. If I have further comments after I give it more use, I''ll update.
UPDATE (12/19/11): Now that I''ve used the machine for a little over a month, I can say I find it a pleasure to use for all functions. While I can''t figure out a way to print more than one envelope or label sheet at a time and they must be fed manually, the trick to printing wrinkle-free is to read the manual (duh), which instructs you not only to open the back but to adjust two green levers down. Once that adjustment is made, envelopes slide through with nary a wrinkle. I know, reading the manual isn''t much fun, but once in awhile you learn something. With that caveat, I''m bumping my review to a full five star.
Buy Brother Printer MFC7360N Monochrome Printer Now
Small footprint, well integrated Ethernet access, large paper storage space, inexpensive (compared to HP) toner, and a document feeder, all at a very low price. In my past experience with Brother printers and fax machines they are extremely reliable and easy to setup and that is why I chose to go with a Brother. With a infrequently used copier the inkjet versions will clog and as the ink dries out in the print heads and they are a lot slower and in the long run a lot more expensive with the cost of consumables.
Setup was fast and easy and the Nuance scanner software is great and an improvement over that provided with older models from Brother and the software from HP which is so bloated that it often fails to even install properly.
Nice feature is the ability to register a PC by name when installing the software. Then when scanning a document you can select the destination computer from the Brother and push the scan to the desired PC. Very easy and very slick implementation and it works!
Nuance software also provides for scanning to the customary TIFF or JPEG formats but by default will scan and output a PDF file which is a real timesaver for scanning a document to email to someone. I would pay for the free Nuance software for this feature alone.
Printing to the Brother MFC7360N wakes it out of sleep mode (actuall "deep sleep") and outputs a page in seconds. It is roughly four times as fast as my HP 4000TN printer to output the first page. The Brother does suck up a lot of power when it comes out of sleep mode and the alarm goes off on the UPS that is on the same circuit. I suspect it probably should be on its own circuit or a 20amp circuit to avoid any problems with other devices.
Scanning is very fast and with standard large images works as expected. With text pages though the borders have a shadow pattern on the page on both sides that is generated within the machine. For OCR or most images this is not going to be a problem but not great for making scans of text pages for electronic archival purposes. This problem only affects scans and does not happen when making a copy of the same printed page so it may be a problem with the Nuance software.
It also is extremely noisy with a loud hum and loud fan noise when it is first turned on or after a page is printed. It goes into standard and then sleep and then deep sleep mode and the fan does not shut off until it reaches "deep sleep". The MFC really needs to be in a separate room with a door you can close. Turning the unit on and not even printing or scanning it goes into standard mode and I timed how long it took for the fan to shut off. It takes a full 11 minutes before the machine goes into deep sleep mode and its very loud fan shuts off. Has to be a defect in the design as the cooling fan cycles even when the MFC7360N is first turned on and nothing has been printed. This could be fixed with a firmware upgrade but apparently Brother has not bothered to produce one.
I paid $179.97 for this printer on August 24, 2011 and a week later it is priced at $114.99 which, if you can put it in a separate room, makes this a good value with the low cost of the Brother consumables.
The noise is loud and atypical of laser printers. Most recently I bought a Canon 4570dn all in one and after it prints a page it shuts down immediately and it is completely silent. The 11 minutes of fan noise from the majority of Brother laserjet printers is a fairly recent defect as I have had other laserjet printers from Brother that did not exhibit this behavior and were extremely reliable.
Read Best Reviews of Brother Printer MFC7360N Monochrome Printer Here
The field of monochrome all-in-one AIO laser printers lags behind the more ubiquitous inkjet AIO units. I needed an economical solution for scanning and printing documents. It didnt'' make sen$e to keep buying expensive ink replacements from the inkjet printer. I settled on the Brother MFC-7360N. The unit is somewhat noisy when using ADF (auto doc feeder) and acceptable when printing. Construction is plasticy but so are most printers these days.
Some other drawbacks:
Cannot change the default directory where images are stored on your computer
Takes about 30-min to install the drivers & sw on one computer. sooooo slowwwww
The little display window is hard to read even at its highest contrast setting! Wow, bizarre.
M-F (no weekend) customer support
The printer is acceptable and not too expensive. The software for Mac is quite full-featured but not robust. UI is a weak point. I learned to workaround its quirkiness. The printer is great if you just want an efficient machine at a modest price. Once you get used to the software, it will allow to be quite productive. Scan multi-page docs to create single-file PDF (had problems scanning 6 pages, insufficient RAM??) but no problem combining scanned pages later to gen PDF.
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This machine scans at 15 pages/minute. Precisely what I needed for work. I originally wanted to buy a dedicated scanner, but the Brother can scan/fax/print/copy for $129 w/Amazon Prime. I downloaded "Fast Scan to PDF" software so that I can scan up up to 35 pages (max pages on feeder) into 1 PDF file. The included Brother software cannot combine multiple pages into 1 PDF.
Fast set-up. After plugging the USB cable, my Windows 7 desktop automatically detected and loaded all 5 drivers. Up and running within 4-5 minutes. No need to install the drivers on the discs.
The toner that came with the printer has a stated limit of 700 pages. I bought the aftermarket toner for $22 on Amazon that has a stated limit of 2700 pages.
The printer is noisy when active. Power consumption: 1080 W at Peak. 1.5 W Deep Sleep. Ready (Average) 55 W.
The printer is ready to print in 8.5 seconds in deep sleep mode. That is very fast. Plus it prints 24 pages/minute
The printer quality is flimsy because its made from cheap plastic panels. I''m sure over time something will break. What do expect for $129?
Overall, I''m very satisfied with unit. Thank you Amazon for the quick delivery. As always, I shop Amazon for most of my electronics needs.
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Only had this printer for about three weeks but I like it so far. Warm up is quick, about 15 seconds from cold start to the first printed copy. Have it installed as a network printer so I can print wirelessly from my notebook through my router. I like the fact that Brother has one of the less expensive toner cartridges on the market. I would recommed this multi-function printer to anyone in a home enviroment (where I use it) to a small office. We have several Brother printers similar to this one at work and use them mostly for fax and some light copying.
