- Color printer, scanner, copier, and fax machine
- 4,800 x 1,200 maximum optimized print resolution; up to 14 ppm print speed
- 600 x 2,400 dpi maximum scan resolution, 36-bit color depth
- 1,200 x 1,200 dpi maximum copy resolution, up to 99 multi-copies
- USB 2.0, digital-camera memory card, and Ethernet interfaces
I agree with the previous post that the scanning software could be better, but most programs have scanner acquisition built in so it''s not a big deal. But I will say that even though the machine has a special button to press for scanning, there isn''t a section in the user''s manual about scanning. Must have been an oversight. But it was not that difficult to figure out. I was totally amazed at how great the print quality was when I printed photos from a Kodak CD that I had made when I processed prints. The prints I made were superior to the photographs in that they were much more vibrant and alive than the photos. I used Epson Glossy Photo Paper which I got at a warehouse club.
I have only used the doc feeder a few times. This was one of the reasons why I chose this machine because the feeder was built better than the competition and it''s a real time-saver. But it has worked flawlessly in the few times I''ve used it. Faxing works great and you can even keep the machine off and it will turn itself on when it senses a fax coming in. Copying is very good too. Print quality is very good, but it''s not laser quality; it''s definitely an inkjet. I have a laser as well, so this does not bother me. I have not used the network feature or the interface for digital camera media.
I did a lot of research on the other products and came very close to buying a similar HP costing about a hundred dollars more. But I am glad I didn''t. This is an amazing machine for the very reasonable price. It''s well built, has a nice fit and finish and works very well. It could be a little smaller, and I also hear that it''s good to cover so that dust doesn''t enter through the paper tray, drying the rollers and interfering with paper uptake. And sometimes it can be a little slow in faxing or printing very high quality photos. Don''t believe the number of pages per minute either, since that''s based on a page with only 5% filled. But those are not deal breakers if you use the machine for what it is intended -it''s not a machine to get if you expect to print a hundred color-saturated pages or photos a day -it''s a light-medium duty machine. Overall, I am extremely happy with my purchase. Hopefully it lasts as long as my last Brother fax of over 12 years -which is still going strong.
One last thing. Don''t underestimate the value to having separate ink cartridges like the Brother. Other companies like HP put all of the colors in one ink cartridge requiring that you buy the entire cartridge when one color runs dry. The Brother has 4 different cartridges assuring that you get your money''s worth from each. This is one of the dirty little secrets to color printers -they sell you the printer cheaply and then you pay through the nose for ink for the printer''s lifetime.
Buy Brother MFC-3820CN Color Inkjet Multifunction Now
I had always thought that Brother manufactured good products over the years from what I had seen and heard, so I finally decided to give them a try. But this turned out to be a big mistake...To begin with, what''s good about this machine is that the normal functions it was dsigned to do for you work fine. The machine prints, copies, scans, and faxes at an acceptable level. But the quality of the color when printing is not as good as compared with my $45.00 Epson C40UX printer that someone gave me as a gift.
The real problem with this machine lies in how fast it uses ink and the fact that it shuts down all functions whenever one of the four ink cartridges needs replacing.
I''ve had the machine for about 8 months now and at most I''ve printed maybe 100-150 pages with it. And all the pages have been 100% black ink only. Still, over this time I''ve had to replace the black ink and color ink cartridges two times since I purchased the machine. For some reason this machine goes through its color ink cartridges even when you''re printing only requires black ink. I basically use this machine for incoming faxes and occasional copies only, and during most weeks I don''t even print a single page with it.
In addition, when the machine indicates that you need to replace one of the ink cartridges, it stops all printing, copying, and fax functions until you replace that particular cartridge! So if people are faxing you something important, the fax will be quietly stored in the machine until you replace the ink cartridge. This is extremely disappointing that you aren''t given the option of printing out the fax if you''d like to before you replace the ink cartridge. Plus, you may be waiting for an important fax not even knowing that it''s already arrived because you see that no fax paper has been printed out from the machine.
Because of this and the fact that my Epson printer finally stopped working, a few days ago I upgraded to a HP Photosmart 2610 all-in-one, and so far it performs beautifully. But of course, the proof in how it really performs will come in the months ahead after I''ve had a chance to spend some more time with it.
But with respect to the Brother MFC-3820CN all-in-one, I really recommend that you look around and find a machine that doesn''t have the problems that I''ve just described to you. There are so many other machines on the market in the same price range that don''t have these same problems, and you''ll easily find a much more reliable machine that will also save you tons of money on replacing your ink cartridges.
Read Best Reviews of Brother MFC-3820CN Color Inkjet Multifunction Here
I never owned a printer that I came to hate so quickly as this. We have had this machine less than a year with fair results at best. Now I have the dreaded error 41 message. That''s how I got here...I find that means throw it away or hassle with the company and still own a bad machine. Don''t buy this!Want Brother MFC-3820CN Color Inkjet Multifunction Discount?
I bought the mfc3820cn because I wanted a multi-function to use on a network and this one has a network connection built in. It worked out of the box. Software install was painless and I was printing / scanning / faxing / copying in a few minutes over my network. There are 4 separate ink cartridges which seem relatively cheap..... another factor which influenced my purchase.The ink cartridges have no print heads. The heads are part of the machine. So the machine does periodic cleaning cycles. Thats OK, except that these cleaning cycles seem to start up at random, often in the middle of the night. It wakes the whole house up. Even turning the power button off, or disconnecting the network or USB cables doesn''t stop them. Theres apparently no way to stop them. I don''t know how, in designing a printer, that something like this could be missed. It doesn''t help that its quite a noisy printer anyway, much noisier than several Hewlett Packard printers I''ve owned.
The machine has a built in clock. A cleaning cycle could check the clock first and postpone the clean if its between certain hours. Brother tech support first suggested that I pull out the power plug at night. Not very practical for a fax machine.
If you intend having this machine at a business, then its probably fine, but if you intend having it in your home, then be warned, it will wake you up at night.
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I purchased the Brother MFC-3820CN (...), my first one after 6 months died, after getting an ERROR 41 on its screen, the second one, well works, but its a pain to find ink thats cheap and it won''t work well with Compatibles, so don''t buy them, second, when you print out a picture, the picture quality stinks, everytime I printed out a picture after the first time, the pictures always had horizontal lines through it, It just stinks, I can''t believe I purchased it. DON"T BUY IT... By an EPSON OR OTHER KIND..be sure that you''ve tested the Picture Print quality so that you don''t get Lines through your pictures like I do with this one. The only thing good about it is that, you can make copies...and thats about it.
