Mustek Scan Express A3 1200 Pro USB Large Format Scanner

• Large format full color scanner
• Scans images and documents up to 29.7cm x 42.0cm (11.7" x 16.5")
• Creates full-color 9600 dpi scans
• USB 2.0 connectivity for fast, reliable data transfer
• Windows and Mac compatible

If you are looking for a scanner that can scan a full page of comic art in one pass then look no further. No more scanning in pieces and cutting and pasting pages together. The scan area has enough room for a full sized 11" x 17" comic page with room to spare. The extra software isn''t great or bad, if you are already scanning into your chosen software you probably won''t use it. Plus it''s about the hardware and I am so glad I got this scanner, it has made scanning pages a lot easier.

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To Mac OS X users: I''ve successfully tried this scanner! I can confirm that the TWAIN driver is on the Mustek site (and also on the CD that comes with the scanner, in my case), you just have to download it with the right-clic method. After this, you''ll only need the right app to use the scanner: Photoshop, the only program that''s able to recognize the non-standard Mustek TWAIN driver. Before discovering this, I''ve tried the ScanExpress 1200 Pro under Image Capture, GrapchiConverter etc... but no way. In Photoshop, it works instantly like a charm. Hope this will help some OS X user out there...

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I edited this review to make it even more positive. I am finished scanning all Carl Barks work he did (Donald Duck, Scrooge etc), which is about 7000 pages. I didnt even count. Plus half of that in the Dutch version after I got this scanner.

It did not falter ONE single time! Incredible. What a great buy!

I have a book with Donald Duck paintings from Carl Barks which I wanted to scan. It has a size between A4 and A3 and the foldouts are exactly A3.

Looking at the prices for what I wanted Mustek was the only possibility. I live in Iceland and got it unscathed from the US.

It comes in a great carrying case box, so A+ for packing, Mustek!

And also A+ for quality, and A++++ for quality/price ratio! Why?

Indeed the scanner looks a bit thick, as if it is from the 80''s. But it is nice and strong. Not fragile.

The software design looks also not as neat as that of i.e. Canon, but that is only the ''looks. How about what it can do for you? A lot! Taje the software for recognizing text: I just open the program, scan a page of a book and on the right side I get the text without any mistakes. Brilliant! Easily to be saved as a picture, or word or other document!

This scanner does exactly the job for me and it does it nothing less thant brilliantly. For this price, you can forget any other brand. Prices elsewhere start at 900 dollars or more. And what more do you need than good image processing, good colour bit quality and high resolution? Mustek has all this!

It has 48-bit possibility, and dpi to 1200. You need a very fast computer with a lot of memory to do that! I use 400dpi on 48-bit colour and the results are already "you might as well be there" quality.

The software is easy to install and really enough intuitive. Read the instructions, open the Ulead Photo program, type in the file name you want to save it as, select dpi etc, use "acquire scanner", do a "preview", select the area you want to scan to save processing time, and there you go. All the other selections are easy.

One very good plus is also the lid comes on and off very easy with a hinge mechanism. I have a CanonLide who doesnt allow the lid to take off (at least I haven''t found a way, I don''t wanna break it) and then I cannot always put the book closely enough to the plate.

With Mustec glassplate you can always put the page such that it lies flat on the glassplate. Very important point! Great!

So some of you who want to scan a book will think: hey I have A4 size so why go for an A3? Well, you can do 2 pages at the same time, and crop and process each to a different page. This scanner is, compared to i.e. CanonLide (which is light, ok), very quick. It must have a lot of internal memory.

So I really want to recommend this scanner to all of you who want just a good quality scanner, for either A4 or A3. I would say go straight for this size, since, like me, when you find out you suddenly need to scan something bigger than A4, you can!

This machine rocks!

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This product was everything I needed! As a professional illustrator and graphic designer, I not sure what else you could ask for in a large format scanner. The image quality it fantastic... why would anyone pay $2000 or more for the ability to scan at a resolution above 1600 dpi?! The human eye can only determine a quality distinction at around 240 to 300 dpi... so you would only need to scan things at a higher resolution (than 300 dpi) if you plan on enlarging the original image or object being scanned. For example, if you were to scan a 4" x 6" photograph in this scanner at maximum resolution (1600 dpi), the resulting scan would be equivalent to 21.334" x 32" at 300 dpi. The gist of my review: this scanner should suit the needs of most professionals at a fraction of the cost of other A3 scanners. Great product!

I received my scanner two days ago. The instalation went without any problems. The first scan was done with the default settings. The result was a tif file which looked absolute horrible. Then I switched to super fine resolution together with JPEG2000 and all quality concerns disappeared. Since then I have scanned about thirty full color oil pastels of various sizes upo to 11 by 17. I am very particular about how the colors in my artwork reproduce. This scanner does come through to my satisfaction.

I catalog all my work using Adobe Lightroom 1.3 which strangely does not support JPEG2000. Moreover, the scanner does not support regular JPEG. I work around this problem using the JPEG2000 viewer that comes with the scanner software. In that viewer I save the image as JPEG under a new name. Importantly, the filename has to be changed not just the file extension. Otherwise the viewer just creates another JPEG2000 file.

The difference between JPEG (cosine transforms) and JPEG2000 (wavelet transforms) is presumably the reason that the scanner does not work directly with CS3. CS3 and Lightroom should really support JPEG2000.

For the price of $150 this scanner is great.

-M.

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Brother TN310Y Yellow Toner Cartridge for Brother Laser Printer Toner Save 29% off

• Ships in Certified Frustration-Free Packaging
• Yellow Toner Cartridge
• Yields approx. 1,500 pages in accordance with ISO/IEC 19798 on letter/A4 size paper
• Easy to install design

I saw a few reviews that made me hesitant to buy this item online. I saved over $108.00 on 3 cartridges by ordering from Amazon. The product was exactly as advertised, the genuine article. The picture looked like the items might be unboxed, but they were in unopened boxes and factory-sealed pouches. Buy with confidence!

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it works like it says, i havnt had a problem yet! its a must have [; ;] [; ;] !

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So far, we have hardly used it. But it seems to be working fine. No spills, leaks, or streaks yet.

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This was shipped on time and works great. We didn''t lose a day at our media production company. And love this Brother printer!

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The Brother printer did not recognize cartridges advertised as "compatible", costing the organization for four cartridges that were half the price of the OEM cartridges. Once I installed the OEM cartridges the printer resumed working as expected. Only complaint and the reason for four stars is the price of the cartridges.

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Epson Artisan 730 Wireless All-in-One Color Inkjet Printer (C11CB18201) Save 27% off

• Rated No1 in photo quality by consumers photographers
• World''s Fastest 4 x 6 inch photo printer 10 seconds
• Epson Connect to print from mobile devices
• Touch panel with 2.5 inch LCD

I''ve had Epson printers for about 10 years. They can provide years of brilliant photo quality prints, but can also be painfully frustrating. Time will tell how this new printer fits on that continuum.

This thing is huge. It takes up almost twice as much real estate as my Brother 2270 laser. The duplexer hanging off the back adds about 4 inches to the depth.

It has lots of surprising bells and whistles. Whether you need all that is up to you. More on that later.

The wireless setup was the best I''ve seen. Turn it on, it detects the network. Enter your SSID right on the panel, and your done. After that, setup on both XP and W7 machines went without a hitch.

The color printing by Epson is excellent. It makes Dye Sub printers just about obsolete. These''Claria'' inks are dye based, but are supposed to have great UV resistance. I''ll leave a photo in the Sun and let you know in 20 years.

Initial tests on photo printing are astounding. I use Kirkland Glossy Photo paper, best photo print mode, high-speed turned off. I compared it with a print (same photo) from Winkflash on Fuji paper. It was as sharp, or sharper. The blacks are blacker with more pop. It could use a little more saturation in the yellow and magenta. But without any tweaking, the profile is pretty much dead on.

I haven''t said anything bad yet. What''s not to like?

The only negative specific to this printer so far is the paper tray. It seems flimsy and complex. There appears to be no way to manually feed paper, so card stock probably won''t work. Also, if you want to run a couple of sheets of full size photo paper, you have to replace all the paper. Or, put in 1 more sheet than you need on top of your regular stock. Otherwise it will snag on the last one and double feed, with disastrous results.

My general beef with Epson is their notorious ink costs. Epson has spent a lot of time and money in courts trying to make sure you can only buy their ink cartridges, with limited success. Instead of selling at competitive prices, they would rather sue. To me that''s like Ford saying you can only buy Ford gasoline.

If you do a lot of printing, you can spend a lot on ink. However, I''ve found inksupply.com to be a great source to ease that pain.

If you don''t use the colors regularly, the head can clog. They don''t make cleaning the print head easy for you. They could make it pop out for easy cleaning and replacement, if they wanted to. A basic head cleaning cycle wastes a lot of ink and doesn''t always work. That''s when you start looking for the 2 lb sledge. I''m hoping these dye based inks are less likely to clog due to their smaller particle size.

Now for all those features. They really designed this printer as ''family-friendly''. They don''t seem to be marketing it that way, though.

Duplex: Pretty handy if you do a lot of plain text printing. It is cool the way it prints the top side, then slurps the page back in to do the other side.

Scanner: The scanner is very accurate, and I''ve always liked the EpsonScan software. It''s powerful, yet simple. You can mess with the settings, or just pop it in and do a quick scan to your desktop.

Copier: Really impressive copies. I couldn''t distinguish between a print and a copy of the print. Try copying something with colored tape or similar on the original. You''ll think you can peel the tape off the copy!

SD card slot: Print without the computer. I would never want to do that, but you can.

Print from your smart phone: There''s an app for that. Reviews on the Android app are mixed so far. I haven''t tried it yet, but it will useful, I''m sure.

Now for the family stuff:

CD printing: That could come in handy if your distributing wedding photos or something. You can also print a jewel case for your bootleg REM CD.

Coloring Book: Strange thing to build into a printer, instead of the software. You can only do it from an SD card or the scanner. But it will be fun for the kiddies.

Lines and Graphs: Make your own notebook paper and graph paper. Why no built in 3 hole punch?

Greeting card: Again, it seems this would be a software feature, but it''s firmware on the printer.

I''m sure there''s more features too numerous to tell.

I can''t give it 5 stars yet until we see how it fares over time. But the engineering and design seem solid (if a little weird as noted). This printer does a lot, and it does it extremely well.

I will post some photos, and if I can find a way to make this review even longer, I will at a later date.

Edit 10/22/11: I''ve done a couple more full size photo prints. I''m almost out of 2 colors. But ohhh the sweet reproduction of color. I did a collage of some old photos using the copier function. One photo has a red ink mark. Another has a pushpin hole. For a second I thought the copy had a hole in it! The red ink mark looks like someone just swiped a pen across it. Also, I did borderless 8.5 x 11 and there was no smearing at the edges. Amazing reproduction. I was also pleased at the speed increase over the old EpsonScan software. Everything worked flawlessly.

Gotta go buy some ink...

EDIT 4/10/12: Apparently Epson did a firmware update that totally prevents you from using 3rd party ink cartridges. The error message says: "Cartridge not Recognized". It''s hard to imagine that that''s legal. It''s also just rude. So although Epson says they recommend using only their own ink, what they really mean is the printer will only work with their own ink now.

I''ll be looking for a Canon before Epson gets any more of my money. I can''t believe their arrogance.

Buy Epson Artisan 730 Wireless All-in-One Color Inkjet Printer (C11CB18201) Now

TRUE AIRPRINT COMPATIBILITY:

Bought this printer today. So far so GREAT! Opened the box to find a yellow sheet titled: "Attention AirPrint Users". It then explains that to enable AirPrint capability install the latest firmware available from Epson''s website. My first though was "WOW", I thought only HP printers had this capability. So OK, I''ll bite. I installed the printer on MAC OSX Lion without any problems at all. Flawless. So then the firmware upgrade. This part always makes me a little nervous but the Epson step-by-step instructions were very clear. Firmware upgrade take about 10-15 minutes and remember DON''T turn it off or unplug it during this process. Once the firmware was upgraded I went to an email on my iPhone, clicked the AirPrint button, then Print, and EPSON Airtisan 730 shows up, along with a selector for the number of copies, and single/double sided (on/off). I hit Print and sure enough out comes my complete email. I then check Safari and iBooks and yes, it will print from those natively as well. No EPSON or third party app required. So, you ask what''s the big deal? Well the deal is that nowhere on the Epson website or on the box does it mention printing compatibility with AirPrint. I even went to Apple''s official list of AirPrint printers and it''s not yet listed there either, just HP.

Artisan 725 VS 730

I had been looking at the Artisan 725 and couldn''t find much product information on the differences on this newer model. Here''s what I''ve come up with so far:

1. Very slightly high print speeds, but not enough for anyone to notice.

2. Difference in droplet size. Fixed size on the 725, 5 sizes on the 730.

3. Front panel. 725 has a bit of a clunky button arrangement to hold/release the front panel up at an angle. The 730 does away with that and replaces it with a nice, smooth friction-type design.

4. Appearance. 725 is all black. 730 has some dark blue accents around the top.

Printing

I''ve printed a few pages and a few photos. So far, faster than my old HP C6380 and better quality.

Scanning

Nice, high resolution at much higher speeds than my old HP as well.

I''ll update this review as I get more time on this printer. But until then it gets two thumbs up.

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Advisory: I did not test every feature of this printer. I will update review when I have tested printing from an SD card and a USB drive. I do not have Smart Phone so will not be testing Airprint feature. Not sure if I will be testing the CD printing feature.

Pros:

*Set-up was a piece of cake. I had to use the printer''s interface to set up the wireless as I did not have the right size USB cable, but printer found my network without a problem. I have a Netgear router & Dell Inspiron Laptop running Vista.) Entering the password was somewhat like texting on my mobile phone but I had no issues. I was printing within 30 minutes after I began opening the box.

*Black text printing looks good. Very fast.

*Scanner worked fine; no problem.

*Photos were astounding!!! Printer uses 6 ink cartridges which probably accounts for the vivid colors. I printed 3 photos right after set-up using glossy photo paper. One photo was from a low-resolution file. All came out great.

*Paper tray holds both regular paper & photo paper. You don''t have to change the paper out.

Cons:

*Depending on your needs, this printer might be a bit bulky. It weighs more than 20 lbs. so will not fit where my other printer was. However, it is geared for light commercial usage such as a home business so bulk/wgt. is probably appropriate for that class.

*Will not print at all if any one of the ink cartridges is empty. This, for me, is one of the serious drawbacks to Epson printers. My other Epson is the same way & it''s really inconvenient as I do a lot more text printing than color printing.

*Unless you need high-quality color prints or other color materials like brochures, six ink cartridges is hard on the budget. But, if money is not a concern and you want to be able to print your photos when you want, then this printer is top-drawer.

*Paper tray is light-weight plastic that feels flimsy. You have to be very careful when pulling it out or in.

*No fax capability. Not a problem for me but might be for some.

I will update this review when I have had the printer a few more months and have tested the SD & USB features.

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I started off by loving this printer. It prints fast and the colors look good on high quality paper.

... Then I let Epson "Upgrade" the firmware ...

Now I constantly get "Cannot recognize the following cartridge(s). Try installing them again.". Everytime I get this error the page that is printing gets ejected and the next page gets the second half of the picture printed at the top of the page wasting two sheets.

I am using a CISS system and can''t imagine using an inkjet printer without one. It turns out the only reason for the firmware update is to disable CISS systems and prevent anyone from using competitors ink cartridges.

I contacted Epson and got this reply back. "Thank you for contacting Epson regarding your Epson Artisan 730. It is my pleasure to respond to your inquiry. However, there is no option to put the printer back to it''s original firmware."

Now I have to decide between Canon and HP. Can anyone recommend a good Canon and matching CISS?

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I love Epson products, and have owned Epson printers for many years. My last Epson printer worked for me for at least five years, but lately began to have color and streaking issues, so I was in need of a replacement. I''m so glad I did replace it because the Epson Artisan 730 is literally the best printer I''ve ever owned!

First, the setup. It was really very easy. I took the Epson Artisan 730 out of the box, installed it''s software on my computer, then plugged the printer in. Because of the printer''s Wi-Fi capabilities, it recognized my home network right away. The handy color touch screen lifts up to allow you to see it more easily, and seems very responsive. Using the touch screen, I entered in the password for my home network, and the printer was connected! I sent a test print from my computer to the printer, and it not only printed right away, it was freaking fast!

One of the features I was most excited about trying out was the Epson Artisan 730''s ability to use Apple''s AirPrint technology. We have a two-story house, and the printer is on the second floor. So, for my next test, I went downstairs to another part of the house and pulled out my iPhone. One review I read here said that they needed to upgrade the firmware for the printer in order to use Apple''s AirPrint technology, but that problem must have already been solved in later models, because without any firmware upgrade, my iPhone recognized the Epson Artisan 730 right away. I pulled up an email on my iPhone, pushed the print button, selected Epson Artisan 730 and pushed print. By the time I made my way upstairs to where the printer was, the email was printed. I tried the same thing with a photo. I had no problems whatsoever. Plus, the printer knew I was printing a photo, so therefore automatically chose photo paper! I even tried walking out to the very back corner of my back yard, taking a picture of a flower with my iPhone, and printing it. Again, by the time I reached the printer, I had a gorgeous print! The Wi-Fi technology is one of my favorite aspects of this printer!

In the time we''ve had it, we''ve printed all kinds of things from 8x10 color photos to simple black and white copies to printable CDs. The printer is fast, and the quality is excellent. Photos are amazing, and you would be hard-pressed to tell the difference between an Epson print and a print from a photo developer. Dot pattern is practically non existent. Everyone I showed my photo prints to was amazed.

As far as ink usage goes, after about a month of slightly above normal usage, I got a message on my computer that some of my inks were running low. So, it does seem like this printer uses ink quickly. It could become expensive if I have to replace inks every month. But like I said, we''ve been using it more than normal this month so, hopefully, with normal usage, the ink won''t run out so fast.

Bottom line is: as I said previously, the Epson Artisan 730 is the best ink jet printer I''ve owned to date, and I would have no problem recommending it.

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Mr. Ellie Pooh Natural White Elephant Dung Paper (100pc Ream)

• 100% Recycled
• Fair Trade-Sustainable Jobs
• Great Stamping and Scrap booking and Origami paper
• Resume paper
• Ink Jet printer paper

Earth Day didn''t make much of a splash this year. I guess all the granola-hugging treemunchers were too busy rolling hemp and smelling like feet to get the word out.

So I decided to help the patchouli puffs out, and go Earth-friendly year round. Somebody has to help Mother Nature while the hippies are off growing their dreads and writing haikus about psychedelic hacky sacks.

If there''s a better way to save the planet than making paper out of elephant poop, I can''t think of it. First, it saves trees. Second, it makes elephant habitats smell a LOT better. Third, there are now people pn the planet whose job it is to collect jumbo Dumbo droppings for making this paper.

Think about that. These people HAD to be virtually unemployable before. If your primary skill is harvesting animal poop for fiber strands, you''re very probably out of work, penniless, and mooching to survive. That''s a huge strain on the planet now alleviated, thanks to this turdball stationery company. Kudos.

As for the product, it has a million and one uses. Need to write a Dear John letter? Poop paper gets the message across. Printing directions for your in-laws? Dung''ll do it, junior. Handing out resumes that employers will say is crap, anyway? Now it''s literally true! They may not hire you -but you made them hold poop.

Can you ask anything more from an Earth-friendly product? The answer is no. No, you cannot.

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This is a nice ream of paper, and since I had been trying to get this type of paper for a while with little success, I was glad to find it on Amazon. Though on hindsight, 100 sheets for 30 bucks is a bit too much to pay in my opinion.

Quality: Well it certainly isn''t as smooth as a ream you''ll get at Staples, but then that''s part of the attraction. I found that it has somewhat large particles dispersed in the sheets, making writing a bit jumpy at times as your pen hits those places. The only other thing I noticed was the thickness of each piece is not standard. While one piece may be card stock thickness, another may be nearly see through. So far though, as writing paper, this has not proven to be a problem yet.

Overall, I like the paper. The downsides are minimal, but I probably wouldn''t pay 30 bucks for 1 ream again.

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Lexmark X2350 All-in-One (23A0000)

• Sold Individually

Very afford dependable all in one printer ever made. uses only a Lemark #1 cartriage not two just one which cost between $19.00-$25.00 just a great value if you still can find one on EBAY.

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If Charles Barkley ever had to deal with this printer he would say it''s turrbull. Every time (and I do mean EVERY FREAKING TIME) I use this thing it wants to print the allignment page. It says there''s a paper jam about 90% of the times I try to print (of course there isn''t one) and I have to restart it multiple times to get it to work. It goes through ink like Mexican water goes through your stomach. The print quality is fair once it finally does print. I would say on a scale of 1-10 the print qulaity is about a 6 and the annoyance factor is roughly as high as America''s national debt. I''ve averaged that out and generously given it 2 stars.

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This, is not the best printer.. But it does the job. I have had it for over 5 years, and the only reason it broke, is because my 2 year old pulled out the feed bar. It prints lines through photos, and eats ink like crazy!

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Sirs;

I purchased this for the first one and rate it with a 3 because of that fact. I use it occasionally but do enjoy it.

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Brother DCP-8085dn Digital Copier and Laser Printer

• Up to 32ppm monochrome print and copy speed
• Up to 1200 x 1200 dpi print resolution
• Full Automatic Duplex - Print/Copy/Scan
• Legal size document glass
• 300 sheet paper capacity

Contrary to one of the erroneous reviews, the Brother 8085DN DOES support duplex scanning and copying. That is why you pay $50-75 more than the 8080DN, which only does duplex printing.

We have the 8080DN and this series of Brother printers is FANTASTIC -an amazingly powerful business printer for the price of a personal printer. These things are well built, meant for a busy workgroup/small business setting. My wife runs a small nonprofit and has to print board packets and this thing just cranks them out. It will happily print two-sided packets and collate them -it will go hours of printing without a hiccup. Duplex printing is much slower than one sided printing -DUH, that is true of ANY printer. You''re not going to get high duplex speed until you get into the corporate printers.

We have also owned the Canon ImageClass duplexing printer. The Canons are terrific, very trouble free personal printer. But there is a HUGE catch -their $65 toner cartridge will only go about 1,000 pages.

The biggest selling point for this printer -the Brother 8000 series can use a high yield cartridge (about $85, or less if you feel comfortable using a remanufacture) that is rated at a whopping 8000 pages!!!

We do a lot of printing, so I researched extensively, and Brother is in a class by itself for cartridge capacity and low print costs for this class of printer. I highly recommend anything in the 8000 series.

The only reason you might not want this printer for a home office is that it is BIG. But you can''t get performance like this in anything smaller that I know of.

Other good things:

1) Energy Star compliant. In sleep mode this printer only draws 18 watts to keep the drum warm. You''d be surprised how many printers eat 40 or 50 watts in standby mode, which will cost you $30 or $40 over a year''s time. Energy Star means first page speed is not quite as good as the little HPs, but it''s still only like 12 seconds.

2) This printer has TRUE networking capability -no need for print server. That means the only connection you need is ethernet from your router to the printer. Install drivers, and every computer on the network can control this printer completely -that means scanning as well. I can''t tell you how much better that is than having a USB printer that has to be shared. Brother seems to have high quality drivers -we''ve connected XP, Vista and Win 7 without a hitch.

To sum up, everything about this printer speaks of quality and durability. It is just incredible what you can get for $300-$350 these days.

Buy Brother DCP-8085dn Digital Copier and Laser Printer Now

I have been using the DCP-8085dn at home for about 4 weeks and am extremely happy with its performance. I was mainly looking for a decent scanner with duplexing capability to scan the family records we have to PDF (which is a mountain of paper). I was also fed up with inkjet printers because we don''t print much and with our past printers, the ink cartridges (usually nearly full) would dry up between printing. The black&white (gray-scale) laser printer does a great job for home use.

A great additional feature is the networking capability. Since our home was pre-wired for a home network, although I am new to networking of any kind, I found the installation and setup easy to follow and it went pretty much without a hitch. I have a 2 TB Western Digital network storage device (NAS) attached to the network. We use a router that also offers wireless connections. So now the entire family can print directly to the printer from any device (with a printing capability) connected to the home network. Also, the DCP-8085dn can be set up to scan to a folder on the network. I chose to set up a scans folder on the NAS, so I don''t have to use a PC to make a scan. I can walk up to the DCP-8085dn and place a stack of papers in the document feeder, hit a few buttons to access presets that I set up, hit the green start button and walk away. When done I can have image files or PDF''s waiting for me in the scans folder.

A few notes:

(1) Even though it might look like one from the picture, this isn''t one of those huge Ricoh or Canon copier/scanners like one might find in an office setting that can scan 100 sheets front and back in a matter of a couple minutes at a decent DPI. It is smaller and slower. But for home use and for the price, I think it''s perfectly acceptable.

(2) The DCP-8085dn does not have a fax capability. But instead you get full duplex capability when copying, scanning and printing. Since I never send or receive faxes at home, this wasn''t even a consideration for me.

(3) DUPLEX SCANNING NOTE: ALTHOUGH THE SCANNING GLASS IS LARGE ENOUGH TO SCAN LEGAL DOCUMENTS (8.5" x 14"), WHEN USING THE DOCUMENT FEEDER IN DUPLEX MODE, YOU CAN''T SCAN DOCUMENTS MUCH LARGER THAN LETTER SIZED (8.5" x 11"). IF YOU PLAN TO SCAN A DOCUMENT WITH PAGES LONGER THAN 11", YOU HAVE TWO CHOICES: USE THE DOCUMENT FEEDER BUT ONLY SCAN ONE-SIDED, THEN REDO THE OTHER SIDE OF THE DOCUMENT ONE-SIDED OR DO IT MANUALLY ON THE FLATBED. THIS WAS ACTUALLY A SLIGHT DISAPPOINTMENT FOR ME, SINCE THE DCP-8085dn CAN HANDLE LENGTHY MULTI-PAGE LEGAL DOCUMENTS WITHOUT A PROBLEM MANUALLY. Although I''m not certain, I suspect that the issue has to do with the available space the document feeder has to flip a page over. Any thing up to 11" in length can be flipped over, but anything longer can''t. If you decide to scan a double-sided document one side at a time, you will need software to edit PDF pages to put them in order. This has not been a deal breaker for me, as most documents I have a letter sized or smaller. But it might not be suitable for someone looking to scan loads of legal sized documents.

(4) SCAN QUALITY NOTE: ALTHOUGH THE DOCUMENT FEEDER''S QUALITY IS ACCEPTABLE FOR MY ARCHIVING PURPOSES, IT TENDS TO WARP THE IMAGE SLIGHTLY. SCANNED PAGES (VIA THE DOCUMENT FEEDER) TEND TO HAVE A CURVE OR BOW DOWN THE PAGE. IF I WANT A REALLY GOOD SCAN I HAVE TO MANUALLY SCAN USING THE FLATBED. WHEN USING THE FLATBED, I DON''T GET THE SAME ISSUE WITH THE CURVE/BOW. SO, IF YOU NEED AN EXACT COPY WITHOUT DISTORTION, YOU''LL NEED TO MANUALLY SCAN AND NOT USE THE DOCUMENT FEEDER. For my purposes, the convenience of the document feeder outweighs the acceptable slight distortion it produces over standing at that the DCP-8085dn and manually scanning documents.

Over all, I am extremely pleased with the DCP-8085dn. I have been using the scanner like crazy working on eliminating that mountain of paper. It''s slow progress, but I''m getting there thanks to the DCP-8085dn.

I recommend the DCP-8085dn to anyone looking for a home-use scanner with duplexing capabilities (except as noted above). It''s a good printer and copier, too. Furthermore, the networking is a bonus that you should take advantage of if you can.

Read Best Reviews of Brother DCP-8085dn Digital Copier and Laser Printer Here

After reading and re-reading several reviews, I chose to purchase the Brother DCP-8085dn for my home network: 3 macs and 1 vista machine. It works flawlessly: it duplex prints, scans, AND copies. Truly, an all in one. Installation for the macs was easy. I had all three networked (!) within 10 minutes. Total. The Vista machine took considerably longer. (I blame Vista, not Brother).

Word of note for you mac users: double check your CPU usage after you install the software. One of the installed drivers (which isn''t necessary for full function I proved that last night) chews up CPU cycles and battery life on your laptop. Reference this Apple Support Discussion for easy solution (just delete it):

I love this printer. I wish I''d bought it sooner.

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I purchased my Digital Copier and Laser Printer for use in my home office. It turned out to be even better than I expected for the price. This is not one of those flimsy built printers that you find connected to home computers. This is a serious piece of office equipment and built quite sturdy. The print quality is excellent; sharp and non-smearing. Most multi-purpose paper seems to work in this machine. I like all the functions and features and this is top-notch equipment and I have used and tried many brands and styles of equipment in my 45 year career working in business offices. I would recommend to anyone. One special note is the multi-purpose feeder tray is at the back of the printer and would not be easily accessible up against a wall.

I''ve had the DCP-8085DN for a couple of days. I''m very pleased with the performance. My only disappointment is with the multipurpose tray which I had anticipated using for envelopes. The multipurpose tray is described has having a capacity of 50 sheets--in use you learn that this is the capacity for plain paper--it only will accept about 3 envelopes. Using the multipurpose tray is also a bit of a hassle--rear & front doors must be lowered while in use. I considered buying the optional 2nd tray for use with envelopes; then discovered in the manual these words, "envelopes can only be fed from the multipurpose tray." By the way, the one #10 envelope that I tried printing, crinkled severely. Otherwise I am more than pleased.

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Avery Linen-Textured Two-Side Clean Edge Business Cards Save 35% off

• Clean, smooth edges for a professional presentation
• Two-sided printing provides greater surface area to give your clients key information
• Extra-sturdy, matte-coated cards feel substantial in your hand
• Convenient do-it-yourself cards mean that you can make changes to your design as often as you like
• Design and print from your desktop in minutes

I wanted to make business cards at home, that looked and felt good, and that would allow a great color photo picture to be used on the card with my information. I selected the Avery Linen-Textured Two-Side Clean Edge Business Cards for Inkjet Printers, Matte, White, Pack of 200 (08873) and after working with templates and WORD to design my card, I''ve been really happy with the results.

My cards are full color, one sided (even though you can print on both sides of these). The "linen" texture is only on one side, but if you print a nice color picture on the texture side with your business/contact information (my card has a color picture that fills the whole card space) then leaving the back white actually makes the card look even sharper, in my opinion.

I tried to print my high quality photo (with information) on these cards using a laser printer, an HP Color LaserJet 1600 Printer, and I was not happy with the photo quality on these cards (or on any stock for that matter). So, I am using a color photo inkjet now, and I''m really happy with the results. My inkjet is not too fancy, a Canon PIXMA iP6220D Photo Printer, but the results look really nice. I use the highest quality photo print setting, and I tell it that this paper is "matte photo paper" and it all works!

The laser perforated edges on all four sides of the cards snap away cleanly. You don''t rip or cut or tear these cards apart, you print them, and snap them apart. This worked much better than I would have imagined. You can not see the that these were snapped apart the final product looks great.

Why not 5 stars then? I wish these were just a tad heavier. They are not cheap or flimsy as some reviewers suggest, but they are not as stiff (thick) as some cards. Maybe if they were thicker, they might not print as well in the low-end photo printers.

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I''ve used these cards for a while now and like them a lot.

The print quality is good, although I think a lot of this has to do with the quality of printer you use. I am using a Canon Pixma MP620 and I am printing only black & white one sided. The linen texture is not pronounced enough to interfere with printing, at least of simple graphics. The thickness of the card is perhaps a little thinner than professional cards but not a lot. They are stiff and rigid like a professional business card would be.

For me the best part is that I can create my own card layout--and I can change it as much as I like. Unlike professional services that require a purchase of 500 or so, I can print 10 at a time--or even one! I can print a sheet of all the same design, or a different design on every card on the sheet.

I highly recommend buyers download the free Avery Design Pro software--Microsoft attempts to copy Avery''s templates but they always are a little off and you will experience ''creep'' in the alignment of the card and printing if you try to use MS Word instead of Avery''s software. The Avery software is free and available in both mac and PC formats. Much like MS Powerpoint, the Avery software has ''preset'' templates with text boxes and graphics that require little manipulation--or you can delete it all and design your own from scratch! Be aware that when purchasing two-sided products like this, the preset templates will also be two-sided so be sure to choose the ''back of sheet'' feature to preview, modify, or delete any backside graphics before printing (or you''ll end up with an entire sheet of INSERT NAME HERE cards).

Read Best Reviews of Avery Linen-Textured Two-Side Clean Edge Business Cards Here

Avery is living on its reputation, and like other companies that try this, their reputation is going down fast...

Cards can only be printed one side (no indication of this on box or in literature); also, they had problems w/ink spotting (not printer related).

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Very impressed with the quality. Those given cards commented on how much they looked like professionally produced business cards.

The reviews indicating ink bleeding and texture on only one side are likely for an old version of the product. My ink jet (Canon Pixma MP970) produced very clear and fine fonts in color. The cards are textured on both sides and can be printed on both sides.

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This is a great product. Many of the previous reviews refer to the older product. The current 8873 works great, is textured on both sides and with a good printer, prints on both sides. For the best results DO NOT use MSWord. As usual, Word has bugs (which are the cause of most of the formating problems other reviewers mentioned), and some of them show up when using the Avery templates (mail merge is one of them). Instead, download Avery''s free software, DesignPro (unfortunately this does NOT work with Vista 64 bit, but does with other Vista versions), from Avery...

http://www.avery.com/avery/en_us/Templates-%26-Software

You''ll find templates for all of their products, plus a custom design mode that allows you to build projects from the ground up if you can''t find a template you like.

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