An acceptable compromise

We bought this multifunction some weeks ago to replace a printer HP 940c and, possibly, an old Officejet 635. We use it at home. We looked for a machine which would allow us to combine office's and family's necessities:

- Print photos directly from a digital camera device and from a memory card
- Capable of fax, scan or copy legal format 8 1/2 x 14 inches
- Capable of scanning multiple pages (automatic document feeder) or from a magazine (flatbed)
-Other points to be considered: a certain quality, a certain speed of working, low price, low cost-in-use and a relative reliability.

Altogether, we are satisfied with the purchase by considering the good value for money. This machine is not the best that we would have been able to buy but it would have needed to pay out three times more expensive for a comparable model. We saw it sold at 90 $. It is really inexpensive for all the offered characteristics. Regular price seems to be around 150 $. Usually, the fax is an option which makes rise the price beyond $200-$300 because demand is weak on this device of home's users. Furthermore, there are not a lot of models that come with the fax and media card slots/PictBridge on the same.

I agree with some of the points mentioned by " parrot0123 ". However, I have already known better and we hesitated several days to conserve it or of exchanging it for something of more expensive, like the Officejet 6310. Software packages offered with my old Officejet (a multifunction which I possess since 1998) are much powerful and more easy to use. Furthermore, the quality of printing of the HP 940C, a printer bought in 2002, is much better. It is not that the definition of the printing is bad, on the contrary (it is much better than Officejet), but colours are much less lively than with the 940c. We noticed that the type of used paper varies enormously the quality of printing. On normal paper, quality is common with the Brother but with the HP 940c, it's pretty good. On paper photo, result is comparable to the 940c.

Finally, it is the low cost of purchase which decided on us. We also considered it is a new model which has just gone out on the market. It should be more interesting than old series 210 and 420. I have doubts as for the long-term reliability. As several recent devices, many pieces seem fragile. On this point, the HP are much more solid. On the Brother, I faxed about 10 sheets and there was stuffing paper... Furthermore, the paper tray is not conceived to add paper manually. I have to remove the paper tray, open the panel covering the tray, remove the paper, put the new paper, adjust guides and push the paper tray. It is not very convenient when one often uses it. I am afraid in the long run of breaking the paper tray... But for the reliability of Brother, we use in the Brother MFC-4800 for 4 years at the office and it works still very well in spite of an extensive usage.

It is especially the Brother's software packages which seems less well conceived. There are several manipulations and regulations to be made before obtaining wished result while at HP, everything is simple and automatic. For example, for the OCR, it is necessary to open PaperPort, to scan the document in image, slide the icon on the button Word and finally, the document appears. I tried by the buttons but the machine froze... For HP, a wizard appear as soon as a paper is put on the machine, ask what I want to do. I just have to click to scan a text, mark "OCR" and final result appears automatically in Word. Another example, installation by default does not offer the choice of the paper 8 1/2 x 14 but I added it by a patch which I found on the Brother's web site. Updates are separated by models. There is no general download page. Then, I go to the page of the 240c model. This patch is not appeared on this page. I found it on the page of the MFC-4800 model! I took a chance to install it on the 240c and it worked. I should maybe be employed by Brother to experience on their products? It is maybe just a neglect of them... a neglect which almost to make lose them a sale because if this patch had not worked, I shall have returned the machine because I need absolutely to use of 8 1/2 x 14 paper.

Altogether, one manages all the same to understand the sense of many buttons and several multi-purposes' machines do not probably make better.

I think that one is going to appreciate the cost-in-use, one of the lowest of the category ($0.03-$0.60/ pages black - colour as we read in a test of magazine while, for comparison, the HP costs on average $0.06-$1 / pages black - colour). This low cost hides however a latent problem, in my opinion. Writing heads are directly on the machine, as at Epson. It is necessary so to foresee that one day, heads are going to block, and that it will be necessary to replace the machine by a new...But, at this low price, it's an inconvenient that I can accept.

Working speed is very variable. It is true that draft mode is very fast but this mode is just really usable for text. For images, the result is less good, depending what you want. My work consists in printing hand-written documents which were scanned. In draft mode, the writing is very light and not readable. Then, it is necessary to go towards "normal" modes and there, the speed decreases enormously. On the HP 940C, I print the same image in draft mode and it is very very suited.

Finally, we note that the machine is noiseless. It is a good point to the usage at home.

(Note: all the prices in my review are in canadian dollars)