Customer Reviews

Brother MFC-7340 Flatbed Laser Multi-Function Center

5 star:		(38)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Have had this Brother MFC-7340 for about a month. As with most printers, it took a little time and care to set up and install on the first Acer Vista laptop. No problems, just the usual tedious walkthrough. Putting the drivers on a second HP Vista laptop was a breeze. It sleeps (powered off) on a desk and the family members turn it on and plug in their laptops when they want to print or scan. It is compact, has as small a footprint as can be expected for a flatbed device. Easy to lift and shift about with good handgrips on the sides.

We are very low-volume print/scan/copy users - Google docs is eliminating a lot of printing for school. This printer is available quickly from a cold start, important for us once- or twice-a-weekers. We don't really even use the document feeder. A wireless network (and/or a duplex) printer might have been more convenient, but this guy was available for for less than $150 including a TN330 toner cartridge for the day the included cartridge runs out. It uses standard Brother toner cartridges and drum replacements, so I expect to be able to get quality renewables for the life of the device. I choose a laser after having problems with an inkjet for our extremely intermittent use.

Why not five stars? This is not a printer for office or heavy home use. It has basic functions. It is lightly built and needs a gentle touch. Perfect for us, but if you need a medium duty device, this is not it.Brother MFC-7340 Flatbed Laser Multi-Function CenterBrother TN330 Black Toner Cartridge

Easy to set-up, easy to use. Using the XP scanner utility, it spans flawlessly. It prints as expected, seldom jams. It does all that can be expected of it.

We hardly beat it hard, so this review is for relatively mild use. I believe I could use much more and still be equally satisfied.

The toner that came with it has held up well, unlike some start toners that only print a few pages before running out. It looks like buying toner isn't a ripoff either.

This multifunction laser was bought on sale and was well worth the price. It prints and copies fast and the text output is great looking. The best thing about the unit is the auto document feeder. Whether copying, scanning, or faxing, it reads the document fast and output is similarly fast. It scans into the included ScanSoft Paperport, a very nice package with OCR, file, and imaging capability. I only use it for scanning reports which are saved as a PDF and you can select the default location. The fax is on the slower side but if you don't have high volume fax needs, it might not be a problem. The unit itself goes to sleep after 5 minutes and is noiseless. The output tray is adaquate and keeps paper from spilling on the floor. I have had no problem grabbbing 10 pages out of it. Printing envelopes or single sheets is a breeze after you adjust the slider. Paper tray holds 250 sheets, enough for the small office or home. Based on past experience I'm expecting the printer will be as reliable as other Brother printers. Lack of duplex printing is the biggest drawback but it can be done manually. This cost it 5 stars. I recommend it.

General
Easy to install.
USB 2.0 connection.
Very easy to use - all in one Laser - prints, copy, scan & fax.
Cheap to purchase and operate - separate toner cartridge and drum.
There are many options to adjust print and scan qualities.

Printing
It prints very quickly. I normally print 1~2 pages at a time. It spits out 1st page very quickly.
It also prints out several copies quickly. You can choose not to collate to save on toner & drum.
It does not curl papers like my 10+ years old HL-1040.

Copying
I've copied a few pages. The quality is adjustable and output is fine.

Scanning
Scans fairly quickly - a lot of options to change resolution, photo/text/web, size, etc.
You can scan from the panel or from your computer using Brother's ControlCenter3 software (PC and Mac).

The included/download software provides many customization - including to customize the software's UI to perform specific functions. There are 4 sections - Scan, Custom Scan, Copy and PC Fax. Each section provides 4 buttons. Scan and Custom Scan allows you to quickly perform specific scan function (Image, OCR, eMail, File). Both Scan and Custom Scan allows you to further fine tune scan options - File Type, Target application, dpi, color or B/W, doc size, etc.

Fax
You can fax with and w/o a computer - I did not try fax.

Other Features
It comes with a 35 pages automatic flat bed sheet feeder (ADF) to copy, scan and fax pages of documents. The input tray can hold up to 250 pages. Everything is concealed and helps to keep dusts out.

Power Consumption
It wakes up quickly when in sleep mode. It also consumes very little electricity (10W - according to spec) in sleep mode - although it could be lower. From spec: Power Consumption - Sleep/Ready/Copying - 10w/75w/460w.
Although it did not cause flicker like my older HL-1040 (10+ years old), it did cause one UPS to beep while others on the same circuit did not respond.

Software
You have to install the software came with the machine first.
It will ask you to plug-in the USB cable after installation is completed. The CD will reboot the machine to complete installation. After that, you will get the Brother sets of tools including ScanSoft PaperPort 11, Brother's ControlCenter3 (to scan, copy and fax from your computer) and other diagnostic / support tools.
After installed from CD, you can download and install the updated software.
If you install the downloaded software first, it will NOT install ScanSoft PaperPort 11 (OCR software). However, I have only used it one or two times, the OCR software seemed ineffective to recognize and format the final document properly as scanned original version.

Conclusion
It has worked VERY well to suit my need. I used it mostly to scan and print; while copy and fax will come in handy.

I originally wanted to get a networked AiO machine. But I learned that their scan and other functions does not always work flawlessly and not as fast as a regular AiO one. So I settle for this. Wife complain not being able to use the new toy - not sure if she really needs it :)
I purchased a Kensington ShareCentral 5 @ Fry's on sale a few weeks ago. It worked great with this AiO. It worked beautifully. Both PCs can now scan, print, copy and fax directly to the AiO. I also plugged in a USB hub to Kensignton ShareCentral 5. It also worked well to connect my external hard drives.

I bought this printer for my wife who opened her own law practice in November 2009. I bought it from Office Depot on the advice of the salesman from there and from a Staples saleman. To be honest, I did very little research but had heard others say that they were please with Brother. Set-up was so-so: on the first try, the sofware froze and I had to restart everything...ont the second try, I had no problems at all. Since then, after 1300 pages, we have had zero problems. The most important thing for my wife was speed and I am very impressed with how quick this printer goes from sleep mode to printing - only a second or two. And it can print out a 50 page legal document in a couple minutes. Toner works out to be under $.02 per copy with the high-yield toner. Copier works great as well...most of the stuff we copy is odd sized, so the flatbed scanner is a plus. We have a separate fax, so we haven't tried that on this one yet. It does take up very little space for what you get and the price is great. A couple reviews have said that this printer is too "light duty" for business use...I disagree, but it, of course, depends on what you really need. If you are looking for cheap, dependable and fast but maybe not high volume output, this may be the all-in-one for you.

i have had this machine for over 1 year with over 5000 pages printed and new toner changed, no problem at all. brother 7340 was the best! Adf scanner works great, can scan over 35 pages at one time, printer is great, never jammed. i used other printer such as hp, canon printers in the last 10 years, now i would never use those machine again. Brother is my choice.

The unit replaces a basic Brother printer I've had for about 7 years. Considering I more than got my money's worth for that sub $100 printer, I decided to go with this multi-function unit. While the construction seems a bit flimsy - typical of most low end multi function units - it does a good job with regard to its multiple functions. It is perfect for a one person office, not a large office where multiple people would typically abuse equipment.

While basic setup is fairly easy, there is so much functionality to this unit, you really need to study the lengthy user's manual to figure it all out. Otherwise, you are at risk of faulting the unit for not doing what you expect it to do because you haven't taken the time to understand how it operates. For example, there is a selection for paper thickness which could greatly help to minimize paper jams. There are multiple selections for print quality and contrast which will have a major impact on how long the toner cartridge lasts. There are neat little features like having incoming faxes sent to the PC versus printing which also helps avoid wasting toner. Being able to shrink several pages onto one copied page with high resolution is another toner saver feature. I also like the two handles on each side of the unit which make moving it easy. Don't pick it up from the bottom for you can damage the unit.

The instructions for the scanner capability are online and very limited, so I'm still trying to figure out how it all works. However, the scan quality and spatial resolution in color is quite amazing for a unit for which I paid only $129 on sale. Color accuracy is quite good. No, it isn't suitable for very high resolution poster size photo processing, but more than adequate for the average person who just wants to copy and send snapshot photos online.

Note the comments on other Brother sister product reviews which advise covering up the transparent toner level window on the cartridge to get the maximum use out of the toner in it. Otherwise, you may be disappointed with how many pages you get from a cartridge.

I also strongly advise following the recommendations regarding routine maintenance and care of the unit. It seems most problems that users have with this type of product is a result of misuse or ignorance. There are a number of ways in which you can corrupt the roller surface or cause static electricity electronics failure problems. Jamming problems also typically have more to do with paper conditioning (fanning, correct weight), proper adjustment of paper guides, routinely cleaning the intake roller surface, and selection of appropriate paper thickness on the options.

Also don't plug this unit into a surge protecter/back up power supply. The surge of current it takes starting up could trigger the protector which typically is intended only for protecting lose of data on low power computing electronics. Brother recommends plugging the unit directly into its own wall socket. Unless you are in an old building with wiring problems, you should have absolutely no problem.

It is yet to be seen if this unit proves to be as durable as its older basic sibling. If it doesn't, I'll be back for an update.

This printer has performed a million times better than any other I have used in recent years. It is quiet, rarely jams, the quality is great, and we've had no problems with copying, scanning or printing, although we have yet to use the fax feature. The only complaint I have is that, predictably, the ink ran out fairly soon, and gave a warning that the ink was low. I even think it refused to print any more at that point. We then blocked the sensor so it wouldn't read when the ink was "low" and it started printing again without problem. The really frustrating thing is that the machine told us to change the ink cartridge MONTHS ago, we did not, and it has gone on print just fine since then, including a 70+ document that we just printed out this morning. Just a scam to get you to buy new ink long before you actually need it.

I had bought Canons in the past and didn't realize that one has alternatives to spending as much on printer cartridges as I was spending. I was forced to buy a new printer because my Canon broke down after only a couple of years. A DP professional advised me to consider a laser printer, telling me that the additional price would be more than offset by savings in cartridges. He did not tell me about the greater speed (not a major concern for me) nor about the relative noiselessness of the laser.

I am more than satisfied with my purchase.

I purchased this multi-function printer/fax/copier about two months ago, when my old Brother multi-function printer (MFC-6800) stopped making dark prints. I replaced the drum and the toner cartridge, but it just never worked right. I did get about three years use out of it.)

This new multi-function is smaller than the 6800, takes up less real estate (primarily because the paper now loads in a paper tray instead of out the back, and the printed copies are delivered in a space tucked into the machine.

The quality is fine. The text is crisp and sharp. I haven't printed any pictures yet, so I can't comment on that. I expect the pictures to be adequate.

The fax works fine. The copier function works well, also.

All around, this is a fine machine, with all the functions working very well.

The only downside was the installation of the software Brother provides. It kept hanging up. I have a copy of the Paperport software from a scanner I installed years ago. Brother puts an updated copy of Paperport on. I finally deleted the old version, and (finally) the disk installed properly.

I've had no problems other than that.

I concur that this is a machine more for light use than heavy use. However, that what I use it for, so it's appropriate.

UPDATE:

I've run into the 'end of useful toner life' problem. This is happens when there is plenty of toner powder left in the cartridge.

It seems to be a cynical way to sell more toner kits. Disgusting.