Customer Reviews

Brother MFC-885CW Photo Color All-in-One with Wireless Networking and 5.8 GHz Cordless Phone

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

First off, I just got this today, so I cannot comment on the long term reliability of this machine. From the initial setup and run through of its features, this is what I've come up with.

Print quality is awesome. I first copied the registration card as a test. It was amazing how it came out. I couldn't really tell which was the original and which was the copy. Even the handwritten portion was reproduced flawlessly. I then decided to make use of the 5 pack of high gloss 4x5 paper which is included so I figured I'd try it out on a very small prom picture of mine. It came out perfect. I copied it right onto the 4x5...expanding it to 176% and brightening it a little using only the settings on the 885CW itself to do so. The picture came out looking flawless. I also printed a quick word document that had similarly impressive qualities...the text was very dark as opposed to my old Lexmark AIO.

Then I scanned in the same picture and edited it with Photoshop. The picture looked very good at 900 pixels. No complaints there.

I also tried out the fax by sending in my registration form. It was a breeze and the fax preview proved very handy. You can have it scan the paper (either by feeding it like a normal fax (ADF) or the scanning glass), then preview it, mess around with a few settings and when it's all nice and pretty, off it goes...or skip the extra steps and just send it like a normal fax as most would probably do.

The cordless phone is an appreciated feature, and the speaker phone is loud and clear. Anyone who complained about the MFC-845CW's 20 second limit on incoming voice messages will be happy to know their feedback was heard by Brother. You can now select the time limit for messages, between 30 and 120 seconds.

I tried out the OCR feature which allows you to scan a document onto your computer and edit the text in a word processor. I was impressed with its ability to recognize typed documents, although anything handwritten is understandably out of the question.

Printing from a memory card is also simple. I did a real quick print and everything was good with it as well. There are some basic editing features on the machine, although I haven't really tried any of them and most likely won't in the future...as far as I'm concerned that's what Photoshop is for.

Overall layout of the Navigation screen was nice. The widescreen was very helpful and made selecting different options simple as you can fit more in at once. Easy navigation and very basic information...Setup was a breeze with my Linksys network...taking only the push of a couple buttons and it was good to go. I've got 2 computers currently sharing this printer...one is a laptop (wireless) and the other a desktop (USB). With the laptop comes my one and only complaint...read on...


I'm running Windows XP Media Center Edition, Service Pack 2 on my laptop. The main program (Control Center 3) will not run on it. Whenever I try to load it, I get a terminal failure (The kind that asks to send Microsoft an error report). I did as much snooping around for a fix as I could...but didn't find anything. So I downloaded the latest set of utilities for the machine...but no help there. So this means that on my laptop right now I can still print, however I cannot receive information such as scans and such from the machine. I'm more then confident that when I get on the phone with Brother they will have a solution, or that an updated version of the program will be released fixing this. But I'll have to wait until Monday to do so.

To be fair I did purchase this fairly soon after its release so bugs are understandable. And they do not specifically mention Media Center Edition as a compatible operating system although it is implied when they say XP Home. My desktop is my powerhouse anyway so I do most of the editing on their...but still it's a frustrating problem none the less.


I've been through my fair share of printers...from Lexmark to HP. This is the best I've come across. I'm a very demanding consumer, and spent hours researching before making this purchase. It was the most expensive on my list of "maybes"...but I figured I'd take a chance and I don't regret it in the least. I'll probably be using this printer for at least the better part of a decade so I decided to make it a good one. As far as the software is concerned, yes it is an inconvenience, but most likely a temporary one...I'm certain many people would have docked a point or two for that, but for me the excess of quality makes up for such a blaring issue with the software...and most likely the people reading this review will not have an issue with it because I'm sure my case is fairly isolated and isn't directly related to my Operating System, rather something else that's going on. In the future I'll install it on an identical laptop with the same operating system (we have 3 in my house) and see if the problem reoccurs.

Good luck with finding the right AIO for yourself. It would take a rare breed to find disappointment with the MFC-885CW, but everyone has different standards for their different uses. For me, this is perfect.

This system would be a great system, if not two major factors. 1) The printing systems has a feature on it called "automatic cleaning." This feature uses ink to clean itself, and sometimes lots of ink. Moreover this feature seems to be ran by a timer, and not by usage. It makes no difference if you print 5 sheets or 100, when it is time for it to clean it cleans, day or night by the way. I called Brother tech support, to see if there is a way to turn it off, there is none. 2) the ink cartridges are very expensive, especially if you buy them from Brother. A full set of them will cost you roughly $80.00. If you look around, you can find them cheaper, but even then, they are expensive, and rated at 500 sheets at 5% coverage. There are other printer that have all of the same features, and are cheaper to maintain. This is a BUYER BEWARE system. Don't expect to get off cheap using it.

This is my second Brother product and I am extremely happy with both, this one in particular. The fax works as it should, hooked up to a shared line, the network setup was simple, print quality is great, the message center also works as it should. I haven't checked out the photo capabilities as this machine is being used in my home office - photo is not important to me on this one.

I have three machines connected to it, a desktop XP through ethernet, and two notebooks, wireless, one XP, one Vista.

I also like the fact that there are generic ink cartridges available for this machine. I was looking at the canon MX700 and HP C7280 as well but each of those seem to have some issues.

For a comprehensive review read the first (excellent) review of this machine. I can't add much to that, except to agree that it is a great product, perfect for my needs.

My last comment is on the LCD screen, the photo's don't do it justice. It is really a nice feature.

I had an All-In-One HP that did almost everything I wanted and I was happy with it until it finally died. I decided to get a different brand just for a change. At the top of my list was wireless to connect to my laptop. I decided on this Brother MFC-885cw Color Inkjet Multi-Function Center.

I use to have a cordless phone/answering machine hooked up to my HP. Now, I do not need it because the Brother has them built in which saves space. This machine has so many features and functions that most people simply would never use them all. Although, it is nice to have those things just in case you need them.

Features: This is a printer, copier, fax machine, scanner, answering machine, photo printer, phone and memory card reader.

Setup: The manual is detailed and informative. However, because this machine can do so much it can be a little intimidating. However, I strongly recommend you read the manual to see what the numerous settings do. After reading the instructions, I set my preferences from the menu button. Then I set up the wireless in less than two minutes. I installed the software and I was up and running. The whole setup process took about 15 minutes. Just follow the set-by-step instructions, and you should not have any problem.

Printing: The print quality and speed are good to above average. However, the ink takes forever to dry on glossy paper.

Scanner: You can scan different file formats to your computer or memory card. This too seems to work well.

Copier: Make copies from the flatbed glass or sheet feed tray. Copy quality is comparable to many other copiers on the market. Not too bad, but not great either.

Card reader: You can plug in one of 5 different types of memory cards to preview then print your photos.

Fax: You have different options and methods for sending and receiving faxes. A major function is the Fax Preview. This comes in very handy when sending more than one page. It shows you the fax on the LCD and tells you how many pages it scanned. This is helpful because you can see if it scanned all the pages. And if not, you can see which page it missed. Then you have the option to send the fax as is then fax the page it missed. Alternatively, you can rescan all the pages again to see if it scans all of the pages. The one drawback is that the sheet feeder only holds up to ten pages. Therefore, if you want to send more than ten pages, you have to send more than one fax.

Bottom Line: This has several machines all in one small package at a reasonable price and is well worth giving it a test drive.

Just as expected. Scans flawlessly. Phone and answering system works great. Printouts and copies seem just fine. Wireless hookup was simple. In this day and age, for so many functions to work so easily, so quickly, without fuss is rare. Too many manufactures come up with great ideas, which are fundamentally flawed once you try using them, but this unit meets all expectations. The small size is a plus as well. I usually find at least something to complain about with any product, but nothing stands out here. The icing on the cake? The price - under $200. Simply exceptional. Let's hope it stands the test of time.

My existing scanner, printer, etc. have worked great for years but now incompatible with Vista (it's such a waste to throw great working items away just do to the fact that it is not as profitable for companies to create new drivers vs. just selling you a new printer .. I would pay good money for a new driver if available ... but i digress)

Ok. So I shop Amazon and read the reviews about the similar Epson model, seems like it has serious issues with using way to much ink and then shuts down your ability to scan and fax if empty (functions that don't even use ink)! No good. Then I look at the similar HP model, only to find out it appears to have issues with paper jamming, software bugs, and so on. The reviews on this Brother model did not seem so bad in comparison - so I took a chance and purchased.

Here is a quick summary of what you will find:

Pro's:
- Stylish, well made.
- Uses a paper tray
- Scanning was good quality and fast
- Printing speed seems ok (but really only as fast as my old printer)
- Automatic document feeder on the top is nice, and works well.
- Separate phone with the ability to listen using machine speaker phone

Con's:
- COLOR PRINT QUALITY IS BAD. When I print the exact same Google map (for example) on my very old HP P1100, the quality is far superior than this brand new one .. the Brother color print outs are 'washed out" and are sometimes hard to read (cleaning, priming, etc. on the printer heads did not change anything). I can only imagine what would happen if I tried to print a photo ... but I wanted to return while I still could. I knew something was strange when I printed a test page and it looked so strange and generic (and also 'washed out')
- When you press the scan button, defaults to "scan and send to email" (only configures goes to outlook which I don't use anyway). If you want to scan to your PC, then you have to navigate through a menu to get there. Then, the next time you scan ... guess what ... back to the default again! Seems like a minor issue, but wait until you need to scan 200 photos or multi page document.
- The handset nor speaker phone has no MUTE button ... a problem if you attend a lot of conference calls like I do.

The only problem is now I have to choose between the best of several 'evils' ... is there not a good printer out there somewhere ... I am willing to to pay even up to $500 now for something that works, but where is it? Also, what has happened to quality products! Seems like they just want to sell low quality printers and then milk you for even more money later via printer cartridges that cost more than the printer itself! Seems like the industry is going backwards. The bad part is that I need SOMETHING and will end up purchasing one of these eventually and that sends the wrong message to these companies that think they can get away with it ...

If you run your business or office out of your home, this is the multifunction machine for you. The feature set is better than any in its price range. Setup is quick and easy using the Quick Setup Guide. Once you're done and you actually get a chance to read the manual and play around with it, you won't believe the features. I set it up on my wireless network, where I have had no problems with any features while using XP Home (desktop) or Vista Premium (laptop).

The most important features that set this above the rest are as follows:

1. Built in CNG (fax) detector - If you have distinctive ring for your fax, you can quit spending the extra dollars per month on it. The MFC-885cw takes the call determines if it is a fax or voice call and then either receives it or transfers the call to the phone. To buy a CNG detector for your phone line usually runs around $100 or so.
2. Built in 5.8GHz cordless phone with caller ID - very nice not to have to find a place for another phone in my office. Also works as a wireless base station and 3 more phones can be added.
3. Built in answering machine - If the phone isn't answered then the answering machine picks up.
4. PC Fax. No need to print a document or PDF file, fill out a cover page and then fax. Just File|Print and change to brother fax v.2 and then enter fax number from your computer and fax is sent without printing anything.
5. Wireless networking - Just follow instruction for setting up with your network, load the cd on the computers you want to use with this printer and everything works flawlessly.
6. Separate paper tray for holding 4X6 photo paper. Again a very nice feature for not having to remove paper to put in the photo paper.
7. Large Widescreen Color Display
8. Memory Card Reader
9. Separate Color (CYM) Ink Tanks - No need to throw away the entire color cartridge if you run out of Cyan, Yellow, or Magenta just replace the color you're out of. The brother color ink cartridges typically run @ $12 and black @ $20.

Print quality for a multifunction is very good. Does a nice job with borderless photo's. If you are looking for outstanding photo quality you should invest in a dedicated photo printer.

Scanning features are also good and it comes with OCR software.

The only negative is the small capacity of the fax tray (10 pages)

Overall, this device has exceeded all of my expectations. This is definitely a printer worth the price.

I was looking for a printer that would stand alone without a computer hooked to it, so we could print from our laptops. Does absolutely everything we wanted and much more. Plus generic ink is dirt cheap, can find them for less than $1.50 a piece shipped (from a popular auction site :)

Not much more to add that hasn't already been posted.

This is a true networkable multifunction printer that does everything well. The setup was simple and easy. The 5.8 Ghz wireless phone and digital answering machine along with its wide LCD display put it over the top. It does print slower when used wirelessly but it was accurate. There was a slight loss of sharpness when I printed photos to glossy paper. The ink requires a little longer to set. Its nice to have a built in sheet feeder rather than papers sticking up in the air. For the price its value can't be beat. Works well with Macintosh. Do yourself a favor and order a second handset. Take my word for it, you'll be glad you did.

This product has everything you need, especially for an in-home business such as I have. I've used it extensively for three weeks and not a problem one. Copies are so realistic I can't tell the copy from the original, colors are perfect and the scanner and accompanying software are straightforward and user-friendly. I highly recommend the MFC-885CW.