Customer Reviews

Brother MFC-9840CDW Laser Multifunction Center

5 star:		(109)
4 star:		(33)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(18)
1 star:		(32)

 

 

I have waited many many years for the perfect all in one COLOR LASER....and this is it + more! I bought mine from a local store and have had it about a week. It comes in a huge box, but don't worry, this MFC is large but not too large compared to the other Brother mono laser all-in-ones (of which I have owned three over the years). The print quality is EXCELLENT and very fast for full color (21 pages per minute). My only initial concern was that it creased envelopes when printing on envelopes......but after consulting the manual there are fuser tension adjustment switches that solves that for perfect envelope printing (Settings, A, B and Envelope). I had compared many all-in-one color laser machines for many years (including recent ones from Xerox and HP). I was surprised that HP hadn't come out with a great, feature rich one yet. Brother beat HP to the punch and it is a knockout for sure. I am replacing a higher end Minolta color laser with flatbed scanner, a Brother MFC mono, and an HP mono workhorse with this ONE MFC-9840CDW!!! I am very very picky with print quality but this one is great! Bonus features are built-in duplex scanning, duplex printing, and wireless network capability! The replacement supply costs are also very reasonable and lower than most of the other color laser brands. Brother truly has a winner on its hand with the MFC-9840CDW!!! Thank you Brother....I LOVE IT!

My wife is an em elementary school teacher, and she gets limited numbers of copies for each term. She also has a great deal of worksheets and other papers that take up a lot of room and make finding a particular worksheet very hard. We came up with a plan: All of her documents would be scanned into a PDF with management software, and she would be able to make copies for her classroom when she ran out at work. We wanted a color laser printer with network scanning and duplexing and had looked at all the different solutions but were bummed to find that many of the scanners only supported printing from Apple computers and not scanning to them. Some had the options to scan to e-mail, but the documentation on these features were very limited.

After looking around at an HP model and a Canon model we decided to look at what Brother had to offer. We were pleased when we saw the specs and features on this model. The best feature was its Mac support which was very extensive. In fact, this was the only model in our search that had equal support for both Mac computers and Windows computers.

I found that the software on the Mac and its Windows counterparts were written fairly well. On the Macs that run 10.5 we had to get an updated TWAIN driver for scanner control, but that was the only small issue we had. You can walk up to the scanner, scan to the computer in the other room over WiFi or even save a scan to your Flash drive by plugging it directly into the front. It is very handy. The scan quality was on par with what I expected. I wouldn't use it for high-end photo scanning, but an occasional family picture scan here or there, especially for web distribution will be just fine with it.

The print quality was also very nice. Even on cheaper paper the colors were vibrant and not splotchy at all. Text was crisp and print times were more than acceptable. I was getting about 20ppm both in color and black and white once the unit was warmed up. Slightly slower than the 21ppm claim, but the pages were also more than 5% covered which is likely where they get that number.

Faxing is somewhat convoluted compared to other all-in-one devices. After a few blank test faxes though, the steps were easy enough to remember and it does a superb job for those occasional fax jobs that we require.

Pros:
*Great Mac and Windows Support
*Software is easy to use and works well
*Scanning quality is very high
*Many scanning options including direct to flash drive
*Great color printing
*Great B&W printing
*Wireless networking is very nice and works reasonably well
*Toner reasonably priced
*Real duplexing for scanning and printing

Cons:
*Faxing function is slightly convoluted
*Scan to email doesn't seem to work with Gmail or Google Apps domains and the required authentication schemes
*Software and drivers don't appear to be downloadable from Brother's website, so hold onto those CDs that come with it
*All networking functions are off by default
*Some features lack thorough documentation and require a certain level of trial and error mixed with technical skill to complete successfully
*Color scanning can be slightly time consuming, especially over the wireless network to a computer

Overall thoughts:
Overall this printer was worth every penny. Hundreds cheaper than similar models, and it provides great Mac support. For simple printing from a Mac, no software or drivers needed to be installed. The software was only for scanning and other advanced features. My wife has scanned in hundreds of pages already. I must say, I truly love this printer.

I just got this machine to replace two others a month ago in my home office - an HP inkjet all-in-one 6310xi, and a Brother laser printer HL-1870n.

This new unit is superior in just about every way.

The print quality is much higher than on the HP. In B&W it is similar to the old brother laser.

The print speed is out of this world, especially for color. The inkjet could take minutes per page for letter-size photo prints. This one doesn't seem to take any longer than for other prints, amazingly ! This is no doubt thanks to its 128 MB of memory. I was thinking about upgrading the RAM, but there just isn't any need to do that at all !

Copies are also spectacular, just as fast as any photocopier. The HP all-in-one could take several minutes per page in the highest quality in color, and typically at least a minute even for high-quality black & white. And of course the quality is much better.

Scanning speed is also great. It is really measured in pages per minute, not minutes per page.

The ADF duplex scanning is invaluable.

The bundled software (Paperport) is also very reliable and far superior to the bloated crap that came with the HP.

Despite its size, this unit actually saves office space compared to having two separate inkjet color and black & white laser units.

Photo prints are very good. I have noticed some yellowing compared to the inkjet prints. But I am confident it's possible to adjust this in software and make the photo prints just as good as the inkjet. I just haven't had time to fiddle with it yet.

The unit is not perfect, but nearly so. There are a couple things that I wish were improved :

- The ADF is limited to A4/letter size. For legal size documents, you must use the glass scanner. This is my biggest regret about the machine. If I could I would give 4.99 stars because of it instead of 5.

- It weighs 85 lbs, actually 115 lbs with all the packaging. With the packaging, it was too large to fit through my stairs. I had to remove it all first. And if I didn't have a roommate, I would not have been able to bring it to the 2nd floor. I wish there was a printer with all these features at less than 50 lbs packaged. Or perhaps Brother could deliver it in 2 separate parts to assembler (let's say, printer unit and scanner unit) in 2 smaller boxes, so one person alone could move it and set it up.

- It doesn't work with glossy inkjet photo paper. That paper just melts and half the sheets come out pink. I had to sell all my Costco photo paper with the HP inkjet, and buy new special laser photo paper (HP branded) that worked great. I wish I had known about this requirement before the purchase.

So many good things were already said. I just want to add a few things I learned while using the product over the last few months:

- Only one job can happen at the same time. While you print you cannot scan or fax no matter how much memory you have.

- Reviews often state that the printer has only medium color printing quality. The printer is great but the PCL driver is not. Use the Postscript driver instead, which is a little bit slower, and you get results, which I would say are similar to HP. The difference is amazing.

- Scanning works perfectly. I use it to do editing on print-outs and then scan it in, and send it back to the publisher. I also use it to archive hardcopy documents. It is very fast with 400 DPI b/w scanning. The feeder pulls the paper sometimes not totally straight.

- You can use standard notebook memory to increase memory. It eats old 100 Mhz SO-DIMM in up to 512MB size.

- It takes a while to warm-up. Both when printing and scanning. It makes the light flicker when it warms up. It works well on a shared 15A circuit so.

- I love the iFAX feature. I can send a fax, have the printer convert it to a TIFF, and send it directly out via a SMTP server without needing a extra computer. I use for sending stuff to an Oracle ERP archiving system. (It can also convert to PDF.)

- It also can scan and send a document to FTP or via the Control Center to a PC or save to local USB flash. You can remote control the functions of the printer via pre-sets on the Control Center app.

- It faxes and copies in b/w and color. Quality of copies is good and very fast when you use the document feeder. It appears to be faster then the small copy machines at my local copy shop.

- I love that the printer both has a duplex document feeder and can also prints duplex (or scans, faxs, copies duplex).

- Consumables are more expensive than for instance in a HP laser printer. However, the purchasing price of the Brother is unbeatable.

Bottom line is that this product is as good as it gets in a multi-functional printer. After using it for a couple of months I am asking myself how I ever could have lived with out it. No more trips to the copy shop and savings for express mail.

These seem to be great machines - when they work. Unfortunately, ours doesn't. The machine generates random vertical streaks of yellow and cyan across printed pages. Solid colors are often printed as blotchy and uneven. Brother tech support has acknowledged that they are having these type of problems with this particular model. We've tried changing print cartridges (twice) and the problem still exists.

It's now been 6 weeks since we first reported the problem and still no resolution from Brother. Escalations have been met with promises of call backs followed by silence. Emails to support go unanswered. It appears that Brother products and support are hits and misses. In this particular case, all misses.

I purchased my new Brother MFC-9840CDW in July 2009 from Amazon. After years of using ink jet printers, this was my first color laser multifunction printer. So I was very excited when I received it. After it was setup and powered on, I printed the first few color pages. Right from the beginning I noticed Cyan colored spots appearing down the left side of the printed pages about every 2 inches. The spots are about 2mm long and are very noticeable. I was thinking that this was just occuring since the printer is new, so I was hoping that the spots would go away after more pages have been printed. In August, after over a hundred color pages have been printed, the spots are still there. I then checked the Brother knowledgebase articles in the Brother support website, where there are two articles about cleaning the drum and regarding spots appearing on printed pages. I followed those articles in cleaning the drum but it made no difference in removing the spots. I then contacted Brother support who had me followed the same instructions as in the articles. Part of the process Brother support had me do was to removed the drum unit from the printer and visually checked the Cyan portion. It was obvious that there was a depression (looks like a missing piece of film material) on the Cyan portion of the drum which is causing the printed Cyan spots. Brother support then said to send the drum unit back at my expense for their testing. From UPS tracking, I see that Brother received the drum back on September 3rd. I waited two weeks with no contact whatsoever from Brother support on the status of the testing. I then called and the support person said that it was not a defect and that it may have been a user problem. I then said that I dispute the finding. Support said that Brother's final determination is that I need to purchase a new drum unit which costs over $120. I have purchased a new drum unit and now the printer is printing fine with no spots on the printed pages. There was definitely a problem with the original drum unit, in which Brother claimed there was no defect. I see that this is a case where the manufacturer won't honor their warranty for a defective item (90 days warranty for drum units) and said it is not their problem. I will never buy a Brother printer ever again.

Out-of-the-box color accuracy is poor. By default, the PCL driver for the printer will barely print green, and other colors are noticeably skewed toward yellow. This problem can be largely fixed by tweaking a few settings. Here are the basics:

1. Verify that the printer driver, firmware, and internal calibration are all current. This information is available at the Brother website.

2. Using the default PCL driver, set "Printing Preferences" as follows:

(a) "Basic" tab - confirm Color/Mono is set to "Auto" or "Color" (this can be returned to "Mono" later).
(b) "Advanced" Tab - set the following: Print Quality - FINE; Color Mode - VIVID; Improve Gray Color - ON; Enhance Black Printing - ON
(c) Click the "Setting..." button near "Color Mode"
(d) Set the following: Brightness 0, Contrast +15, Red -10, Green +1, Blue +12, Saturation 0. Ignore the sample photo to the left of these settings.
(e) Click "OK" where appropriate, saving all the settings.

3. Run a few test prints. Color accuracy should be much improved. (When finished, remember to set the Color/Mono option back to Mono to conserve color toner if you are also using this MFC as your default black and white printer).

Overall I am pleased with features and performance so far.

**Update on 8-26-2010:**

I have had this product for over 1 year and I have experience with many of the toner issues. FOLLOWING ARE TIPS TO SUBSTANTIALLY EXTEND TONER LIFE:

There is an optical window on the right side of each toner cartridge that lets light through when the cartridge is starting to get low on toner. Once the light shines through, the printer electronically "counts" a small number of additional pages (about 50?) and then requires the cartridge be replaced. Alternatively, the printer also electronically "counts" from the time the cartridge is new and whether or not the "low toner" window is triggered it will eventually fail the toner cartridge on page count alone (this is how all toner cartridges mysteriously need to be replaced at about the same time even when not empty). Because the toner cartridges each recycle part of their toner as each page is printed, the toner quality deteriorates with page count and this causes print quality problems such as streaks and splotches as the remaining toner in each cartridge becomes contaminated. If there is toner in the cartridge, and the print quality is acceptable to you, and the cartridge has been rejected on electronic page count (this is usually the case), then you can reset as follows:

A. To reset the electronic counter ONLY:

(1) Turn printer ON. (2) After warm up, open the main access door across the front as if you are going to pull out the toner tray (OPEN THE DOOR ONLY...DO NOT PULL OUT THE TRAY). (3) With the door open and the red "error" light illuminated, press the "Clear/Back" button on the console. The toner counter reset menu will appear. (4) Select the appropriate reset menu option, for example "M. TNR-S" resets the counter for a standard capacity Magenta toner cartridge. "Y. TNR-H" would be a reset for a high capacity Yellow cartridge, etc.. (5) Close the door and continue printing. This method will not work if the "low toner" window on a cartridge has been activated in which case use method "B" below.

B. To reset the electronic counter after "low toner" window is activated:

***NOTICE*** I once read that if the toner in a cartridge is allowed to completely empty it may jam and permanently damage the drive train of the printer, destroying the printer. This seems unlikely to me and I have not had any problem with the method I am about to describe but you try this at your own risk...

(1) Turn OFF the printer. (2) Open the main door. (3) Slide out the tray and remove the rejected toner cartridge. (4) On the right side of the cartridge you will see a clear round window about 3/8" diameter. Carefully cover this window with a piece of opaque black electrical tape or something similar. (5) Gently rock the toner back and forth to distribute the toner evenly and replace the cartridge back into the printer. Close the access door. (6) Reset the electronic counter for the cartridge by following the steps in A, above. Using this method, one can make a cartridge print until it is truly empty or until the print quality is unacceptable.

C. My comments on color toner refills and manual "counter gear" resetting: Many internet sites give advice on opening the end of a toner cartridge and manually "resetting" the gear on the end. My experience with this method is poor. Messing with the gear is not helpful. Refilling may be possible, but (1) The OEM filler plugs on the toner cartridges are extremely hard to open, (2) Some of the color toner refills and "compatible" cartridges are actually not compatible and they make a mess of the printer, clogging the works and possibly damaging the printer, (3) The quality of the refills can be inferior to the OEM toner. My recommendation is, unless you have time to burn, a lot of patience and a willingness to replace the printer if you mess up, then I would buy the genuine Brother cartridges instead of refills once you truly need more toner.

I still feel this printer is an excellent value for the money, but it is more expensive now than when I bought it and one must be willing to work around its quirks. There are also many competing products now available, though I have not yet seen any other similar multifunction units that include a flatbed scanner for legal size documents.

This little unit does it all; wireless networking, multiple paper trays, and duplex printing and scanning. This is a truly great buy. A couple of caveats:

1. The color image quality just isn't that great. It's good enough, but the colors don't compare to similar HP offerings. However, if you're more about functionality and less about pretty pictures, this shouldn't bother you too much.

2. The unit tends to lie about when it's time to replace the toner cartridge. This has caused a lot of rumblings online. There are a couple of workarounds, but the easiest thing to do is pull the cartridge out, and stick a piece of black electrical tape over the little round glass apertures on either side. Stick the cartridge back in and it will happily print perfectly fine well beyond the bogus toner "End of Life" message that the printer shows.

[Edit]

When I wrote this review, it was only around $549 - I don't know why they're trying to sell it for $849 now, but a warning - don't overpay for this thing. Thanks.

We are very happy with this printer.

The downsides:

1. It is slow, especially printing double-sided documents ... painful. And quality scanning is also very slow.
2. It is heavy, so make sure you install it and never have to move it.
3. Limited capacity of the MP tray
4. If you need to print envelopes or on heavy media (110 lb card stock) you need to specify this in the print driver when you are sending the print job to the printer, otherwise it will jam.


Pros:

1. We have been able to print all sorts of documents: single sided, double-sided, envelopes, labels, thick promotional cards and materials (110 lb card stock) and they all look really, really good. The colors are more than acceptable for all business functions. We are thrilled.
2. All the other functions: copy, fax, scan -- work like a charm (but slowly)

So here's the bottom line: with this printer, even though we work a little slower, we can get rid of several machines and save money, and space -- which, by the way, costs lots of money here in New York City.

Wow;
This is just what I wanted. I had held off for a long time and almost went for the mfc-9440 non-duplex version. But then I heard about the 9840.
The printer set up on Vista the 64 bit version over my local network with no problems whatever. The rest of the family set it up on their XP machines also silk smooth. Scanning from the PC is no problem. It works over the network just as if it were attached to my PC.
Faxes, duplexing and fast 20 page per minute color are as advertised.
The quality of the scans and color copies and the color output exceeded my expectations of a color laser printer. I am estimating a toner cost of about 12 cents per color copy and about 2 cents per copy black and white.
I like the color laser printer paper.
This printer and its all in one functions exceeded my high expectations. Artistic and photographic works are better on a good inkjet, especially one like the canon i9900. However, this printer does way better color than I expected.