Brother MFC8660DN LASER FLATBED MULTI-FUNCTION

by Brother

Product Details

• Item Weight: 48.2 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 49 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S. and to APO/FPO addresses. For APO/FPO shipments, please check with the manufacturer regarding warranty and support issues.
• ASIN: B000ITX4FG
• Item model number: MFC8660DN
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: September 19, 2006

Product Description

LASER FLATEBED MFC

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Don't listen to the other 1-star review, April 12, 2007

By 

Robert Schoen (Oakland, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Brother MFC8660DN LASER FLATBED MULTI-FUNCTION (Office Product)

Prior to this I had an HP 3330, and it was good to me for over 7 years, but I decided to upgrade to a duplexing unit. I bought a Canon laser printer, and sent it back two days later to Office Depot--whoever designed that unit should be shot. Anyway...

My wife was in Costco a couple of days later, and told me they had the Brother MFC 8660DN there, and since it's easy to return stuff to Costco, I told her to bring it on home.

This unit is a dream. The footprint is small. The door for inserting envelopes and single sheets of paper (so you can easily use recycled paper) is right there in front where you need it and is simple (unlike the Canon); I use a lot of recycled paper.

The copier works FAST, and the settings are easy to use and very intuitive. The fax unit works better and faster and easier than the HP ever did--finally, it coordinates with my answering machine without any hassles.

The scanner and my computer (Windows XP) work together seamlessly.

The printer (although not the copier or fax) has great duplexing capabilities. (A more expensive unit, I believe, has duplexing for the copier and fax too if you need it).

Let's talk about Brother support--I stupidly sent an envelope with a metal clasp through the unit, and realized that that's why a couple of little dots were appearing on my pages. I called Brother, and they sent me a new drum AND a new toner cartridge (okay, I had to call two times)at n/c.

btw, you'll read some reviews online that say it's noisy. It's not noisy. There is more noise coming from the plane that's flying overhead right now, or the dogs barking next door, than from this printer, and it's right behind my desk chair, where I can easily access it. I use it all the time.
So, I'm really happy with this Brother product, and recommend it.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great multifunction printer for the $$$, May 20, 2007

By 

Jazzspielen (ER, AK United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Brother MFC8660DN LASER FLATBED MULTI-FUNCTION (Office Product)

I'm surprised that one reviewer rated this machine so negatively. This is my fourth Brother MFC printer. My previous one mysteriously stopped working, but Costco gave me a full refund (after using it for two years), so I bought this one. It's a very good printer/scanner/fax machine and does everything I ask it to very reliably. Almost all of my previous printers were HPs, and I had pretty good luck with them but decided to give Brother a try a few years ago. They are every bit as good as HPs and usually less expensive to operate. Overall, I don't think they are less expensive to operate than Canons, but they've been such good work-horses for me in my business that I just keep going back to them. I'm not very 'brand-committed' since I see printers as basically commodity items with a fairly short shelf life. I expect to get about two years of service from a printer, but I have one Brother machine that is going into its fourth year.

I really like the built-in duplex feature of this machine since I have to create many of my forms for my business, and this machine handles that feature with aplomb. I would also rate Brother tech support higher than HP -- I got through to them quickly, and they readily answered my questions. I'd say this machine is noiser than the other Brother (or HP) machines I've had, but it's not a big deal. No one in my office has ever complained.

I would not hesitate to purchase another Brother, and I would say they are as good as the HPs I've had (but less expensive).

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Crippled Functionality for Big Brother Bucks! $$$, August 20, 2007

By 

Jim Read "Critic of all" (Anytown Switzerland) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Brother MFC8660DN LASER FLATBED MULTI-FUNCTION (Office Product)

I'm not new to the Brother MFC line, having owned the 8440D for almost 2 years before purchasing the 8660DN at Costco just a few days ago. I'm a business users, and the 8440D was a great device (except for the power consumption). I purchased the 8660DN to replace the 8440D because it has the built-in network card. I want to connect this device straight to the LAN without having to use a PC as a print server.

The reason I give this unit 1 star is for it's total lack of duplex *copying* capability, which can only be explained as pure profit motive. Even my old 8440D allowed you to make a two-sided copy of a two-sided original, albeit through a convoluted series of menu selections.

This printer/MFC is DUMBED DOWN. Yup, that's right. The kissin' cousin of this printer is 8860DN. They are so close in every way that Brother even includes the two models in the same user guide. The 8860DN has a Duplex key that allows you to make duplex copies with ease. This model does not. Why not? Because brother wants you to pay more money for that feature is about all I can figure.

The reason I say this is that there are six keys used to control the copy features of the MFC. Both this model and the 8860DN have six keys. However, this "cripple ware" model uses what would be the Duplex key as the "Contarst" function. The 8860DN uses key two as both Contrast and Quality as shown:

8660DN keys
[Contrast] [Quality] ...

8860DN keys
[Duplex ] [Contrast/Quality]...

What's really irritating is that the contrast/quality key does nothing except put you into the copy menu anyway. In other words, you can set quality and contrast in the copy settings when you press the Copy key. Why do you need an additional button to set what you can already set as soon as you press the Copy key? So I have a device with two useless keys and no Duplex key that is a critical function of a duplex MFC.

Go figure.

Brother, you've not only lost a customer over this idiocy, but we *were*, as in past-tense, a VAR for Brother. We don't take well to this kind of marketing ploy. If you have duplex functionality, then make it available to through the copy feature.