Brother MFC-420CN Multifunction Printer

User Reviews: Brother MFC-420CN

Brother MFC-420CN Multifunction Printer
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3.6 out of 5.0 stars 16 Ratings (15 Reviews)
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    Compact Functional All-In-One Ink-jet

    By Yahoo! Shopping User  Oct 25, 2004 | 23 out of 24 found this Brother MFC-420CN review helpful

    Pros: Compact size, Network interface, xD, et al printing, Large ink cartridges, fax compatable with ans machine

    Cons: Slow printing, copying, typical cryptic fax tree menu

    I sought out this new offering of Brother because of Network connectivity, and the small size. It takes half the space of my previous All-in-one Xerox workcenter, and the fax does not scream at every caller on my line--it just sit and waits for an ...incoming fax tone to respond ("manual" mode), then comes to life--even if you pick up the receiver (upstairs), and it even ignores my answering machine. Very Slick! It connects to my computer via USB2 AND network cable, and it can allow faxes to go to the computer instead of printing. For $150, this is a bargain. So far I have no paper jams or problems. Note that there is a limitation of 10 pages in the copy/fax paper feeder. But for home use, this answers my needs RIGHT ON!I had a little trouble registering at the site (Sunday Night)--it locked up without entering me--but I'll try later. Read more Less

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    A Great All-In-One for the SOHO

    By Yahoo! Shopping User  Nov 5, 2004 | 14 out of 14 found this Brother MFC-420CN review helpful

    Pros: Very Good Quality, Tons of Features plus Affordable

    Cons: Software is not that great but will do.

    I bought this at Staples for $149.00 last month. Works great as a printer using either color or bw. I will not use this for printing photos though. I use my Canon i850s to do that. Scanner works great with good quality. Used scanner from the button a...nd my pc. Have not tried scanning photos but have tried publications with images. Images turned out fine. Made very good copies in both color and bw. Results where almost identical copies. Color just a bit lighter but still good. Sent many fax documents in legal paper using top feed. Scanned as many as 30 pages to overseas. Used "Overseas Mode" which helps when line is choppy but still got cut-off after 20 pages. Lots of memory. Connected printer through my wireless router using ethernet. Installed drivers/software in 2 pcs and 2 wireless laptops. Easy installation in PC's with XP and 2000 using ethernet. Needed to re-install drivers/software in one laptop because of some problems with wireless connection. Used Memory Stick slot once to retrieve photos and it worked fine. Can't insert more than 1 memory card/sitck at a time. Manual is easy to read. Overall, I'm very satified with the purchase. Read more Less

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    Is a Great Scanner and Fax, but has some Quirbles

    By Yahoo! Shopping User  Feb 21, 2005 | 12 out of 12 found this Brother MFC-420CN review helpful

    Pros: Scanner, Fax machine, and Software

    Cons: Printer.

    I bought the Brother MFC-420CN because I needed a scanner that could help me speed along with building a windows picture database (with orderforms), and for a fax machine that I wouldn't have to stand over and feed like a pickey little toddler th...at spits out food. Mission accomplished. It does everything I need it to do, except when a print cartridge runs out and that's exactly what happened. Two of my color ink cartridges ran out at the same time today(I installed them a week ago and there are 4 total). This is despite the fact that have the brother MFC-420CN's settings configured for black and white printing only. When it happened, the machine completely disabled itself. I fought with it in vein to just have it print in black and white, however I soon discovered that I could not fax, scan, print in black and white, or copy in b\w, or even turn the damn thing off as long as a print cartridge was empty. Feeling frustrated, I called Brother's Customer Support. The lady I spoke with was very helpful. She answered plenty of my questions about the all-in-one device, including my question about how my color ink had been used up, even though I had only been printing in black and white. To quote her, "Oh yeah, it mixes in just a splash of color with your black and white document. No matter what." And aparently it also becomes as useless as a tree stump once its finished "splashing" its way through even one cartridge. The oddest thing of all is that I did not even have the chance to print one color document in the week that I've been unwittingly "using" those expensive little watercolors they like to call "their formula". The lady also let me know that if I were to try to use an ink that isn't designed for the printer (i.e. theirs), that it would most likely detect the ink and disable. (or if it doesn't it breaks). Well, the lady let me know that they are selling water-color print cartridges for 20-40 bucks a pop. As far as them having a special formula goesl... its kinda like cologne. Its only oil, water, and alchohol. You can't patent it cologne. It is too simple of a concoction. I take comfort in the fact that someone out there makes a refill kit. Read more Less

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    Good Luck Getting Help from Customer Service!

    By Yahoo! Shopping User  Oct 18, 2005 | 3 out of 4 found this Brother MFC-420CN review helpful

    Pros: Cheap, Lots of Functionality

    Cons: Errors Out, Wasting Paper, Ink, & Time, No Support

    I bought my MFC-420CN at Wal-mart for a steal...or so I thought. The unit has oodles of functionality and much cheaper ink that any HP version. However, from the start I cannot get the printer to be reliable. I am constantly getting printer error mes...sages which cause the unit to spit out half-printed pages. I cannot tell you how frustrating this can be! It wastes time, ink, and paper. I run two businesses from my home and needed to purchase a unit that could fax as well as copy and print. No problems with the other features-even the OCR worked fine. But the printing...forget it. I never had a problem with my HP or Cannon printers. This one is terrible. I tried calling Customer Service for support-good luck! I spent 35 minutes waiting for someone to even answer the first time. This happened more than once to me. When I finally spoke to a person, the first one said it was because I was using a USB hub and told me to plug the connection directly to my printer. That didn' Read more Less

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    Don't buy this printer

    By Yahoo! Shopping User  Dec 17, 2006 | 2 out of 2 found this Brother MFC-420CN review helpful

    Pros: All the usual stuff

    Cons: Ink cartridges - last half a milisecond and malfunction

    Used the printer very rarely for about a year. Probably went through 6 ink cartridges. On my last cartridge purchase the color cartridge wasn't recognized by the printer. ? I bought another one. Nope. Still says to replace the cartridge. I don...9;t even want to print in color. Tough. It will NOT print anything without both cartridges installed. No clue how to fix it or get around this issue. I have to buy a new printer now. One year old....awful. Steer clear of this printer. The same thing happened to my neighbor -- I feel awful as I recommended the printer to him. Read more Less

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    Awesome choice for a printer

    By Yahoo! Shopping User  Sep 18, 2005 | 2 out of 2 found this Brother MFC-420CN review helpful

    Pros: Built in card readers, front load paper tray

    Cons: Limited paper holding capacity

    I love this printer. I have an HP and this Brother printer and it is by far the best printer I have ever owned. It produces extremely high quality material. Make sure that if you purchase this that you put it on a completely flat level surface becaus...e otherwise you might have trouble with the paper feed tray. Read more Less

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    So far, so good

    By Yahoo! Shopping User  Dec 31, 2005 | 2 out of 3 found this Brother MFC-420CN review helpful

    Pros: Versitile and inexpensive

    Cons: None so far

    Install was easy. I connected the printer directly to my wireless router using a cat5 lan cable. I am using the printer two laptops via wireless connectivity. So far, everything works as it should with no problems.

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    Best value for the buck

    By Yahoo! Shopping User  Nov 19, 2005 | 2 out of 3 found this Brother MFC-420CN review helpful

    Pros: looks, design, features and production

    Cons: none

    great printer, does everything, refills are cheap and perfoms outstanding. walmart has these for under $100.00. great deal great printer

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    Print this

    By Yahoo! Shopping User  Apr 19, 2006 | 1 out of 1 found this Brother MFC-420CN review helpful

    Pros: Ease of use, quality, all-in-one

    Cons: print speed, print quality, fax set up

    When I first considered this product I was like oh it's kinda cheap and I didn't know if it was any good. So i got it and tried it and am very satisfied with it. Still have not set up the fax part successfully. Plus it's aggrivating when ...one of the colors go out. Sometimes it's not clear on what the problems are when it says there is one. We paid about $150, I think. But I am really satisfied being it's an all-in-one. Read more Less

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    Brother: Not good value

    By Yahoo! Shopping User  Jun 30, 2007

    Pros: Scans good

    Cons: Brother printing technology not good

    I had this MFC for over one year. I had initial paper feeding problems. Some of the problems others had with printing being disabled because of supposedly "low" ink cartridges (they weren't) is what I've had. I'd take the cartid...ge out and flick it in the bathroom sink to expell some ink, then put it back. This helped (maybe air pockets were removed). Brother's print heads are located in the printer itself, not on the removable cartridge. So, after one year the print heads were clogging up and not printing completely. To clean the head requires removal and cleaning and/or replacement (at about half the cost of a new MFC). Watch out for printers where the print head is built in to the machine. Good news is the the paper feeding problem went away. Read more Less

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