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User Reviews: Brother MFC-420CN
Brother: Not good value
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 cartidge 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.
Was this review helpful? Yes - NoGreat, but hard to use
Pros: printer, scanner, fax, photo printer
Cons: confusing and hard to use
I love this printer, but it does take getting used to. One thing I must say is it doesn't always cooperate with you. Sometimes it just like prints when it wants to. It does have good quality though!
Was this review helpful? Yes - NoDon't buy this printer
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'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.
Was this review helpful? Yes - NoBrother MFC-420 cn
Pros: Price, Multifunction capabilities, cost of inject repalcements low
Cons: Photo quality unacceptable.
I boutht this printer for $118.00 at Wallmart.
Printer claims up to 6000 x 1200 dpi. After printing a color picture, and comparing it to a picture printed in the HP 7150, the picture resolution does not come anywhere near the resolution of the HP 7150. I will be returning this printer to Wallmart for a refund, and purchase and all-in-one HP.Was this review helpful? Yes - NoGood value
Pros: price, print quality, size
Cons: can't print if one cartridge is empty
This is a good printer for the price. It is a good size if you are limited on space. The print quality is good, and the fax and scanner work great. However, make sure you keep some extra, cheap ink cartridges on hand (you can find awesome deals online) because if ONE color ink cartridge goes out, you cannot print AT ALL.
Was this review helpful? Yes - NoPrint this
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.
Was this review helpful? Yes - NoIt's great
Pros: Cheap/everything you need in one
Cons: replacing cartridge/ cartridge price too high
Very good item to own. Provides everthing you need. Space saver, and time saver. Easy to use. The store where I purchased the printer (paid 124.00 + tax by the way) didn't sell the cartridges so it took a little longer to locate the cartridge. The ink was a little pricey, $56.00 (at Office Depot)cartridges online, the whole set for $25.00 or less. Overall it is great!
Was this review helpful? Yes - NoSo far, so good
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.
Was this review helpful? Yes - NoBest value for the buck
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
Was this review helpful? Yes - NoGood Luck Getting Help from Customer Service!
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 messages 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'
Was this review helpful? Yes - NoAwesome choice for a printer
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 because otherwise you might have trouble with the paper feed tray.
Was this review helpful? Yes - NoGreat for the money
Pros: You can make copies without the computer on. Compact Design. Good Print quality. Inexpensive
Cons: None so far
If you need a multifunction machine but don't have a lot of money, this is the machine for you. It was quick and easy to set up and takes up very little space. I'm very pleased so far with the quality of copies and scans. I had a Lexmark that had to go through the computer if you wanted to make a copy which was slow and a pain. This machine works independently of the computer which is a big plus. I would highly recommend it.
Was this review helpful? Yes - NoIs a Great Scanner and Fax, but has some Quirbles
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 that 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.Was this review helpful? Yes - NoA Great All-In-One for the SOHO
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 and 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.
Was this review helpful? Yes - NoCompact Functional All-In-One Ink-jet
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.Was this review helpful? Yes - No
Rate & Write a Review: Brother MFC-420CN
Rate & Write a Review: Brother MFC-420CN
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