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Brother MFC8840DN All-In-One Printer (21 PPM, 2400x600 DPI, B&W, 32MB, PC/Mac - MPN: MFC8840DN)
Description: The MFC-8840DN from Brother is a network-ready, 5-in-1 flatbed laser multi-function center combining performance, connectivity, and reliability. It is a full-feature fax, and an up to 21ppm laser printer, which prints at up to 2400 x 600dpi.... Read More Description: The MFC-8840DN from Brother is a network-ready, 5-in-1 flatbed laser multi-function center combining performance, connectivity, and reliability. It is a full-feature fax, and an up to 21ppm laser printer, which prints at up to 2400 x 600dpi (HQ1200). The LCD panel displays the unit's status in five lines by 16 characters per line.Duplex printing for two-sided document printing, fax receiving and copy output as well as an up to 50-sheet multi-purpose tray are standard. Both an up to 21cpm, legal-size convenience copier and a 9600 dpi (interpolated) resolution color flatbed scanner are also standard. Also included is PC Fax capability, which allows you to send and receive1 faxes directly from your computer.A second paper tray option makes this a superior addition to your business workgroup. USB, Ethernet and parallel ports are standard so the MFC-8840DN can work in virtually any environment. It comes with document viewer and OCR software. Minimize |
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| Date Reviewed: 11/22/2004 |
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Strengths: Cheapest laser all-in-one/duplexing/networked printer you can find. Fast copying and printing. Excellent print quality. Can print from anywhere if you have internet access.
Weaknesses: Scanning is super-slow. Network setup is tedious. More expensive than an inkjet all-in-one plus no color printing.
Summary: This is a great all-in-one device for a small/home office. If you don't need color and prefer a laser based printer, this one will give you the most bang for your buck.
As a printer, this device is top-notch. It will print on both sides of a page, and you can shrink pages down so you can fit up to 6 pages on one side of paper. As with most laser printers, the print quality is just about perfect, and speed is much faster than an inkjet, at 15-20 pages per minute, even when duplexing. Most all-in-ones will only let you printer over the network, but make you scan using USB. The Brother 8840DN lets you access all functions (print/fax/scan) using any combination of ethernet/USB2.0/parallel ports.
As a copier, this device is good enough for a small office. It will duplex and collate. You can make up to 99 copies at a time, and you can enlarge or shrink from 25-400%. You can also print up to 6 pages on one piece of paper. The only thing you can't do is copy FROM a 2 sided page. It copies very fast, which is surpising considering it uses the same flatbed/document feeder used for scanning (read below).
As a fax, it is very good. It has the same features as any other decent fax. Speed dialing, auto/manual receive, polling, forwarding, etc. You can send/receive while printing too. You can also send and receive faxes over the internet using email.
The scanner function is the weakest part of this device. It is so slow, it's rediculous. It takes a solid minute to do a color scan at 300dpi. The quality is very good, it will do up to 9600 dpi (interpolated), but jeez, it would probably take all day to scan at that resolution. One nice feature is you can scan directly to email, jpg, pdf, or OCR directly from the device.
Finally, the network capability is great, but a bit complicated to set up. For the basics, it's not too bad, just plug it into your router/switch, install the software on the computers on your network, and you're all set. But to get to the advanced (and cool) features, it takes some trial and error. Basically, you can set the printer up to have it's own email address. Then you can email the printer with a fax-email, or you can set it up so that you can create a printer, say on your laptop, so that you can print from anywhere in the world as long as you have an internet connection. But you need to be a network administrator to figure it out. Just the network manual is over 150 pages. So unless you know your TCP/IP from your NetBios, you might want to just get the non-networked model (MFC-8440D), or not worry about the email based functions.
All in all, this is a great mid-priced machine. Compared to an inkjet all-in-one, the Brother is faster, higher quality with duplexing and built-in networking, but it is more expensive and doesn't do color printing. Compared to other laser based all-in-ones, the Brother is less expensive, but with most of the same features. If you do lots of color scanning, however, the Brother 8840 might not be for you.
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| Date Reviewed: 10/02/2005 |
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Strengths: Low Price, Fast printing at 21ppm, Up to 160mb memory, Duplex printing & fax reception, Fast ADF up to 50 pages, Simple network installation
Weaknesses: No incoming faxes over network, Can't easily monitor outgoing faxes over network, Slow flatbed scans, Lousy fax switching, Mediocre Copies, Cover doesn't flip completely out of way while copying
Summary: I purchased the brother mainly for its copying capabilities. I prefer crisp laser copies to inkjet copies that smudge and warp paper, especially on pages that contain large graphics. I also needed a flatbed copier that could handle legal sized copies. The duplexing feature works flawlessly, but copies are mediocre and appear a bit fuzzy. But really, copier print quality is low on my priority list. The biggest complaint I have is that scanning & copying is slow when using the flatbed instead of the auto-document feeder (ADF), which is in fact, very fast. In addition, the flatbed cover and ADF don't completely flip out of the way, so copying and scanning bulky or tall items is nearly impossible. You'll still need to run to Kinko's for those items.
I was pleasantly surprised at the MFC-8840DN's print quality. Text is very crisp and graphics print well at blazing speed. I was so impressed that I have retired my tried-and-true HP 4M printer in favor of the Brother. In fact, this is the first non-HP printer I have ever purchased.
Faxing is effortless although its fax switching capabilities are nearly worthless. Voice calls were not always released, and when they were, the caller ID wasn't passed through. I opted instead to get a distinctive ring feature from my telephone company for incoming faxes which has worked flawlessly. The ADF holds a respectable 50 pages and is very fast. Hundreds of pages can be stored in memory while they are sent so you can get back to work quickly. The unit can be upgraded to 160Mb from the standard 32mb.
I am surprised by reviewers that have described the network setup as tedious or difficult. It couldn't have been easier. Period. I plugged the network cable in to a hub and ran the provided software on three different computers without a single issue. I was printing, faxing and administering the unit via the network within a few minutes. My only real complaint is that despite being able to fax out, the MFC-8840DN won't route incoming faxes to network users and networked faxes can't be monitored or cancelled easily.
Overall, I would definitely recommend this multi-function printer to home and small workgroup users. This unit is all about practicality. It has a great set of features for a low price.
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| Date Reviewed: 06/02/2005 |
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Strengths: good print quality and perhaps one of the best all-in-one printers in the market.
Weaknesses: no printer cable included and the network setup was quite tedious.
Summary: One time, I had to re-enter the date info after turning off the printer. This unit somehow erased the date but managed to keep my office's name on the printout. Never had to use it for scanning purposes so the it's scanning speed remained unclear to me.
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| Date Reviewed: 11/30/2005 |
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Strengths: *Fast printer speed
*All-in-one convenience
*Built-in duplexer (dual-side printing)
*Built-in Ethernet network port
*32MB of RAM for faster printing
Weaknesses: *Not as quiet as some other laser printers
*Software setup is a pain
Summary: This elegant fast all-in-one device could be of great value to a home user or small business workgroup. Network connectivity option makes it easy to share this printer among multiple users or/and have the printer set up to service wireless network clients (using a standard access point or a wireless router). I only wish that this printer would be a bit quieter. Finally, the initial setup of the software is a real pain. I am a systems engineer, and this is not the first Brother MFC8840DN that I was setting up. Yet I had to run the install a few times, before it completed well.
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| Date Reviewed: 08/06/2005 |
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Strengths: A great copy machine plus extras.
Weaknesses: The networking pieces needs some better documentation, the toners can before quite expensive.
Summary: 2005-08-06 11:46:10 After researching thru many printers: Sharp, Canon, HP, I found this printer is still the best value for the dollar and performance.
Since I already have a few other printers, I have mainly used this all-in-one to copy paper. However, I will use this printer as a backup to my other printers and fax machines also.
After a short pause after initializing during power-up(it seemed 1-2 mins), copying papers is very fast and doesn't skip over pages like some multi-functions do.
I found it quite useful with the 4 page in one and 2 pages in one for copy jobs.
I like page count feature also since it lets me know how many pages are copied.
Like many laser printers, the machine is quite loud like a copy machine.
The powerup/powersave mode power back to Fax mode by default. I wish it stayed at copy mode.
It would be great if brother sold a color laser one.
Bottom line, I would buy it.
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| Date Reviewed: 07/28/2004 |
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Strengths: Very good feature set for a reasonable price. Good design.
Weaknesses: Network options inferior to HP. Several incomplete prints. Warm up time after inactivity takes some time - Energy Star settings can't be turned off or extended beyond 99 minutes.
Summary: The network interface seems more brittle than the HP printers and jet direct units that I am used to dealing with. Originally attached it to a wireless bridge which seemed to make it unhappy. Once I attached a switch in between the printer and bridge, things have improved. Still some unkown errors which I can't track down, but assume those will work out given a little more effort. I would buy it again, but if I had twice the money I would probably by Xerox or HP Laser Multi Function instead.
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| Date Reviewed: 06/15/2005 |
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Strengths: Fast, always clear prints, makes double sided copies/prints, no paper jam problems, easy setup and install onto network, never have trouble resetting computer printer port if network goes down
Weaknesses: Making double sided copies is a little confusing until you figure out how. It automatically selects manual feed paper tray, (if you put paper there,) if printing, but not if copying
Summary: I have the older MFC-8820DN model and this one works even faster! You have to figure out that it flips the page when copying double sided, so as to turn around the original to get the orientation you want. The manual is clear on how to make double sided copies though. Again, very easy to install, just plug into the network, put the CD-ROM into you computer and follow the instructions. Very happy with the price and features!!!
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| Date Reviewed: 04/19/2006 |
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 Beware of network problems Strengths: Duplex printing is nice
Weaknesses: Scanner won't work with windows firewall.
Unreliagble networking.
Summary: After a few weeks the 8840DN started dropping off the network and requiring frequent reboots. Spent 2 days with tek support, exchanged net card and it still drops out. The only device on my network that does this. PS I have a MSEE and design electronic equipment and teach communications at college. Hope to exchange for HP multifucntion or this will be the expensive fax I ever owned.
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